Here Comes Summer... Perhaps?

We seem to have crawled out from under our blanket of snow.  The plants are starting to bud and bloom.  And turkey season is now upon us!


There's been a lot that has happened since the last post here.  Nothing monumental, just an accumulation of little events here and there.

Two Shots, One Kill

Okay, maybe not the true sniper mantra but Logan was able to dispatch of a raccoon with the little blue Rascal rifle.  It was a first animal taken by both the boy and the rifle.  He was quite pleased with himself!

The easy part is over, now the work begins!

I've spared you the details and photos, but somehow the skin was removed from the coon, taken home and is now being dried and stretched to prepare it for mounting.  He wants to hang it on his bedroom door.  I haven't told his mom.

Go Wings Go

LP also got to go to his first Red Wings game.  He was so excited he sprinted up the stairs to the Joe Louis Arena.  I had to shout at him to get him to stop and take this quick, blurry picture.

Banners hanging from the rafters

Random Pictures

One day I was in the town of Dresden for work.  I snapped this photo at the main intersection because as soon as I saw it I thought of my younger-but-more-mature sister.  She loves spelling and grammar mistakes!  

For those that need help... in the top ad; the word 'PAYED' should be "PAID'.

Helping Erin and Nate move back into their old house.  We were of great assistance, as you can see.

Here's a throwback to the company I used to work for.  Cool to see an old drum of degreaser sitting out behind a barn.

A couple of students show the end results of their labours for the Grade 4 class project on the Mongols.  A talwar-style sword and a horseman's bow. There was lots of other stuff they displayed - but not as cool as swords and bows!

Random picture from behind the blind while turkey hunting.  Still nothing to show for the time and effort, but it's only a matter of time until our paths cross.

Family Work Day  -  2014

It was our turn to begin the onerous duties of hosting the first family work day.  The idea is to feed everybody in exchange for their labour and skills for one day.  A fair deal for us, not so fair for everyone working!

This year we were able to dig six - 4' deep holes for the posts of what is going to be the 'Grand Pavillion'.  Most of the work was done by the teens and LP, with oversight and supervision provided by Uncle Grant.  Trampolining was done by The Littles. 

Posts for the pavillion are planted

Added some pot lights, just because someone suggested it

Added a couple of plugs since we had the wall torn open

Wainscotting removed from bathroom walls

On top of those things we also opened up a can of worms when we tried to repair a small crack in the kitchen.  It turned out to be a bigger project and took most of the day.  Good to catch the problem - a leaking boot on an exhaust pipe on the roof; bad that it was so involved!  Thanks to Poppa, Uncle Nate and Uncle Grant for their help.

We were also able to install a new mailbox, paint a new cupboard and doors, repaint a kitchen buffet, swap in a new window in the back door, install pot lights and generally keep from hurting ourselves or killing each other!  We also had some people tearing out wainscoting and trim in preparation for painting.  Demolition is always more enjoyable than rebuilding. 

And to the girl-ers (Granny, Christine, Kylie, Erin and my younger-but-more-mature sister Marshy) for helping do all that plus help with meals, drinks and snacks; many thanks! 

It's a blessing to have family you can work with and still have fun.  They're good peoples.

Trapped In The Vortex

Hunting Is Work

At work I was tasked with getting rid of a bunch of file boxes with old documents in them.  I called up Farmer Bloomfield and made a trip out to deliver the file boxes to his burn pile.  Since I would be out there I figured it was a good time to take a shotgun and a few shells out with me and assist with some pest removal.  I managed to get three pesky pigeons - and unload all of the boxes!

The third bird landed in the poop pile.  I didn't bother going to retrieve it.

  

Bay Leaves

I have an awesome wife.  (I'm not just saying that, anyone who knows her will attest to it.  How I fooled her into getting married is a mystery!)  However, I think she may have gotten wise to the scheme.  You see, I think she is trying to kill me.  I think maybe her sister, Tammy (who started the feud, remember...) may have something to do with it, too.  

