The Parliament Building Report

Good news! I don't have to drive home. Mom and Dad bought plane tickets for Emma and I to go back to Calgary with Grandpa (and no snow).

Yesterday we went to the House of Commons and saw Question Period AND the Olympic Torch. Barbara Ann Scott was carrying the Olympic torch. It was quite boring. I saw Jack Layton, Stephen Harper, both Speakers of the House, and Gilles Duceppe, and Michael Ignatieff. We had to go through 2 security checks to get into the House of Commons. There were paintings on the ceiling. We were sitting above the Conservative MPs. They were talking mostly about torture and prisoners in Afghanistan. I enjoyed the tour of Parliament better, even though then we didn't get to go into the House of Commons.
Only 14 more days til Christmas! See you then,
Bye.
Nathan

After a month in Gatineau

Salut! (that means 'hi')

1. My birthday. On my birthday we had crepes for breakfast, and played around and read some new books. I got $60 as gifts and went book shopping at Chapters. I bought 3 new books that day. Two days after, a big box arrived. It had a lot of presents from Grandpa, Great-Grandma, and other relatives. In the box there was $15, baby stuff from Kyra, a necklace from Halia, and a lot of clothes and a book from Grandpa!
2. Things we've done here: Went to Chapters (four times!), toured the Parliament buildings, went to Dad's new office, found two new playgrounds, went to Gatineau Park (three times), went to the RCMP barns (and we're going there again tomorrow), went to the Remembrance Day ceremony, and gone swimming at four pools. I have seen three movies at the movie theatre too.
3. The house. Our house is really big, with three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a big basement with a fooze ball table and an elliptical cross trainer. There is a backyard with a big shed too. In the front yard there is a porch and a lawn with a tree. My room is fairly big with a large closet and a double bed. There is also a large dresser with a big mirror on it. There is a shelf with coat hooks under it.
4. The things I like about the house. My room - because it has little stained glass pieces of a horse's head and two cats. And, because I don't have to share the room with anyone. The kitchen - because it has a large sliding door so there is lots of light in it. The basement - because there are LOTS of toys.
5. The things we are doing for Christmas. We are not getting a real tree this year. We've cut a tree out of construction paper and taped it to the sliding glass doors. Tonight we are going to decorate it with paper ornaments which we have made. Me and Nathan are going to have store-bought stockings and Mom and Dad are going to use real socks. We've made two kinds of cookies so far. Grandma Joan and David are coming. And me and Grandma are going to try and come up with a song to play together - her on her penny whistle, and me on my new recorder (which I got from Mom and Dad for my birthday).

Bye for now,

Emma

PS - sorry I didn't blog sooner!

Things we don't want to forget!

Emma and Nathan made a jumping course - fun for days!


The meadow between Joan and Rachel's house finally turned brown for the season.



Ah, September !

Late October!

Pia the weaver -showing us her studio.

Last pics from Nova Scotia, Grey Gatineau

Emma's was the toothiest, mine (in the middle) was the meanest, and Nathan's was the silliest!


Very scary witch and vampire! Halloween night was so warm that the kids wore T-shirts under their costumes and weren't even chilly!


Nathan turned 7 in Nova Scotia.


Emma and I made apple pies with apples we'd picked ourselves!



Emma on Grandma's deck. Sunny and warm in October.
-----------------------------------------------
Juleta here. I haven't managed to get the kids in a blogging mood since arriving in Gatineau 3 weeks ago, and there's a lot to recount! Some things I'll remember about our time here include

• Grey skies! I suppose we did have some very warm and sunny weather earlier in November - but after days and days of grey skies this prairie girl is suffering from the seasonal blues!
• Our amazing visit to the RCMP musical ride barns. We lucked out and watched a practice session where the riders did a complete run-through of the routine for us. Magnificent horses, beautiful riding -and we were the only ones in the audience. Emma and I were in horse heaven. Nathan liked it too :)
• Walking in the famous Gatineau hills. Very nice. Though I wouldn't trade Kananaskis country, or even the Weaslehead for anything...
• Going for a weekend run past 21 Sussex Drive on a clear, warm day, with Oak and Maple leaves covering the sidewalk.
• The patriotic power of the national Remembrance Day ceremony, made perhaps more special by seeing Prince Charles and Camilla.
• The way the wind blows the Canada flag on the top of the Parliament buildings. That flag is never slack!
• My terrible French! Why is my old brain having such a hard time dredging up my University French? Was it really 10 years ago that Chris and I were in France? Nearly everyone in Ottawa and Gatineau is billingual and I wonder if they know how wonderful that is?
• Living in a city again has some conveniences (walking to a grocery store etc.), but the ugliness of the urban landscape is quite appalling. I sure miss the postcard-pretty landscapes of the Minas Basin in Nova Scotia! But even more than that I miss the wilderness of the foothills and mountains in Alberta. Eastern Canada has been so much more intensively used by humans (at least this far South). Farmed, logged, fished. Of course, we are in the process of doing the same thing to Alberta and BC, but somehow I still feel closer to 'wild' when I'm home.

More later -

Juleta

From rue de St-Emilion

Hi there, Juleta here.

