roadside attraction

Some people stop to smell the roses.

One of my favourite things to do when the stars align (ie. when I'm alone in my car, am not rushing to be somewhere, and have my camera at hand) is to stop to pet the livestock.

I was busy being nuzzled by one horse, when the thunder of hooves made me look up to see this fellow coming to check out this stranger in a toque.

 With much whuffling and snorting, he greeted his fellow-horse, and called the small herd of highland cows that were resting nearby to attention.

 (I need a bumper sticker that reads, "I Brake For Highland Cows"). The horse started interacting a little more feistily, so the cows decided to wander off to whiter pastures. They were kind enough to stop and pose for me.

 Then the horses went all wild-west on me, rearing up, hoofing at each other (is this a verb?), alternately pooping and sniffing each others' poop.

In the Ottawa Valley, this is what we call a Roadside Attraction.

Fair Time

Things change slowly in a small town. Traditions get passed down year by year, so that when I attend annual events with my children, things don't seem too different from when I myself attended as a child.

The Cobden Fair will take place over the weekend of August 26-28. I know who will work the gates; the man who wraps the plastic bracelet around my wrist did it when I was 14. The kiosks selling airbrushed unicorn t-shirts and coloured feather roach clips will be set up beside the stage where step dancers and country singers will perform all weekend.

The Searson sisters, who went to high school with my husband!

The Centennial Hall will boast a farmers'/crafters' market, and we'll stop by for an ice cream at some point. The Curling Rink will hold the exhibits of garden flowers and vegetables, quilts, preserves, knitting, photography, and so on. We'll seek out the blue ribbons since we're entering some of the categories this year.

The ice surface at the rink will be transformed into a show ring; little boys and girls in white clothes and paper headbands will proudly display their calves and lambs, and we'll walk back to the barn behind the arena to see the young farmers grooming their animals for the next competition. Instead of video games, these kids' hands will hold blow dryers, brushes, clippers, and shovels to make sure their wards stay pristine for the judges. My kids will pet the lambs and their eyes will widen at the size of the cows.

Then we'll walk around the outdoor track where horses pull wagons and carts, to the horse barn. This has always been my favourite stop at the Fair. Percherons and Belgians stand quietly like tamed giants, stamping their plate-sized hooves, their tails and manes braided up prettier than Rapunzel's. I'll talk to the boys, now men, that went to school with me years ago, and lift my kids up to gaze into those horse's long-lashed eyes.

The midway is what the kids come for: the smells of dust, cotton candy, popcorn, and French fries, with a bit of grease thrown in. The young men running the rides look as bored and shady as they did when I was a girl, and I'll wonder again (as teachers do) if they've finished high school. Soon, heat and hunger will drive us to a concession stand to fill up on some greasy, sweet, nutritionally deficient snack.

Ah, the Cobden Fair. It's one of the best of its kind, if you ask this small-town girl. In a world that sometimes changes too fast for my taste, I can always count on the Cobden Fair to bring me back to a time when making good pies and preserves mattered, and a man was judged not on how much money he earned, but on how well he'd trained his team of horses. Maybe we'll see you there!

For information, call the Cobden Agricultural Society at 613-646-2426.

scenes from the woods

:: dirty feet :: textures in green and brown :: the ziiiip of a tent zipper :: a roof of moonshadows :: staying up way past your bedtime :: naps here and there, whenever you feel tired :: feeding the "wild" life :: a first canoe ride with daddy :: teaching my son to roast the "perfect" marshmallow :: the kids being too busy to fight :: sleeping through a thunderstorm :: the cold baptism of lake water :: the fun of wrestling with your cousins :: wolves howling in the late-night darkness :: the simplicity of all I hold dear in one little tent :: making do :: a smoky cup of Earl Grey tea :: reducing your wardrobe to a bathing suit and a towel :: clearing my schedule of all but walks to the beach, knitting, and reading :: having time and the presence of mind to be present with my children :: thinking of only the moment I'm in ::

There's nothing like camping to give you perspective on what you really need,

and what clutters up your home, your head, and your time. My children learned so much from

this week in the woods. Seeing them blossom under my undivided attention

taught me a lot, too, about how I chronically overbook myself and my time.