You see, I've found an unlikely number of bay leaves in my soups, stews and spaghetti sauce.  I know - they add flavour...  Whatever.  Do you know how many people choke on bay leaves each year?  Well, not very many, but I don't want to be the unlucky one. 

There is even a medical paper on the topic.  It starts the discussion section with the sentence "Reports discussing ingestion of bay leaves have been exceedingly scant".  They indicate 10 cases in the 40 year period from 1950-1990, and not specific studies on the ingestion of bay leaves. 

It may be safe (for you) to conclude that only a tiny, tiny fraction of the ingested bay leaves have caused problems, else there would be more studies mentioning such cases (and more cookbooks alerting the cook to remove the leaves!).  The paper mentioned is "Bay Leaf Impaction In The Esophagus and Hypopharynx" by Stephen K. Buto, MD; Tat-Kin Tsang, MD; Gerald W. Sielaff, MD; Laurie L. Gutstein, MD; and Mick S. Meiselman, MD.    Look it up. 

You would think she could come up with a way more creative way to remove me and claim the scant insurance pay-out. After all, she works with heart and lungs... 

Oh yeah, the soup was delicious!

The evil Bay Leaf:  bay laurel;  laurus nobilis

Polar Vortex

Well, this meteorological anomaly they call the polar vortex (come on, polar vortex?  Really??  Let's call it what it is... 'winter') has had us in the deep freeze for a while.  I'm getting tired of it all.  I am all in favour of winter activities but it has to end some time soon.  Spring has got to be right around the corner...  I'm betting on late May.

If it weren't for fenceposts it would look all grey with no horizon

Feels like -40C.  Yep, that's cold.

Dash camera photo, limited visibility.

The Dragonfly

LP has saved up his money from Christmas, allowance and wherever else he gets his spending money.  He wanted to buy a small folding knife.  But this is not just any knife, no, no, no.  This is a yellow handled Spyderco Dragonfly, with a rust-proof steel called H1.  This little thing is sharp as a scalpel!  

He had requested it and asked me to order it.  Since it was his money and a good chance to learn the value of spending on quality, taking care of your property and being careful with a sharp tool, I discussed with his mom and ordered him one.

When it arrived he nearly burst out of his skin!  He was so excited.  

Now, for those who might not 'get it', we have put certain restrictions on the use of this little tool.  He can't take it to school, chase his brothers with it or use it during dinner.  He's been instructed in the safe handling and knows to put it away when it's not in use.  He can't wait to put find any reason to good use.  He has a silly grin on his face whenever he gets a chance to trim a thread or open a cardboard box!  

Bonus - he hasn't cut himself with it... yet.

The Rascal

I was able to pick up a little rifle for the boys, too.  A Savage Rascal, which is a small, lightweight, single shot .22 LR rifle.  It's bright blue.  It is easy to load and has a nice little peep sight and a big, fat safety switch on it.  Perfect for teaching safe firearms handling and getting them on the right path for some marksmanship skills, too.

Thanks to Brother Bill for the photo of LP shooting

Brother KP with a dead Coke can.  Sorry to the Teacher for the wasted contents!

Happy Birthday, Special K...

Someone your age should be more mature...  Get that basket off your head!

The birthday girl - finally getting older!

Oh yeah, one more thing...


I've called our boys window-lickers at one time or another.  It's usually when they are doing something a bit strange or weird.  It does happen from time to time.  We were driving home from a weekend visiting the in-laws when Christine heard a bit of commotion from the back seat.  It seems Half Pint was in full 'window-licker' mode.


Licorice is not meant to be stuffed up each nostril, son.

