The Roman Garden

Moving to other pastures

2010-10-13T18:36:00.000-04:00

In case no one has noticed, the postings here about Roman and our garden successes (or lack thereof) are pretty scarce. But a lot happens to Mr. Roman, it just doesn't make it into e-ink very often. If it involves Lauren, it ends up in her blog instead.

So I've finally found a way to merge the two. Roman's tales and the stories of our greenery (or lack thereof) have and will now be rolled into Lauren's blog which is now about the entire family including cats, wild things and all the things that go with them.

It's all at Lauren, Roman, Us - Living with Noonan Syndrome

Hope to see you there!

Back to school

2010-09-11T09:46:00.003-04:00

Roman has been a very happy and very tired boy this week.

School started on Wednesday and includes riding the bus both to and FROM school. Taking the bus, complete with transfer, to school is old news but taking the bus home at the end of the day is something new.

And it's all gone well so far. Roman got off the bus Wednesday and said, "I was the last one!"

The day went well for him too. His kindergarten class is blended - half JK, half SK - but the JKs don't start til Monday. This meant there were only 8 of them to reacquaint with.

That night he also told us about a "special purple chair" they all got to sit in for a girl who can't walk very well. This makes me happy - the idea that there is someone in his class that requires special equipment, that he'll get to know someone who's physically different and see that it's no big deal.

He already sees someone unique in Lauren every day but as she's his sister, somehow it's different.

I look forward to finding out more... It also gives me encouragement that Roman's school can and does accommodate special needs. I'd really like Lauren to be able to attend the same school - both for the French and for the simplicity. The building is old but the staff is excellent and we have a great relationship with the principal.

Anyways, Friday morning, day number 2 of school, had Roman up and beaming. He's just soooo happy to back at school. Almost so much that I wish he was going every day.

But that makes me realize how easy it is to wish their childhood away.

If I wish him to school every day then all of the sudden a whole year has gone. Then Lauren is going to school too.

Then all of the sudden they're old enough I don't need to meet them at the bus any more and

poof.

They're teenagers and I've missed their entire childhood.

What 30lbs looks like

2010-09-09T21:15:00.002-04:00

And I don't mean Lauren - she's only 27.

After our adventure to St. Jacob's last week, I decided to repeat this week to pick up a bushel of red peppers for roasting and freezing. The aptly named "Pepper Hut" had bushels for $15.

This week they were $10 and the vendor offered me as sweet deal on a half bushel of poblano peppers as well taking only $5 instead of the full $10. Not sure what I'm going to do with that many poblano peppers but given how hard a time I've had finding them, they'll definitely make it into the freezer.

So, one bushel of red peppers (yes. Lauren is trying to lift the bag and yes. it is bigger than she is.) plus

one half bushel of poblanos, some apples and some peaches added up to 30lbs for me to carry.

Trying to get back to the car we created quite a cute picture or so I was told by another shopper. Lauren needed to hold someone's hand so she held Roman's. Roman needed to stay close to me so I suggested he hold my coat tail. Lauren meanwhile also had her crocodile backpack on (which holds her collapsible potty seat) and the three of us walked side by side through the market.

Well, walking is a bit of an overstatement. Roman kept telling me to slow down because Lauren couldn't keep up while I was trying to get there as fast as I could before my arms fell off.

The intention was to get a bushel of red peppers and nothing more. Who am I kidding? Instead, by the end of our sojourn I ended up carrying 30lbs of produce AND 27lbs of Lauren. Roman was happy to help carry the apples but it didn't last long. He's a trouper but not the strongest of troupers yet.

Next time I need to take a stroller ... and a trailer... or a pack mule.

I guess a hubby might fit the bill.

We Can...

2010-09-06T08:57:00.003-04:00

It's been a busy produce weekend for us. Last week I took a girlfriend and the kids to St. Jacob's Market to pick up all the remaining ingredients for salsa.

Essentially, everything but the tomatillos. So far, as a home gardener, the one thing I've been able to count on is an over abundance of tomatillos.

And this makes me very happy. We LOVE mexican food so a pantry full of roasted tomatillo salsa fills the winter months with enchilladas, quesadillas, fajitas and tacos.

For the record, the kids love all of these. Not so much the enchilladas for Roman but the rest are consumed in mass quantities.

Roman is an expert at finding and picking the tomatillos that are split and ready to go.

So 18 cups of roasted tomatillos and the requisite accoutrements have made it into 15 jars of salsa to warm our long winter months.

We also fixed the elderberry jelly that when awry a month ago. The people at Bernardin have always been very helpful. My one complaint is their move into a "push 1, push 2..." phone system. Up until last summer, when you dialed the support line number you automatically reached a support person. It was a bit unnerving (I asked to speak to someone in customer service and was stunned to find out the woman WAS customer service!) but I really appreciated it. It's not a big deal to work through the phone menu but the absence of immediate human voice is missed by me.

Regardless, the woman I spoke with gave me a fix for the jelly that didn't set. The jars sealed properly, the jam just didn't set inside.

Now we have 8 half pint jars of glorious rich purple elderberry jelly to brighten our dreary cold winter mornings.

oh.. and why the repetition on cold and dreary? Because it's cloudy and bordering on cold and dreary this morning. I had a fleeting moment of winter thoughts when I crawled out of bed this morning. Brrr. Sorry folks. It's coming.

But returning to the garden tales, we were able to salvage enough brussell sprouts for Kevin and I for dinner last night. Fried up some bacon (which Lauren was thrilled to polish off for me), red onion and garlic, tossed in the tiny sprouts and a bit of chicken stock and left it to braise while Kevin bbq'd steak and corn. Along with the fresh bread the kids helped me bake and a glass of red wine, it was a wonderful meal. Both Roman and Lauren are learning how to kneed the bread by hand and it's a beautiful thing to watch.

Produce wise, I expect we'll get one more eggplant, a few more zucchini, a few more pounds of tomatillos (salsa verde anyone?) and a small basket of carrots. It'll be hit or miss whether the few late squash that have come on will ripen before our first frost. And the late beans we've planted? Fingers crossed. They're doing really well though none of the beets or greens have come up.

This fall the garden needs some serious SERIOUS remediation....

Fate

2010-08-17T19:56:00.002-04:00

Today, many of our veggies have met their fate.

The zucchini have been baked into a zucchini coffee cake which Lauren declares she will "eat it auw".

The tomatoes, the few that there are since we only planted 5 or 6, along with the jalapenos and onions have gone through the canning process and are resting on the counter.

The rest of the zucchini have been shredded and frozen for future coffee cakes. There will be more of them but I'm content. If they only make it to the compost, I'm satisfied.

Our corn has come to its end but we'll leave the stalks in place until the squash and pumpkins are ready for tilling.

Roman is spending the night with Grandma and Grandpa and was very excited when he left the morning.

Tomorrow he can try some of our salsa and see if the garden work has been worth it.

Garden Update - Mid August

2010-08-16T19:19:00.002-04:00

It's official. The corn did not survive the onslaught. All the stalks had ears, they just didn't get a chance to grow big enough to harvest. We have one pumpkin and I have yet to see any squash. A few pole beans are struggling to make it as evidenced by some beautiful scarlet blossoms.

We've now harvested far too many zucchini, made a fabulous zucchini coffee cake for friends and accidentally left some loose in the garden last night. I have yet to go and get them but with a half dozen already on the kitchen counter, it's not a high priority!

The eggplants are doing well and we grilled one for dinner last night. The slices were a bit too thin resulting in them being a tad overcooked but I was surprised to find I actually liked it. Of course they soak up olive oil and salt like a sponge and I luuuuuv olive oil and salt...

The bush beans continue to do very well are are reaching their end. The most recent planting though has come up beautifully and are well on their way to a fall harvest.

Which is good since everything else is pretty much pooched.

Even my beets. Not a peep.

And I can't blame it on the rabbits or groundhog as this time I fenced them in!

Having learned many lessons this year (don't plant the onions and potatoes quite so early no matter how warm it is, pull that unknown plant before becomes a triffid and don't bother trying shallots every again) I've already put hubby on alert that he'll be tilling more ground in September and helping me shovel trailer loads of manure from our local red angus farm. (Gold-bar. mmmmm red angus...)

So as much as I hate wishing time away, I'm already looking to next year and hoping to do better by our garden.

Happy Peppers

2010-08-06T20:44:00.004-04:00

It's fajita day in our house. Fresh tomatoes, jalapenos, red onion and cilantro for salsa. Fresh green peppers and red onions to go with the most incredible Gold-Bar Red Angus beef from just up the road... mm mm mm mm mmmmm...

Even the peppers were happy - right down to their core - about the company they'd be keeping:

Mmmm Garlic!

2010-08-03T19:39:00.003-04:00

Everything green flourished while we were camping.

Especially the weeds.

Roman, Lauren and I tackled the herb garden and I rediscovered the garlic planted last fall. It was literally moment of surprise. After I snipped the scapes in June, the other plants surrounded the garlic stalks and out of sight truly is out of mind.

Today, while Roman was at summer camp, Lauren and I pulled the garlic least it start to rot. Last thing I need this year is to loose my hard earned garlic crop. The past two years I've sacrificed ALL the bulbs to planting and not consumed a single one. The originals came from our last season with the local CSA and were glorious. Organic, flavourful and large!

Of the twelve cloves planted we had 9 or so survive. Pretty good I think given they get no care whatsoever.

I did, however, miss two of them when trimming the scapes. "They" always say to trim them or the plants will put energy into the seed heads and not the bulbs. It's not that I didn't believe "them" but here's the photographic evidence:

Bulb on left- not trimmed and, while not shown here, has a very long stalk and a tiny seed head on top. Not much to show for all its effort.
Bulb on the right - glorious heavy beautiful culinary bounty. Mm mm Mm Mm mm. Of course this one I'll probably save. Again. For planting.

I wonder how many plants will be enough or how many years I'll have to live on substandard cloves until our own crop is sufficient... Perhaps this is when Roman's favourite number comes into play...

"We need one HUNNNNDRED!" he'd say. But perhaps 25 or 30 would suffice?

On an unrelated note, my FineCooking e-news came today with a link to this amazing blog: Food In Jars. It's well written and definitely worth a perusal if you're a home canner of any sort. She's inspired me to get more jars and more produce. Maybe we'll even try some pickles this year.

