NANA NOTES

FEEDING TIME. . .

Feeding time tends to be a juggling act for me.  All three babies want bottles at the same time and I only have two hands. . .and I have two knees!  That's where the third bottle goes.  Everybody gets a bottle at the same time.  We really enjoy watching these baby goats.  They have proven to be funny time and again.  Mary loves this chair and she got stuck yesterday.  Ryan got her out and that led to Robert building our first "Goat Condo"!  Now Mary has something to climb on and they all have a place to go out of the rain.  See, she loves it already!   

CAN ANYBODY TELL US

WHAT THIS IS???   I'm sitting upstairs working on the computer cause I just got this new step counter thingey and Jeanette calls me to come down and see "something".  Of course, I get up and waste steps I could be counting (but I haven't registered my counter yet) and go downstairs.  This is in a bucket and Linda is having (as Elizabeth D. Griffin says,) a "conniption [?] fit"! 

I promise you it was over FOUR inches long and big around as a nickel.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  When you touched it with something the black things got hard like spines and I swear it hissed at me!  The black things had barbs on them.

I wanted to cut it in half to see what was inside of it but I didn't tell them that.  I told Linda not to let it go in our yard--to take it to the chicken pen.  She said the chickens wouldn't even eat it.  That's when she said it could be poison and what if our chickens ate it and the eggs were poison and we ate the eggs.

By that time I had tears running down my face. We laughed so hard over that and the fact that Whoopie Goldberg said she wanted to give people "butt acne" this morning.  I DON'T even want to get into that story.  Let's just say that if laughter is good for the digestion--we're all going to be healthy around here.

Oh, yeah, and what is a Flintstone?!

"A day is wasted in which one has not laughed."      I believe it.  Thank you, Lord.

THANK GOODNESS FOR "KID MILK"

I can barely keep up these days--four hours is a very short time.  We had a bucket of dry "kid milk replacement" for one of the foals back in the spring. Do you know how much milk costs these days?  Canada goes through a gallon a day.  The little ones (whom I have now named Mary and Martha) have turned into hogs instead of piglets.  They hear the door shut and start squealing. (Do goats squeal?) :)  Right now they take a bottle each four times a day.  I'm glad the other mother is doing her job.  I don't have enough hands to hold all those bottles.  I'm being an equal opportunity mother and swapping around--alternating who gets fed first.  So far that's working.

Tiffany, did you forget my phone number?  I have a cage the squirrel would have fit perfectly in!! and a bottle and a food recipe!  I've never seen a flying squirrel!

TWO BY TWO PLUS ONE

Canada and the two baby goats are doing well. Canada takes anywhere from one to three bottles three times a day.  He's a piglet.  The little brown and white goat started eating right away but the black and white one was not so sure about me being the mother.  Last night she decided I was ok and went on a feeding frenzy.  Libby named them today--Sampson and Delilah--but we have found out that they are both girls--so now what?  How about Ruth and Rebecca? 

Ryan called me this afternoon when I was on my way home from Hattiesburg.  Guess what I have?  Two more baby goats! :)   Ed and I went to check on them when I got home and the mom wasn't with them.  I thought, "oh, no, I can't feed four goats and a deer at the same time!"  Ryan checked them later and Mama was feeding them.  Thank goodness.  I would have done it but I don't know how patient they would have been with me. These two are identical twins.  I don't know what they are yet so I can't name them.  If they are boys I think they will be David and Goliath! Linda said today that Canada had an attitude but he was just going to have to loose it.  I think everyone is enjoying having the babies around.

THE BABIES ARE DOING WELL. . .

I haven't had time to make pictures yet, but the baby goats are doing well.  I have both of them eating and acting like puppies!  Ed said he could just see them running around the yard following me.  I promise pictures soon.  Canada has taken to them really well.  He is a good father figure for them. I guess I'm their Mom.  I promise pictures tomorrow or Friday.  You're going to love them.

FEEDING THE MULTITUDES. . .

Most of you know that I am known as the "deer lady".  I have been brought more fawns to raise than I can count and I would hate to add up the amount of milk that we have paid for.  While I was on my fun trip Ed told me my worst nightmare had come true--the vet had  a deer for us.  This morning on my walk I discovered that one of my goats had given birth to twins (triplets but one had died) and she was refusing to care for them.  My son-in-law drove by and I asked him what I should do.  I was more than willing to carry them home and bottle feed them.  He said he didn't think they would make it because the mother goat has huge, swollen "dinners" and didn't want the babies around her.  A little later I went back and loaded up the two babies (and my dear sweet Snowbell didn't even bother to notice!!) and brought them to the pen with the deer!  I force fed the most pitiful one and you should see her now.  She's up running around.  The other one is not taking to the bottle as well, but I won't give up.  I intend for them to make it.  I'll get pictures tomorrow of the goats and the deer whose name is Canada. Bet you can't guess why?

