Grace has evolved into our friendly household Toilet paper Nazi.  Each trip to the bathroom produces a lengthy conversation as to the "cushioniness", or lack there of, of the brand we are using and the benefits of employing a brand with the highest level of "absorbency" (Grace's new favourite word).  She has taken to squeezing and poking each roll in the holder and then choosing the softest one (in her opinion) available, which is subject to debate considering each roll that she checks is from the same package.  Grace continues in her fascination with the No No Hair Remover from Radiance, or "Radiancey" as she calls it.  Today she asked me to help her order one as she just found a red bump on her arm and the No No is guaranteed to reduce this cosmetic dilemma, and as she so aptly informed me, "it is used in 50 different countries so it's gotta be good".

THE BUNKHOUSE (POPPA B.'S DIGS)

Wayne or Poppa B. as we call him, has been visiting with us since yesterday, so last evening we had him and Jamie's parents in for supper and later another family friend arrived for a visit.  Our visitor now lives in our area, but grew up almost 2 hours away, where Wayne is from and they are close to ages, so our evening was full of reminiscent stories of days past.  Lots of stories of how they both travelled "West" to work in logging camps and all the antics they got into.  Of course there are always the "One up ya" stories where with each new story the tale gets "just a bit" bigger or better then the other guys, so there was lots of entertainment.

EVER FEEL LIKE YOU'RE BEING WATCHED??

BULLY CHILLIN' WITH THE GIRLS

THREE OF A KIND??

I'm twitchy these days.  Spring seems to be sprung, or is at least moving in the general direction of sprung, and I often find myself, nose pressed to the window, wishing through shades of breathy fog, to be on the outside.  It starts with a lazy, somewhat wistful notion, and gradually manifests itself into something of an obsessive, eyes bulging, vein popping, hysterical, claustrophobic, twitch.  Nanny Walk came to my rescue today and kept Bethany while Grace and I headed out to the barn with Jamie and Poppa B. 

Now, Poppa B. is the kind of guy that can get stuff done, if nothing else, he is the kind of guy that motivates people to get things done.  It's been a couple of years since we've had our Clydesdale mare "Tilly" hitched and we've been making plans all winter to start getting her going again, with the time off and the anticipation of starting all over again, we've been putting it off all winter.  No more, Poppa B. arrived yesterday with a wonderful little homemade sleigh (complete with a "Welcome to The Community of Cavendish" sign on the front..........I wonder where it came from??) for us to use that would be much more friendly for Tilly to start back to work in, then our big wood sleigh.  So, with Grace and I standing in the barnyard with great anticipation for a big dramatic rodeo event, Tilly was hitched to the new sleigh.  As Wayne stood at her head and Jamie climbed up with reins in hand, I held my breath and said a little prayer as Tilly leaned in, and gently walked away as though she'd been hitched daily for the past 2 years.  Grace and I spent the afternoon bumbling around the farm with Tilly in the sleigh, I couldn't help but be a little proud of her and can't wait to go again soon.

GETTING READY FOR THE RODEO

AND HERE IT IS!!  WHAT A GOOD GIRL

TIME FOR A BREATHER

JAMIE, GRACE AND I (THE BEAR ON GRACE'S HEAD IS HER FAVOURITE HAT, SHE LOVES TO SAY TO  PEOPLE, WHEN THEY TELL HER "NICE BEAR", "DON'T WORRY, IT'S JUST A HAT"

