Blub, blub

Dexter has embarked on swimming lessons. His genius parents puzzled over his flat-out refusal to enter the water one week and upon questioning the wayward preschooler, invested in Dexter-size goggles and now its All Swimming All the Time. Extra deep baths have been requested in-between swim lessons. Hero biscuits for Mom and Dad.

Note to Toronto parents: I registered Dexter THREE DAYS after registration opened. After a panicky realization, I frantically found the number, called with a frenzied edge in my voice. The nice calm lady asked what day, what time slot and told me to pick up my receipt when we came. VOILA! Take that Toronto Parks and Rec!

Happier than pigs in mud

Wandered to the park in Yorkton. Turned our backs and by the time we looked back, the boys had found a mud puddle.

What the hell...off with their shirts and we plunked down to watch them have the BEST time for the next two hours.

Other families steered clear. Was it something we said?

Quote of the day... "That was the best day EVER!" Matthew Washington.

Spring shots

Nice shots of the farm. This was pre-monsoon in the first week on June.

Lovely lilacs

Dexter leaving.

Running into Grandma on our walk

Rolling bedding plant nursery.

Bird nest...update

No update.  

Boot-sucking, quagmire mud conditions have rendered the rhubarb patch unreachable. 

The best we can report is that the birds still get pissed off when we get near and the last known location of the nest still appears to be above the waterline.

Chirp, chirp.

'Sree' year old Dexter!

Huge celebrations yesterday for the youngest of the clan.  Many balloons, decorations and a horse added a festive note to a gathering of the exact same group of family that gets together each weekend.  :)

Horse rides, plane flying, many perogies and gift opening made for a lovely afternoon.

Happy Birthday big boy!

Eggs in the nest

Peter spotted a nest in the "old rhubarb" patch.  Alerted by a really pissed-off bird, he knew something was near by...and he was right!

When asked what kind of bird was nesting, Peter said it was a "shpock", which apparently is a Ukranian term for generic, little, black bird. Helpful.

Aunt Julia was called in for a consultation.  She will be researching it in her bird watching manual and will submit her findings when she gets around to it.

Photo is from a few days ago.  Egg count is up to five as of yesterday (excursion during Dexter's birthday festivities).  We'll keep you posted live occasionally from the nest.

Dexter will also be updating you on the state of the dandelion fluff, which is clearly more interesting anyway. 

Stay tuned!

Beauty fades...

"Shhhhh!"  Dexter learning to not yell around the chicks.

Two-and-a-bit weeks old. 

The awkward phase.

Never too cold for the first dip of the season

We are fortunate enough to live less than 5 minutes away from Good Spirit provincial park, so we loaded up the kids to go play in the playground and get the season's park pass - this being the iconic May Long Weekend.

It was a GHOST town.  No one taking money at the gate, empty parking lot, no one in the playground...it was that gross of a weekend - everyone had given up.  Poured on Saturday, huge winds on Sunday, overcast morning on Monday...but it cleared up a bit, so we went.

So, the boys were happy for a little while in the park, but inevitably, the beach beckoned.   So the adults huddled in  a sunbeam and the kids had a blast.

Finally pulled the plug when Nathan's lips were blue and Matthew ASKED to put his clothes on.

Remember being a kid and not caring about anything but playing??? 

Ya, so do I.... :)

Getting things done before the rain...

May long weekend ensures it will be rainy.  And so it is...

Before it hit though, the farm gang took full advantage of the beautiful morning.

I headed out to check the chicks (I had forgotten the other morning and had to redeem myself) while my boys were still in bed.  All was well...no squished chicks to report.  Just thirsty.

On the way back I was invited to go on the morning cattle check with Peter and Dad.  Sure...why not?  So we drove around...confirmed there were cows in the fields, a few people teeing off on the golf course, the water level is too high in the lake, the ducks' nest is no more (whether due to hatching or attack is unclear), the juice is flowing on the electric fence (Peter gets to test that) and three carloads of people had arrived to fish in the channel going through our sections.  Oh...and witnessed the first few minutes of a new calf wobbling to his/her feet.  Awww....  All this by 9:30 in the morning.

Returned to find Auntie Nicole and the boys had surfaced...they headed out as I headed in to eat.  After tidying up, I pulled on my coveralls (hugely attractive) and went out again.

Chris and Dexter took a ride on the quad to check out the fishing action, came back and fired up the rider mower.  They were set for the morning.

I was issued some pruning shears and took care of a maple stump that was getting right out of control...didn't stand a chance. 

Next on the list was flipping the hay in the chick corral.  They've gone from ardorable fluffy cute chicks to molting toddlers with a dirty hay issue.  After a panicked few minutes on their part, the poop was flipped and out of sight.  Tick that off the list.

Dad was planting in the greenhouse (former, really...as the recent windstorms ripped the plastic siding off of it, it's now a raised bed garden).  I pitched in with watering it to the point of looking like a rice paddy.   Apparently that is just perfect.

As the rain arrived, I hustled over to the main garden to gather some of the prolific rhubarb already taking over part of the big garden.  A request for crisp had been made...must do something with all the growth. (Add "Search for other rhubarb recipes" to my list).

In the meantime, Peter was weed whacking the yard, Nicole was doing her random junk-hauling and Julia was puttering in her corner of the garden.

And then...the deluge began...and that was the end of outside time.

Now crisps have been made, Dexter's nap has been had, blogging ensues and surfing for acceptable cartoons is underway.

Happy Soggy Long Weekend Everyone!

So cute and fluffy...

100 new chicks arrived today.  From cardboard box in the front seat to little chick corral in the coop...they're settling in.

Dexter was very concerned about finding their mommies.  He wanted to go right away to find them.  He remains unconvinced that they do not require milk and they can flourish in the dubious care of people.

Of course they can...for about four months.