We have settled into a cute, comfortable family home in Gatineau which we are renting until December 31. The owners are in Edmonton for 3 months for a work contract. And we are grateful for this place. Emma and Nathan are enjoying having their own bedrooms again (Emma especially), and exploring the toys the family left for us to use.

Chris and I are enjoying the simple routes to downtown Hull and Ottawa. Unless it is rush hour I can get to the Parliament buildings in 15 min! But we've struggled to find good places to swim and work out. Somehow we always end up driving for 40 min to some suburban rec. centre on the outskirts of Ottawa...?!

In other random, bloggy news, I stumbled across and purchased two wonderful, very different, books lately. The first was "In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts" by Dr. Gabor Mate from Vancouver. It's an exploration of addiction and discusses the the ways and degrees addiction burdens all our lives. I was rivetted. He paints a compassionate picture of life in Vancouver's downtown Eastside, and then outlines a reasonable and loving avenue for action to reduce the harm addiction causes. I learned a great deal - both about the world of those suffering terrible drug addicitons, and about the addictive tendancies in most of our lives (mine included). Mate's voice is one of optimism and experience. I'd recommend it.

I finished 'Hungry Ghosts' and went straight to a wonderful new book of interviews with actors of Shakespeare. Discovering what people like Kevin Kline, Derek Jacobi and Kenneth Brannagh have to say about their processes of preparing for the classic roles is sparking my dormant love of acting, directing and language again! It has been wonderful to have a long break from teaching, but I'm getting quite excited about carrying on with some of my wonderful private students. I'll have lots of ideas for Shakespearean monologue work to try out when I return!

Okay - I have to mention four of the best things that have happened this month - one for me, two for Chris, and one for Emma!
1. Emma turned 9 on the 23rd! She felt very special - had many phone calls and emails, and lots of wonderful gifts.
2. Chris has had three meetings in the Centre Block of Parliament Hill - briefing MPs about a report the Pembina Institute was involved with
3. He also had the chance to travel to London, England for work!
4. My great thing was that my friend Liz came for a weekend and we got to go to Montreal, just the two of us, by train. We had the best weekend. We laughed like crazy, talked for hours and managed to check off a huge, long list of touristy things like eating Montreal smoked-meat sandwiches at Schwartz's, going to a jazz club, walking to the cross on the 'Mont' etc.!

Well, that's enough from me...

Juleta

Pumpkins, Blue-jays and Mice

Yesterday we got pumpkins at a stand down the road. Mine is tall, skinny and very big. Nathan's is very fat and big. Mom's is very round and small, with a very curly stem. There are more than eight fields full of pumpkins near Wolfville. Almost everybody has a pumpkin on their doorstep. There's enough pumpkins that people put them out for Thanksgiving, and then carve them for Halloween. We have seen ones that are nearly a meter tall, and a meter wide!

It's amazing how many Blue-jays there are around here. About three weeks ago they started flocking in big groups in the trees near our house. Yesterday I saw a group of about 12 fly past our house. Blue-jays are becoming the most common bird to see around here. Grandma said that some flocks stay in town, but not out here (because of where the bird feeders mostly are) all winter. Mom thinks that most of the flocks are going to the United States. The birds are pretty, and they stay out of your house, unlike...

MICE! We've been having lots of mice and they've been having sticking inside our house instead of out. We've been setting up live-capture traps. We've caught and released eight mice - nine if you count the one that Nathan let go IN the house! Sometimes we've driven them far away. Most of the time they get captured during the night and drive you nuts by scratching all over, so those ones we have to let go right outside the house. I think they've been coming right back in.
Mom is getting antsy with the mice. She is starting to wish we did have a cat even though she is allergic. I have to keep reminding her that they bring dead mice and drop them at your feet.
She heard on the radio that mice don't like lemony smells so she's been scrubbing the whole house with lemony cleaning chemicals! It seems to work - there are no more mice upstairs, but they still come up from the basement on to the main level. I think they are getting braver and might start going back up the stairs soon. They look pretty cute - when they are outside. When they are inside they look creepy. They skitter as fast as lightning bolts!

Emma

Dentistry

I went to a dentist in Wolfville 5 times. For one of my teeth the tooth fairy gave me $4.00! I got a bilateral spacer put in that has a metal wire going around the inside of my bottom teeth and hooking on to both sides on molars. The dentist's name is Dr. Hennessey and she is great! She gave me my impressions when she was done using them! The dentist's assisstant laughs a lot. The dentist's office is in a house.

Nathan

Valley Harvest Half Marathon!

This is Katherine, guest blogger, and guest-in-residence at the yellow house (Joan's), here in Nova Scotia! I had the pleasure of being a spectator and fan to support Juleta in the Valley Harvest half marathon. She began the day on a chilly but bright fall day, with a brisk breeze to remind the fans to wear an extra jacket. Juleta, along with about 900 others, started the race on Wolfville's mainstreet, did a quick photo op loop, and then out onto a rolling course circling through the fertile fields of the Annapolis Valley (past apple orchards, pumpkin patches and ocean views. We set up at the 14.5 km mark, and Nathan was the first to run up to give his Mom a high five, and even tried to hug her legs as she ran by- an almost disaster... Juleta calmly revealed that her calf (which had been a problem for a few weeks) was protesting loudly. I had nothing truly inspirational to tell her, mumbling weakly (as I jogged alongside) that it "might get better"? Off she went for the last third of the race, while we got ready in Acadia University's football stadium, at the finish line. There she was! Coming into the stadium for her last 300 meters! Nathan again rushed out to meet her, joining her for the last lap, asking her "how was your run, Mom?" (her answer was "it was hard, Nathan"). Emma raced down the bleacher stairs to make it down to track level, and I snapped some great pictures. I was very proud, and I thought she looked strong and beautiful. Her leg hurt. She went to the physio line-up. I wanted all the details, but had to wait until the next day to hear about them. Juleta was done her first half, with a cold, strained calves, barely post-migraine, and in the wind (and hills). Wow! Congratulations!

