Full Steam Ahead

I'm not typically one to laze around all day and get nothing done.  On the contrary, I'm usually find myself extremely busy.  Yet, somehow, I have managed to accumulate a list of things that have just failed to get done.  Last winter I banged a hole into the wall of our entrance/hallway, while carrying in a load of firewood.  That hole, only remotely patched, still sat virtually untouched until now.  I put it on my list.  It's a list that I've become determined to complete quickly.  Maybe it's the feeling that winter is arriving on my doorstep soon that's motivating me.  I don't really know.  All I know is a fire has been lit beneath my butt, and I'm crossing completed items off my list like crazy.  This morning I tackled that hole and wall.  Patched, sanded, and primed, I repainted the wall this morning.

My house looks like a disaster site... the usual housework has been set aside in lieu of painting.  There's bright pink flagging tape cordoning off sections of my house like a construction site -  a good visual reminder of off-limit areas for Emily, while the paint dries.

I haven't done any more scrapbooking since my last post, and if you could see my scraproom you'd know why.  It did not escape the blast of the bomb that the rest of my house fell victim too.  It's also been added to the list.  In my attempt to get it ready for Emily to move into, I've found myself in the dilemma of where to store things that I usually store in there?  Lack of storage is a problem I'm slowly going crazy over.  Maybe I'll turn into one of those people that just starts storing Rubbermaid containers on the front deck.  Please commit me if that ever happens...

I'm off to tackle something else.  Maybe one day my to-do list will be blank and I can just sit around all day... but today is not that day.  I leave you with a picture of my Emily, busy doing a little painting of her own.

Until next time...

Buck Lake Blogger

Three's Company

Adam has arrived home this afternoon.  It's good to have him back.  Emily is certainly excited.  She discovered him napping on the couch after she got up from her nap, and she promptly jumped on top of him and started to "fight".  Her version of fighting/wrestling really is just her flopping and rolling around on you, while she "punches" you with her hands.  I guess she missed him. :) It was a nice couple of days with just me and Emily, but I have to admit that it's nice to have someone else to help entertain her. 

I managed to tend to my garden a bit today... pulling weeds, dead-heading flowers, checking on the crops.  I woke up this morning to 5 degrees Celsius, so I'm not optomistic about a late frost this fall.  I've already started pulling the odd flower from my beds that just hasn't really recovered from the month of neglect it had, while I was in Saskatchewan.  It was a beautiful day outside today - perfect for spending a lot of time outdoors.  Sunny, warm and no bugs.  If only we could have that all summer long.

I managed to complete another layout today.  This one of the deer that frequent our yard all year long.  I finally pulled my sewing machine back out again, and added a bit of stitching to this layout. 

Until next time...

Buck Lake Blogger

Midnight Madness

Last night, while I am desperately trying to sleep, I keep hearing these strange noises in my bedroom.  First it sounds like it is coming from under the head of my bed.  I flip on the light and sit up in bed, listening.  I hear it again.  Hmmm... strange.  Of course, I'm all by myself since Adam is in Calgary for a few days, so my imagination starts to run wild.  Is it a mouse?  I've never seen one in our house before... and with the cats around, I'd doubt it.  I sit still again... and wait.  There's the noise again - but it's shifted to another area.  Now I'm really confused and a little freaked. I get out of bed, brave the look under the bed and night table, and reassure myself that nothing is there.  It's now 12:30am and I'm counting how many hours until I need to get up again.  I try to coax Buddy, our cat, to come and sleep on the foot of my bed, but he's not into it and takes off.  Lights out again.  I lay there, with the blankets bundled up tight around my neck, to prevent any strange creatures from making their way into my bed.  I try to sleep, but with one eye and both ears open.  Silence.  And then... the noise again!  This time it seems to be coming from the other corner of the room and half way up the wall!  Okay.  I'm certainly not sleeping now.  Lights on again.  Another look around the room.  Nothing.  I think to myself, "this is going to be a long night" and "the bats couldn't get into the house, could they?"  Lights off.  All tucked in tight again.  I say a little prayer to calm my nerves.  Buddy finally decides that he wants to sleep on my bed, so at least I have his keen eyes and ears to alert me of anything that might attack me while I sleep.  Sleep finally finds me.  I awake in one piece with no sign of any little critters being present.  I don't think I imagined it all... it might have just been the creaks and groans of the house in the wind or cooler weather.  I'm not sure.  I just know that I'm looking forward to Adam returning so that I don't have to drive myself mad trying to find out what goes bump in the night.  And that, dear readers, is the story of why I'm soooo tired today.