Garden Update

2010-07-31T19:20:00.003-04:00

It's official. The potatoes are done. The plants have all died back so tomorrow, if the weather holds, we'll dig them up. From what we've gotten so far, I don't expect a stellar yield. VERY disappointing. Makes me very glad we don't have to rely on what we've grown to make it through the winter.

The onions too have met a terrible demise. I wonder sometimes if we planted everything just a hair too early. The yellow onions all toppled over and started to rot from the ground surface upwards. The bulbs are fine but not very large. The red onions went to seed and the bulbs have ALL been dismal. More like the tiny ones you throw whole into soup than the large kind we love to grill.

The beans however are coming on strong and beautiful. We did two plantings in June and both are now coming in. Our first harvest last week was small but grilled beautifully. Now I have a large enough supply for a salad, more grilling, a frittata, you name it, we can make it.

The zucchini are still prolific so next to try is zucchini vinaigrette.

The grape tomatoes are finally starting to ripen and I've had one "big boy" who was not so big but tasty on toast. Not big enough to share so I snarfed it down when no one was looking.

The peas are definitely done but we did a late planting just to see if we could get a fall crop. Could be interesting. Of course it's going to depend on the the groundhog. If he keeps eating the tops off, we'll never get anywhere.

Given our empty spaces this year (mostly from having moved the potatoes and from limiting our attempts at tomatoes to the few plants in pots) we've done another planting of beets (the first three have been eaten but animals other than us) greens, spinach and beans. Having pulled up all the yellow onions already, I have room for another planting next week... or perhaps tomorrow - a couple square feet of cilantro would be good for salsa canning time. Plus I plan to harvest all the roots this year to freeze for thai curries.

This time we've fenced the growing grounds in an attempt to actually see the beets. I'm sure the fence is not entirely rabbit proof as they can certainly hop. And it may not be groundhog resistant as he's a pretty burly fellow and could likely plow it over it he tried. And I KNOW it's not deer proof as it's only 2 feet high BUT, at least we're giving it another go.

Notes for next year: more potatoes, potatoes, potatoes, more onions, (get them somewhere else next time), no shallots (failing twice is enough), no fennel (it bolts too easily to waste my limited garden space) and more carrots with a lighter fence.

This year's carrot fence is some dark shade screen left over from gensing farm owned by a family friend. It was free and I had it on hand. Thought it would work great - which it did for keeping out large rodents and hopping mammals. It also kept out the sun except at high noon. Since I'm not looking for a shoot-out, I best find a way to protect the seedlings without decreasing sunlight.

But on the really good side, the corn/squash/bean garden seems to be recovering from the elephant nap. The squash anyways is perking up significantly and I see a few more bean plants. The corn stalks are showing a few ears but it'll be hit and miss whether the toppled plants make any discernible recovery. If not, our favourite market has started harvesting their crop so we'll be making a weekly run.

If Roman had his way, we'd be there daily...

Rain, Waves and Happy Kids

2010-07-31T19:03:00.004-04:00

Camping at Port Burwell Provincial Park

Wave jumping.

Bike riding. The training wheels get raised a little bit each day...

Road building at the beach.

Puddle duck. Glad someone's having fun the fourth day it rains.

Looking so grown up.

Garden update

2010-07-18T21:50:00.002-04:00

Sigh. The weeds have officially taken over the greens section of the garden.

The sweet peas are pretty well done though I did a third planting anticipating (hoping for?) a cool summer. We'll see what happens with those.

The zucchini is rocking along. Who knew four zucchini was way too many for this family!

Meanwhile, those two random squash I mentioned? Well, they're not squash. I should've known by how aggressively they've grown and spread and taken over absolutely everything they can climb on. I finally clued in when the pole beans blossomed. I finally paid attention to why my subconscious was telling me and actually LOOKED at the plants. There are tiny blossoms every where. Neither squash nor beans have prolific tiny white flowers.

Uh oh.

One random "squash" was easy to contain and uproot. The other was in with the corn, squash, pumpkins and beans. Nightmare. Here I was thinking the garden plan of squash with corn and beans together was the mistake when REALLY the mistake was not pulling that "squash" plant in the first place.

All I could think was how much longer it would be growing and therefore how much bigger the fruits would be.

HA! All I got out of it was a corn-squash-pumpkin-bean patch that looks like an elephant slept in it. If only I'd taken before and after pictures. I think I'm too embarrassed to share them though.

The weeds is all out but it'll be hit and miss whether the plants in that part of the garden will recover.

That, combined with the onions, shallots and potatoes that are failing or non existent have made me really wish we could start this entire season over again.

So.. lessons learned:

1) Don't buy my potato and onion sets at TSC - my grocery store produce potatoes last year were more productive.

and

2) If we didn't plant it there, it has to go!

Hopefully the corn will recover enough for a couple ears though. Roman is still really excited about it...

Wee Wee Wii!!

2010-07-11T11:17:00.003-04:00

"You're doin' great! Papa! You're doin' great! Keep it up!
Stay on the board! Stay on the boooarrrd!

Woah. That was hard!"

I'm upstairs and this is what I hear from the basement. It's stinky hot out so the kids are downstairs watching Papa play games on the Wii (picked it up used for a sweet sweet deal!). Technically Papa is trying to find games the kids can play but Monkey Ball Blaster is still a bit beyond their abilities.

But they love cheering him on!

"I just love to watch" Roman just said.

Occasionally I hear, "Stay board! stay board! Woaah!" from Lauren too.

Even if this was it, it was totally worth it.

Growing up

2010-07-02T15:11:00.003-04:00

Some days I look forward to my kids getting a bit bigger but not today. Usually it's so they can be a bit more independent, be able to play for half an hour without being abruptly velcroed to my leg for one reason or another. But not today.

Today, I'm pretty sure Roman is having his first migraine headache.

The day started out great. He woke up cheerful, there was very little obnoxious behaviour towards Lauren, he played, had a good breakfast and settled in for his chunk of computer time while I did some business banking.

It all started just after he deposited his third chip. He has three 20 minute chips to be used whenever he wishes throughout the day - within reason of course - knowing that when the third one is done, that's it for today and he'll have to wait til tomorrow for more. It's working really well for us. There's no fighting about getting off the computer or ending early. There's no negotiating when he can start. He asks, and if it's an okay time (such as not when we're about to go out the door or sit down for a meal) he can play. Simple.

Today he put his third chip in the cup and let out a huge yawn. I suggested perhaps he save the last for later but he insisted now was the time.

About 10 minutes later, he's off the computer, sitting having some juice. A few minutes after that he's in my arms shivering so off we go to bed. My statement of "if you're that cold you should snuggle in some blankets. Do you want to snuggle on the couch or in your bed?" was met with a quiet "in bed" and off we went. I tucked him in, and asked if anything hurt. "My tummy." "Where does it hurt?" "All over!" with a contorted tear filled face.

15 minutes later he was deep asleep.

That was 10 am this morning. It's now 3:20 and he's been up once to pee, had a couple scoops of cereal, two tylenol, a bit of juice and has been pretty sound asleep ever since.

There's no headache - he says his head is great but everything else is screaming migraine to me.

Fingers crossed it passes soon. We'll have to keep an eye on the frequency. Maybe this will be it but somehow, from personal experience, I doubt it.

Poor guy. He looks so sad and little tucked into his bed all day long.

Mid June update

2010-06-19T19:44:00.002-04:00

This week has been stellar for the garden and the kids. And I mean that in the positive way - not loaded with sarcasm like usual...

Everything is looking lush - except the peas that were nibbled by the rabbit - and the beets - that were nibbled by the rabbit - and the chard - that was nibbled by the rabbit... The carrots are safely fenced. The rest has not been. Yet. The beets weren't a huge loss. They were the ones that wintered over. I was excited about harvesting the seeds as they were a hardy lot but if you have to loose anything, I guess it better those than the ones I wanted to eat!

The rest of the peas have been doing well and we've even had a mini harvest:

We would've picked more a but give them a couple days and they'll be extra plump.

Lauren likes to chomp them straight off the vine, shells included.

Roman, meanwhile, likes to pick the tiny sweetness out of their pods.

The zucchini plants are doing well and getting blossoms. I've wrestled with whether to pick the blossoms for stuffing or leave them be. It's a big deal that zucchini are even growing in our garden - after having worked zucchini harvesting as a teenager, I took a strong disliking to them just for the 'torture' they represented! Guess I'm finally over it.

The pear tree seems to be thriving despite its dramatic pruning in May. My mom has already placed an order for canning in the fall. Fingers crossed! Every time we walk under the tree (which is pretty much every day since it's between the house and the garden) Roman comments on the pears and how the bees brought honey to the blossoms to make them. Not too far off for a four year old.

Now we're hedging our bets on a cool-ish summer and have planted more peas. The carrots are finally showing some tips, the second planting of beans is thriving, the tomatillo plants are doing well (the ones that weren't munched by the rabbit that is) and the seeds I sowed on a whim are coming up. Basil is starting to show and even some special Thai basil in a pot has peeped up. In a way it all feels very late since we also had a few new red potatoes for dinner last night but then again, it is only the middle June.

Still many days of sun, weeding, watering and harvesting ahead. Roman has 4 more school days then I'm sure it'll be "Is the corn ready yet?"

Oh I love a rainy night...

2010-06-01T19:04:00.004-04:00

Imagine our surprise when Roman and I went to check the garden this afternoon following last nights steady, much needed, rain.

It started out being a ploy by me to get Roman outside after too much TV. And we found this...The pea plants have shot up and are starting to blossom. This photo is
Roman's:

and this photo is mine simply because Roman hasn't figure out the macro focus on my camera yet:

Our bush beans went from nothing, to this:

overnight!

and Roman's favourite... CORN!

Now the corn looks a bit more impressive here than it does in real life. In the actual garden it looks much more sparse. We planted it with pole beans and squash but I think I underseeded the corn. We only had one packet and I knew we needed at least four rows. In most places the corn was two to a divot. In many places, as the bean swelled it pushed everything out of the ground and they had to be popped back in. We see how it turns out and have already learned for next year.

Meanwhile, the potatoes have grown tremendously while the carrots haven't even shown a tip yet. Something has been eating our tomatillo plants and the early seeded spinach is threatening to bolt. Thankfully the latter seedings haven't progressed as far and get some afternoon shade.