24 hrs later- Juleta makes a fabulous turkey dinner and then sits on her couch and blows her nose...lots.

Stay tuned for pictures...

I'm back!

pumpkins at Noggins Farm Market


Kayaking in the tidal marsh



The farm stand just down the road


the morning Awen left for Vancouver

the beans in our garden

Here is a big gigantic list of things I've done since my last blog:

1. Jeff and Yin and Awen came. Jeff said he would make French Toast for 21 days in a row. He almost got his wish.


2. Awen loved it here. He is 4 1/2 and he had never been to Nova Scotia before. So he was having the time of his life! I liked having him follow me around. He was cute when we went down to the beach. He wouldn't go all the way in the water because he thought he would drown even though he was wearing a life vest. He only went up to his waist then he stopped. So I went in for a little while, then I came out and we walked along (waist-deep for Awen) along the shore. Awen was talking my ear off because we found a big clump of seaweed and he was dragging it along by a twig.



3. Yin loved it here because she could do her yoga in the yard. At the end of her stay she fixed up a dance and performed sit for us out in the garden. She also liked the water. And she kayaked for the first time in her life in the Minas Basin.



4. Instead of Jeff getting his breakfast wish he got lots of other breakfasts in there too. We had crepes, fancy omellettes, apple dutch babies, and I don't think I had cereal once when they were staying here! There were lots of fresh blueberries around at the time. So we had blueberries in almost anything we ate! Except for the omellettes... Jeff and Yin together were both wanting to move here, and they had pretty much chosen a house that was for sale!



5. Here'a s list of the things I have not liked here. Most of the things happened on my foot. At the beach I cut my foot on my toe and on the very bottom of my foot. Both of them took a pretty long time to heal. Just when they were both better, I broke my pinky toe. Then I got a bee sting. We found out that I am allergic to bees and I had a huge allergic reaction. I was covered with blistery red spots and had to stay in the hospital for 3/4 of the day and get six needles. The blisters flared up 3 times! After that, mom was being super careful about bees and wasps. It drove me nuts. After that I cut my thumb. And it stung when I touched something.


6. Here are some good things that have happened: I have caught 3 grasshoppers and 3 butterflies. I got to go on a trail ride. I found lots and lots of moonstones (they're shells). I've learned to kayak by myself. I've had 2 sleepovers with Grandma. We've been going down to the beach alot and we've been swimming in the channel when it was hot. Now it has cooled down but we can do lots of other things such as collect red and yellow maple leaves by grandma's house. There are still a few flowers blooming and we have planted daffodil, crocus and tulip bulbs in the garden.

Bye for now!

Emma

News from Nathan

This is the colour of maple leaves in Nova Scotia now. The beach is fun. I swim and I look for shells and sink up to my knee in the muck. Dad, Emma and me made a big castle out of big rocks. It survived 7 tides already! If you want any apples, come to us! We have a humungous bag of fresh picked Gravensteins. We picked them ourselves at the u-pick. We also went to the corn maze and we got to ride a pony.

Later that day Dad brought me to a football game while Mom and Emma stayed home and made apple pie. The football game was Acadia University against St. Mary's (David thought they won all across Canada last year). St. Mary's was winning when we left. We left at the beginning of the 3rd quarter. It was dark!

My birthday is coming up (if you didn't know). I'm turning 7. Emma and me are going to have an early joint birthday party so Kath, Brad, Grandma, David and Peter could be there. And maybe a few people from Sunday school.

I am in the grade 3 math book even though I'm in grade 2.

We are going to two libraries here, because they are so small. We go to the Wolfville public library and we go to the Kentville library.

See you when we get back to Calgary!
Nathan

more PEI pics

Nathan at Brackley Beach


The kids at Cabot Beach



Cute, downtown Charlottetown from Victoria Park Boardwalk




Wet kids at the waterpark in Charlottetown





Emma at Brackley Beach

Pics from PEI

Our first view of Cabot Beach

6 Dunkirk Street, where I lived in grade 3

Nathan gathering seaweed

PEI

We had a wonderful, whirlwind trip to PEI! We cut it short in order to avoid camping in the wrath of Hurricane Bill (through which we hunkered down yesterday, here at the yellow house.
We weren't hit as hard as other parts of NS and PEI but did get lots of heavy rain. Because the storm peaked at high tide the waves were spectacular and the cliffs suffered some serious erosion).

