New clothes and a new personal project

Went in to the big town today and shopped a bit for summer clothes. I've dropped a couple of sizes since last summer, so I needed it. Although I love my tallness, it makes shopping for the capri pants I'd like rather difficult, so it was nice to find that the shop I like now carries many of their pants styles in Talls.

After coming home and making supper (I recently figured out ciabbatta bread. We had scrumptious sandwiches for supper, with a lovely roasted red pepper relish), I made a deal with L. He's been asking me for many years to teach him to read music. Since I've been teaching T piano over the last 6 months or so, he's been an over-the-shoulder at every lesson, but it's a tough concept for him to grasp.

I told him I'd help him with reading music, if he'll return the patience and teach me guitar. I've always sort of started and stopped trying to figure it out on my own over the years. I never managed to learn anything. Here's hoping we can help each other succeed.

Hatchet meet shallow, well-marked grave

Ah, the joys of small town politics.

I do a little work for the little town near me -- a bit of consulting on development issues. Last summer, I was hired to do a feasibility study for additions to the recreation park. The outcomes weren't terribly inspiring, but then neither is the town's budget, nor its willingness to fundraise for anything that isn't a big tractor or snow removal equipment. There was a lot that could have been done, though -- if someone cared.

So, the feasibility study lay somewhere for a year doing nothing -- much like the town council. After so long, apparently they forgot they even received the study. Not one of them would admit to remembering the 2 hour long presentation of the study (complete with multiple copies, a one-sheet, and a power point presentation).

And they sent me a letter demanding I return the money I was paid because I had not done the study. WTF??!!??

So, I spent today bitching at what passes for a mayor. I was very insulted by the insulting wording of the letter, and just a bit more than livid at the accusations contained within. Luckily for me, someone does take minutes of council meetings. I knew the date of the presentation and demanded he look up the minutes. Then I went home and waited for the apology I was owed.

A couple of hours later, the town secretary called to give the weakest apology I've ever heard in my life. It consisted of "Oh, yeah. We found the minutes, and I found a copy of your study. Mayor says he hopes you're not still mad. Hope we can bury the hatchet, eh?"

Oh, sure. It's buried -- in that shallow, well-marked grave.

Hey! That looks like summer!

Finally, the warm weather has settled in, and we're so happy to bask in it. Seeding is long finished; the garden has finally got some much needed attention; the patio furniture has been hauled out, dusted off and set up. We'll be having our first al fresco supper of the season tonight.

ETA: Oh my! Was that ever nice. L made his famous burgers. He has a secret "seasoning mix" that he uses. I don't attempt to ruin the specialness of his creation by sneaking into his seasoning jar, but there is definitely some thyme going on in there that is heavenly. I also made some sweet potato fries and some crudites with a roasted red pepper dip. Dessert was T's favourite orange-orange jello (which is just orange jello with mandarin oranges in it) topped with fresh whipped cream. He like that stuff better than ice cream.

Redecorating?

I just redecorated the blog -- didn't want to, but it turned out kind of nice anyway. Now, I'm looking at redecorating the living room.

A few weeks ago, our antique (read: shabby, old) sofa let a spring loose that nearly skewered poor T. The matching chair had been hanging on by the barest of threads, too. So, we looked at the "house money fund" and decided that instead of upstairs carpeting, we would get a new sofa and a loveseat. We found something we liked and it arrived yesterday.

Now, looking around the living room, it is clear we need to redecorate a bit more. Walls need painting; a new area rug would be decent; furniture re-arrangement could be explored; a few other items could be replaced.

The problem is that I don't have a lot of extra time on my hands with summer coming -- farmer's markets to manage; U-pick to operate; swimming lessons and other activities for T. My job's workload gets busier in summer, too. Also, I'm not up to date on what's up to date in decor these days. My decor strategy the last 11 years has been to keep everything neat and clean, repair it when needed and make do with it until it wears out. That's not terribly fashionable. But, you know what? I'd really like to be a little more fashionable (not trendy) in the house. The sofa and loveseat are so nice. I'd like the rest to live up to that.

I like neat, clean lines, but not that minimalist black & chrome look. Other than that, I'm not sure what I like. Space is always an issue, too. I don't even know where to begin looking for things. I've got a couple of copies of House & Home and Cottage Life, but they're not terribly helpful (since I don't live in Toronto and have no access to the very exclusive little shops where all those great items they list are sold.)

Help?

Summer reading

Today is a slow day. T wanted something else to read and asked if we could go to the library. The library is closed on Sundays, but I have the key, so we went anyway.

T picked most of the Bunnicula books as his "summer reading." I will keep to myself what I think of Bunnicula, and let the kid read 'em all if he wants. I'm not such a book snob that I would begrudge anyone their fun reading.

