Happy Canada Day!

Lucky for me, Barriere celebrated Sunday night. . .

so I've got blog pics in time for the birthday.

Now, if only I could find the time to post baby shower and grand opening of the Golden Ears Bridge. Have I mentioned the sighting of not only the Blues Brothers, but the Blues Sisters as well?

Bumper crop

Location: The vegetable garden, Barriere, 8:45pm, 16°C, cloudy

Daily Goal: Weed the garden

Trials & Tribulations: Somehow weeding got bumped by a photo shoot, grocery shopping, dinner. . . and a bumper crop of strawberries!

Successes: Had to stop picking before the end of the row... turns out I ran out of bowl and time.

Failures:

• To decide whether these will transform into jam, pie, muffins, or crisp. Oh, the horror! One midnight cooking session, coming right up.
• To pay attention to the rhubarb patch - equally as successful - and just as lacking in attention.
  

The magic touch

Location: Barriere, in the baby bath, 9 pm

Daily Goal: Papa's turn to bath the baby

Trials & Tribulations: No trials. No tribulations. Papa's got the magic touch and didn't even wake a sleeping Tessa - throughout the bath, the shampoo... and the picture session...

Successes: Jess grabbed the camera this time!

Failures: For the magic touch to last as long as it took to dress a cold baby. This 'song' began as soon as the towel came off and lasted until Tessa's toes were tucked snuggly inside her pj's.

It was the dawning of the age (old) Aquarius...

Location: Helmcken Falls, Wells Gray Provincial Park, mid 30's°C again in the stellar sunshine

Daily Goal: Introduce Grandma to the water falls of Wells Gray Park

Trials & Tribulations: Hmmm, none whatsoever... unless you count the mosquitoes that joined us on our picnic lunch.

Successes:

Gerry the Moose says, "Hi!"

Failures: For Grandma to realize these falls existed at all.

The water was at its peak at this time of year - the roar in our ears, spectacular!

"I had no idea!" she kept saying. . . in between all of the blurts of, "Thank you, dear. Thank you. Thank you very much."

She wiped her eyes.

"I am Aquarius you know. The water sign."

She smiled.

"We have a connection, water and I."

Uki (the lounge lizard)

A refreshing pot of sun tea patiently waits for "Uki" (Great-great Grandma) to complete her crossword puzzle poolside.

Location: Barriere, 32°C (in the shade!), glorious, glorious sunshine with no relief in sight (sigh)

Daily Goal: Pinch myself to make sure Grandma's really here - for a week!

Trials & Tribulations: Unfortunately it's a work week for me, but "Uki's" doing just fine on her own. Very self-sufficient, day one resulted in a quiet, relaxing day in the backyard lounge lizard style, striking a balancing between basking in the sun and napping in the shade.

"How was your day, Grandma?"

"So busy!" she said with a wink, "All I managed to accomplish today was my nails. It's so hot!"

"Good for you! That's as it should be. You do know if you want to tackle the stairs, the basement is at least 10 degrees cooler."

"Who said I wanted to get out of the heat? I sunned my legs, I sunned my back. It was glorious!"

Successes: We are managing to locate a daily copy of the Province newspaper (arriving in Barriere mid-afternoon, but arriving none the less). This, we have learned, is an 'essential' in the Grandma department. Plus, her week here is accompanied by the soundtrack of the "Siruisly Sinatra" station on satellite radio wafting out over the back yard.

"Uki" and I went for a walk-about Sunday as I showed her the loop in our neighbourhood she'll want to take for her daily walks. As it happens, the mid-way point is girlfriend Shyanne's house. The perfect place to stop for a glass of wine and enjoy a magnificent garden.

Did I mention the heat? Parched. Very parched. Life is good.

Failures: It has been a few years since Grandma popped in. A good hard look in my mirror reflected there were things I could do to make her feel more at home here, thus encouraging (hopefully) more regular visits. Dare I shoot for twice a year???

Mike and I realize due to our choice of locale, good weather quickly became the main consideration for prime time Uki visits in the Interior of BC. (Remember the daily walks).

In our neck of the woods late spring and summer seemed the best choice. Winter is out of the question and we quickly ruled out Fall; although stunning, the bears have been known to put in regular appearances in search of garden fodder as they fatten up for winter.

As luck would have it, bears that go to sleep wake up too. I got the call from Shy on my cell Monday as I was driving home.

"Hi June, just wanted to let you know my husband spotted a bear on the block today. Don't let grandma go for a walk on her own."

15 minutes later, I arrived home to discover Robbie and Mike attacking the pool sidewalk with a cement saw and a hose. We seem to be losing a fantastic amount of water on a daily basis and accessing the leak has proved a monumental task.

Needless to say, poolside was far from tranquil. The shrill, "reeeee-eeee-eeee" of the skill saw would have driven anyone out of the fresh air and into the stuffy house.

A quick call out brought no reply.

"Grandma?"

"She went for a walk!" came the shout above the screaming saw.

Gulp.

I flew back into the car and whipped around the block in an attempt to head her off at the pass. Wouldn't you know it? Grandma with her cane, clad in bathing suit and shorts, had just hobbled her way to the half-way mark ~ Shyanne's house.

"Hey, lady. . . want a ride?"

We shared a chuckle out on the sun deck as Shy poured the wine and I explained the bear situation.

"I was wondering why that truck kept honking at me?" said the happy hobbler. "After all, I was well off the road and out of his way. . . couldn't for the life of me figure out what his problem was."

No sooner had the wine hit the glass, Jennifer, Madi and Cam arrived.

"We heard there's a bear and we came in search of a picture! Did you see it?"

"There ya go, Uki. I fly around the block to get you away from the bear and Jennifer piles her kids in the car to go find the thing! Welcome to Barriere."

Little Miss Fuss Pot

"Mom, I don't know what happened? All of a sudden she cries when we put her down and she stops when we pick her up! We called Grandma Turcotte to ask her opinion and she said we have a spoiled baby on our hands!"

"Spoiling her? No such thing. She's much too young to be spoiled. . ."

"Enough talk. Isn't it time for her bath?"

"I think she might need more food. You're putting her down a wee bit hungry. After all, we had (held) her all weekend and she was just fine. No sign of Little Miss Fuss Pot here."

"Perhaps Jessica it's just a matter of opinion; it might depend on which Grandma you're speaking to."

How many people does it take to swaddle a baby?

Three.
Unless you want it done wrong. . . and we can't have that, now, can we?

"Oh, no!" says Tessa, "They keep coming out of the woodwork!"

We pray and pray she cries so we can say, "Here, just give her to me."

Location: Under the new gazebo, 30+°C, this weekend

Daily Goal: Baby bump bonds with "Uki" and Auntie Lisa

Successes?: Silly question - it's all a success

Failures: The parents of this child have been accusing us of spoiling this child. Spoiling? Spoiling! I say, "Impossible!" Just so happens it usually comes right after I say, "Hand her over."

It's time to put down your camera when. . .

Okay girls, everybody gather round and let's get a picture with all of you and the baby. . .

No, no, no... not like that. Lose the fishy face and make it a nice one, for Tessa to have. You know, to remember the occasion by.

Alright now, smarten up! I'm serious. Geez, by the time you three finish hamming it up we could have been done.

If I wanted a picture of the Brett face, I'd take one. He's sitting right over there. Oh, never mind.