Being on PEI brought back a flood of sense memories from when my family lived in Charlottetown in 1982-83. Everywhere felt like home! I swelled with something close to relief (mixed with adrenaline and happiness) when I stepped out onto the beautiful beaches. The way the sand and the dune grass and the water and the sky make for a wide open vista - how wonderful. The island really got into my bones in that grade 3 year! It was very exciting to see Emma and Nathan play and swim and play and swim just as Kath and I must have 30 years ago.

We camped at Cabot Beach provincial park on the west-central northshore (if that makes any sense). It was just what the doctor ordered - peaceful and simple, easy and with a brilliant beach.
We also enjoyed Brackley Beach in the National Park a bit further east. We had a few funny (and yummy) meals at a restaurant in North Rustico. PEI is friendly and rural and their restaurants have a simple charm - homemade rolls before your delicious fish and chips, unassuming decor, no background music, things like that.

It was so neat to see 6 Dunkirk Street, where we lived all those years ago. The house looked just the same (but with a different colour of paint). The school Kath and I went to is just two doors down, and the ocean is walking distance away. Being there affirmed all the images I've carried around as memory for 30 years. Charlottetown is a cute city - very small, but it seemed to be bustling.

On our return journey, before crossing over the impressive Confderation Bridge, we made the obligatory stop to buy local PEI potatoes from a farmer's roadside stand. Ah, PEI! I plan to take the kids back in September when we can perhaps spend a few more days. We need to visit Green Gables. We are reading the book together right now and Emma is loving it, but on this trip we were so focused on beach time that we only just drove by the buildings.

It is still raining today, though nothing like yesterday. Chris has taken the kids down the Valley to Upper Clements Park, an amusement park which they earned free tickets to by participating in the Wolfville Library summer reading program. I am enjoying a quiet day at the yellow house. In a while I might head out to do a 16 km training run (yikes- the half marathon is less than 2 months away!).
Juleta

Our Nova Scotia house - water, wildflowers and garden

Today I went swimming in the ocean channel. It wasn't too cold after I got in but, boy was it freezing when I was getting in! I found more than ten moonstone sea shells. They have been brought in by the fishermen in their nets and then been thrown overboard at the dock.
We walk up the channel at low-tide from Grandma's house and then there is a big three-way crossing with sharp grass everywhere else. You turn right and there you are at the big boat dock.

There are wild tiger lilies growing here along with daisies, and brown-eyed susans. We have our own garden and there are peas, beans, squash, tomatoes, broccoli and carrots in it. So far we have eaten our own broccoli and lots of peas. We went to a u-pick raspberry farm and we got two overflowing buckets. They were really good and we ate them with sugar and cream.

I am glad to finally be in Nova Scotia.

Emma

Nathan in Nova Scotia

Here are some things that we can do here but not in Calgary:

• swimming in the ocean.


• going to the beach.


• shopping at the outside Saturday Farmer's Market.


• walk to Paddy's island.


• seeing Grandma Joan


• getting $2 ice cream cones at Kingsport


• go swimming in a lake

Here are some things I do here that I also do in Calgary:

• getting lots of books from the library


• wake up and get out of bed first


• play with Emma

Here are some things I only do in Calgary:

• play with my friends


• go to church


• ride my scooter

This is Nathan signing off!

Full Moon Musings

Hi. Juleta here.


This evening I went for a nice run down Pereau Road and then up a bit of Hubbard Mountain Road. It was a bit too humid for my prairie bones, so I was happy to stop and walk a bit when I reached my turn around point at the old Pereaux (when did the word lose its 'x' around here, I am left wondering...)cemetery. I love small, old (and this one goes back to 1775!), rural cemeteries. They are eloquent in what they say about community and belonging. There are stories on headstones that tell of immigrants from Europe who lived a hard, farming life and died in middle age. Other stories of babies or young adults who died too soon, leaving me wondering how. There's the old story of class disntinction played out on grave markers ranging from elaborate to simple and small, to not there at all. There are the names of wives (mostly wives) with their birth date inscribed, but no death date yet; the ongoing stories of their widowhood. And stories of grieving written in plastic flowers and in the inscriptions themselves - all the variations of "Gone but not forgotten". So many people, so many lives, all there in such an articulate quiet.


These small cemetaries are so much the same wherever you go. They always have an honest beauty about them. And they make me want to be from a small community, so that I'd know my body, after death, would find a home in this kind of simple and familiar soil. The cemetery would be small enough to take in from one vantage point, located not too near a busy road, there would be birds in the trees, and some neighbour the one who volunteers to mow the grass (even if it's not every week, or even every month!).


I, of course, don't live in such a place. And at the moment, after six months of travel (even with nearly two months in and around Calgary), I feel quite removed from my home and my community.


In so many ways travel is the ultimate in selfishness. I think about how it requires great resources (of fuel - gasoline, or jet or otherwise, as well as of personal energy), and how it removes the traveler from their home community where the most opportunities for interconnectedness or generosity lie. I have been contemplating the luxury and the selfishness of this year.


