Katherine is on CBC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a note to say that Katherine just sent us a link to an article about her and her sewing business done by the CBC in Winnipeg!!!!!!!!

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/slow-fashion-winnipeg-sews-workshops-1.4720559

Good on her!!!

Therese

Kale's year end program

Kale did really well with all of the songs, skits, etc that his teacher had been preparing for since March.  All the songs had actions and some were fabulous!!  The kids all did well and it was really nice to see them participating so much. 

There was snacks afterwards.  Mr Farshoir and Lisa were there as well as myself.  In the photo Fousia is explaining her gift to Kale. 

A wonderful day with a great end as I managed to get all the plants into the ground with Brian's help.  It was great that he participated which just made the job go so much faster.  So we now have some new beds and they are full of foster plants!!
They will be well cared for until it is time for them to head back home. 

Therese

Kale - a splash of colour

Kale got some colour on for his last day of school!  There was a program for parents with songs, skits, poems and a final walk through as they go off to Grade one next year!!! 

He got some gold glitter up top and swipe of blue across the front to the side!!  It looked really fun and he really liked how it looked. 

Therese

They are vacationing at my house!!!

 Here are the plants in their new foster homes!!!  It made an instant hosta bed on the north side of the house!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The large green on in the front is one we put there last year and today it got a whole bunch of company.  Hostas, astilbes, primose, sedum, bleeding heart and one plant that we are not sure what its name is.  The trip only took two hours and they are looking good!!!!!! 

One of the hostas is an elephant ear hosta which we had in Trenton and I sent in a care package to Suzanne for her to foster until we settled and could reclaim a piece of it!!

I am so happy to have the opportunity to foster these plants.  They will all need dividing when they get dug up to go home so they will be able to cover a larger area when that happens.  They will be going in by the new garage when it goes up next spring. 

I gave them all a good watering and will do it again tomorrow.  Suzanne had been feeding and watering them and as you can see they traveled perfectly and will be settled in nicely by the fall.   Therese

Plants going on vacation!!

Suzanne is sending her plants from the side of the garage on vacation!!!!!!!!  They need a foster home for a year or so!!  Here they are already to go!!

Therese

Haskaps - big and delicious!

I picked my haskap berries this morning!  They are huge and delicious!!!!  I have only 6 but considering that I was not expecting any this first year of production I am pretty happy with that many!!  I was very happy that they were good to eat.  I have discovered haskap bushes at the school which made berries but they were very bitter and not really edible.  I expect they were planted years ago as shrubs without any consideration that they fruited at all.  There has been much research on haskaps and it has been a good thing!!  I look forward to more next year and it is wonderful to have berries in June. The four on the right are from the Honey Bee and the two on the left are from the Borealis.  You can check here to see the bushes when we planted them last year. Wild strawberries must be ready soon as well.  I will have to find a place to pick them!!  Therese

Pratch visit

We had a visit from the Pratches today for lunch.  They were headed home from Calgary.  It was great to see all of them!!   They arrived just before lunch so we had our lunch and headed to the playground to get the kids a bit of exercise before they were loaded back into the vehicle to continue the trip.  They were stopping in St. Paul to see Douglas.  

 It was great to see them and spend a bit of time visiting!!  I am so glad they dropped by and a little visit is better than no visit!!! 

Therese

The front step

 Here is my front step with the geranium from Uncle Maurice doing very well in its large creamer pot which has spent the winter inside. 

My coleus pot from last summer has also spent the winter inside.  I gave it a hair cut and rooted all the cuttings and have made up another pot for the step.  I did sell quite a few and gave a few more to a friend. 

Therese

Haskaps!!

Our haskaps are doing very well and flowered profusely this spring!!  Suzanne had ripe fruit on hers on the weekend so I thought I should check and see if mine had any that were changing colour!  Low and behold I have several on the largest plant that are ripe!!  Suzanne and Brian both think that they are a bit tart for eating but Kale and I think it are pretty good. 

So I am so pleased that we have fruit in our first year after planting them and look forward to more as these plants grow and mature. 

Really nice to have fruit to pick in June!!

Therese

Radishes from the garden

The radishes have grown so much in the last two days!!!!!!!!!!  I picked a bunch and Brian enjoyed them just as they are.  We will probably get three pickings or so and they will be done but these have worked out better than usual.  They usually go to seed before we can get any good ones from the bunch so I think I will try this variety again!!!!!!!!

I was very grateful for the rain on the weekend.  Two and half inches!!!  That is great and the barrels are all full again!!  The wind did wreck havoc with the beans and the tomatoes.  The beans lost most of their large leaves so they are looking a little naked. I had one tomato that was knocked over but fortunately the stem is not broken so I have propped it up on a stick and secured with with a tie.  I will pamper it a bit and I am sure it will be fine. 

The potatoes are growing very well and everything else in the garden is looking good!!!

Therese

Basket of yarn puzzle

Once home - took a little longer in the pouring rain as the traffic was quite slow in some places - we unpacked and tried to stay in our "vacation" frame of mind.  I read my book and Brian started the puzzle I got at the garage sale.  It took him a couple of days to finish but it has all the pieces so we will keep for a while.  Mina likes to make puzzles when she comes to visit and this one would probably be fun for us to make together.  