Thank you, trees and sunshine, leaves and sky, for reminding me of something I

all too often forget: that THIS is life. Feeding my children, playing with them, putting them to bed when they're tired IS life. All the other stuff is just...stuff.

There's nothing like a week in the woods to remind you of what you already knew.

Like the Fonz

It's all about keeping cool. Think Arthur Fonzarelli. We're eating cool, playing cool, dressing cool.

The dress code is casual: cotton shirts or dresses, or nothing at all. Bare feet, hair tied up.

Coffee is left in the pot to cool, then shaken with milk, sugar, and ice in a big Mason jar, to be sipped all morning.

On the menu: wraps, pasta salads, veggies and tortillas and dip, popcorn.

Oh, and watermelon. LOTS of watermelon (best eaten naked, to let the juice drip down your arms, onto your chest, pooling in your bellybutton).

Last evening our friends down the road called with an invitation to come over for a swim in their pool. My response? HELL, YES! The kids cooled off, the adults had a few cool beverages, and we all just felt so...

coooool.

this place

A path leads through the woods, to a place where all of my children learned to splash, then wade, then paddle like mer-people.

This mama has walked this path alone, then carting a baby, then pregnant with a toddler in tow. The light begins to glimmer as we near the end of the path, then flashes off the water that greets us as we emerge from the trees.

There's a dance of glee when we are the first to arrive here, and have our pick of beach spots.

This boy stays in the water till he's wrinkled and shivering, going out where the water is deep enough for us to call, "Come back!" I thrill to see him taking to water, as he was a toddler who didn't want to splash or wade. Faith and patience brought us here, to a day where we have to coax him out of the water with watermelon.

The day before Violet was born, I walked these paths with my little son, showing him toads and the stools they sit on. Later in the day, I bared my belly to the sun and felt peace wash over me as I whispered a prayer for this new child that would soon join us. Two weeks later, we returned with our newborn daughter, and my husband lost his wedding band when he shook the sand off the old quilt. Now, she's our little Nut Brown Maid, in and out of the water like a selkie.

Days at the beach aren't so busy these days, and I can get a bit of knitting done as everyone plays,

or naps.

At this place, there are no chores to be done, no phone ringing, and no toys to fight over. There are rocks to climb on, sand to build with, logs to float on, driftwood to improvise with. Friendships grow and are forged by sunlight and water.

These are the days they will remember. I remember every moment, too.

Library Day!

I may have mentioned that I have the best job in the world. I am a kindergarten teacher. I get to spend my days at work surrounded by children ages 4 to 6, with gaps in their teeth, crooked pigtails, freckles and scrapes, and lots of stories about things unconnected to the topic of discussion. We sing and count, say sorry and pray, grow things and play in water and sand. We build and figure stuff out. I use a pink pen to draw smiley faces on their work, and sit in a tiny chair to listen to them read.

I feel very blessed to call my classroom my "workplace".

Because my job is part time, it means I'm home with my kids on Tuesdays and Thursdays, doing the other best job in the world: being a mother. Tuesday in our house is Library Day. We scrounge around the shelves and under the couch to find the books we borrowed last week, rewind the videotapes that need to be returned, and drive into town to the Bonnechere Union Public Library.

Our village is on the small size; the population sign reads 1300. So, a visitor to Eganville might be surprised at the beauty of our little library. Everything one sees says, "Welcome!", from the warm red walls to the cozy chairs pulled up to the gas fireplace.

Paintings and sculptures by local artist Andy Adach (who can often be found sketching in one of these chairs) adorn the walls and corners.

I treasure our visits to the library, where gathering information, cuddling into beanbag chairs for a story, and trying a new computer game add variety and colour to my children's lives.