But I have also been examining the benefits we are all gaining from this trip. The many ways the four of us are closer than we were when we left Calgary in January; the relaxed good cheer we have for each other most of the time now. The rich, rich store of memories we are all building - some of them sensory (the smell of a BC forest in the rain, the feel of a wet sleeping bag, the taste of freshly caught fish, the experience of feeling the water of an outgoing tide become slack around your ankles and then the sensation of it turning and moving the other way!), some of them intelletual (all we learned about the life-cycles of salmon, the ecologies of Canada, the history of Old Quebec, the travel routes of the voyageurs, how to close a real estate deal while driving on the Trans-Canada), some of them interpersonal (how wonderful it is to share life with friends and family in THEIR places - Lisa and Chase in Alert Bay, the Hagreen-Leblonds in Victoria, Jeff and Yin and Awen, and Ken in Vancouver, Joan and David out here).


Mostly for me, the biggest opportunity for learning is coming through the chance to homeschool (or 'unschool') with Emma and Nathan. This primarily means learning to calm my mind and open myself to a gentle flow of living. To let go of worry and doubt. To enjoy!


Lately the things I've been enjoying most are:

• The taste of fresh strawberries, raspberries and garden peas.



• Nathan's made-up riddles and puns.



• Emma's deep calm. And the way she gallops down the long beach.



• Chris' face. And hands. And mind.



• Joan's generosity - the windows in the bedroom of her yellow house, her offers to babysit, her laughter, her curried maple chicken....



• David's piratey and gardeny ways with the kids.



• Bald eagles as they fly over the ocean.



• Nova Scotia's incredible recycling and composting programs.



• Gaspereau Press books - they are printed and bound so artfully.



• Wading and swimming in Lumsden Pond.



• Filling water bottles at the Gaspereau spring.



• Running. Running fast. Running far. Running even when it's HOT and I have to go slow and not far.



• Thinking about my Dad, my Mom, my sister, my Grandma Severson, Heidi, Liz, Robyn, Ken, Vara and Lisa. Although too much of this makes me a bit heartsick and then I stop enjoying myself...



• Looking at pictures from the past six months. Especially the ones from Tofino, Writing-on-Stone, Alert Bay, and from our drive across the country.

• The glitter of full-moon moonlight on the water



• Falling asleep with a coolish breeze coming in the window, the way it brings the sound of that little waterfall across the road.

Life lived like a prayer of sensuality and gladness. That's what I'd like mine to be.

J.

The sky over Nelson Lake, Saskatchewan. July 11, '09

photos from six provinces

photos from six provinces,

Canada Flag flying in Thunder Bay, Ontario

The yellow house in Canning, Nova Scotia (where we are living!)

Lake Superior at Neys Provincial Park in Ontario

An old covered bridge in New Brunswick

Emma and Nathan outside the French Consulate in old Quebec City

The only picture we have from Manitoba, our car beside the blue car that I banged with my door in the Staples parking lot in Winnipeg!

and Emma and Nathan in Tip-C-Canoe, tethered and practicing their strokes on Neslon Lake, Saskatchewan

The big drive East!

Well, we are nearly across this huge and wonderful country. Below is a little summary of our trip. I will just list the places we stopped each day and include a quip from the kids for each day of our travels. Perhaps we will manage to post more reflections after we settle in to life in Nova Scotia...

July 11 - we leave the farm in Alberta and drive 11 hours to Grandpa Severson's cabin on Nelson Lake (near Preeceville, Saskatchewan). The farms around the AB-SK border are clearly suffering from a terrible drought.

"I was happy that we finally got to stop driving, and got to see Grandpa" - Nathan

July 12 - my 37th birthday. the sun is shining and we have a perfect SK cabin day; running, canoeing, swimming and lots of fun with my Dad.

"I caught 48 minnows in Nelson Lake." - Emma

July 13 - we head off towards Manitoba around 2pm. Camp at Rainbow Beach Provincial Park. A beautiful campground on Lake Dauphin (great beach on a very big lake- though we don't get to swim from it- arrive too late, and in the morning it is raining hard).

"This was the first night we saw fireflies on our trip!" - Nathan

July 14 - we make it to Winnipeg via highway 6 (which includes crossing Lake Manitoba at 'the narrows') after a long drive in pouring rain. Spend the afternoon on Portage Ave. downtown and in a Francophone library (using the internet to do real estate business - Never head off on a cross-country drive when you are in the middle of a real estate deal!)

A wonderful night with my brother-in-law's mother and step-father, Carolyn and Dave. They host us with a great supper and a tour of the city.

"I had a root beer slurpee." - Emma (Dave told us that Winnipeg is the Slurpee drinking capital of Canada!)

July 15 - A long drive from Winnipeg to Kakabeka Falls Prov. Park in Ontario, near Thunder Bay.

"We stopped for lunch at a meteorite-made lake." - Nathan

July 16 - Car trouble? the mysterious noises turn out to be nothing and have not returned a week later...knock on wood! We spend a very enjoyable afternoon at Fort William in Thunder Bay. Fort William was an important Northwest Company fur trading fort that now runs a living museum experience (complete with actor/interpreters who offer a living glimpse into what life at the fort was like for voyageurs, Ojibwayans, and NW Co. clerks in 1815).

"I got to milk a cow." - Emma

July 17 - The long drive along the shores of Lake Superior. A great lunch stop at Veys Provincial Park - such a beautiful beach. Weather still grey, cool and rainy. We camp at Pancake Bay Provincial Park just N. of Sault Ste. Marie.