Life Is Hard. Wear A Helmet

Figure Skating

Half-Pint saw a video at school.  He was so excited to tell his mom about it at lunchtime.  "There was - ummm - a hockey player skating and playing hockey all by himself.  And when he was done people threw flowers on the ice for him."  (If you could read this as a run-on sentence, fidgeting on one foot then the other and be gasping for breath, you'd have it nailed.)  "The hockey guy had a shiny shirt and 'fancy pants', and, umm, could jump and spin fast. AND he did the splits - and skated like this"  While describing this, Half-Pint was trying to act out the motion of skating backwards on one foot, with his little butt sticking out and wiggling back and forth!  Quite a sight!

On his way home from school at the end of the day he was still trying to perform a double-axle in the school yard - but he must have toe-picked in his snowboots and face-planted into the icy asphalt.  Ouch.

This is the result...

Life is hard.  Wear a helmet.

'Burtsay' Party

Brother KP is now a year older, and just had a party with what seemed like 49 sugar-buzzed friends tearing around the house.  There may have been more.  Hearing protection was required!

Anyhow, KP had made a list several lists of all the people he wanted to invite over.  God made one of the lists!  It was written out phonetically, so he misspelled 'birthday' as 'burtsay' (close enough) and 'vizters list' instead of  'visitors list'.  Funny that he called them visitors.

Here are the visitors.

Cold, More Cold

I saw this comic and it made me laugh.  My grandfather and my dad always had weird names for things.  I think I might have inherited that trait a bit, too. This comic reminded me of some of the goofy names so I thought I would share it.

xkcd comic

It's still cold - and winter shows no signs of letting up.  I don't mind it, but no doubt everyone has had their fill of bundling up, shoveling, windshield scraping and - my personal favourite, stepping in slushy puddles at the back door in my sock feet!
It's just not winter without a cold, wet spot on your sock.  Embrace it, people.

Model Building

Both LP and Brother KP have been busy working on a couple of plastic models they received.  It's pretty cool to see the patience and attention to detail of Poppa as he teaches them the fine art of not getting frustrated with small plastic pieces!  They are doing well, learning to take their time,be thorough and follow instructions.  I remember my one model building experience being a maddening time.  They are ahead of me, for sure.

It's fun to watch the boys learn about the different parts of a vehicle.  More importantly, it's great to see the interaction between them and my dad.  I was fortunate enough to spend summers up at the farm near both of my grandfathers.  One, the farmer; the other, the pastor of the little Baptist church.  

LP's Jeep is done.  The guy at the local hobby shop where he got it wants to see the finished product, so LP will be taking it over there soon.  Brother KP is working on painting parts and assembling the frame and drivetrain.

LP's Jeep Wrangler - paint and glue is drying

Just waiting for decals to be added!

Parts on Brother KP's Ford Bronco drying after paint

 

Brother KP and Poppa painting more bits and pieces

Oh, one more thing...

My younger-but-more-mature sister had this sign in her office.  When I saw it I couldn't help myself, I had to do it.  

          She said she appreciates me.

                    I'm not so sure.

Finally, It's 2014!

 

 

 

We Survived 2013...

As an extended family, I think we can be glad 2013 is behind us.  Medical issues with Kylie and Ethan, job changes with my younger-but-more-mature sister - as well as her husband - and other little hiccups that life throws at us... they're done.  We have been granted enough grace to get through it all and even laugh and smile a fair bit, too!

Now we look forward with anticipation and excitement (or fear and trepidation, depending who you might be asking) to see what this new year has in store for us.  

I might as well recap the last couple of weeks and see what happened.  Everything went by so fast.

Christmas

The joyous season.  The hectic season.  The time of year I try to avoid a couple of areas of the city because of the major shopping centres and major traffic delays that come with them.  Fortunately, most shopping was done and out of the way early.  And, I ate too much.  Not all at once, mind you - but the cumulative effect was pretty good! 

We had three Christmases this year.  Two with both sides of our families but the first was just with our family on the 25th.  It was a nice relaxing day and we had lots of fun with the three boys. Half-Pint might have had a different take on things early in the day, however.  Let me backtrack for a moment...