As for the rest of my weekend, all was well.  We had a blast at the party on Saturday - the rain held off until we got home that evening.  Maybe it was the 50 or so balloons we released into the atmosphere that pushed the rain back?  Not very environmentally friendly, but if you knew Bev, you'd understand. :)

Sunday brought a fairly relaxed day.  Adam left early to go to Calgary for meetings for a few days.  Em and I headed, solo, to church and then home for a ton of stories, nap time, and lots of afternoon snuggles.  It was nice.  She had a decent nap, so I actually managed to get my scrapbooking table set up again and completed this layout.  I had a lot of fun with paint on this layout... I painted the background cardstock to tone down the colour, I painted (with a little sprinkle of glitter on it while it dried) a thin background layer for the title, and I painted the edges of my pictures to frame them.  It was nice to get the creative juices flowing again.

I'm not sure what the rest of today will bring.  The sun actually seems to be trying to make an appearance today, so Emily and I might take advantage and go for a walk down to the lake.  There seems to be only so many more days left that we can go throw rocks into the water.  It'll be ice again before we know it.

Until next time...

Buck Lake Blogger

Play

Another dreary, cold and rainy sort of day for us today.  I went outside at 8:30 this morning, and could still see my breath.  An hour later, the mercury had not budged in my thermometer.  I'd be surprised if we made it to our high of 18 degrees C today.  But on to happier news:

A busy day for us today as we're preparing to go to a carnival - style birthday party this afternoon.  Looking forward to lots of fun times & good food!  Hopefully, the thunderstorm in the forecast will stay away long enough.  Might be huddling under a tarp for awhile otherwise.

The other day, Em had a bit of fun trying on some costumes/dress up clothes that she got handed down to her recently.  She LOVES to dress up in them, but will usually only wear it for maybe a minute or two before it's time for a wardrobe change. 

I haven't done anymore scrapbooking since I've been home.  I was holding off on setting up all my stuff again in the spare room, because I want to move Emily into that room.  But I'm going a little stir crazy without my creative outlet, so I may have to have an emergency scrap session, lol.  I'll keep you posted.

Yesterday, I finally remembered to take a few pictures of the fawns that frequent our yard.  We had a set of twins and a single fawn born to the herd in our area.  They're getting quite big now, but still have their spots.  It's lots of fun to watch them frolic and play amongst our trees.  Unfortunately, though, they also destroyed the Mountain Ash that I had planted earlier this summer.  >:(

Have a great Saturday!

Until next time...

Buck Lake Blogger

Living "Under The Dome"

Having just finished reading Stephen King's latest book, Under The Dome, I'm beginning to imagine what it must have felt like for the people of Chester's Mill. I awoke yesterday morning, probably not unlike most Alberta residents, thinking it was rather foggy outside. That was until I walked outside. Smoke, not fog. The raging B.C. forest fires and winds heading our direction have brought smoke. A LOT of smoke. After spending the day, yesterday, in Red Deer I came home with a headache and scratchy throat. It was not a fun day.

Here is a photo of yesterday's conditions (photograph by: Wendy Jensen, edmontonjournal.com)

Today, although it seems to be a little better, still has me feeling trapped under a cloud of inescapable bad air. This was the view of our front yard this morning, and it seems to have gotten worse since then.

I think much to Emily's disappointment, we will not be venturing outside to pick strawberries and peas today. We'll stay tucked away in our house, with the windows shut tight... and pray for the firefighting efforts in B.C. Hopefully our "dome" will be lifted soon.

Until next time...