The littlest readers are always welcome, even if they read a book like this: "Ho ho ho, Cwismas, The End!" Perhaps they're welcome BECAUSE they read like this! The library staff know our names, and we know theirs.

In addition to learning resources, our library offers a Knit Night, support for homeschooling families, readings by local authors, a film club, and book clubs for teens and mothers/daughters, coffee houses featuring local musicians, and more.

In addition to teaching kindergarten, the best job in the world is mothering. What makes it even better are the days when I say, "Let's get ready to go to the library!", and my words are met with a resounding,
"Yaaaaay!" from my kids.

If you're a visitor to the Eganville area and your kids need a break from driving, stop by the local library, and tell them I sent you!  If it's a Tuesday, you just might see us there.

Share the love...tell me about your local library! How can you support this essential community service...volunteering? Donating books, CDs, or movies? Teaching a class or sharing a skill?

For the Birds!

*Please note: all photos (if not borrowed from the web) on this blog have been taken with my webcam, laptop carefully balanced on whatever surface is closest, yelling at the kids to keep still...then edited at www.picnik.com. Please bear with me...I am actually a decent photographer, when I have an actual camera in my hands!

Welcome to Day 3 of my "Surviving March Break" guide: For the Birds! We've had lots of fun outside, trying to catch some new freckles in this glorious sunshine (hooray for longer days!), and looking for signs of Spring. Today we saw a terrific magic show, and had a long-overdue visit with dear friends. My kids are alternately playing together nicely, and fighting/whining/yelling. The same could be said for their mother.
Today we're going to try some bird-related activities! Have fun...I wonder when we'll see the first robin of the Spring?

Culinary
Chocolate Bird's Nests!

Violet actually has eyes. She is (long over)due for a haircut.

You'll need:

• 1/2 cup of butter
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 6 tablespoons cocoa
• 1/4 cup sugar

Bring the above ingredients to boil in a medium saucepan.
Then add:

• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon salt

Remove from heat. Then stir in:

• 3 cups quick-cooking (not instant) oats
• 1 cup shredded, sweetened coconut

*You may not fit all the oats in; just add and stir until it is firm and seems like you'd be able to shape it!

Shape mixture into golf balls; squeeze tight till it holds together. Push your thumb in gently, and refrigerate till firm. Then nestle in some Cadbury's Mini Eggs. Delight your children with a Spring treat!
*I halved this recipe for the batch above; you might want to do the same unless you're taking them to a party or making them for your child's class!)

Creative
Salt Dough Bird Nest

You'll need:

• 1 1/2 cups salt
• 4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 tsp. alum (if you don't bake your clay; it acts as a preservative. I bake ours!)

Mix the dry ingredients together, then gradually add water. When dough forms a ball around the spoon, knead it well, adding water if it doesn't hold together. Once you've formed your small items, bake it at 300 degrees F for 30-40 min. or until hard. Allow to cool before painting!

1. Roll a medium sized ball, then pinch and shape it to resemble a bowl/nest.
2. Shape a small ball of clay into a simple bird shape.
3. Place nest and bird on baking tray, and bake till hard.
4. Paint nest brown, and add some twigs/moss/dried grass
5. Paint your bird, and nestle her into her nest!

Outing
Just take your kids out! Put on rubber boots and take them on a walk; bring a bag to pick up any litter that the melting snow has revealed. Or bring along a small notebook and make a list of signs of Spring (remember to explore the five senses...what signs of Spring can they see? smell? hear? feel? When you get home, make a chart and sort the signs of Spring into their sense-category!

Alternatively, you could make a Spring Scavenger Hunt list, and have your child check them off as they see them (examples: trickling water, exposed patches of grass, mud, birdsong, warm sun, gentle breeze). 

Have fun!

Fine Motor
Turkey Baster Feather Race

You'll need:

• turkey basters, one per child (or adult who wants to play)! Shop around till you find one that is not too firm (at least for smaller children)
• feathers (those coloured ones you find at the Dollar Store or craft store

A toddler will need hand-over-hand support to coordinate the squeeze necessary to make the feather move!