"I was glad that we were more than half way in to our trip. I was happy that we were closer to Grandma Joan." - Nathan

July 18 - We cross Ontario through increasingly agricultural/industrial regions. Blast past Sudbury with its 'stacks', and on to North Bay where we decide to stay in a hotel (sick of the rain). Have a gourmet meal at "The White Owl".

"We had a delicious birthday present dinner. It was mom's birthday present. I had pasta and garlic bread." - Emma

July 19 - Another full day of driving takes us through Ottawa (we decide not to stop because we'll be living here for several months in the fall). We enjoy driving past such interesting places as Chalk River (where the nuclear reactor that produces medical isotopes is currently still down for repairs) and CFB Petawawa (from which so many of the Cnd. soldiers who have been killed in Afghanistan seem to be from - such a huge base). We camp at Voyageur Provincial Park on the Ontario/Quebec border. The kids swim in the Ottawa River. By 9pm it is, of course, RAINING!!!

"It was a lovely day but as always when we are camping it always turns out raining." - Nathan

July 20 - A great day. By 11am we are strolling around Vieux Montreal! After a yummy lunch of baguette sandwiches we head onward to Quebec City. We are impressed by how close the three cities of Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec are! An easy 4.5 hours from Ottawa to Quebec. After supper we head down to the old walled city in Quebec. It is beautiful. And it is NOT raining! Alleluia!

"Yesterday night we saw a great street performer who was a one man band, and who sung in French." - Emma

July 21 - A wonderful day. We spend the whole day exploring Vieux Quebec. Take a tour of the Plains of Abraham, visit a museum, and generally try to finally learn Canadian history! We have fun trying to speak French and enjoy the hot, summery day.

"I am happy that we are finally only about 2 days away from Grandma." - Nathan

July 22 - tomorrow we will drive into New Brunswick and camp for one night.

July 23 - we should arrive at Grandma Joan's beautiful yellow house on the Minas Basin in Nova Scotia! The country crossed (well, except for Newfoundland and Labrador...but we may get there yet)

Pictures to be posted soon...

Juleta, Emma and Nathan

Family Reunion

We went to Terratima Lodge for father's day and a family reunion with the Baker/Blain family. There was one main lodge and there were a lot of bedrooms in it. There was also a games house where all the grown-ups played poker. I played croquinot and pool with Dad there. I met some cousins and played with Xavier and Kailen. Instead of breakfast and lunch we had brunch on father's day.
We have a BIG family!
Nathan

Kootenay Plains

Kootenay Plains was a great campground. We were there on a Pembina Institute camping trip. Kootenay Plains is in a valley in the mountains. It took four hours to drive there. Lots of kids came including Jessica, Eric, and Logan (Eric's friend). There was a PIAD-a-thon which was eight games that you played in teams of 4 or 5. Nathan's team won. The games included frisbee tossing, basketball shooting and knocking wood over by throwing wood at it (that game was called "George").
I caught 15 crickets in the first day there. The next day I caught 20, including a big one that could fly.
We went on a LOOOOOOONNNNGG hike to Siffleur Falls. They were amazing. Even though by the time we got back I still wished we had stopped at the bridge. I was pooped. It was still hot.
That night we played Ultimate Frisbee. It was a very fun game. Even though I didn't get included much in it. We also skipped with a huuuuge rope. I was one of the best skippers there.
Next weekend we are going camping with a family of friends.
Emma

"Summer Colours"

Art by Emma

Home on the range

We haven't been blogging since returning to Alberta. One reason is that living out at the farm means no internet or phone. The chance to live simply (conserving water as we have to haul drinking water from the city, doing simple farm chores, and being 'unplugged') is a natural fit with homeschooling. The kids and I have days where we follow our own rhythms and move from reading to birdwatching to chores to games to reading! Chris bought me a hammock at Granville Island in Vancouver and so swinging in the hammock with a good book is a favourite activity for all of us. Life is sweet. We are enjoying looking for the Great Grey owls that come and hunt in our pasture each evening. The small song-birds are amazing this year too. We've spotted white-crowned sparrows, wrens, phoebes, warblers and even hummingbirds. There are also lots of woodpeckers (mostly hairy), some flickers, and many tree swallows around and about. Late spring in Alberta is a wonderful time for listening to birds as they mate, build nests and defend territory.
We've had to do a lot of driving since coming home. Chris' commute from the farm to the office is LONG - he drives the truck to the Dalhousie C-train (40 min on a good morning), then takes the train downtown (20-20min). Often he doesn't arrive back at the cabin until 7pm. It's worse than the Maple Ridge to Vancouver commute! Which is why we are now enjoying spending weeknights at my Dad's house in the city. Dad is at his cabin in Saskatchewan and we are enjoying having a home with laundry, showers, internet and proximity to friends and errand locations!
I'll leave it at that and let the kids say a bit more about the special things we've done since coming home.
Juleta

Pictures of a great day with friends

These were taken at Third Beach in Stanley Park on April 30, 2009. Maddie and Gregor (and their parents) spent a great day with us!

