Oh Boy!

There are some moments when you look out the window and realize things are not the same. 
Your little girl who you used to push in the swing is now....
...DRIVING THE LAWN TRACTOR!!!

Found it

Anna-Lee and I have gone exploring our backwoods "trails" - more like deer paths every day.
Yesterday, we went farther than we have every gone before - forging our way over roots and rocks and low hanging branches, uphill and down through muddy pathces, and dried up meadows. 

Well, we found it. The burned out area described in a recent blog where fire engines went racing past our house to the end of our street. It must have been at least a kilometer from the regurlar path. How the firemen got back to that area quickly with all their gear is amazing. 

Indeed they did and must have done a remarkable job to extinguish the fire quickly as very little damage was done - but boy did it stink! We are told that they carry in a special pump they put in the lake in order to access water.

We carried on far past that point, seeing parts of the lake we had never seen before. Now not only do we know where the turtles come to sun, we know the chickadees nest, and many other landmarks Anna-Lee had to locate in order to get us both back home. Great training for guiding Mom in Israel which we are told is quite uneven ground.

This is not shadow - but rather the burnt out area
4 acres apparently

A tranquil area

It Made the News

The other day we heard sirens. For some of you in cities that is not big news, but out where we live it is highly unusual. More unusual was that more sirens kept coming, and then they went buzzing by our house! Pumper trucks, little engines: four in total that we saw. When Monica went to walk the dog she said at the end of our street were ambulances, police cars and at least four fire engines! Something more than a kitchen fire was in progress.

Then we got the call from Toronto: Our little street was in the news! A brush fire at the end of our lane!

Over the last couple days my daughter and I have been exploring our forest trail to see if there was any damage. So far we have not found any.

Instead, butterflies and squirrels and snakes oh my!

 

 And beautiful trilliums!

Hundreds of Trilliums

 

Hamilton, Homeschool, and Help! Part 2

On our way to the Family Concert: it came
The Call...
"I'm on my back in the backyard and my wheelchair is flipped on its side! Help!"
Well now, that's a fine pickle. Certainly something that has never happened before.
"Are you hurt?"
"No, just stuck. What do you want me to do?"
"I suppose the miracle assistance dog can't flip your chair back upright and drag you back into it?"
No, I didn't think so.
We hung up and tried calling a friend but she wasn't home, so we called the next best thing.
911.
Again.
Yes, this is now the third time 911 has been called for Monica.

However, it turned out that our next door neighbour just happened to look out her window and see the power wheelchair lying on its side. She then looked around and saw Monica lying on her back! So, she flew out the door and ran over.
How she did it I do not know, but she managed to upright the wheelchair, get Moncia back in, answer Monica's phone (the paramedics calling on route to see how she was). Our neighbour answered their questions, assured them all was well with Monica, and that they actually did not need to come.

She got Monica inside, cleaned her scrapes up, put aloe on her many welts (likely ant bites), and that was that.

We carried on to the concert, now very late, only to get caught in construction and ended up later. But not so late that she couldn't rush in, get her clarinet put together, and go on stage to play with her group.

Songs played were Themes from "Judas Maccabeus"
by Handel, and Poco Loco by Bruce Pearson

Hamilton, Homeschooling and Help!

If I could have a penny for every butterfly....! Or I suppose it is a nickel these days.

For the last many months I have been steadily preparing to speak at the Ontario Homeschool Conference held in Hamilton. The topic was to be Homeschooling our children with Special Needs: a broad topic indeed. As the weeks grew closer the butterflies started the migratory pathway appearing in little groups here and there.

THE weekend finally arrived, the people were in place here at home to take over all the tasks normal to "Mom and Dad." Dave and I took off bright and early Thursday morning in our 14 year old car with the newly non-functioning air conditioner helping us to reminisce about our very first car 28 years ago - a Honda Accord with no air conditioner.- and bopping down the highways with the windows wide open.

Once we arived at the hotel, it felt a bit like the day before a final exam. Looking at my binder that held my notes, I decided I had spent enough time preparing though and set it all aside choosing to pray, spend time with Dave, and just let thoughts roll around in my head.

Friday, another batch of butterflies started arriving. Ignoring most of them, Dave and I went for a nice quiet walk in the morning - and saw a sweet brown bunny in the grass. Arriving at the Conference we got our package, (if you choose to accept this mission... oh wait! I already had accepted it!), and we both went to a couple of other people's sessions as I wasn't speaking until later that afternoon. Great sessions, learned a lot. No matter how many times I go to a Homeschooling Conference I always come away with some nuggets of truth, inspiration and ideas.

Sitting outside in the warm sunshine after lunch with a good friend who was also there to do a session was quite a lovely way to relax before the talk - however now the butterflies must be in season! It was time to head up to the classroom. My greatest concern was that I would not be able to answer the questions that would be asked, primarily because special needs is such a wide topic and every household and every person is different. What works for one does not work for another - thus the beauty of homeschooling!
Who would have thought - before I could even start my session the first snag came! The person in charge of recording didn't show up! I just would  not have thought of that as a possible concern!
After the time keeper texted and went searching the hallways - he finally arrived. I had used the extra time to get to know the attendees - how many were homeschooling now, how many just thinking about it, how many had preschool, elementary, middle or high school kids that were special needs...

Butterflies kept coming however the recording person came and handed me all the technology, assuming I of course knew what to do with it. I had to explain that I was visually impaired and really didn't see all the gadgets he was handing me! I put one thing on upside down, then dropped it as I was trying to flip it! I couldn't believe my hands were actually shaking! I think it was a reaction to adrenaline!

And then I was off and running and the butterflies never did catch up. I actually enjoy speaking to a group of people. It's just wanting the audience to be blessed and feel that they are receiving what they need that has me feeling the pressure.

Email me if you want more details of the Conference...

Sunday was a music concert with the wind ensemble my 11 year old daughter is a part of.  We were running a bit late due to church ending late, driving the older daughter home and getting her set up with lunch, going back to church to pick up four  girls, stopping at Subway for lunch and then...
the call

"I'm lying on  my back in the backyard and the wheelchair is flipped on it's side. Help!"

To be Continued in the next blog...