Therese

Weekend celebration!!!

We had a family get together on the weekendThe kids really enjoyed being outside as well.
Mina climbed the tree while
to celebrate all the special days in the next month with Suzanne and family as well as Richard, Steph and TT!!  As you can see the number transformers that TT brought with him were a hit!!  They were very well made and quite intricate and enjoyed by all!!

The kids really enjoyed being outside.  Mina climbed the tree and Kale and TT rode bikes for a while.  Sal managed to find a helmet and put the training wheels on Kale's other bike and they were off.  Kale has been practicing the loop in front of the house for a while and is quite fast.  TT
was taking it a bit easier and managed a few rounds. 

 Mina helped with food prep for the kids and we ate excellent Thai food.  Afterwards there was cake for everyone!!!  Carrot cake with cream cheese icing for Brian for Father's Day, sponge cake with strawberries and a bit of chocolate for my birthday and chocolate with chocolate icing for Richard's 40th birthday.  TT stayed over at Suzanne's while Richard and Steph went back to the condo to prep supper and Brian and I joined them for supper.  They are both great cooks and love cooking together so needless to say the meal was excellent !!  It was great to spend some time with them "at home". 

Brian and I stayed overnight at a guest suite in the building where Mr. Farshori has his condo.  It was small but very nice!  A bedroom with a bathroom in the complex's club house.  It was quiet and had a comfy bed.   The next morning (pouring rain) we came back to Suzanne's for coffee and picked up my fun stuff from the garage sale the previous morning - a puzzle, a book, a pair of shoes, two pair of pants and some cotton for making projects!!!  A fun activity with Suzanne and the kids!  Suzanne scored some pretty good deals, the kids got a few things so we all walked out happy!!  We headed over to Richard's to say good bye to them as well.  They will all be off to China by the coming weekend!!         Therese

Blues Night!

The Knights of Columbus put on a Blues Night this past Friday and it was excellent!! The band "JUKE" was very good and it was great to listen to a live band.  They put on a "poutin bar" for eats which was pretty good.  Hot french fries, curd cheese and hot gravy - nothing bad about that!!  They had cheese sauce and chili as well as bacon bits and sour cream!!  So we enjoyed our night out!!

Therese

Stephany and TT visit from China!!

Stephany and TT are here for a visit!!!!  

We met Steph and TT for the first time though we have heard a lot about them.  It was very nice to finally met them and we had a great visit.  It was a hot day but we still made out for a walk to the little park, had a go at making bubbles and TT especially enjoyed the dinosaur sand molds in the sand box.  They stayed for lunch and supper and TT enjoyed the cars and the wood blocks.  He was a bit apprehensive when he first arrived but toys bridged the gap and soon he was trying to communicate and using his limited English vocabulary.  Looking forward to getting to know them better!!

  Therese

Squashes in at the community garden

 I also put in my squash transplants at the community garden today!!  I three that grew in the garden on the left hand side and only one that grew on the right hand side so I added my transplants on that side (4 large ones and one small one that was started later - all from orange seed) .  I have given them a bit of a berm to collect the water to they will stay well watered.  My cucumbers are also up and only a few on the left and more on the right so we shall see how that goes.  Not much luck with them since I have been in Lacombe.  Onions are up and a few carrots.  Potatoes and zinnias are up too!!  I love my carpet path and it is nice to have watering cans that stay at the garden so I don't have to bring one every time.  Also allows others to use them when they are there as well.    Therese

Tomatoes are in!!!

 I topped up my potato bins today as the plants are big enough to "hill".  I will keep filling the pots until the pots are filled and then I will let them grow until we can dump them out in the fall and enjoy a feast of fresh potatoes.  Works perfectly for a few feasts of new potatoes!

 I put my tomato transplants in today!  They have been enjoying the outside daily for the last week and half and have hardened off nicely.  I was bringing them in at night just to be safe from any frost but tonight they are out for good.  They are all nice robust plants!  I have sold off my extras on kijiji for a few bucks.  I have 8 Kron Prince in the back rows, two Manitoba on the outside two squares and 2 tribes tobique in the inner two squares and 4 Bush Beefsteak in the four center squares - 2 in each square.  I watered them well - the barrels are full!!!
Therese

Side yard with perennials

We talked about the layout for the side yard today.  Brian wants a flag pole which will go in the middle of the circle and they perennials on the right will be distributed into the area between the circle patio and the fence on both sides of the sidewalk!  That is the plan so far!!  

Therese

Trip to Edmonton

I went to the city this weekend and visited with Sylvia.  She made steak for supper with asparagus which was excellent!!  She uses her "good" dishes with all the proper table linens which makes for a beautiful table.  We had a good visit.  Took the time to visit at Loraine's as well where I picked up my two art pieces from Alyx and talked sewing machines with Loraine!!  She has lent me one of hers to try out which I am grateful for.  It was great to see all of them and the drive in and back went very well - rainy on the way in and sunny on the way back.  

Therese