Little Bug(ger)

It's been a lovely, quiet couple of days here, in spite of the fact that summertime is in Full Swing.

For the past several weeks, I've been teaching every morning, then returning to my own throng (usually with a couple of their friends thrown in for good measure), to desperately seek inexpensive activities with which to keep them all occupied and out of jail.

We've visited the library, where the summer reading program is up and running.   We've gone swimming, painted, made jewellery, entertained relatives, taught people how to knit...  Heck, we've even been to see the dreaded Katy Perry movie-- in 3D, no less. 

Party on.

But, BEST of all...  we've been trolling through the local farm country, investigating all the little makeshift roadside stands and tiny markets.  The news is good:  because of our endlessly rainy spring and hot, steamy summer, the crops are early in this part of the world.

It's CORN and BLUEBERRY time, again, people!

The girlies and I drove to beautiful Wilmot Farm in Newcastle, Ontario on Friday afternoon, and had a most glorious time in the fields.  We emerged with four gigantic buckets of doughnut-sized berries(okay...  I exaggerate slightly.  They're actually TIMBIT-sized.  And, for anyone who does not have the good fortune to know the joys of Canadian Timbits, well...  you have my deepest sympathy).  We're rapidly working our way through the fresh berries of the first bucket, and I've frozen the other three, so we'll have lovely muffins and waffles and pies all winter long.

The discovery of the first ears of peaches'n'cream corn came as a most delightful surprise yesterday.  With Child Number One visiting her grandparents in Stratford for a week, and Child Number Two spending a few days at a friend's cottage up North, it's been just Wee Three at home with me this weekend.  We've made the most of our "quiet" time together, and my littlest girl has had almost every one of her heart's desires fulfilled while her sisters have been away.  She deserves it, too, as she's been terrifically helpful to me around the house, pegging out laundry as it has emerged from the washer, cleaning bathrooms, and most significantly:  helping me to acclimatize the newest addition to our family...  My sister's cat, Minnie, has come to stay for a month, much to the chagrin of the felines-in-residence, Mighty Maude and Charlotte.


Last night when I asked what my youngest child would like best for her dinner, the request was for BUTTER TARTS.  And, not just any ol' store-bought butter tart, either: she wanted the ones freshly baked by Mrs. Forsythe, who runs our nearest farmer's market.

We hopped in the loser cruiser, pointed it North...  and within a few minutes, there was the sign, seemingly straight from Heaven, and a good two or three weeks earlier than we are accustomed to seeing it:

Let the Angels sing, and the trumpets sound! 

Later, as we sat on the patio, plates perched on our knees and butter running down our chins, I asked Wee Three how she was enjoying her time as the Only Child in the house.

She took a moment to consider this, before replying.

"Welllll," she said, then took another enormous chomp of corn, and chewed it thoughtfully.  "It's been OKAY, I guess..."

OKAY?!  It's a perfect summer evening, the kid has blueberries, butter tarts AND CORN, and it only rates as OKAY?!!

I managed to temper my reply, however, and prompted her for a little clarification.

"It's kinda boring, actually," she replied, gazing wistfully at me with her big brown eyes.

"There's nobody left here for me to BUG."

Yessir, being the little bugger in this house is a full-time occupation, indeed...