Each time we go to the garden, Roman checks each thing to see how it's doing. He's been a touch disappointed the carrots aren't showing yet so fingers crossed they'll peep up soon. They're interplanted with parsley which also hasn't come up yet so I'm confident they're simply taking their time.

We've harvested some more radishes, lots of mixed greens, some spinach and tonight, some cilantro for thai curry (which was a disaster. I need to try it again because I KNOW I can do it right. Things just didn't go as they should have. I'll start with this... don't use your mexican mortar and pestle unless you'd like to have sandy bits of volcanic rock in your curry paste that aren't actually noticeable until you start to eat dinner...)

The future bounty

2010-05-24T20:36:00.002-04:00

The garden is in!

Yes we'll have successive plantings to come but for now... for the next two weeks at least, the garden is in.

Our purchased seedlings this year included leeks, brussel sprouts, jalapeno and thai chillies, dill, fennel, zucchini, egg plants and tomatoes (just a few as we have had a loosing battle with blight). We grew our own tomatillo seedlings and everything else has come from seed.

This weekend's planting included Roman's much anticipated CORN! paired with pole beans, squash and pumpkins (jack-0-lantern pumpkins that is at Roman's request). Next came carrots paired with parsley then bush beans and basil. We also added more plantings of greens, cilantro, chard, beets and spinach.

We've now had a small harvest of greens and a few radishes and our peas and potatoes are very VERY happy.

And so are we.

You win some, you loose some

2010-05-11T21:15:00.003-04:00

These lovely ladies are Salma and Poppy - our new kitties.

I can't tell you for certain who is who though I think Salma is in the front and Poppy hiding behind her. We haven't actually seen very much of Poppy yet. She's a timid sort who prefers to hide under the bed. I'm starting to see a bit of success luring her out with treats but it'll take time.

On the loosing front, this weekend's storm took out half our pear tree. This is a huge frustration for me though now, as I think about it more, it's not as frustrating as it could be. We called an arborist last fall for a large tree in the back lot that didn't look well. I also wanted him to advise us on how to manage our pear tree as it has a LOT of upward growth.

Unfortunately, Kevin forgot to ask him. We arranged that he'd come by the next time he was in the neighbourhood and have a look. It never happened and I never called.

Kevin wonders if the tree would've been damaged if it had been pruned back properly. I, just now, am thinking, "thank goodness we didn't pay to have that puppy fixed then loose half of it!!"

We're leaving it to nature. Hopefully the balance of the tree is healthy enough to withstand the trauma and we'll still have a crop of Clapp's Favourites for canning. If not, I guess we have more firewood, less hornets in the fall and need to find something that grows quickly to fill that space.

For now, we'll watch, wait and play with the kitties.

Fresh Spring Air

2010-05-06T19:04:00.004-04:00

The air has been especially vibrant this week. It may seem an odd phrase to use but I can't explain it any other way. I've had excuses to get outside each evening (to get the mail, to put away kid toys, etc) and the scents, moisture and breath of the air have been intoxicating.

The smells of earth, grass, maple, rain, sun and just a hint of dandelion all carried on gentle (and some not so gentle) breezes. When the wind is warm, it's like a brilliant summer day. When it's been cold, it's the promise of change to come.

The clear skies have been brilliant blue and in the evenings, a dusky rose with tints of yellow.

This is why we moved to the country. This is what makes all the mowing, laundry and home business stuff worth while.

I wonder if Roman and Lauren will savour these smells? Some day when they're older, living in some city, changing the world?

Cricut Contest and Kitty News

2010-05-01T19:01:00.003-04:00

Now "cricket" in this blog would normal refer to little black chirpy insects we love to listen to in the early summer evenings. In this post, I'm increasing my chances to win a Cricut Expression which is a die-cutting machine used for scrapbooking, cardmaking, fabric projects, you name it.

A blog called Everyday Cricut, which I've really come to enjoy, is having a HUGE contest in honour of National Scrapbooking Day - which is today. Technically I suppose I should be requesting a change to the name to be International Scrapbooking Day but I'm too Canadian to raise a stink about it. If you like making cards or doing layouts, it's worth a peek...

On the family front, the kids and I met a wonderful family today with more cats than you can count. The newest five are 6 weeks old and ADORABLE! The little ones will NOT be coming to our home but the family also had two 6 month old girls, all black, who will very likely be coming to live with us in the next couple weeks.

This family is so generous to the strays that have some to them. They have 5 of their own that live in the house. Strays that come are not turned away and the family tries to find places for them. I didn't even get a chance to count how many were outside lounging and playing. The two we'll be adopting are scheduled to be spayed next week and the couple are upfront about paying for it. The hubby said today that whether the girls are adopted or not, they're having them spayed. If no one takes them, they'll have to be outdoor only (right now they're in the garage and outside) because the family simply can't afford to feed everyone especially as the five new kittens grow.

We'll be talking on Thursday after the vet appointment to make sure there are no complications and set up something for bringing them home.

It may seem too quick to some after the departure of Billie and Blue but the house just isn't right without some furry independent four legged family members. Billie and Blue won't complain and for once, I am going to be selfish. I want kitties again and these two need a new home.

Into the Light

2010-04-22T18:06:00.003-04:00

Billie (1994 - 2010)

Round Two

2010-04-20T17:42:00.003-04:00

I can scarcely believe already it's been two weeks since our first seeding. Yesterday was finally warm enough again to be out in the garden.

Both kids were happy to help. Roman put popsicle stick markers in for each row and helped push the peas in. Lauren took all the sticks out of the package and stuck them randomly about the garden. Hopefully by next summer she'll remember to stay on the paths and off the worked soil. She's only 2 though and Roman LOVES to remind her...

We put in more greens, spinach, chard and cilantro plus one more row of radishes. In my favourite garden reference book, "The Cook's Garden" from Canadian Gardening, they suggest seeding one short row every week or so for a steady, consumable supply. I've decided to give this a try and see how long it takes for us to get sick of radishes. Since we are neither Doozers who build with them nor Fraggles that eat Doozer creations, I'm going to have to come up with something innovative.

Wonder if anyone would stop to buy radishes roadside?

A day in the sun

2010-04-13T20:24:00.003-04:00

Future photographer

Radishes!

Snap peas peeking

Dirty feet

Dirty face to match dirty feet

Fraggles would be happy

2010-04-12T08:38:00.002-04:00

The weather was pretty sketchy this week - cold, drizzly, wet snow... But that hasn't stopped the mesclun mix, spinach and radishes from popping up. We don't eat a lot of radishes but there's always a first time and the instant gratification you get from them can't be beat (beet?) in a Zone 5 garden.

Yesterday was finally warm and sunny again so Roman helped pull some weeds from the path and waited anxiously to help plant the potatoes. Unfortunately it was just too long waiting for the potato area to be tilled again and for me to come back after yet another potty break for Lauren. By the time I was ready to put the potatoes in, he was off onto another task, happy to play on the slide or with his trucks instead.

He was almost as excited as me to see the greens showing their little heads. We're working on his memory skills and being able to pass on information such as, "Tell Papa what plants are growing". He's excited to share the news, just can't remember what the news is without a little help. It'll get there. He is only four after all.

Today the spring theme continues for him at school with "Show and Share" day. The teacher asked kids to bring things about spring that can go on the science table. Roman and I decided that a robin nest from last year would be cool so we retrieved it from the hedge climbing under the deck. We'll see if the nest and/or the container we sent it in come home or if he remembers to leave them at school.

Regardless, he was pretty happy this morning. He had a window seat on the bus and, for the first time since he started last fall, he looked out the window and gave me a wave and a huge smile.

He just keeps growing up.

Of birds, kids and rototillers...

2010-04-01T19:27:00.005-04:00

To quote one of Roman's favourite Clifford books, "What a fun day. What a fun day in the sun."

Most of the cedar rail fence has been mended, the herb garden cleared and you can literally watch the garlic, and Roman, growing.

Today really was a beautiful day. Roman and Lauren blew bubbles:

"Gi-normous!" bubbles according to Roman - then helped in the garden.

As proof of how mild this winter was, we found three small rows of green onions looking green and onion-y. They're still the size I remember them last fall, which was too small to harvest, but with the mild weather and sun predicted for the coming week, we might have a delicious surprise on the way. I also found beets! A dozen plants from our late August experiment wintered over beautifully. Both the onions and the beets have been transplanted into the newly tilled earth and will be watched with anticipation.

I was thrilled with how well Roman and Lauren got along today. Minimal squabbling, minimal timeouts especially once we were outside... for three hours...not counting the hour before lunch (which was take out pizza as a special family day treat). Plus they take their role as supervisors very seriously.

Now I need to revise my garden map and keep Roman patient. Tomorrow we seed lettuce, spinach, chard, snap peas, radishes and perhaps some cilantro and more beets. If the plot is ready, the potatoes (red, yukon and boiling) and onions (red, white and green) will go in too. Mr Man though just can't wait to get the corn on the go. It's going to be a challenge to make him wait another 6 weeks for that.

It will be our first time growing sweet corn and I've decided to plant corn, pole beans and squash together as it was historically done. The corn acts as a support to the beans, the beans anchor, protect and feed the corn while the squash shades the ground for both. It can't hurt and it will maximize the space we have.

So far the garden plan includes the already mentioned veggies, plus carrots, bok choi, summer squash, bush beans, brussels sprouts, hot peppers and lots of herbs. Tomatoes, tomatillos and sweet peppers are yet to be decided. We still have a pantry full of last years tomatillo salsas. We also have a lot of tomatoes left from the bushel we had to buy when our crop was decimated by blight (as was most of southern Ontario's). It's the second year of four that we've had blight problems so I'm not sure I'm ready to sacrifice valuable garden space for the potential of nothing.

The tomatillos always do well for me but if I don't need any this year, is it, again, a good use of limited space? I think for tomatoes I may purchase a few plants to go in buckets near the house. We'll then have a few days worth of fresh to enjoy but not the pressure to produce enough for canning. Same for the tomatillos - four plants started from seed a few weeks from now should cover us this season.

Last year at this time we were still digging out. This year we're happily digging in.

And for the record, Lauren, unlike Roman, LOVES to get dirty. She had her crocs off in the herb garden and was dumping soil onto her bare toes (and head, and me) by the handful. In this, Roman might actually follow her example. It took a bit longer but eventually he too had his bare feet in the earth.