Sit on opposite sides of the table, and place a feather about halfway between you. Now, use your turkey baster to try to blow the feather towards your "opponent"...there are no points, or winners here...just blow the darn feather around! If your kids tend to fight over everything, as mine often do, give them each a feather and let them blow them willy nilly! Any activities that encourage your child to SQUEEZE with their hands builds up their hand strength, which leads to better fine motor control. This will make printing, colouring, drawing, cutting with scissors, etc. easier for them!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Let's brighten up the week with some rainbow fun!

Culinary
Rainbow Kebabs
You'll need:

• assorted fruit in the colours of the rainbow! (e.g. strawberries, pineapple, canteloupe, kiwi, blueberries, grapes)
• skewers

Set bowls of cubed fruit within your child's reach. Help him/her push them onto the skewer! You could show them a picture of a rainbow and challenge them to add fruit in order of the colours. Or, you could ask them to create a repeating pattern, if they have favourite fruits (pineapple, grape, strawberry, pineapple, grape, strawberry)...OR you could just let them have at it and forget about the teaching opportunity! Drizzle with a bit of melted chocolate if you're feeling wild and crazy!

Creative
Patchwork Rainbow "Quilt"
You'll need:

• bits of fabric, sorted in bowls by colour (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple)
• a large piece of paper
• white glue (glue sticks don't work as well for fabric!)

Snip up materials into 1" pieces, and sort into bowls. On each paper, draw an arcing line with glue for your child to use as a guide. Placing one colour at a time on the table, help your child glue bits of fabric along the line, starting with red. When they've completed one line, draw another arcing line below the first one. Then give them the orange materials! Continue, with yellow, green, blue, and violet. If your child doesn't yet know his/her colours, make sure to talk with them as they create (e.g. "What can you see in the kitchen that is red? What other things are green?")

Social/Outing
This might be as involved as going to a museum or a public pool, or as simple as getting out to the barber shop or the grocery store! Talk to your child about the road signs you see. Ask them about what community helpers they see around town. Discuss why some people wear uniforms to work and others don't. Talk about what jobs require people to work alone, and which ones require people to work as part of a team.

Fine Motor
Lacing Cards
You'll need:

• construction paper or card stock
• hole punch
• yarn or a shoelace

Draw a simple shape (a shamrock, a rainbow, a car, a bird, or even just a circle or a square) on a piece of firm paper (there are tons of free templates on the internet, if the notion of hand-drawing a shape is scary for you). Cut it out, then hole-punch around the edges, with 1/2" spaces between. Secure the yarn to the back of the paper with tape, then let your child "sew" around the edges. Encourage them to put the yarn through each hole, but don't worry about what it looks like! I've seen Kindergarten kids switch from whip stitch (around and around) to running stitch (in and out) to blanket stitch on one card. The point is NOT to create something neat and wonderful, but to navigate that string into the hole, and pinch it to pull it all the way through. Some children WILL be very meticulous about making sure their stitches all look the same, but others won't. Love their work, no matter what it looks like!

*Helpful Hint: if you use yarn, you might want to wrap the end with tape (like a shoelace) to make it easier for your child to push it through the holes).

Enjoy your day, and make sure to check in for Wednesday: For the Birds!

Everywoman: She Who Wants to Do It All

I need a new mantra. I need to look at the faces of my husband and kids and remember that they're enough, that I don't have to fill my life up with time-clutter.

Here's what my weekend looks like:

We're participating in Eganville's first (hopefully annual) "Celebrating Our Game Day", an event that hopes to bring together lovers of both hockey and the arts. All day long, there will be hockey played by all ages and abilities at the local arena, while live music is enjoyed upstairs. My husband will be involved as both a hockey player and a musician. I will also be performing. So I am in my bedroom at the moment, guitar sitting beside me, blogging instead of coming up with a set list. I'm anxious about it. Margot will not take well to me being front and centre, without being able to climb onto my lap. This has been an ongoing issue since I had kids. It's only a half hour, but still...

