Field Trip Friday-Episode #6-Spring at the Homestead

Today is Friday the 13th, and around here that means a lot of motorcycles on the road, heading toward Port Dover. The date had completely slipped my mind, but as soon as we hit the road for today's Field Trip, we were reminded. Amelia noticed first. "Mama! Look! A million motorcycles!!" It was all very exciting.

The original focus of the Field Trip was a trip to my sister's farm (or homestead, the term they prefer). My sister, along with her husband and 4 young children, moved to a 19 acre property a few months ago. Neither of them are what you would call 'country folk', but they are energetic, enthusiastic and willing to learn what they need to know to have the kind of live they envision for their family. From what I understand, the plan is to work toward becoming as self-sufficient as possible, starting with raising and growing their own food.

Not only is it fun to visit our cousins, the drive to get there is peaceful, and chocked full of fun little towns and inspiring vistas.

Any town with a Watermelon Festival is worth a visit, in our opinion.

Gesundheit

Where the letters to the Corinthians are sent, I presume.

The first time we visited was in February.

We toured the house and property and got a feel for what their new life was going to be like. We even got to meet Minew, the cat that belonged to the previous owners of the property. They were in a temporary location for a few months, so they thought it would be best for the kitty if she stayed on the farm until they were settled. She incredibly friendly and followed us everywhere we went.

Mimi was enchanted.

Minew's humans came to collect her a few weeks ago, and I'm sure she's happy and settled into her new home. I must say though, I was sad not to see her run up to the car when we arrived this morning.

Today's visit was all about spring!

This is their first year on the property so they are just getting started with acquiring livestock and planting fruit trees and other edibles. The property already has some fruit trees, and other fruit bearing shrubs like raspberries and blueberries. My sister is so excited to see the plant life begin to come alive and all around the property.

It's too early to get started in the vegetable garden, but the forest is alive with wildflowers.

The sides of the wooded ravine are blanketed with trilliums...a mesmerizing site. I have spotted trilliums here and there on forest floors before, (you cannot have attended a school field trip in Southwestern Ontario and not hunted for them....I think it's in the curriculum, or something....) but this was just extraordinary! There were so many, you had to be very careful not to stomp on them.

Most of the flowers were white, but we did spot a few dark purple as well.

Dotted among the trilliums were a few, delicate Dogtooth Violets.

Erythronium dens-canis, 'dogtooth violet'

The first time we visited, the chicken coop was cold and void of chickens,

posing by the chicken coop in February

but now it is filled with 6 laying hens.....

They seem quite happy, and I think they're pretty cute....for chickens.
But if it's cuteness you're after, you really can't top ducklings.

Muscovy ducklings, 4 days old.

These two little ducklings (tentatively named Duck-Duck, and Goose) are 4 day old, Muscovies. They are cute now, but from what I've learned that won't last too long. They best quote I read on the internets tonight was "what kind of duck is that, and what is WRONG with it's face!" 

Adult Muscovy

 

Let's just enjoy them while they are gorgeous, shall we?

We had a great day exploring the country life. I can't wait to go back and help plant the veggie garden!

Field Trip Friday-Episode #6-ad hoc...by (Angela) Jean

Sometimes you have to improvise.

I was very excited for this week's FTF. We were meeting our friends at the Art Gallery of Ontario and had planned to spend the day with them there. It was going to be Mimi and Otie's first trip to the AGO and I couldn't wait....I really couldn't wait, because by the time we arrived at the Spadina exit of the Gardiner Expressway, it dawned on me that we had planned this trip for next Friday.

Well, we were already in the city and I had enough snacks packed to last us all day, so I decided to give my kids a guided tour of our old neighbourhood. (It's funny because Mimi likes to brag to her brother about how she used to live in Toronto-she was 7 months old when we moved-but he never did.)

We drove all the way up Spadina and I told Mimi I had a surprise for her....we drove around a bend, and up a hill and guess what? A REAL Castle.

She was amazed.

We'll come back another day and tour the inside, but for today a walk around the outside was fun enough.
We jumped back in the car and headed back up Bathurst Street to Vaughan Road. We passed Dutch Dreams, the crazy ice cream place Shawn and I frequented regularly (especially that scorching summer I was pregnant with Mimi).

We continued up Vaughan, and then headed to our old street to see our old apartment.

I lived in that top floor apartment for 11 years. Still looks exactly the same. Good to know some things don't change.
At this point, Mimi took charge of the agenda (quel surprise) and said she wanted to go to High Park.

Last year on Friday mornings her Dad took her to Dalcroze class at a music school on Roncesvalles. Each week before class they would stop to play at the park. She misses that a lot.

I don't blame her, it's an amazing playground.