Doggie Days IV - The Final Frontier

2010-03-25T20:04:00.005-04:00

Though I guess in Star Trek land, that would be number five. I guess I could split this into "The Voyage Home" and then "The Final Frontier" but that just shows too much of my trekkie side.

The Reader's Digest Version

We decided we wanted a dog. We found a dog. She was exactly what we wanted and exactly what we expected. She was all Aussie and a sweet little thing - just the right size for Lauren and our house.
But I hated having a dog here. Loved it outside, liked playing, okay with the expected extra work.
Hated having this 'thing' in my space.
Cue melt down.
Three days later, dog, thankfully but regretfully, returned to the rescue organization.
Mind and emotions slooooowly returning to something resembling normal or at least their fragile pre-dog state.

Footnotes: It wouldn't have mattered what dog from what source at whatever age, nothing could have predicted how dark everything became for me. I feel horrible for all the effort everyone put into finding the match, making the journey work out, getting her to us... But it's best that she go back - that whatever dog we had go back - because she deserves the perfect home.

The Unabridged Version

We've been looking for the right Australian Shepherd since last August. We missed out on a few leading up to Christmas but finally found Cassie in February. Her foster mom and I spoke a number of times and Kevin and I decided Cassie was the Aussie we had been waiting for. She had been rescued out of Ohio and placed in care through ARPH which run by volunteers. They're all amazing and I had hopes of our home becoming a foster home once we were well grounded in Aussie mentality.

Cassie, complete with speckles and bright amber eyes.

I had visions of the kids and dog playing, of us running and riding together, of trips to parks and a dog sleeping in our room or on the kids' bed at night. Eventually there would be agility or flyball, stuff we could do, just the two of us. I envisioned having more time out and about on my own, without the kids but with Cassie. I knew there would be work - lots of work - and training - lots of training and even some costs - food, vet, travel, etc. But I never, ever, anticipated the introduction of a canine would be the darkest time I've ever been through.

This past Sunday my friend Sharilyn joined me on a road trip to Kingston. Miss Cassie was being fostered in Ottawa and the rep there made arrangements for us to meet three and a half hours away instead of six. We left at 6am with a stop at the 24 hour grocery store and Starbucks for fortifications. It's amazing how empty the 401 is that time of day, on a Sunday, at the end of March Break. Disconcerting even when you're going across the top of Toronto and suddenly find yourself the only car in the middle of 5 lanes. That was truly weird and a bit unsettling.

We arrived in Kingston just before 10 as arranged and had some time to meet another long time Aussie owner. Barb and her hubby were very generous and accommodating welcoming people they've never met into their home to pick up a dog they've never met. Meeting one of their dogs stopped me in my tracks. Wiley was HUGE! I though, "Oh crap! did I underestimate how big Cassie is? Uh oh. This is not going to be good." Thankfully when Cassie arrived, her 38 pounds was as I had envisioned. She was the smallest dog there and just perfect for Lauren to interact with.

After a brief stay, some walking and fussling, Sharilyn, Cassie and I headed home. It was a pretty uneventful voyage home with a few pee stops (for all three of us) and no whining, fussing or hurling (from any of us).

We arrived home around 3:30 to kids and hubby, waiting excitedly to meet Cassie. Everything went well. We went for a walk, did a tour of the property, had a romp and found a stick to chase. Everything was going just fine.

Until we brought her in the house.

It was like my soul had been invaded. I suddenly hated the entire idea in the "OMG, what have I done?" kind of way.

My anxiety level rose instantly and uncomfortably. It wasn't for any tangible reason like furniture chewing or hurting the kids but that somehow my space, my mental space, was no longer my own.

I thought that having a dog would brighten our lives, bring energy and excitement and instead I found myself in a place darker than an arctic circle mid-winter eclipse.

Two hours sleep for me that night would be a generous over estimation. It wasn`t Cassie`s fault. She whimpered in her crate but slept better than I did. Every whimper, every scratch of her claws on the crate or tinkle of her tags, made me cringe. I tossed and turned, fretted and worried, cried and felt helpless at trying to determine why or how I could possibly feel this way about a dog in our home.

Finally, around 4 am I declared to myself that she would have to go back. Every fibre of my being screamed that her staying was a mistake, that if she did, the only way I would survive would be on medication.

6:30 crawled around and I got out of bed to let Cassie out of her crate and outside to pee. We got Roman off to school and I took Cassie out for a run and a romp. She loved going out to the back lot and chasing her stick. Man was she FAST! This girl will do very well in FlyBall...

As soon as I could, I called our ARPH rep. She convinced me to give it time. That the things I was struggling with would pass with training and time. By the end of the call I was feeling better but as soon as we disconnected and I saw Little Miss, all I could think was "I want my house back."

We made it through the day but just barely. I spent the majority of it in tears. I did all that I could to make sure Cassie still had the attention, exercise and training she needed but it was tough. Kevin was amazing. We kept progressing with the hope that things would improve. They did with Cassie. She started to settle more, was very quick to learn not to go on the furniture, not to paw at us for attention and that Billie the Cat was not to be trifled with. Lauren was the best. "No Doggie. Stop!" she'd say with her little hand up in Cassie's face. "No Doggie! Down!" and Cassie would lie down...

Lauren - 31 " tall. Cassie - just right

All this was great but it didn't change my stress level. It didn't change this intrinsic need in me to escape. Monday was my turn to tuck Lauren in to bed. When she fell asleep, I didn't leave her room because I didn't want to be faced with this being in my home. I didn't want to have to give up what little I had left to yet another demand or give up what little peaceful time I have with Kevin worrying about whether she's having another accident in the basement because she wouldn't pee when we were out.

I was a prisoner in my own house. It was of my own making but still a prison. Or perhaps a padded room.

Kevin and I had a very frank conversation that night about what was going on. I wasn't sleeping, I couldn't eat, I certainly wasn't enjoying any aspect of having a dog and it was pushing me closer to the edge I was already visiting prior to her arrival. It was very revealing and generally unrelated to dogs at all.

It was decided that despite our intention to stick it out for a week, the things that were making it traumatic for me weren't going to go away. Struggling through the week would give the kids more time to get attached and make a return to ARPH harder for everyone. Our rep was amazing to make arrangements so quickly and Kevin returned Cassie to them on Wednesday morning.

I have huge regrets. I regret that we put everyone through SO much work to get her to us. I regret that we spent so much time and money to make it happen. I regret that it took actually having a dog here to find out I couldn't handle having a dog here. I regret not enjoying a moment of it. I regret missing three days of my children's lives because I was in the Pit of Despair.

But I do not regret having the experience as now it won't be repeated. I do not regret having my psyche turned inside out as I've learned what I've been suppressing and I do not regret the road trip with a most beautiful friend or the amazing people I've met along the way.

My younger sister, Hollie, was the first to put it in words that make sense to me. She said, "You don't have the psychological space for a dog. You have enough on your plate already but you needed to have a dog there to see it."

Cassie was beautiful. She was everything an Aussie should be right down to her obsession with wheels, her lightening speed and her ability to lie down in just the right spot to be half way between every member of the household. We were just not the right family for her. To fool myself into believing otherwise would have been harmful to her and to us.

First Official March Break Vacation

2010-03-23T19:17:00.010-04:00

Over March Break we took the kids to Deerhurst Resort for 4 nights. We had a time share suite which was nice since we could take our own food and not eat out for every meal.

No snow but the resort had a kid zone set up in one of the conference rooms complete with bouncy castle, floor hockey, mini putt, three wheeled scooters and little tykes climbers with slides.

Roman showed his blossoming independence riding a scooter all over, following carpet line "roads" paying no mind to other people or games in play. Lauren went up and down the slides over and over and even tried the mini trampolines "jump! jump! jump!"

Our two were two young for the pony rides but, in the tradition of child labour world wide, we could go and brush the horses. It was actually a great experience. Our kids love animals, and Lauren is currently quite horse-centric so even just watching them a while was enjoyable. We brushed some of the horses, pet the ponies and, while visiting some of the horses outside, everyone, including the horse, had a great laugh when an unexpected neigh from a particularly large stallion, right next to my head made me shriek and jump. The kids thought it was hilarious and the horse had quite a grin on his face.

That night we also tried dinner out at the resort restaurant. The service was great - they brought colouring for the kids and put their orders through while Kevin and I decided what we wanted. The daily pasta special was especially fine - linguini with duck breast and a demi-cream sauce with mushrooms and dried cranberries. O.M.G! Kevin felt the same way about the maple mousse he had for dessert. The kids of course finished quickly and Lauren ended up on my lap. She also decided my pasta was especially fine and helped herself to noodles, one at a time with sauce smeared all over her hands and face. She'd been up and gassy anyways so why deny her glorious food to avoid the hint of dairy she'd get?

We ran into friends we haven't seen since leaving Toronto. My friend Anna, who I grew up with, her husband and three kids were at the resort though for only one more night by the time we crossed paths. We had a "Door Knock Dinner" kind of lunch together at our suite and the kids all had a great time together what with our car load of toys and all.

If you ask Roman what his favourite thing about vacation was, he'll answer, "swimming!". He was amazing. The first time we went, surprisingly there wasn't any struggling or obstinance over wearing his life jacket. After at little time swimming while hanging on to one of us, he moved to a pool noodle and we were off. Lauren wasn't as content but by the end, she was kicking, splashing and smiling.

The second time trip to the pool, Roman decided half way through that he didn't want a pool noodle any more. Having left the pool with Lauren (it was chilly this time) she and I watched Roman chasing Kevin and having huge success building his confidence.

Another day we went on a maple sugar tour to learn how maple syrup is made. This was really the only disappointing portion of the trip for us. While it seemed to be marketed to families, and was quite expensive for the hour it was, the kids were bored silly. The information was way over their heads and there were no kid centric maple based activities. That reminds me, I need to email them with suggestions.. maybe next year it will be better.

While Lauren has returned to gassy sleepless nights regardless of being dairy free, the overall trip was a huge success. Limited squabbling, lots of quality family time, new experiences and a change of scenery. Four nights was enough (two of them were full of a howling little girl) but if we can get Lauren's insides figured out by next year (because surely we can figure something out in that much time??) we may stay longer. Even the full time share week. Maybe there will be snow next time too. Roman has already expressed an interest in skiing... "I'll have to take lessons" he says.

Corn!

2010-03-07T21:30:00.001-05:00

Garden planning time is creeping in. Hooray! The seeds are in stores and I know I need to pick up seed potatoes before I miss out again.

