Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go to MEXICO!

SO COOL! It's a boy! Those black oval-shaped things on the lower wings are his "boy parts". They were both boys. We released them into the garden and Kira, Hanna and Griffin danced and sang, "Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go to Mexico!"

Waiting for wings!

Princess Flower

And Tiny

Do you see the changes from last week's photos? The pattern of monarch wings can be seen through the coccoon. It can't be too much longer...

Update on the girl's project

Today's the day. Last night we noticed that Princess Flower was on the lid of the bucket, Tiny was still busy eating. But throughout the day Tiny followed suit and attached himself to the ventilation screen on the lid.

Here's a close up of the tiny hairlike fibres that Tiny is attaching to the screen.
Now he's into position.

Time elapsed. Okay, really it is Princess Flower's coccoon (with Tiny getting ready in the background).

The Cat is out of the Bag, er the Barn.

Introducing the newest resident of our homestead....WICKET.


Wicket is a 1 year old neutered male long-haired black cat. He is very affectionate, but I've been told he's a stealth hunter too. He is our city-turned-country version of a barncat. He lived with a young family in the city, but he loves being outside. His second owner decided that her home was too close to a busy road and he refused to stay in her house.

We picked him up a week and a half ago. Today was his first day outside and he has been wonderful all day. Every time one of us goes outside, he comes running over to rub against our legs. He even rubs against the dogs legs. And a few of the young pullets have hopped out of their yard and are running loose and he hasn't shown any signs of hunting them. He is still afraid of the goats, but he is getting used to the turkeys.

He's still settling in, but so far things are going great.

Update on the girl's project

One week later, the caterpillars have definitely grown!

Something the girlies are doing right now...

The is our second experience of hatching a monarch butterfly. The first time we hatched "Queenie" and released her the day we got home from Wawa. We have grown milkweed in our front garden to attract butterflies there (there are millions of milkweed plants growing out back). We collected 2 leaves with tiny white eggs and within a few days these little caterpillars emerged. The girls feed "Princess Flower" and "Tiny" fresh milkweed leaves every day.

The night before we left for Wawa, I watched a beautiful movie called "Four Wings and a Prayer" about the life of Monarch Butterflies. We thought it was kind of cool to be witnessing "Queenie" and her transformation, but after seeing this movie, the experience took on even more meaning.

Stay tuned for updates...

In the neighbourhood

While we were away on vacation, Patrick's friend's grandfather left a message on our machine. He told us that he had a new foal and he wanted to know if the kids wanted to come and see him. Redundant question. So we called him back and after lunch we got in the car and headed over (He lives 2 roads over from us). These are Haflingers that are trained to pull wagons. G uses them in parades, and gives rides either for free or he sometimes does it as a fundraiser for charities. Earlier in the summer, G was nice enough to take us out in a wagon pulled by 2 of his other haflingers.

The girls picked weed flowers and put them in the colt's halter.


Griffin had no fear. After looking at the mare and colt, we went to the cattle barn, where G has retired dairy cows on one side and beef cattle on the other side. Griffin tried to climb in with them. He had his hand outreached to them to pet them and he was so disappointed when they backed away from him. G grabbed a dairy cow and brought her close enough for him to pet and he was happy.

Summer cooking

Roadside

On the road to Steep Hill Falls in Wawa, we saw this young bear.

He continued to eat for a few minues.

Finally he decided to head for the trees.

Oatmeal Apple Crisp

I am here at the cottage. When we come up here, we usually bring lots of early apples from our trees. We give some away to people we know, the kids eat a bunch of them on the drive down, but inevitably we end up with extra apples that start to go bad by the second week here. I use a few different recipes for Apple Crisp, and tonight I used the following version and it was scrumptious. Good comfort food on a foggy day.

I don't have a copy of it at home, so I thought I would post it here so I don't ever lose it again. I can always search for it.

Oatmeal Apple Crisp
Serves 8 (I make a double recipe as we have usually have 10 or more to feed)

Topping
1 cup Oatmeal
1/3 cup flour
3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup melted butter or margarine

Apple Mixture
5 peeled and sliced large cooking apples
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).
Topping: In bowl, combine oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, and salt. Stir in melted butter until crumbly. Set aside.

Apple Mixture: Place apples, in greased 9 inch (2L) square pan (When I double it, I use a 9X13 casserole). Sprinkle lemon juice and brown sugar.

Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over apples.

Bake 30-40 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is golden brown.

Tonight I made this before we started cooking dinner. I turned off the oven and left the dish in the oven while we made and ate dinner. We served each piece with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yummy.

Like bumps on a log

I love this photo. We are on vacation in Wawa. The kids are having a great time.

View out there

Just outside the patio door.

Farewell Brownie

I'm very sorry for what happened to you. I feel partially responsible, but I really thought that giving you to the neighbour was the best thing for you. I was worried about a coyote getting you in my yard, I really didn't expect that the neighbour's chickens would do that to you. If I knew they were capable of that I would have let you stay here. I'm still not sure how we will tell Kira. She loved you very much and she didn't want to let you go to the neighbours, I convinced her that it was the best thing for you. We will do everything we can to take care of Sandy for you.

New favourite expression

Griffin has recently started making this face when something displeases him. Sometimes he even crosses his arms in front of him. He's turning into such a toddler. I just want to scoop him up and hug him when I see him do it.

Enthusiasm

The Graduate

As the rest of North Eastern North America was feeling vibrations from an earthquake, we watched Kira "graduate" from kindergarten.

Behind the wheel

The lad loves the camera (shhhh, don't tell him that the car he was handed down is PINK!)

mmmmfudgsiclesmmmm

Our FIFA World Cake

Recently, Campbell finally had the soccer party he wanted. His birthday was in April, but because he wanted an outdoor party we postponed it until June in hopes of having a better chance of good weather. April was splendid, June was cold and wet, who knew? Even though it rained, they played on!