After we brought Tilly back to the barn, Grace wanted to take Hiccup out for a bit, so we fitted him to his fancy new harness, which gave him all the appeal of a sausage exploding from it's casing (apparently our winter feed quality is fine) and did some ground driving, in preparation to hitch him eventually.  Then Grace, after having a couple of falls from Hiccup previously, suggested that she take "baby steps" and ride him.  So with Hiccup geared up in saddle and bridle, and Grace geared up with courage and her "Brain Bucket" (as she calls it) on her head, we set out in small circles in the barnyard.  Hiccup was his ever pleasant and accommodating self, seeming to enjoy the extra attention and a job to do, until our puppy Max tested the electric fence with his tail.  As he shot into the field at mock speed, it looked like Mr. Hiccup would make it through the scene with all his nerves in tact, but apparently he was shocked dumb by the frantic screaming blur rampaging across the pasture, because it took him a full second or so before he reacted with one giant leap in surprise.  This only mildly unseated Grace and while she hung on like a pro as I brought Hiccup to a stop, I looked up into very watery eyes as she insisted she was getting off.  After encouraging her to stay put for a moment while we patted Hiccup and I explained to her what had happened, we talked about these baby steps we are taking as we train Hiccup, and how they are to make her and him braver.  Still quite frazzled she insisted that she was getting off "because he bucked and that's what he did at her first horse show and she fell off".  I asked her again what happened at the show, to which she reminded me that Hiccup bucked, then I asked her what happened next and she answered that she had fallen off.  Next I asked her what happened just now and she told me that Hiccup bucked, and when I asked her where she was at right now, her frown turned upside down and with a huge grin of realisation she told me she was still on Hiccup.  She then decided the baby steps must be working and that she would ride for a bit longer, which all thankfully went great and she couldn't have been more pleased to tell everyone of her adventure.

After a couple of days to ponder the woods situation, Jamie attacked it with a new zeal this afternoon and packed a better road in with the mild weather, he even pulled out some good trees to ad to the pile of lumbar for our house.

BEDDING THE CATTLE BEFORE HEADING TO THE WOODS

THE LAST OF NEXT YEARS FIREWOOD READY TO HAUL HOME

Our evening wrapped up with the wood stove nearly forcing us all into a coma as we sipped tea and chatted with Poppa B. while both girls vied for his undivided attention, until they were forced into their beds for the night.  Bethany, our wonderful little sleeper has decided the last few nights to see if she can scream loud enough that we will come and rescue her from her crib, so after about 5 minutes of hair raising protest she dove headlong into dreamland.  With Grace finding more creative ways to stall the whole nuisance of bedtime such as an arm that wouldn't stop itching so she needed skin cream, her throat was dry and she needed water and in one final effort her 50 teddy bears she'd packed into her bed were taking up too much room and she "just couldn't get comfy".

RECIPE:

Homemade White Bread

Yesterday was bread making day at our house, I typically make enough to do us about a month and freeze it, thought I'd share our recipe.  This can easily be cut in half to make 5 loaves, but the following recipe will make between 8 and 10 loaves depending on the humidity, the air, it's mood, migration patterns......well, it can vary.

6 TBSP Active Dry Yeast
3 cups warm water
Place yeast in warm water and sprinkle with a small amount of sugar to keep the yeast from floating, allow to soak and activate while mixing the dry ingredients.

20 cups white flour (I try to use unbleached)
1 TBSP Salt
2/3 cup White Sugar
1/3 cup oil

Once dry ingredients are mixed pull to one side of the bowl and add the yeast/water mixture with an additional 7 cups of warm water, mix until combined, you may find you need an extra cup or two of water if dough is dry.  Once incorporated and a big sticky glob, begin adding flour and kneading dough until it forms a ball.  Turn out onto floured surface and continue kneading and adding flour until dough is elastic (appx 10-15 minutes of kneading).  Place back in cleaned and greased bowl and allow to raise until double in bulk (appx 1/2 hr - 45 minutes), punch down, raise again until double (appx 20 minutes to 1/2 hr), punch down (this is Grace's favourite part) then cut into balls and place two in each greased bread pan.  Allow to raise until double (appx 1/2 hr or so) and place in preheated 350 degree oven.  Cook until light and golden (40-45 minutes) Brush with butter while hot if you like.

CLEAN UP CREW!

A GOOD NIGHT SNUGGLE WITH POPPA B.