I asked Roman if he wanted to help me plan and what we should grow. He very quickly replied, "Corn! We should grow corn!"

We did agree last year that we would try some of our own this coming season. He's decided we should grow LOTS. In fact, he's fine if we grown nothing but corn.

The local market has AMAZING corn. They have a different variety ready every couple weeks during the season and for the past four years (and I know I'm jinxing myself here) it's been unbeatable.

That said, if Roman wants to grow corn, we will grow corn. He helps seed and sort of helps weed so it's all a good lesson for him.

Now I have to figure out the best place to plant it and still fit in everything else I want to grow!

Saying Good-bye

2010-02-16T17:18:00.003-05:00

Blue (1994 - 2010)

Cough cough bark bark

2010-02-02T18:42:00.002-05:00

With all the doctors we see for Lauren, you'd think we'd keep non doctor days all to ourselves. Not today. Today I hauled Roman off to the pediatrician to look into his nagging cough.

Remarkably, he's been relatively healthy regardless of being in JK. Last year while he attended pre-school two afternoons a week, he (and often we) were sick for months on end. This year he goes to school 2 or 3 days a week, all day with 18 other kids and this is the worst we've, I mean he's had.

Unfortunately it's lingering in the most annoying way. Constant dry coughs all day all night for the past 2 and half days. We even gave in and tried our usual cold medicine. I know. I'm one of those horrible parents who ignores the label change to not use on kids under 6 but we don't mix-and-match and the meds usually do help him. No luck today.

Our pediatrician is really quite wonderful and had time to fit us in on short notice this afternoon. And before you think I'm one of those moms who runs to the doctor every time there's a sniffle, let me tell you that in this case, it was take him to the doctor or throttle him to make the coughing stop. I figure one extra trip a year for him is the lesser of two evils.

I'm certain it's equally annoying for Roman but frequently throughout the day I wondered if he really has a cough or is just doing it to piss me off...

At any rate, we're stuck with it for a while. There's no sign of infection so likely it's a 'post viral irritation' or something to that effect. It may also be post nasal drip from Roman's still drippy nose but either way, it could be a couple weeks before it really clears up. Whatever it is it's post something.

At least he goes to school tomorrow. He can entertain Madame with it instead.

Rude meets rude

2010-01-12T14:19:00.003-05:00

We run a small business on our property. Nothing big but it pays the bills and we're pretty much at capacity.

Today I received a long distance call on the business number with the identi-call listing "SITEDUDE".

I answer in my proper office voice and have the person on the other end, also in business voice say "I found your listing online but see you don't have a website."

"That's correct. We don't have one because we don't need one." I say, a bit defensively, expecting this is a sales call. Realizing I could be incorrect, I continue with, "Well, are you calling about our services or to offer website services?" She huffily replies about a sister who's recently moved to our area and was looking for the service we provide. Based on this response, I know we're not suitable for her which I politely let her know.

She even more huffily replies, "Well I'd have known that if you had a website!" and hangs up on me.

Nice. Now I'm feeling like a heel cause I've pissed someone off but at the same time, she called from "SiteDude" and first thing she said was about a website. Not a question about the services etc, but SiteDude commenting on my lack of website. So yeah. Feel like a heel but perhaps she's just pissed cause I called her out??

I went so far as to call the number on my call display and sure enough, they offer website development services. Thankfully, before I had to extricate myself from the call somehow, the kids had an altercation complete with screaming. The lovely receptionist, who could very well be Miss Huffy, was very understanding as I scrambled to end the call...

An auspicious start

2010-01-02T10:32:00.002-05:00

2009 was a year fraught with technical difficulties. Literally. Our technology was a p.i.t.a. all year long. We had to replace two computers, NICs, wireless router, cable modem (twice), even the UPS they were all plugged into. And just because all that wasn't enough, the PVR died.

On New Year's Eve. Insert sound of object whistling as it falls from the sky and crashes with that wonderful "kablooogh"

Hubby, being the guy responsible for technical stuff, was definitely NOT in a celebratory mood. Did I mention that our NYE 'celebration' started with not ordering chinese takeout because it would take an hour to be ready and it was already 7pm? So we pulled out a pizza and cracked the beer. When the PVR gave it up hubby's appetite was gone and we simply sat, staring at the TV's blue screen of death waiting, hoping some delayed Christmas miracle would keep the PVR working long enough to watch the Air Farce New Year's special. Seems Christmas miracles are limited this year. Must be the recession.

Not being in the mood for a movie, we called it quits pretty early.

Lauren topped the night with an hour of inconsolable screaming starting around 9:30. Woo Hoo! Happy New Year to us.

Thankfully 2010 has started out much better than 2009 left.

The people at Shaw have actually taken our years of customer loyalty seriously (we started when they started as StarChoice...) and, having signed us up for a maintenance package, are actually sending us a new PVR free. Plus, they gave us the maintenance package at half the usual rate. It may be hard to find but I guess customer service isn't dead after all.

AND, the kids actually played nicely. All day. No major meltdowns. No memorable squabbles. The weather was beautiful with big flakes falling most of the day and Roman full of the funniest quips. It even continues today with Roman wanting to play with Lauren and read books to her. She was sitting on the edge of her bed with a book in her hands. Roman went in and asked if she'd like him to read it to her since he knows all the words. They then sat contentedly side by side looking at her books with Roman describing what was on each page of his.

So 2010 looks to be starting off respectably. Perhaps the technology gods will even smile upon us this year... at least once or twice...

Doggie Days - Take III

2009-12-19T09:02:00.003-05:00

We met the most wonderful puppy on Tuesday. We piled into the car early in the morning for an hour drive to meet Tetley. His foster mom welcomed us with coffee and juice while Tetley decided whether to come great us or not. With his big floppy ears and giant dark eyes, he was adorable peering down from the stair landing.

Eventually he made himself comfortable at the backdoor and let me rub his belly. After that it was kisses and business as usual.

He didn't really pay too much attention to Roman and Lauren except when Lauren had treats to give out. I was amazed at how gentle he was taking treats from her little hands especially for a 5 month old puppy.

After a suitable warm up time, we packed everyone up - Tetley and his foster mom in their car, the four of us back into the jeep - and off to the dog park we toodle. Tetley lit right up at the park. I'm not sure I've seen a puppy his age run so fast! The other dogs were all about the same size as Tetley and he was joyous to watch. As new people arrived he would check them out, give a little sniff hello and back into the fray.

When we came home, chilly but excited, we decided we would like to add Tetley to our family provided his foster mom didn't have any reservations about us as a suitable family.

While there weren't any concerns about us as adoptive parents there were some solid reminders about how much time Tetley was going to need because of his age. That, plus his energy level mean he's going to need a lot of outside time. All good. Until someone mentioned having a picture of how Tetley is going to fit into our lives.

I do have a picture. I've had a picture for a while now of how a dog will fit our daily routine. I also had a picture of how Lauren would fit into our lives. It was a crystal clear picture and it was shattered the day we brought her home.

I wasn't prepared to make that mistake again and took a really hard look at what I was proposing and wanting to do. I also had to pack the kids up to visit friends. It's a thing we do daily - socks, boots, coats, scarves, etc. But for some reason it took extra long and extra convincing and it was chill-ee.I realized with clarity that there were going to be a lot of days that taking Tetley out for the exercise he would need in the depths of frigid temperatures. It's one thing to subject myself to those temperatures, it's something else to haul a kindergartener and a toddler out when they'd rather be inside warm and toasty.

It was a hard thing to do but we decided that it would be best for us to wait and for Tetley to stay where he is or with another family that can give him the extra outside hours he would need. If this winter is like last winter someone would get hurt - either the kids with frostbite or the dog with not enough time outside.

As well, my instincts tell me that while Tetley would be a wonderful dog for our family, he's not the PERFECT dog for our family so we need to wait. It's frustrating and a bit sad but I need to listen to my gut on this. Next winter will be different. The kids will be that much older and we'll be that much more prepared.

I am certain that our aussie rescue rep will find the perfect pup for us. We missed out on a perfect girl a little while ago but I know that another one is out there for us if we're willing to be patient. You all know how much I looooove waiting.

Ho Ho Ho!

2009-12-09T20:07:00.003-05:00

Today is Roman's 4th birthday. Often he seems to big and grown up. While the boys were waiting for the bus this morning Roman looked so tiny.

He's been amazing today. He loved his presents, shared with Lauren, and was amazing in his JK/SK Christmas pageant.

He sang and did all the actions - far more than I ever expected from him. Madame deserves a medal. Have a look. It's not super quality simply to make it web friendly. I am as proud as I could possibly be. It's a good think Kevin didn't take pictures of me with the tears of pride streaming down my face.

Doggie Days - Take II

2009-12-05T20:02:00.004-05:00

In October we were approved by the Ontario Australian Shepherd rescue organization as a suitable home for an aussie. Our rep, Jane has been wonderful and has been watching for the perfect pooch for us. We're not set on colour, age or gender though I confess to being drawn to red tri's and only require that the dog be good with cats and children.

It seems that Jane may have found the perfect pooch for us. Actually, she did but there were two families in line for Gossip first and family number two adopted her last weekend. Hooray for Gossip. Boo for us.

There is a second red in Ottawa named Q who really drew my attention however making arrangements to meet her is proving unmanageable. A trip to and from Ottawa in a day to meet a dog that may or may not be right for us is, well, insane. I had considered, and suggested meeting the Ottawa rep half way but I think Q may actually be spoken for. Hooray for Q. Boo for me.

That all said, Jane has been hinting at a third pooch for us. An 18 week old puppy named Tetley. He's neutered, fully house trained, relatively cat oblivious and has, as yet, no adverse behaviour towards kids. He hasn't had a lot of exposure but according to Jane, and the books I've been reading, now is the time. If Jane had room for one more, she'd keep him for herself. With a recommendation like that, how can I say no to meeting him?

We're in touch with his foster family and will be meeting him the week after next. If we all fall in love, we'll be bringing home the week after Christmas.

Have a look ... I'm pretty sure we will all be falling in love.

The past two weeks, as captured on film

2009-11-15T19:02:00.013-05:00

It's been a busy two weeks.

October 30: For the Hallowe'en party at school, Roman was a cat. He wouldn't let me do whiskers and nose and I never saw his ears on but his teacher said it was 'not a problem'...

