Home again...people pictures

The bloody blogger isn't cooperating so you get all the pictures first...

Sam, Duncan and Lila in the Strawberry Bank Dory at Odiorne Point Science Center

Duncan and Sam looking for tidepool creatures.

Torturing Aunt Alis

The traditional photo op at the Ottawa River in Mattawa, Ontario. The province of Quebec is in the background.

HA! Got one with Will in it this year!

Family tidepooling- looks rough eh?

Yes, we made it home in one piece, sanity (what there was) mostly intact. It was a long hot ride and the air conditioner had decided that it needed more freon to live...we were unable to satisfy its thirst for the vile substance and suffered for it accordingly!

All was well upon arrival, with the exception of losing Miss Marples- evidently she got out somehow and has not returned...going on week two. She was an interesting cat and not overly friendly (with the exception of Will whom she worshipped), but she will be missed nonetheless. Hopefully she will turn up.

All the woolies were pleased to see us, and as predicted, the baby english angora kits were twice the size they were when we left! They were put into a bigger cage outside, and this morning the Blue-eyed white buck went to his new home. My friend Jane (a fellow spinner) and her husband Mike picked him out and named him "Edgar" (after Edgar Winter). Another spinner in the Sault will be buying one of the BEW does- leaving us with another BEW doe and a lovely vienna marked buck (that Duncan wants to keep of course). I think I have another customer for the buck too. That would leave us with six English angora bunnies to take care of- and they are a handful!!

Tomorrow is another State furlough day- this will be spent making shortbread for the next days wedding...we are so excited. It is especially nice because it is also our wedding anniversary...what a great gift - Will in a kilt!! The bride is a daughter of our friends Doug and Ruthette. Lila is way out of control with this...she has tried on SEVERAL dresses and combination of accessories in anticipation. She made her card as soon as we returned! This is the first wedding the kids have been invited too so it is a big deal to them! Plus they have known Rachel all their lives so they are so happy for her. I think Will also will be going to purchase our first installment of 8X8 timbers for the barn....yahoo!!!

We are coming home soon...

Two more days of fun before two more days of long driving....my lower back is already giving me sympathy pangs! Laundry and packing the next two days and some last minute stuff. Still haven't seen Half Blood Prince...hope to sneak it in this evening after dinner out on the seacoast. The kids are spending the night at Aunt Bonnies house this evening and going shopping in Portsmouth tomorrow...they were going to go today but President Obama is in town and it will be crazy... Sam is somewhat hesitant but was bribed- there could be a midnight phone call in the works.

Tomorrow it is Chicken Tika for dinner! My favorite meal prepared by my favorite man. The evening will be wrapped up by a "bag party"...this translates into more to pack! :) Aunt Mary, Miki, Aunt Alice, Aunt Bonnie and Grammy Jo will all be there.

Will's brother Danny and his sons little Danny and Ian suprised Will for his birthday and they were all here until yesterday- we haven't seen them for four years so that was really a nice surprise.

Yesterday we went to the Odiorne Seacoast Science museum. They have a really cool touch tank for tidepool creatures so the kids get to hold sea urchins, hermit crabs and starfish. The best display was a tank with skate cases, or mermaids purse. They had them backlit so you could see the developing skates in them wiggling around...really cool! I would like to find a pair of dangling earrings shaped like skate cases in sterling...seems like they should exist out there somewhere! We also made it to the beach to find some real tide pools. The tide was coming in pretty quickly though which was fun to experience...we've always been there at low tide before.

I've been perusing the sheep blogs...missing the woolies. When we get home the timbers and wood will be ordered for the barn!!! Yeah!! The chickens will be released from their outside pen and allowed to roam freely for the first time...we'll see how the gardens fare...the veggie garden is already fenced in. I'll have to build more nest boxes when we get back too- the young girls should start laying in September. Then we will have to figure out what to do with all those eggsess...

We have arrived!

Okay, we actually arrived Sunday evening. After coming through the Vertmont-Quebec border crossing we decided to stop at the "welcome to VT rest area" for a free cuppa Green Mtn. Roasters Coffee and to have a bit of lunch via the cooler. Whilst perusing the brochures we came across one for the Bread and Puppet Theatre company in Glover VT. We realized that we were only a few miles away and decided to stop to visit the museum there and hopefully pick up a few goodies for friends. It was incredible!!! SO many puppets and arranged very interestingly...18 foot high face masks down to tiny little finger puppets all lovingly handmade. Bread and Puppet has been around since the 60's and Will has some very fond memories of festivals. The best thing was we actually arrived in time for a performance (in the inside theatre since it was pouring down rain...). Will managed to catch a fair bit of it, but the kids were not into the introduction (being political in nature and probably not entertaining for kids thought hilarious to us boring adults), so I left with the party poopers and went back into the museum. We bought some really cool posters and goodies for our lovely friend Ruthette who is SO into puppets and an awesome puppeteer in her own right.

I have lots of photos and a really fast connection, but did I bring the cable for the camera??? No...

Had an impromptu dinner last evening with all the sisters and our great neice Micki. LOTS of dogs. Glad (though sad too) that we left the dogs home...three more may have been a bit much.

Missing the sheep and the bunnies. We passed many farms along the way from Curtis east through Montreal and south through the White Mountains but I only saw two farms with sheep...I'll have to run over soon to Liz Conrads farm just a bit down the road to see her woolies and check out her fiber...she has mostly border leicesters (I can't say or read that without thinking of Ma in Babe and her proclomation- "I'm a border leicester ewe")...I miss my shetlands! :( Those tiny white bunnies will be unrecognizable when we return too. BUT- we are having spaghetti dinner at Aunt Bonnie Bon Bon Banana heads house tonight with Almost Uncle Patrick and the rest of the Clan, and planning a trip to the ocean. We definately have to get in a trip to the movies to see "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince " too! Liz also sells lamb so we will be having some kebobs in the near future...last year we made a rosemary, thyme, garlic and olive oil marinade that was awesome.