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...