Lauren wears the cat ears... for just a moment.

October 31: Roman helps carve our jack-o-lantern by pushing/pulling my hand. It was a pretty neat cat when all was done. No kids came to our door but we had fun making him anyways.

Roman helps Papa rake and load leaves. Better enjoy it now. I'm sure we'll never see this sight when he's a teenager!

November 7: Playing together. What you can't hear is the radio blasting in the background while they bang on the piano. When I suggested, after a while, that perhaps we could turn it down, Roman said, "Well if it can't be loud then I guess we better turn it off" and he did.

November 8: On a beautiful November day, Roman helps Oma put outdoor Christmas lights up before spending an hour at the play park. Both kids when down slides on their own. Lauren even learned to get up the stairs i

November 12: Lauren has decided to be like Roman and use the big potty. I love how her little legs stick straight out. She's figuring out how to get off the potty again but down from the step stool is the next challenge.

November 14: "Painting" the deck. For many, this activity on a November day may not be unusual. Last year at this time snow covered this deck.

November 15 (today): At the local Santa Claus parade, Roman lights up with the approach of a big truck or tractor... or ambulance... or... It was colder than predicted but the kids had fun. Lauren was almost as excited as Roman by anything with wheels.

Parent teacher interview

2009-10-29T19:04:00.001-04:00

Monday was our first ever parent-teacher interview to discuss Roman's progress.

Overall, he's doing pretty well. Lots of M's for "Meets Expectations" and some A's for "Approaching Expectations". When it comes to learning based things he's Ms all the way but some of the social things, things that require independence or self sufficiency, things that require him to come out of his shell are all in the A category.

Madame (he's in French Immersion) gave a specific example where the class was playing music. All the kids were excited and all got rhythm sticks except Roman who simply watched. He was smiling and seemed to be enjoying himself, just not actually participating. This is how it's always been for him. He also gets all wiggly and weird when Madame has one on one teaching time with him.

All his academic stuff is an M - he can count to 12 in French and sing the alphabet song with some prompts. We clarified that the prompting is not because he needs help with his letters but that he's reluctant to sing.

We did, however, resolve the backpack issue. We bought Roman a crocodile shaped backpack - distinctive, rugged and just the right size for a small person. Often he's come home saying, "Madame says I need a bigger backpack". I'd say, "Tell Madame your backpack is just the right size for you." Turns out it's not actually the pack that's the issue, it's that Roman can't pack it himself. They have a notebook that goes back and forth every day, random projects and they're expected to put their lunch box in too. This all fits in Croco but only with adult help.

So we spent time Tuesday finding a good backpack for Roman. Turns out plain black that he can 'share with Mama' for ten bucks at Walmart does the trick. Not even cars are needed. He seems happy enough and he can do it himself.

Roman has also, according to Madame, improved a lot in attitude when facing moments of forced independence. Seems that in the early days, when he was faced with things like zipping up his coat he'd burst into tears. Madame described it as if he saw the task as this huge insurmountable ordeal. She's been coaching him that moments like that are not something to cry over but rather a time to ask for help. She says she can now see the wheels turning when he's faced with a challenge - I'm gonna cry.. oh... wait. I'll ask for help.

That, within two months of random school days, is certainly a significant improvement.

Halloween is tomorrow at school and he was going to be a dragon. Until he saw the costume we have. I think he didn't want to have to put it on himself. I suggested maybe he wanted to be a cat. That we could draw a nose and whiskers on his face and he'd be all set for the day. This was met with great enthusiasm.

Until I brought home the ears. Now he doesn't want anything to do with Halloween. Doesn't want to go to school. Doesn't want to wear the ears or even the black pants we bought so he could be the black cat he specified.

I'm beginning to suspect that it's anything that might draw attention to himself that makes him uncomfortable. Kevin says Roman sounds more and more like him. Grandma says so too.

The odd thing? He loves The Little Gym. He runs, he jumps, he does forward and backward rolls and never an issue. Most of the kids each week do the activities and fun play and he's always in the thick of it. He started at TLG in the summer so it predates school but I'm having a hard time figuring out what motivates him there that doesn't at school... other than it being one hour a week not 6 in a day...

It's hard to watch him grow up and not know how to bring him out of his shell. He seems to be enjoying things in his own way but how much MORE fun would he be having if he would just dive in there once in a while?

Doggie Days

2009-10-20T19:44:00.006-04:00

A few months ago we decided it was time to look at getting a dog.

Every few weeks I would peruse the 'Give or Donate" section of Kijiji just to see what was out there but we were never quite ready. Eventually we had 'the talk' and Kevin revealed he likes border collies but wasn't too keen on their reputation for being intense and overly active. Neither was I.

I can't remember how we got there but decided an Australian Shepherd would be a good option - smart, smaller, family oriented and cute as anything... oh and no big waggy tail to fwap my little one in the face! Yes. That's a technical term - fwap. Also spelled Phwap...

We decided to go through a rescue organization and filled out all the paperwork. Our vet check went well which was lucky. We don't have a current vet but our Toronto vet must have said all the right things. Of course we didn't have kids at the time so invested more money into our cats' care including more extreme measures for Blue than we might take now that they're 16 years old. Our references also checked out and, we finally had our home visit yesterday.

Jane brought her dog Ziggy who was beautiful and very well behaved. After just a few minutes of chit chat I asked Jane what she needed to see or know and she said, "Nothing. You're approved. Ziggy has approved so you're approved." Wow. Seems the biggest thing about the home visit is to see that we are who we say we are and that we have what we say we have. We said we owned our house, had a small business on the property and have some acreage including a good sized backyard. Since she could see all those things right away as well as how the kids were with Ziggy, it was all pretty quick. Ziggy seemed to appreciate the hedged area and took a little while before she was more willful and adventurous.

Lauren was happy and didn't mind the few face snuffles. Roman was non-committal. He smiled but, as is his usual way, with something and someone new in our space, he was more reserved.

Jane was generous with her time and spent an hour answering our questions about care, feeding, activities, etc. At one point Ziggy wandered off to explore. When she didn't come at Jane's call, I went to look for her. Ziggy had wandered through the garden and all the way out to barn three. She came right away when I called her and even sat at the gate when I told her to. I was impressed with her and a bit with myself. I felt calm and assertive and Ziggy responded appropriately. I can do this.

With winter coming so quickly we've decided to wait until spring to adopt any dog. I expect most of the work will fall to me, which is fine, but I'm not prepared to start walking a dog twice a day in the cold and dark. There were actually days when I thought the whole idea of a dog was out the window. Having spent time with Jane and Ziggy, I'm convinced an aussie is the right choice for us and going through the rescue is the best match. Jane knows we need a lower energy dog that is good with kids, senior cats, is house trained and is smaller in size to accommodate Lauren's slower growth. She also knows we need to wait til spring with the caveat that if the perfect dog comes along, we're happy to have it any time. We'll adjust. I'm still not sure sometimes whether I'm prepared for a dog but that's mostly at night when I'm tired and it's already dark. Other times, like today when it was warm and sunny, being outside to play would be enjoyable. We're not in a hurry which works to our benefit. Jane will be able to find the perfect pooch for us.

Roman's already said he'll help me feed the dog, brush its fur and play with it.

So now we wait til spring or till the perfect furry Ferrier comes along.

Catching up with the school boy

2009-09-30T19:40:00.004-04:00

With finally a night to do a bit of catching up, I wanted to share Roman's school progress.

He is amazing. I am very proud of my boy. People gave me grief when he was younger about how attached to me he was - my little velchro boy. Now, he's off into the world and loving it with never a look back.

His first day was an afternoon with only a few other kids in his class. His first words when I picked him up? Not "Hi Mama" but "They have a library!" No tears, no clutching, no fear.

The following Friday was his first full day and his first day getting picked up by the school bus.

At around 8:15 on school days, we head out to the end of the lane to wait for the bus. Roman loves to sit there and watch the cars, transport trucks, dump trucks, tractors, you-name-its drive by while we wait. Stephanie, the bus driver, turns the bus lights on quite far away which has been a big help. There is at least one other bus that goes by around the same time so the lights tell us it's our bus before we get up from the bench. The road is so busy that we really need to stay back until everyone is stopped. I'm hoping it's a habit that will stick with Roman for all the years to come.

None of this traffic and bus stuff phases Roman at all. If it has wheels, he's happy.

We cross the road, I give him a kiss, see him onto the first step and scoot back across the road before the bus lights and sign are done.

Picking up Roman after school results in huge hugs and "I missed you Mama! Can you take my coat/pack/whatever..." all in one breath.

He's already come home with a split lip (his assigned buddy clipped him with her foot while swinging on the monkey bars), scraped elbows and a cold. But this morning, after a week of no classes, he was very excited about the return to school. I asked him once if he's learning any French words. His response, "Not yet. I just listen." He'll get there. Kevin and I are trying to use French for counting, colours, any words we know, just to keep it in the day to day vocabulary.

Yesterday Roman was playing with some letter flash cards and kept asking me what the French words for each thing was. Beats me! I promised to get him so French flash cards instead. He's happy with that.

Today was another good day. He was happy, not too exhausted and ready to go to the public library on the way home then play outside before TV and dinner. It was also picture day and, given how he looked when I picked him up, I can only hope they did the JK photos BEFORE the first nutrition break!

Our website is launched!

2009-09-22T19:00:00.002-04:00

For the past couple months, my attention has been elsewhere - besides my garden, Roman and the various combinations thereof. It's been in the midst of developing a website about Noonan Syndrome.

Our daughter Lauren was born with this genetic condition and the online resources are scarce, often overwhelming and mind numbingly technical.

It's at www.thesweetone.ca

It will evolve over time with a new design already on the way.

The loss of innocence

2009-09-12T18:52:00.004-04:00

This week has been full of emotional turmoil, wailing, gnashing and general misery... not to mention how the kids have been...

Garden wise, the tomatoes are gone. The whole patch. Big Boys, plums, brandywine. All of it. All except my tomatilloes but they are resilient little buggers thank goodness. Late blight got them all. The crop was huge too. We put them all in so I could can to my heart's content and have 'fresh' tomatoes all winter long. Alas, it was not to be. In looking back, I'm pretty sure I've had this problem every year but I'm only now cluing in. Actually, last year we didn't but we didn't have the right weather to have anything ripen enough before the heavy frosts set in.

