What's Up?

The first of the Oriental Poppies...

Enormous Lupins, in every colour...


Beautiful clumps of Veronica,
which keep the bumblebees busy (and buzzy).

Forgive the sporadic posting of late, but there has been much going on around here-- besides gardening, amazingly!! Once again... because I am weary... I am resorting to the "seven random things" format this evening:

1. It's nearly the end of the school year, which means it is officially "Mummy Panic Season" once more. Not only am I scrambling to make final arrangements for my girlies' upcoming summer activities, I am wildly attempting to jolly them through the seemingly endless onslaught of final school projects that the teachers have decided (in their "wisdom") to pile upon us, last-minute. HOW IS IT that the "Flight and Space" unit comes at the very end of the grade six science year??? Just like the enormous "Gears and Motion" project was due the day before Christmas Eve, I guess... We had to actually BUILD A WORKING MACHINE out of "stuff we found around the house" for that one. Too bad our house doesn't include a mechanical engineer... Guess I should just hush-up, and thank Almighty God that I don't have to help my child re-construct the space shuttle out of toothpicks, dental floss and saran wrap. This time.

2. My little Wee Three "gradulates" from nursery school on Friday morning. "Gradulates" being a new verb she coined recently, which, I've decided, combines the two words "graduate" and "congratulate". Definitely a "Wee-ism" worth writing down for future use.

3. Even though she is "gradulating", I have decided that Wee Three will remain at the little school she has been at for the past two years, and attend their Junior Kindergarten program, rather than starting at the "big" school next year. Even before I found out about the issues that our local public school will be dealing with in 2008-09, my motherly-instinct was telling me that my littlest girl might benefit from one more year in a smaller, more familiar, and certainly more nurturing environment. Although she is bright-as-a-button and eager-to-learn, Wee Three is the tiniest, and among the youngest in her nursery school class. Her current teachers were thrilled when I asked them to have her back for JK, and, quite honestly, so was Wee Three. But, no one was more thrilled than I was about the arrangement, when I went over to our local public school to talk to the principal, and discovered that their kindergarden enrollment had been the equivalent of a rave-party. Yes, the class is SO crowded, that at one point, over a dozen three-and-four year olds were going to have to be bussed to other academic facilities. Which, needless to say, is NOT my idea of a "good introduction" to the big-school experience. However, it certainly confirmed that going with my gut-feeling, and keeping my wee girlie where she is already so happy, was indeed the right decision. **whew** So, we'll defer the angst of public school enrolment for another year... but, knowing the excellent standards of our little nursery, that will be the only draw-back of the arrangement!

4. The girlies' Ballet Recital looms ahead of us next week... The costumes are lovely, and they've been practising their little dances at every opportunity. All that remains is the dress rehearsal, then the grand combat with nerves, and finally, The Performance next Wednesday! The two eldest did wonderfully well in their recital last year, so they "know the ropes"... but it will be interesting to see whether Wee Three will actually get up there and perform "The Teddy Bear Twist" with her peers... I have the feeling that our littlest ballerina will wind up on my knee in the audience, rather than on stage. But, no matter. It's been a marvellous year of dancing, and it's about FUN, after all.

5. TEACHER GIFTS!!! We are fortunate to have many wonderful educators who help our children each week-- not only at school, but for extra-curricular activities, as well. And so, besides the usual charitable donation that I make in their names each year (to the Tim Horton's Children's Foundation, if you're interested), I lost my mind for a few minutes this week, and hatched another plan, as well. I went to Winners (really, I should just be banned from that place once-and-for-all), and purchased attractive, but inexpensive luncheon-sized plates, with matching tea cups for each teacher. The plan is, the girlies and I will bake zillions of home-made cookies, and arrange them artistically on the plates. Then, we'll buy some packets of nice tea, and put them in the cups. Once this little combination is packaged up in cellophane wrap, and topped with a big bow, it should make a lovely present. And what's more, once about a dozen of these things are mass-produced by about three o'clock in the morning, it should make me the perfect candidate for either a frontal-lobe lobotomy, or a comfy padded cell. File THIS one under "What Was I Thinking???!!"

6. I have not been bicycling nearly enough. Even bathing suit season's arrival has not been enough to motivate me. Please. Send. Inspirational. Exercise. Music. Ideas. 'Cause. Mine. Ain't. Working. Thank-you.

7. I have, however, managed to do ONE thing for myself, over the past few weeks... I have become a "Knit-Wit". Every Wednesday evening at 6pm, I leave my girlies in the care of their father (perfect timing, actually, so that HE can do the bath-and-bedtime routine), and stroll over to our little Main Street, where there is the most wonderful yarn shop, EVER. It is located in the ground-floor of an historic home, and is filled, floor-to-ceiling, with all of the loveliest, most interesting knitting and crocheting supplies you can imagine. The beautiful colours and textures of the yarns line the walls of every room, and it's like stepping into a treasure-trove, every time I walk through the front door. Five other ladies and I get together every week, and with the help of the shop's owner, we work away for several hours on whatever projects we've brought with us. I started knitting "seriously" again just after Christmas (I learned as a child, but hadn't done any major projects for years), and have been on a "sock-knitting" kick-- you should see the hot-pink pair I'm nearly finished! But, for this class, I've been making sweaters for the girls. The pattern is quite simple, but unusual, since it is made on a pair of round needles, and knit in one piece from the neck-down (I'll post photos when I'm finished). It's been a marvellous experience, so far-- I just love having a place I can go, where no-one "needs" me, and I can sit, and just relax for a few hours. We all sit out on the pretty little porch, and no-one really says too much, except to softly lament about dropped stitches, or ask a question about a pattern... We just listen to the click of each others' needles, and the evening songs of the birds in the trees. It's heaven, I tell you. I'd take those precious few hours of knit-wittery over a massage, any day.

(Or, maybe that's the "twit" in this "knit-wit" speaking.)