I'm just happy that he's so happy.

New tech

Well, it wasn't enough that they had to hand out BlackBerries last year at my work, now they have to upgrade them to a new versiona.

I like my laptop. Love my comp and always have, but I am not a tiny-tech person. Thumb typing was undignifying enough, now I have to deal with something that claims to be an "intuitive touch screen."

Intuitive, my ass.

Permission accepted

Okay, I've collected my permission slips and school will be done tomorrow. It would have been today or earlier, but T did say he'd already studied for his spelling and math, and wants to take the tests. He also wants to finish the last book report, since he's mostly done with it anyway.

So, lessons are done as of now. I'll give T his spelling and math tests tomorrow, and he'll finish the book report when he chooses.

We are still keeping up with a couple of things over summer. There is a cool little online site AAAMath where T will practice those math facts. He agreed to 3x per week for 10 minutes each time. He will also keep using his cursive -- which is looking really good, by the way! He suggested copying the shopping lists and To Do lists that we keep posted on the fridge and kitchen door.

Lastly, there is reading, but he can pick whatever he wants, and he's finally got to a point now where he says he can't understand why people don't read everyday. It's become his own routine at night. He takes a book to bed and reads for a while before asking for a tuck-in. He still reads oodles of stuff about his favourite subjects either on the internet or from our bookshelf, but at night he's choosing fiction. He's never really been into fiction before, so this thrills me.

I attribute the turn toward fiction to the selections we've read this year as part of his Oak Meadow curriculum. There was Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan. There was The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, then The Search for Delicious and The Sign of the Beaver. There was also Addie Across the Prairie and Farmer Boy.

T really enjoyed reading all of them. Each one enthused him, excited him and sparked something in him. I discovered that he likes something with some adventure in it. Travels especially interest him. I also found out that he prefers stories with animals in them as the main characters. "Animals are so much nicer to each other than people are," he says. I get that. I absolutely get that.

Would it be so terrible?

... if we just quit school for the year? T has one more spelling list after this one. There nothing special about it. Can we skip the last 7 or 8 lesson in his Saxon math book, knowing that the first 20 to 30 lessons of the next level will be review from this book anyway?

T is dying for summer. I think we all are. Unfortunately, even if we do quit lessons now, that won't bring the much needed sun and warmth of summer any faster.

Slow, rainy day

It's been raining all morning and afternoon. L is beyond grumpy. He's silent.

We just got around to picking up the school books at 2pm. Usually, we'd have naught but a bit of math left at this point in the year. As it is, T is working over a spelling puzzle and wondering why in the world the grammar book has a lesson on using "could have" instead of "could of." His querying mind wants to know if there are really people who don't know that.

I'm making potato soup for supper. It's one of the most rich and fattening things I make. Given the craptacular weather, I think we deserve the indulgence.

Time of the year

It would be the time of the year when we're busy with seeding. L would be off every decent day doing his farmer thang. The place would be abuzz with the excitement that is a Northern Prairie Spring.

The problem is... there haven't been many (any?) decent days. It is cold, it is just damp enough, often enough to delay field work again... and again. Every farmer has that same gruff and grumble going on lately. We, who are married to / partnered with these men are starting to run out of excuses for why hubby/daddy/partner is so grumbly. Our collective patience is wearing thin, to say the least.

Inside the house, the daily routine is wearing thin, too. We start the day with weather checks, then some more weather checking, then a walk out into the field to check that the weather check is accurate or (hopefully) not. Then the grousing begins, and a breakfast eaten mostly in silence with an occasional outburst damning the weather. Then a morning that has too many negative vibes for my comfort. This is the routine of a truly crappy (non) Spring.

But... I'm trying. I keep on the positive face. I try to be supportive and upbeat. I try to keep us healthily fed so the blahs we're experiencing don't start to pick at our physical well-being, too. There have been a few days (and I anticipate more) where I've packed up T and lunch and taken off for an adventure. It's as much to give T a break as to give L one.

Although I don't say it aloud, I know that a crappy farming year won't kill us, because my job(s) pull in the majority of our income. It helps that the farm is ours -- free and clear -- and that we've eliminated all debts. It does nag in the back of my mind that we may need to replace the van sometime -- hopefully not this year. The other thing I don't say aloud is that it's not just hard on L. He isn't the only one who takes a hard year hard.

Housecleaning

I haven't checked the blog in a few days, but found out today that the images for my template are no longer supported. So, I chose a new one. It isn't really what I'd like, but it'll do for the short term, I suppose.

There wouldn't be a blog designer out there somewhere who'd want to do one for me, eh?