Back in Calgary

The skies are grey, the bushes are not green, there are no flowers anywhere, and it still goes below zero BUT, our friends are here, our aunt and uncle are here, and our grandparents and great-grandparents are here. It is a BIG change to go from flowers and green bushes and most-of-the-time-blue-sky to bare branches, a cloudy sky and empty flower beds. If my friends and family were in Vancouver it would be paradise there. The best thing about coming home so far is seeing friends and family. For instance, take Great-Grandpa Caines' 90th birthday party, and going over to Kyra's house today. We are living in our Aunt's basement. But tomorrow we'll be at the farm. 

Emma

Tofino

In Tofino I went boogie-boarding. It was very fun and absolutely scary. I put on a wetsuit so I couldn't even feel the water. It gave me a ring around the neck. Most of the time it was raining but you couldn't even tell once you got in the water. Dad took me out so far we were past most of the smaller breaking waves and into the big ones. Only two out of ten waves didn't crash in front of me. One out of ten swept me backwards. I had lots of fun, even though I only once caught a wave that carried me all the way to the beach. 

The beaches there seemed empty of life at first. But when you looked hard, they were full of it. Take for instance Long Beach. We must have found more than 80 sea anenomes. Mom walked up on Chesterman's beach and she found an anemome that was about a foot long! We also found sand dollars. I found an alive one! 

Dad and Ken went surfing. I didn't even notice but Mom and Ken watched Dad get swept into the rocks. He broke his surf board. But he was fine. 

We had a walk through the rainforest and we saw baby banana slugs and one medium-sized one. 

We saw a black bear on the drive to Tofino. 

After Tofino we went to Victoria.  Then Maple Ridge, and now Vancouver. Then we are coming back to Calgary so you'll have to wait for my other sight seeings!

See you later!

Emma

Nathan's photos

1. A palm tree

2. the library we went to most when we stayed in the west end

3. the view down Barclay Street where we often walked heading to Stanley Park

4. a swan on Lost Lagoon at Stanley Park

Sun Run and Work

Today I ran in the 25th Annual Vancouver Sun Run. Myself and 50, 234 others! It was amazing to be in such a huge crowd, and to run 10km elbow to elbow with people the whole way. The route took me from West Georgia St. downtown out to Stanley Park, through the south tip of the park, around to English Bay and then across the Burrard Street bridge. We then ran East along W. 4th street for two km and then crossed the Cambie Street bridge for a big finish at BC Place Stadium. I'm glad I did it - though dodging walkers and slow joggers the whole way was a nuisance (and I'm not a fast runner!), and the crowd after the finish line was so crazy I couldn't even get near a free banana or juice! I walked all the way home and was happy to discover Chris had made a huge brunch of French Toast, bacon and eggs.

I placed 16095th (!!!) with a time of 1hr 4min and 6 sec...

Last week I adjudicated Speech and Drama at the Port Coquitlam Festival and I really enjoyed my time there. It is a friendly festival; well organized and with some strong work being done by young performers. It is nice to be 'home' with Chris, Emma and Nathan for a few days. It seemed like Nathan had grown an inch while I was away! There will be lots of reading and cuddling together tomorrow because I fly up to Terrace, BC on Tuesday for another week of adjudicating work. Chris will stay home with the kids again. He enjoyed the homeschooling/stay-at-home-father days this past week; took the kids on lots of trips around and about. One thing they did was go cycling in Stanley Park. He and Nathan shared a rented tandem bike. It took some convincing and a lot of patience until Nathan felt safe on the bike, but once they got rolling everyone had a great time. I missed out! And would also have liked to see the Black Bear at Lynn Canyon... a taste of what Chris must feel most weeks!

Juleta

New List

A new list of the things we have done in Vancouver:

1. We went to Lynn Canyon.

We saw a black bear in a food trap there. It was a round, metal, blue trap. You could go right up to it. The bear was asleep. When we came back from our walk, the bear was wide awake and if you came too close it would spit at you. It had been getting way too close to the houses and some of the people had dogs and cats so it was going to get moved away, further into the forest. I could see its brown eyes and ears and tail which was flicking all around.

2. Swimming.

Me and Dad have been having contests, seeing who can hold their breath the longest. Only once did I win. I have got up to holding my breath for 23 seconds. We have been racing in the back stroke. I have won every single time. Either Dad needs a lot of practice, or he taught me too well!

3. Going to the store.

There's a corner store down the block and Mom and Dad have been sending me there to get groceries. Say, if we were going to make French toast and we didn't have eggs or sugar, Dad would send me over to get them, alone. That happened today. I've gone to the store by myself 12 times. I like going to the corner store. The grocers have started getting very used to me. And, if there are two items or less, they never give me a bag, and they've stopped asking if I want one.

4. Centrepiece.

I have been vigorously collecting pretty flowers and petals that have fallen off trees in Stanley Park and down the block. I also got a few from Whytecliff park. I use them for big centrepieces on the middle of our table.

5. Going to the Planetarium.

We went to the Vancouver Planetarium. I think it is wonderful. I think that my favourite part of the Planetarium was called 'Mars Mission'. In Mars Mission, first of all I watched a video telling us what to do, and to keep our seatbelts buckled at all times. Then we went into a round structure called the space shuttle. When the ride started up it started jerking around which made it very bumpy. It was taking us on a Mars Mission. First of all it told us that they were trying to make a lodge on Mars, so if they needed to leave planet earth they could go there. But that meant they needed an extreme amount of energy since there was no oxygen, water or food on Mars. You could only rely that your personal rescue shuttle was coming back regularily. There was a big screen in front of you that was showing all of this.