Buck Lake Blogger

The Great Return

After nearly a month and a half, I have returned once again to fill you all in on my life. Spending 26 days living in my camper with my 2 year old has left me playing catch-up at home. Arriving home, I discovered a weed-infested, overgrown garden, a mound of paperwork to catch up on, and lots of work that everyday life creates. It's taken me this long to feel like most of it's under control. And now to return to blogging...

The first part of our trip we drove down to Drumheller to camp with my sister and her "crew" (husband & 6 kids). Fun times. We did some of the tourist attractions... the little church, the hoodoos, go-karts and various other things.

After 2 days at Drumheller, Adam and I parted ways. He returned back home to work, and Emily and I continued on to Saskatchewan. We had the experience of dry camping hill-billy style in the Wal-mart parking lot in Medicine Hat. It wasn't actually a bad experience, although we could have done without the 60kmph winds that we had that night.

When we finally arrived at my sister's farm, the whirlwind seemed to begin. Emily, who had been an independent, playful girl in Drumheller, had suddenly turned into a whining, clingy, "need mom" spouting child. It made for some long days. Finally having the opportunity to play with all her cousins (9 of whom were at my sister's), she did nothing but cry every time I left her sight. **sigh**

The day after we arrived in Regina, my sister and her family arrived from Ecuador. All the kids lined up at the airport with signs welcoming them to Canada. Very cute.

We had lots of busy days filled with family gatherings. I sometimes think my days at home are busy with only one child, so you can likely imagine how busy a household can get with 4 adults and 10 kids living together. Busy. But I wouldn't trade my family for anyone's... most days! lol

Adam, who was just overcome with loneliness without us (and really, who can blame him?) decided to surprise us by making the 8 hour drive to see us one day. A lovely little surprise. A few short days later and he had to make the trip back home. :(

The day Adam left, my two eldest sisters and I took our brood camping for a week to Buffalo Pound, a provincial park in Saskatchewan. There we were met with large sites, a handful of trees, sunshine, and heat (temperatures routinely hit near 30+ degrees Celsius). Aside from an electrical issue on our little camping circuit (which resulted in no air conditioning, in stifling temperatures) for the first couple of days, all was well. We learned to handle the heat by taking it easy.

We spent our mornings at the beach, and our afternoons at the pool.

Emily took to the pool like... hmmm... well, let's just say she's not a natural water baby. For the first few days she wouldn't even stand in the water by herself. I had to hold her tightly in my arms. But by the last day she would stand in deeper water (up to her chest) and venture an arms length away. Definite progress. She liked to stick to the shallow end, but I forced her to venture with me into deeper waters. She has nothing but fond memories about that swimming pool, so we must have done something right. :)

I never would have thought that 26 days could have gone by so quickly. Or been as busy. But they were. It was a bit of a mixed blessing to return home. It was nice to be able to sleep in my own bed again, but returning to the reality of "life" and all the work that that entails was not as fun. I think we've finally gotten back into our rhythm though. It's taken some time, and I appreciate y'all hanging on until I got there. :)

Now I must get to bed. It's been a full day, topped off with a lovely dinner with friends. Tomorrow, I am taking our RV into the dealership for a little warranty work, so that we can trade it in on something bigger. Living in our camper for nearly a month has shown us one thing for sure... we need a bigger camper! Well, maybe not NEED. Who really needs a camper at all, after all? But we sure would like a little more space.

I'm sure I've forgotten to tell you about some lovely, fun-filled adventure I've had during the last month, but I suppose I can't share all my secrets with you. ;)

Until next time...

Buck Lake Blogger

Experiencing techical difficulties

Just a quick note to all you loyal followers. I am home again - have been for a little over a week - but still am playing catch-up with a number of things. I really don't have a lot of time right now to blog, although I have attempted it a few times. The thing is, I'm rather distracted with how ugly my blog looks now that my design has been pulled. The few minutes that I've spent trying to look for a new "skin" hasn't produced very good results. It's an issue I'll have to spend more time on in the near future. But for now, I just wanted to post that I am, in fact, alive! My vacay was fun and it's great to be home. All the details and photos to follow in my next blog. Stay tuned! :)

Until next time... (I'll try to make it within the next few days)

Buck Lake Blogger