Anyways, the patch was pulled up coinciding with hubby's trip to the municipal dump.

The rest of the turmoil surrounds family members. Roman started JK this week. Wednesday was a half day, Friday his first full day including bus pick up in the morning. I'm both tremendously proud and horribly terrified. My little boy is growing up and I, his mother, sent him off into the world on a bus with some woman whose name I don't even know. She, the bus driver, seemed warm and genuine in the few moments we interacted and her demeanour reassured me and gave me confidence that Roman would indeed be well taken care of. He also knows the children from another family on the bus including a girl in his class so they sat together. He sat in the seat and waved to me out the window as they drove away. I stood on the side of the road, tears running down my face as I waited for the traffic to clear. It's the first time I've been grateful for how busy our road actually is. Waiting for the traffic jam to clear gave time for an attempted collection of thoughts and emotions before returning to the house.

Articles targeted to parents in my situation suggest planning something special for yourself the first day your child goes to school. I expect it's an attempt to distract you and perhaps to give the whole day a more positive spin. Alas, the special planning for us was taken care of by the GI specialist at McMaster having an opening to see Lauren but more on that in the other blog...

School seems to be a huge hit with Roman. There's been no huge episodes, no crying, no wanting to go home that we've heard about. He talks about the toys he plays with and a bit about the activities. When we picked him up from his first afternoon, the first thing he said to me was not, "Hi Mama" or "we played with trucks" or anything I would expect. No. His first words to me were "there's a library here!" I'll have to remember to tell Trudy our local librarian about that...

Meanwhile, because worrying about my kindergartener and toddler aren't enough, one of our 16 year old kitties is nearing the end of her nine lives. I struggle internally with the decision surrounding her care. She doesn't appear to be in pain but she's never been one to complain. I know it's terminal but I can't bear the thought of hauling her off to town for a traumatic car ride to some place she's never been and never to return from. At least here, it's what she knows, her people are here and we spend our evenings together with Billie sitting/snoozing on my lap. And so we wait. I will be heartbroken when she's gone but also know it's what happens to pets and that it is what is necessary. Every night when I give her a kiss I tell her to do what she has to do and not to stay on our behalf. To those of you without pets, I sound like a quack. To the rest of you, I know you know.

Tomorrow is another day. At least the worries about buses, adjustment to school and Lauren's GI appointment have passed. Only the anticipate of heartbreak remains.

The countdown begins

2009-09-06T20:41:00.003-04:00

Roman starts school this week - Wednesday afternoon then all day Friday. Starting next week, he'll go every Monday and Wednesday and random Fridays. My stomach does flips thinking about it even now, four days away. I'm trying very hard not to project how I feel about it to him or to show in the faintest how I'm feeling about it.

I want him to be excited. I want him to be thrilled about going, thrilled about being there and thrilled to be learning.

I cringe inwardly to think of him climbing on the school bus and being off into the world without me. He's not yet four. He's smart, he's adorable but he's also reserved.

Starting school is the beginning of so many things for him and for me but it awakens so many fears as his mother. Will he be happy? Will he succeed? Will he be safe? Who will look out for him? Who will befriend him? Will he be strong or will he be a pushover? Will he remember to tell me everything? ...

I want him to have everything, be everything, do everything and be proud of himself.

And I have to remember that he's not even four years old. Off to independence and he's not even four.

Perhaps it's moments like these that will remind me... Who knew you could have so much fun with bloomers.

To the Zoo Zoo Zoo Zoo

2009-08-20T20:40:00.003-04:00

Last Friday we went to a little zoo about an hour away. It was wonderful for the kids. Just big enough to spend a few hours and see plenty but not so large as to drive them to exhaustion.

The zoo has a Noah's Ark of animals - two of these and two of those... bears, zebras, cougars, lions, coatis, baboons, lemurs... all very cool.

They also had a Creature Showcase where animals were introduced to a hoard of children. The staff taught the kids about each animal and they all had a chance to touch most of them including an alligator and a cougar cub.

Roman jumped up to touch each one and was enraptured by the whole thing. I was so proud of him. He often watches these things intently but doesn't get involved. This time he showed how much he's growing and coming out of his shell.

The summer of our discount-tent

2009-08-01T20:12:00.005-04:00

Thursday, July 23rd

Thursday we went on a family adventure. Camping for three nights at a provincial park with Oma and Opa.

It was wonderful. It had its moments of difficulty but overall was a wonderful trip and not long enough.

When we left home Thursday it was raining. It was an auspicious start but the weather forecast for our destination was encouraging. We expected more rain but Friday was destined to be warm and sunny.

Lauren fell asleep almost instantly in the car. It was, as planned, her nap time. She woke up just in time for lunch about 45 minutes from later.

As much as I'd like to say we had lunch in some little diner somewhere off the beaten path, we didn't. We had Wendy's. Thankfully there was a spot open we could drive straight into with the Jeep and cargo trailer! As I carried Lauren into the restaurant I said we were going to have french fries for lunch. She smiled, made her happy noise and said, "Ketchup!" Yes. With Ketchup. Mama replied. I also asked if she wanted some Frosty. Again, a big smile and a very happy noise complete with emphatic bounce.

Eventually we were back on the road with Tim Horton's in hand. I know. Not REAL coffee but it was there and had caffeine in it. It was now my turn to drive which Roman proudly proclaimed, "I asked Mama to drive now.." which indeed he had while Papa was getting the coffee...

Within minutes, Roman was snoring in the back and Lauren happy to chatter and watch the world go by.

We arrived at the campground to find Oma and Opa mostly set up. I very smoothly backed our trailer into the site. It wasn't exactly where I wanted it but, for anyone who's driven with a trailer knows, backing up the first time is a bit intimidating. I was thrilled when my dad - the guy responsible for teaching me to drive stick in the first place - said I did a respectable job backing up. See me grinning? Still makes me happy. Guess girls never outgrow loving kudos from their dad.

The tent was soon up on soggy ground and the kids happy to snack and play.

Surprisingly, the first night was relatively calm considering all four of us were in one big tent. A seriously big tent. Not our ideal tent but affordable. And did I mention that it's big? Lauren settled at her usual time and Roman asked to go to bed at his. We should've known better. He had napped. He needed to stay up later but instead, we put him to bed only to have him toss and turn for almost two hours... When he finally crashed, it was just in time for us to go to bed too.

Oddly, Lauren slept nearly the whole night through with only a few little chirps. Guess Wendy's agrees with her.

Friday, July 24th

Our morning started far to bright and far too early at 10 to 6. My mom (half?) jokingly pointed out that the campground rules firmly state that quiet hours are from 11pm to 8am.

Things had a chance to dry out a bit more and we were adopted by a kitten. I was sitting with the kids, drinking my coffee-pressed Italian blend Starbucks. That batch of coffee was not quite what we expected - first time out of the box with the press, one scoop too many grounds and half a cup too little water. Woo! We could've staked the tent in it! Cousins were also camping on the grounds and had found a nest of cat birds in one of the trees. Hearing faint meows, I commented to Roman that cat birds really were aptly named. Sure they are but even more so when a tiny 6 week old kitten comes creeping into the camp site.

The comments on 'not feeding a stray' or 'don't get too attached' were promptly silenced when everyone saw how tiny and how cute she was. Soon a name was pronounced - Purwell. Next she was fed - left over cereal milk. When lightly chastised for feeding a stray, I stated what would become our cat feeding theme, "It was going to be thrown out anyways." Hours later, after we thought she'd moved on, Purwell reappeared out of the engine of my parents SUV. Seems it must have been a nice warm place to nap.

The day warmed up enough for us to spend time at the beach which is one of my favourite places on the planet. The beach is very long, very deep and the water shallow for quite a ways making it relatively warm for such a large body of water. There was enough breeze to keep us cool but not enough to tear away the umbrella.

It was amazing. In retrospect, I don't think I spent enough time just watching Lauren and Roman. I don't mean 'watching' in the supervisory way but 'watching' in the enjoying, relishing, absorbing way.

Roman spent most of the time sitting on a ledge of sand, moving it with his roller and bulldozer. First with Oma, then with Opa.

Lauren loved the water. She squealed and giggled when she got wet. She stood and watched the waves at her feet wash the sand out. She reached down and splashed. Oh if only I could do it again and stretch out the time. Watch it all again in slow motion. Hear the giggles, the waves, smell the water and the sun on her head.

Roman eventually went in the water but admitted it was a bit freaky not being able to see the other side. He was just getting into it and ready to play with a pool noodle when a wave took him completely off his feet. That was it for the water but lead to beautiful moments with Oma.

We kept Roman up that evening to watch for fireflies and stars. Alas, not too many fireflies but one very courageous raccoon. It crept right under our chairs looking for nibbly bits. Roman has a zebra flashlight that makes a fun noise. He kept using it to see the raccoon and consequently, scaring it off. At bedtime, he decided Opa should have his zebra flashlight to keep the raccoons away.

Saturday, July 25th

Saturday was another early start but the coffee was much better this time around. Lauren had her usual two or three breakfasts, we went for walks, Roman rode his bike and we putzed around until mid afternoon when the rain drove us 'indoors'. We gave Roman a Leapster with a Diego game that absorbed him for an hour and a half before finally being induced to sleep. Lauren had a second nap falling asleep in my arms on a lounge chair sheltered under a tarp, lulled by the falling rain. That was a wonderful hour for me. Both children sleeping, one content in my bed, the other content in my arms.

Dinner was shared with all the cousins in an impromptu pot luck affair. Anything anyone had in quantity that could be shared was and we had a wonderful feast.

Uncle Mark (my brother-in-law) and Kevin went to the local village and purchased fresh pickerel to fry for the meal. It was amazing and Lauren LOVED it. One bite and "Yummm" she says. Three portions later I think she finally had enough. Meanwhile Roman thoroughly enjoyed a hamburger with far too much mustard. What can I say? My kids love flavour.

It was another late night for all as Lauren was fussy and Roman had napped. When we finally all crashed around 9:30, it was amidst torrential rains. Kevin and I had the same thought at the same time, "It's so loud I won't hear Lauren right beside me. Guess we don't have to worry about someone a campsite away!"

Sunday, July 26th

The morning was clear of rain clouds and we could pack up our gear in relative dryness. The kids spent the morning eating, playing and reading with Oma and Opa while Kevin and I gathered, sorted and packed everything for the ride home. Purwell stayed behind with Oma and Opa and we hit the road around 11.

