Coming and Going.....

We had an adventure today - Naomi and I went to the Ottawa Airport.

Naomi was very fashionably dressed in her ballerina dress over t-shirt and capris. (You know you're an Oma when . . .)

While at the airport, we went upstairs and downstairs, using the "elevator" stairs of course, watched where the baggage rolls down to be loaded on to the plane, saw a magazine with a cow on it, received a colouring book about the airport, watched the activity outside, saw a couple of planes just like the one Naomi flew in with Uncle Martin, saw a waterfall INSIDE the building, checked the arrivals sign board a few times, and then . . .

Uncle Michael arrived!!

Voila!

We flipped over the stones today, and I removed the leaves and veins from the grooves. They turned out quite well! I discovered the reason for working on sand: the plastic should be pulled up around the edges to round them and then the sand should be piled up against the edges to hold the cement in place. I also discovered that the cement should not be applied right to the edges because it will seep underneath. But for the first try at this, I'm impressed with our handiwork!

Birthday Fun!

Sunday was a busy but wonderful day. Both sets of parents, Stevin and Katrina and their girls, and Mark and Tanya and their crew, all joined us for the afternoon. We had baked potatoes and barbecued sausages and salad for lunch, and of course cake and ice cream made their appearance and disappearance as well!


Shannon and Naomi enjoyed dressing up, hiking down to the lake, and also provided us with background music . . . .



Petra found a new friend!




Devin and Brent kept busy with biking, hockey, eating and running around as they usually do, and Lisa waited a long time for her cup of afternoon tea!

I have been wanting to make rhubarb leaf stepping stones, and now that Stevin and Katrina have 2 huge rhubarb plants in their new garden, we'll be making several! On this sunny, Sunday afternoon, they surprised me with bringing the materials for the first three! This picture shows us putting on gloves in preparation for handling the cement.

All in all - a very satisfying sort of day!

The Colour of Spring is Joy

So how would you describe the colour of spring? I think I would say it's the colour of joy.

Last week Tuesday, I took my parents into Ottawa to look and marvel at the blooming city. The daffodils were done, the lilacs were just beginning to open up, the cherry trees were just coming into their peak, the apple trees were at their best and so were the tulips.

We stopped in at the Arboretum, and then the Gardens at the Experimental Farm. It's amazing how many shades of green there are! Spring certainly makes up for the lack of colour in winter. Although, if you really look, there are many shades of grey in winter!

I have seen magnolia bushes and trees in bloom in Georgia, and I think they are quite beautiful. I would really like to try growing one in my yard.

This is my favourite photo of the day. I would like THIS variety of magnolia in my garden!

This past holiday Monday, Mom G., Grace and I visited an English style country garden a couple of concessions over from here. Talk about a riot of colour! Smatterings of different tulips and daffodils mixed in with many other spring-blooming plants! This garden also had a couple of magnolia bushes, as well as a magnolia tree. This means that magnolias are definitely in my plans!

season of . . . . .

It's a beautiful sunny day out there, today! We have spring again: tulips and forget-me-nots and grape hyacinths and dandelions and lilacs are all showing off their beauty.
With the advent of a new season, our family is now in an advent season too. This Oma will have a new little one to cuddle in November! Martin and Emily are expecting!
Along with getting ready for a new baby, there will be a lot of changes going on in our family: Martin and Emily have possession of their new house and are planning an extensive renovation in order to "flip that house"; Stevin and Katrina are moving this week and will do renovations, as well, in order to "flip that house"; David and Stephanie are moving at the end of the month into her parents' basement in order to save up a couple of months for their move sometime this summer: but Michael is still out in Alberta - although Laura is moving to Calgary in June!
As one of my friends stated: I certainly have nomadic kids!

springtime

One of my favourite things to do is gardening. Last fall, I started making a new one - David and Steph were here on Labour Day weekend, and they were enlisted! Now I am anxiously waiting for the transplants to come up. I'm happy to say that I see most! Anything else will be a surprise!

The soil is loose enough to work in, and I've done some adjusting along the property line. Our neighbours are moving, so it's a good thing to pull in now rather than adjust afterwards! I also have put Martin and Emily's birdbath into a place visible from the kitchen window - it sure looks nice there. I'll either have to move my birdbath or buy another one when they claim their's for their new house!

One of the new bulbs I planted last fall were these "scilla" - otherwise known as English Bluebells. They are a very pretty blue colour, and although there are only 6 of them this year, they present a bright note of cheer.

sweet spring

I had hoped to make regular posts, but time has simply flown by! Easter came and went, and houses were bought and sold....Never a dull moment!

John and I tapped a few maple trees a week and a bit ago, for the first time in several years! There's nothing like the smell of syrup as it bubbles in the pan. So far, I have bottled 13 pint jars of really nice clear, light amber syrup. The flow has really slowed down with the coming of higher temperatures, indicating the end of syrup making with darker syrup, but the colour of the last bottling is still light amber. So sweet!

Oma's Pleasures

~Naomi's chattering as she plays with the Fisher-Price house and family
~Petra's baby babbling and her smile of recognition when she saw us again
~at the end of the day, after everyone's left: finding a sleeping "baby" (doll) in the laundry basket

Time

As I watch the list of other blogspots grow, I think it's about time to add mine! I'm not sure what I will write about, but life is always full and every day is ALWAYS a new Adventure!

for instance: Stevin and Katrina and the girls decided to spend the night here last night, while on the way to Finch to go househunting. I knew that they would likely stop in Sunday on their way home, so was going to do a gradual housecleaning before then. It's amazing how little housework I actually do, now that I am usually alone!

Well, John called at about 3pm to say that he had just spoken with Stevin who was just then going down the 400 through The Marsh, and would be arriving around 7pm. Talk about going into fast motion! I quickly got myself into town for a few groceries and then did a very quick tidying before they arrived about 8pm.

The two little ones are so much fun, and I look forward to having them live closer by; I thoroughly enjoy being an Oma! They each have their own special dishes and cups, Naomi feels free to find the toys and knows where to find her favourite books. Stevin, Katrina and Petra usually have our room, while we sleep on the warm floor downstairs. Naomi enjoys taking the "bed apart" in the morning!

She puts all the bedding into a pile and then usually lies on the airmattress to help remove the air.

This morning Petra found a new way to play with water: Katrina used the spray bottle to wet Naomi's hair to brush into pigtails. Petra picked up the bottle and of course put the nozzle into her mouth. She was surprised with the first spray I put into her mouth, but then looked for more!