Blogya'later!

Emma

Stanley Park

There is a hollow tree near a playground in Stanley Park. It is hollow. If they are stacked on top of each other, about 12 kids could fit inside it, and five stacks of kids could fit in. When you squish in it looks like something like lightening had struck it on the inside. It looked fake on the inside, but real on the outside. It was like going inside a three-room house. I thought it looked like there was a kitchen, a living room and a bathroom and bedroom all in one room. There was a little window.
Nathan

Visiting

There has been lots of visiting around Easter. The night before Easter we went to Jeff and Yin's house and had supper there. Jeff, Dad, Yin and Mom watched hockey with Nathan and Awen. For Easter dinner the next day we went to Aunt Mary and Uncle Don's house with two of their daughters, Anne and Claire. Katie was away. They had a dog, Gracie. Gracie was a labrador. I don't remember seeing Katie, Anne and Claire, or Uncle Don or Aunt Mary before, not Gracie neither. But I really liked seeing them. Apparently I saw them four years ago. I really really liked dinner. The ham was good, the mashed potatoes were great and the curried fruits were yummy. I especially liked the ham and the mashed potatoes. We watched three videos that day! "The Three Lives of Thomasina" and "Peter Pan" and most of "Wall-e". We stayed up until 10:30. Just as we were leaving Aunt Mary and Uncle Don had a surprise for us; a bag full of chocolate and a chocolate carrot (which turned out to taste very yogurty). They live in Tsawassan and by the time we got home it was after 11 o'clock. We have to go to bed early today, which I find quite disappointing.
It was a great Easter!

Emma

Good Things

Here is the list of good things I have done since we got into downtown Vancouver:

1. me and Dad have gone out for cake
2. mom and I went for a day at the beach
3. we took the water taxi
4. Dad, me and Nathan have started to go regularly to a nearby swimming pool
5. me, Dad and Nathan went on the Sky-train
6. mom, me and Nathan are going regularly to a nearby library
7. we have had cupcakes at Ken's house
8. we can go to the aquarium any time we like, even if it's raining
9. we went to Sam and Sophie's house and played hide and seek until we were wet with sweat
10. we went to Science World with Yin and Awen
11. Me, mom and Nathan went to the Capilano Suspension Bridge
12. Mom and I had a good time on Granville Island
13. We have a playground very close to here with HUGE tires, one about as tall as me
14. we have seen lots of raccoons
15. the flowers here are in vast numbers
16. we have a bunk bed
17. we have been allowed to watch lots of TV as mom has been sleeping in very, very late (not true, mom says!)
18. we have been to ChinaTown and got a mixture of roasted almonds, chestnuts and other nuts

These are the big ones, there are vast numbers of small good things. Sometimes I feel like I woke up in Calgary and then I notice I am in the top bunk. There are much bigger rush hours here.

I think our time in Vancouver has been amazing.

Emma

A walk through Stanley Park

On Friday, April 3, we went to Stanley Park. We fed birds there. Here is a list of the birds we fed: swans, pesky pigeons, ducks (mallards and small black ones that look like little loons), seagulls and almost a few raccoons! Oh, and there was a great blue heron who didn't really need a meal. We saw about 10 raccoons on our walk. One of them was freaking out a lady who was trying to cross a little bridge. It was just getting so close to her.
From Nathan

pie update

When the pie came out of the oven we put seven white birthday candles in it, but we didn't think that the bottoms of the candles would melt into the hot pie! By the time we sang "Happy Birthday" and Chris blew the candles out, there were seven gunky little pools of wax in the delicious farmers' market pie that Jeff and Yin brought! We picked the wax out with forks and finally gobbled big slices with ice cream.
And now, tonight we are going to Ken's house to watch a surf movie and eat CUPCAKES!!!
from the yummy west end of Vancouver,
Nathan and Juleta

The starfish

Today I found one purple starfish and Emma found another. The one that Emma found looked like a candle holder because all its legs were folded up. We were at Third Beach in Stanley Park. By the way, Brad, we know why Stanley Park is called Stanley Park. Because there was a person named Lord Stanley and he made Stanley Park. In 1889 he said that this park is for people of all skin colours, religions and customs to enjoy. We found out about it because there is a statue of him near the edge of Stanley Park, tanley Park, anley park, nley park, ley park, ey park, y park, park, ark, rk, k, ____...
Love Nathan

pie

Jeff and Yin and Awen are over for Chris' birthday dinner. They brought a delicious peach-blackberry pie that is warming up in the oven right now - yum! Gotta go and eat it! Happy Birthday Chris!

Juleta

just a few pictures from Victoria

1. Chris and Don at East Sooke Park, March 22

2. Emma with "Mander" at Westside Stables

3. Vara and Max at the beach, March 20

4. Emma, Nathan and Ava at East Sooke Park before the sun came out

Pictures from Alert Bay

1. Nathan, Emma, Chase and his girlfriend
2. The big 'eel' thing Emma found
3. Special Danish pancakes - ebisque
4. Nathan and Lisa at the post office
5. Juleta and Lisa, friends since 1972!