It was a very chilly day, and I was not really prepared for outdoor play...we didn't even have mitts or proper footwear, but we went with the flow and had a great morning anyway.

At least I brought snacks....lots of snacks.
If there's one thing I've learned about parenting so far, it's that most situations can be improved with either a snack or a nap. After running around the playground for an hour, the kids had both, in the car, on the way home.
Today may not have been what I was expecting, but we made some memories, so I'm happy.

Field Trip Friday-Episode #5-Books, Buds and Cavatelli...by (Angela) Jean

For this week's FTF, the kids and I packed up, hit the road, and headed southwest to visit the newly revitalized St.Thomas Public Library.

My Mom has worked at the STPL for as long as I can remember....more than 30 years! When I was little, she worked in the Film Department. It was the coolest place. I remember the large reels of film, all in metal cannisters, stored on the shelves. I remember the giant, heavy film projectors, and watching my Mom thread the film through them. I remember one of my sister's birthday parties, when my Mom brought a projector home so we could watch a movie on our wall. We were all very impressed! I believe there is even a story about a day in elementary school, when on the last day of school the teachers brought all of the kids into the gymnasium to watch a movie from the Library. It was a rare and special occasion. Teachers couldn't figure out how to thread the filmstrip through the machine. They fiddled and fiddled, and apparently I got up from my seat, walked up to the projector and did it for them. I don't remember the incident, but I remember the story...

The film department is now long gone. The films were replaced first by VHS tapes, and are now DVDs.

As a kid, I spent a great deal of time at the library, especially in the summers. The Children's Department set up summer reading programs with a different theme each year. The idea was that you would read a book, come in and tell one of the librarians about it, and you then get some sort of prize or reward. We loved it.

I'm sure that having a Mom who worked at the Library was a catalyst for me becoming the book-lover I am today. I recall my Mom bringing home bags and bags of books for us. We always had something to read.

This past year, the STPL has undergone a complete renovation. For the last several months, all of the books, videos and materials were moved out, and the library departments were housed in empty storefronts in the local shopping mall. We visited the temporary digs during the summer..

The renovation work was completed in December, and for the last several weeks the library staff has been busy moving all of the books and furniture back into the building and getting everything set up. It was a huge undertaking, but this past week, the doors opened to the public.

I was relieved to see that everyone's favourite statue is still there!

As with all renovations, there are still a few operational kinks to be worked out, but the new space is beautiful. It's bright, and fresh and calming. The Children's Department has been moved to the lower level and the kids and I spent most of our time down there. We toured the stacks and read some books together.

I do not recommend you hire this moving company. Their furniture handling practices sound quite scandalous.

After our visit, we headed back to Beppe and Nonno's house for lunch.

if you knew how much Nonno loves pasta, you could appreciate the irony

cavatelli and meatballs

a blend of Canadian, Italian and Dutch cheeses! How apropos!

As fortune would have it, it was a PA day for the schools in St. Thomas, so we were treated to a bonus visit with the cousins.

After lunch, we headed back out on the road. A quick visit, but a fun one!
As we left, we couldn't help but notice the buds on Nonno's magnolia.

 It may be the dead of winter, but the promise of spring is there if you look.

Field Trip Friday-Episode #4-Feed the Birds...by (Angela) Jean

The surprising and happy side benefit of planting sunflowers in my garden was the daily visits by goldfinches to our backyard.

But sadly, when the sunflowers faded, so did the visits.
The goal of this week's Field Trip Friday was to bring back the birds.

My Dad had an ingenious way of keeping the birds in his garden. It involved a trip to his friend's farm for some faded sunflowers, a wooden stake, and a roll of duct tape. Worked like a charm.

While I loved his idea, I was looking for something that would last the whole winter and that could be installed near our kitchen window for easy viewing during the winter months. The educational goal is to learn about the native varieties of birds....what they eat, how they behave, what they look like....

So this week, Beppe and Nonno came to visit and helped us with our project. We all piled into their SUV, me between the car seats in the back,

and headed to.....

Clearly we were in the right spot, since this was the display just inside the front door.

We purchased some supplies.

Pushed some carts, and admired some forklifts.

And headed home to fire up the power tools.

Nonno spoiled us by doing most of the assembly work ahead of time in his workshop, but Mimi helped drill some holes for drainage.

Nonno dug a deep hole for the post, and I covered the surrounding area with plastic sheeting to attempt to prevent my kitchen herb garden from being invaded by germinating bird seeds in the spring. (I'm not kidding myself though, I know I'll be pulling up seedlings for most of the next growing season.)

 Lastly, we added some seeds, and now we wait for the birds.

So far, no luck. Mimi suggested we make a sign so the birds know where to go. If we have no visitors by tomorrow, we may do just that.