It was a quiet drive with both kids promptly falling asleep and staying that way for most of the drive. We picked up pizza on the way through town, started to unload the trailer and threw a soggy load in the washing machine.

Just in time for a thunderstorm to roll through and take out the power for the next 6 hours.

There was electricity for the laundry being done and no running water for Lauren's much needed bath. Everything came to a standstill.

By 10pm, when we were all in bed, all was back to relative normal. We discovered the next morning that whatever took out the power also fried our modem, wireless router, network cards, UPS and, oddly, the timer for the fish pond pump. Zap! All toasted.

It's taken a week for life to get back to normal. The trailer is finally out of the garage and gear stowed.

Just in time for the next camping trip.

Progress... finally some progress!

2009-07-16T19:13:00.003-04:00

We are very excited to report that the last big rain we had influenced a great deal of growth in our garden.

Yesterday we discovered tomatoes starting - one on our 'surprise me' plant and one on the plum. The green onions are almost ready for their first harvest and we've finally had a few snap peas. Unfortunately they were overcooked at dinner time but at least there are more on the way!

For reference, the 'surprise me' plant mentioned above is one my mother picked out for me. I wasn't going to make it to our preferred greenhouse for plants so Mom was wonderful and took my list, and my sister out to get what I needed. Included in the list were plum tomatoes, globe tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes and one "Surprise Me" which she could have her pick. I had her take out the tag and but to let me know if it would need to be staked. Hooray for the mystery plant coming to fruit first!

Meanwhile, there are also tomatilloes coming on in droves. Phew! I despaired while the plants remained so small. No need now.

In Roman's words, "Hey! We can eat them soon!!" Hope he's not too disappointed that soon is probably three or four weeks away at the earliest.

I'm not sure what happened with the carrots though. Hardly any have come up in either the second or third planting. Sigh. We are simply going to have to savour the few we have.

Notes for next year: more tomato plants. They look like too many on paper but when it comes to canning time I'm going to wish it was the only thing we planted in the garden!

Oh Chute!

2009-07-05T19:47:00.002-04:00

We're starting to plan for our family camping trip. This generally involves me making list upon list of things to take, eat, do, etc. Friday night Kevin and I discussed the idea of taking some board games for those moments when sitting still for a while might be good for all of us.

Saturday thus included a trip to Walmart, or "All-mart" as Kevin calls it, to consider the offerings. Home we come with Chutes and Ladders. Gone are the serpents of yesteryear, enter the chutes. Still the same premise only now funky blue ladders and zippy bright slides. Roman recognized what they were right away. Guess that's part of the appeal.

And Roman LOVES it. Loves it loves it loves it. He waits his turn, spins the spinner, counts the squares and we all celebrate whomever wins.

The funniest part is how he just can't sit still while he plays. He does hand stands and hops around like a frog, and all the while he's facing the board with his back end and legs flying around like an old truck on gravel.

He's happy. Deliriously happy.

Me too.

Everything's coming up... potatoes!

2009-07-01T19:17:00.005-04:00

Phew! Finally more potatoes! All but one red potato spud is showing its green and I expect that last one will pop up soon too. The russets are more reluctant but the original three are big enough for hilling up and three more are finally showing leaves above their little mounds.

Roman calls them french fry potatoes. Good to know he has his priorities.

Now that the beans have additional sets of leaves they're looking more promising

and my tomatilloes, though shorter than previous years, are starting to bloom.

Even an onion has a seed head. Not ideal but at least its growing vigorously.

The pear tree seems to be in trouble with a lot of the fruits shriveling to blackened nubs. We've only lived here four years and until last summer, I didn't care about the pear tree. Couldn't figure it out - when to harvest, what they were, and so on. Last year we mastered it knowing its a Clapp's Favourite made a difference. Now that we've canned some and been able to enjoy them on and off season, I'm anxious to see how many survive whatever this is. I'm sure we'll figure it out and I'm sure it's nothing we could've prevented...

Roman loves to see the pears growing and often explains how the pears grow from the flowers after the bees have eaten them.

Roman however had a bit of a tough day today. I think he misses the routine of school two afternoons a week. We've started a Tuesday morning gym programme though and he loves it! Laughing, giggling, running, jumping, smiling for an hour. It was amazing to watch.

He's changed so much this year and preschool has been instrumental. He's not as hesitant in new situations or quite as fearful of meeting new people so long as I send him off with a kiss and a reassuring, "I'll be right here..."

I'm looking forward to September and getting him to JK. He already talks about his new school, new friends and new toys to play with. He loves to learn and we're working through phonics. I'm sure it's the fear every parent has but I really hope he finds good new friends quickly. I'm not worried about him academically - besides, it's only JK - but I do ponder what kind of boy he'll become. Will he be a leader? Be strong in his opinions or remain a follower. Be kind and gentle or become a bully to children smaller than he is like he is with his sister. Guess we wait and see and do our best to shape him into a strong, gentle, smart boy.

Things are climbing

2009-06-28T09:36:00.001-04:00

Heat, rain, the threat of hail.. and that's just with Roman.

We covered the heirloom tomatoes for a few hours this week when the weather network posted a warning for golf ball sized hail. Of course this meant there was lots of gentle rain but we'll take it.

The beans are finally getting leaves tall enough to escape the slugs and 7 of my 9 red potato plants are showing leaves. The russets are still contemplating and I'm not sure when to give up hope. I could use the space to grow more lettuce if I knew they weren't ever going to come up.

The carrots that have been reseeded are also hiding. Maybe they ended up too deep? Learning for next year I guess.

My garden helper is always ready to go with me to see where things are at. He loves the lettuce and will be happier when the spicy mix is gone. I think he's looking forward to harvesting pretty much anything. Today he helped shell peas we bought at a local market though I had to get the pods open for him.

He's been more adventurous with food lately. He'll have a bite of something I'm having or, if he sees me feed it to Lauren, insist on having his own portion. He ate everything as a baby and toddler but became more selective when wanting to take more personal control. One of his current things is to say that he'll have his own 'next time' we have it. We try to remember to have that food again the next week just in case. Things like tacos, burritos, pasta casseroles, pancakes... things he used to eat without question.

Every once in a while he does truly sweet things. He tried a fresh pea then picked a nice one out of the bowl and fed it to Lauren. If it wouldn't have caused her a horrendous amount of gas pains later tonight I'd have let her have it. As it was she spit it back out unchewed - probably too foreign a texture. Roman said if he liked it, maybe Lauren would too. Of course he then proceeds to knock her over or do something equally obnoxious just to push my buttons.

One has to give him credit though. He's doing great with potty training! Today he went three times on his own. We've implemented a new penny programme - every time he goes to the bathroom on his own and finishes with washing his hands, he gets a penny. When he gets a certain amount, we'll go buy a new piece for his Thomas trains. Night time he does well if he doesn't drink too much. He can do it... he just needs to choose too.

Busy busy bee

2009-06-18T19:44:00.002-04:00

This has been a very busy and very exciting week for Roman. Our garden is moving along nicely though something is eating the bean leaves. Monday I spread straw over every bare patch to help control the weeds and keep the ground moist and cool. Roman spent most of the time playing in his sand box but when it came time to water, he was right in there. There's something about hoses and spraying water that my son can't resist.

Tuesday was Roman's last day at pre-school. It's a co-op school and our day to bring snack. Bringing the snack means you're also the busy bee. I'm sure it was more significant to me than to Roman to be the busy bee on the last day. The teachers loved his Show and Tell scrapbook page about the garden. They didn't realize we lived in the country and had lots of space for such things. Even more fun for the kids though was gym time outside where they could see the garbage truck empty four giant recycling bins. To clarify, the class has 8 boys in it. You can imagine the excitement over a garbage truck!

Yesterday was Roman's "No More Diapers" day party. We were having trouble transitioning into underwear. One day while encouraging Roman to take a potty break I was told, "No. I'm just going to pee in my diaper." Ah ha! So. Convenience is the issue. I suggested that his last day of school would be his last day of diapers and he agreed. A week later interest started to wane so I suggested a party on his first day of no diapers. This was a hit. The first thing he asked was whether we could have cupcakes and put bumble bees and ladybugs on them (which his sister had for her birthday in February). We finally decided on bumble bees and dragonflies...

The party was a success with just a few important guests and included throwing out his remaining pull-ups. We still have to work on nighttime dryness but he has been amazing. In the last two days he's really made the connection and has asked for potty time almost as often as I've suggested it. Hooray!!

Today was yet another busy day with the pre-school year end party at a local park. The park has a carousel and train which the school booked for one hour. Roman loves trains. He's pretty excited about horses too but the train topped the carousel. Three rides on one and two on the other.

Harvest wise, we had greens from our garden tonight for supper. Very nice to have them fresh - just cut and eat! Note for next year though, we don't need to plant the Spicy Italian Blend of mesclin mix. Phew! That stuff is peppery. I love flavour but it gets a might overwhelming. We were careful to give Roman only the mildest leaves and he ate all he could, dipping each leaf liberally in ranch dressing.

Potato Patch

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They're there! Today there are finally potato plants showing - three of them. This leaves at least another 12 russet plants to show their little green heads and another 8 or 9 red potato plants but hooray for the promise of something more!

Everything else is doing well too though the carrots continue to struggle having been eaten last week. The fence is holding and new rows have been seeded.

Roman has his last day of preschool this week. He's the 'busy-bee' which means it's a special day for him and he's to bring something for show-and-tell. We took pictures of him in the garden and created a scrapbook page including these photos. It's amazing how much he loves to help. When we were planting he would dig holds, insert seedlings, broadcast seeds for the lettuces and pop pea and bean seeds into their little holes. The squash was fun too having him count out 6 seeds for each hill.

He is such a cutie. It's so hard to believe he's only 3 1/2...

Roman with our garden sign

Our main garden - tomatoes, tomatillos, peas, onions, carrots, peppers, celeriac, beans, greens, squash and potatoes!

The Grass Really is Greener...

2009-06-12T12:14:00.000-04:00

We started our garden gradually - peas in one day, onions the next, spinach and lettuce soon after.

Now we have tomatoes, tomatillos and peppers growing plus celeriac, beans, squash and carrots.

Our potatoes though have yet to show a peep. Our neighbour's potatoes are coming up green and promising. Taunting me.

Turns out it's not actually the grass that's greener, it's the potato patch!