Leading up to the big day the boys were always wanting to know where their gifts were.  They saw other gifts being wrapped and placed under the tree for cousins and aunts and uncles.  They never did see any of their gifts.  My mom always used to say "Christmas is a time for secrets and surprises!" so we keep some secrets from them.  Half-Pint particularly felt that he was being forgotten.  Being the youngest, his grasp on the situation might be easy to understand.  "Don't worry, we've got you a lovely doll to play with" his mother would tell him.  Of course, no rough and tumble 4-year old wants a doll.  And of course, she had to buy him a doll as a joke.

On Christmas Day the first gift to be opened was for Half-Pint.  Specially selected and wrapped with love and affection by his sadistic mother - a tiny pink doll!  His expression was priceless!  He said thank you, but there was no joy in his expression.  A deadpan look was all he could muster.  Of course, Christine thought it was funny - and so did I.  We both had to capture our perspectives of the unwrapping.

Brother KP was shocked, almost giddy "They did it!!   They did!!!   They did get you a doll!!"  LP suddenly realized what his fate might be and just stated very solemnly "Oh, no...".  Christine just laughed.

He has realized what his gift is...

Resigned to having to say "Thank you" for a doll!

Fortunately, things brightened up rather quickly as more gifts were opened.  I wonder what they will say next year when they are told they will be getting a doll...

LP trying on his camo pants and hat

Having some fun in the snow after opening gifts

Because of all the gifts and celebrating that happens right around Christmas, the past couple of years we have saved the stockings for New Year's Day.  A few old hockey socks (clean and washed, of course) with the bottom taped closed become the overstuffed stockings.

Brother KP finding a small treasure in his

I'm not sure what's happening here...

With all of the food, family, presents and celebrating over it was finally time to get back to some sort of regular schedule.  We were again shown that we are very blessed with great family and very tolerant friends!
God has been good to us again this year.  It may not have gone according to our plans, in some cases very awry, but we have been under His care.

The First Birthday Of 2014

Brother KP has a January birthday, beating his Aunt Erin and his dad by a few days.  He got a new Bible and a new bike and some Lego.  The kid is seven years old now.  Seven!  I can't believe how fast those years have gone by!

I was spoiled by getting a wonderful sleep-in day before my birthday.  I thoroughly enjoyed that.  Getting a chance to have a birthday dinner with a few boys later this week should be nice, too. 

Feathers and Snow

I took the boys for a bit of a hike along the river.  As we were walking along we came upon a Cooper's hawk enjoying a bit of a feast on a dove or pigeon.  It let us get fairly close and get some pictures before taking off with it's meal in it's talons.

You can see a little clump of feathers in the air as the bird plucked them out

Add caption

A little stare-down before it went back to eating

After watching the hawk fly away we wandered a little further.  We found a number of big trees with lots of beaver activity.  Trees I couldn't wrap my arms around were chewed either in parts or all the way around.  These were some very ambitious beavers!  Very destructive and wasteful, too.

This knife is 6" long.  You can get an idea of the sizes of these trees.

We were fortunate enough to actually catch one of the nasty little rodents in action.  It was amazing to see how fast his big front teeth chomped into the tree.  Here are a couple of photos of the action!

Amazing to see one of these creatures in the wild!

Look at the size of the chompers on that rodent!

Deer - 1;  Human - 0

I am saddened to announce that deer season was a bust this year.  Shut-out again.  We'll have to try again next season.  For now we'll have to settle for something with feathers - or maybe thick fur...

Jim Peaco photo, from Nov. 1994.  Coyotes still look the same.

Oh, one more thing...

One day before Christmas I came upstairs to much laughter and crashing and banging.  It seems the boys invented a new game that essentially involved launching themselves off various pieces of furniture and colliding into each other in the air.  Disaster averted, but such is life with boys!

boy (noun):  a noise, with dirt on it.