My husband plays at 6 p.m., and since he's new to the sport, he'd really like us all to watch. I WANT to watch. But I got a call this week that a Mass will be said in memory of my Grandma, TODAY at 5:30. You can see the problem. I want to represent our family at the Mass. The idea of dragging three tired kids and keeping them quiet for 45 minutes or so is not so tempting.

I'll bring them home, get them to bed, pick up the babysitter, then head out to tonight's "Hootenanny" (where the hockey players will play music at a local restaurant)...

Did I mention that I'm a Kindergarten teacher? And that my report cards are due next Wednesday? It took me two full days just to finish the reports for my Junior Kindergartens. Now I'm trying to figure out...when to do the Seniors' reports?

Oh, did I mention that I'm hosting a knitting gathering here tomorrow, to teach some friends how to get started on a Scrap Cardigan?

This morning I felt frustrated because Margot is clingy and cranky. She has a cough and might be teething, and had two days in daycare this past week. She's likely overtired. I'm overtired. And I was frustrated with her because I wanted to: write a blogpost, practise my music, read this terrific book I'm into, work on my report cards, get a handle on Mount Washmore (my laundry pile). I couldn't get away from her. When I get frustrated like this, my husband gets anxious and starts offering to withdraw from the things he'd planned to do today.

Until I finally acknowledged the truth. I want to do too much.

Declutter. Lose weight. Exercise. Write. Blog. Perform. Craft. Be an amazing mother. Pour my heart into my classroom and students. Farm. Knit. Read. Plan my garden. Keep in touch with friends.

And then I'm upset with myself when I can't pull it all together. And on top of that, I beat myself up for the fact that I'm looking tired, a little rumpled in the face (I am approaching my 37th birthday after all), and am starting to go grey at the temples.

Enough!

The new mantra might sound something like this:

I don't have to be everything, all the time, to everyone. I don't have to always do all the things I'm good at. It's okay to sit on the couch reading nursery rhymes for hours. It's okay to say no to requests for performances.

I could pare it down a bit. I'll work on that...maybe add it to my to-do list.

Sometimes I need a little reality check. This morning was it. I need these regular reminders to say no sometimes. So after this crazy weekend is done, I'm going to make a new list:

1. Say YES to playtime with my kids.
2. Hug my husband at least 4 times a day.
3. Get more sleep.
4. Exercise.
5. Say NO to anything unrelated to my family or my job.
6. Read and knit if time allows.

Blogging can wait. The laundry isn't going anywhere. I'll see you here when I see you.

Parade of Lights

Not too far from here lies a little community called Wilno. It is known to be the first Polish settlement in Canada. It sits high in the Wilno Hills, overlooking Round Lake; at it's highest point sits St. Mary's Church, and at its lowest sits the Wilno Tavern, home of amazing Polish fare and Blues Night on Tuesdays. I admit, I wish I lived in Wilno. It's a neat little place! Although the population must sit at around 70 souls, the locals manage to concoct a beautiful Parade of Lights every Solstice evening.

The simplest and in my opinion, loveliest Christmas image: a man, a woman, and a donkey (mule).

Father Christmas rode in a canoe!

Jude and Violet jumped at the chance to ride in the canoe with Himself.

"Joseph and Mary"

Ritsuko is a Wilno resident, flower arranger, gardener and animal husband, and also happens to make the best sushi around!

After the parade, there were homemade cookies, beverages, and presents for all the little ones inside the rink, followed by skating outside.

Wilno is also home to what may be the best Christmas lights in the Valley!

The Christmas Spirit is alive and well in the Wilno Hills. Thanks to Sylvia and all the volunteers who made this such a lovely event! And happy belated Solstice to all...here's to the return of light and hope in our lives.