MUMC ICE CREAM SOCIAL 2007

The weather was wonderfully cool and the "love bugs" out numbered the church folks but the ones who attended the annual Roy Stroud Ice Cream Supper had a good time.  Ed looked at me one time and asked me if I thought I could multiply the loaves and fishes.  I just laughed and said there would be plenty.  After it was over the preacher said, "would you have believed there would have been any ice cream left?"  Nobody went away hungry and everybody enjoyed themselves.  The water was a little cool (thank goodness! from the gas man's wife!! :) but the kids swam anyway. I started out taking pictures when the guests began arriving but soon forgot about the camera.  Here are the shots I took.  We'll see you next year for the Annual Roy Stroud ICE CREAM Social! 

POSSUM GRAPE JELLY!!

Well, I guess I'm back to the real world--Linda, Jeanette and I had the day off on Thursday and we had a blast.  After my walk with Debra, the three of us took off in the Ranger and found possum grapes Ed had been keeping his eyes on.  The more we picked the harder it rained!  We got soaking wet and we laughed till our sides hurt. Needless to say, we didn't look our best in this picture.  We cleaned up and had lunch and got started washing and cooking the grapes.  Later on during the day I started the jelly making process.  I do love to make the jelly--and we do love to eat it!

I ended up making 98 half pints of Possum Grape Jelly.  (Diana--you're getting your share!!)  I have two more batches to make [I ran out of jars and couldn't finish yesterday.]

What a blessing to be able to spend the day enjoying God's outdoors and laughing and having fun and getting to reap the benefits of it all. Oh, that jelly will be enjoyed by all.  It's good to be home.

Edited:  This afternoon after a quick trip to Wally World for more canning jars, I made three more batches.  The total count is now up to 125 half pints.  I sent some home to Mimi with Ryan.  And I just found out that Jennifer has been stealing it!!  Now there's plenty!!

MEETING THE ROCK STAR!

If you haven't read up until now start at the beginning.  I couldn't stop myself from finishing.  I want to move on to something else!  Monday morning and it's still cold and raining.  Even the locals say it's unusually cold for this time of year.  Breakfast was SPECIAL!!  Orange Belgian Waffles with Strawberry Sauce and Whipped Cream--I splurged.  The chef came out to greet us and carried us up to the penthouse to see the view since we didn't get to get out while we were there. He was a nice young man from Ireland.  We could see the Saddle Dome. He said during the Calgary Stampede that everyone in Calgary dresses in cowboy attire--kind of like the Houston (TX) State Fair and Livestock Show.  When we came back down to the lobby there was a girl being interviewed by the local TV station.  Well, you know me!  I had to know who she was.  The chef said it was "Bif Naked", a Canadian rock star.  Shy Barbara just walked right up to her and asked for a picture.  She was so sweet and offered autographs--she did one for each grandchild and one for all of us. She talked about how she was getting married in a month and didn't have her wedding dress or a reception venue.

Then it was off to the airport, turn the car in (light cost $91.12) and the rest of the day goes smoothly.  We got home about 1:00 AM and this was waiting for me when I got here. Beautiful wildflowers artfully arranged-- I think Papa missed me.

Thanks Papa for letting me go on such a fun trip with three great friends.

COLD AND RAINING. . .

We woke up Sunday morning and it was very cold and raining.  We took our time and had a great breakfast and decided to play cards in the lobby and watch people.  About 5:00 PM Libby and I wandered out and found the Olympic Plaza. It was a lovely place centered around bronze statues of the first ladies of feminism in Canada. The placque over Libby's head said "Women are People".  We said we would definitely bring Laura and Beverly back there on Monday.  We had reservations for dinner at the Rimrock Restaurant with a table by the fireplace.  A perfect ending to a good day. The filet was perfect; the potato gratin delicious; and the baby veggies were super. And guess what's for dessert!!  Creme Brule'-finally!!!!

I think the look on Laura's face says it all.  Even the rain didn't keep us from having a great day.

THE WHEELS ON THE CAR. . .

Saturday--get up early and check out.  Stop at the Bear Claw for coffee and muffins. We have a 6 1/2 hour drive to Calgary plus any stops we make along the way. The Columbian Icefields are the first stop--it's cold and windy so we decide NOT to hike. It's also very foggy with the rain coming in.  These glaciers still amaze me.  We ate lunch at Chief Chiniki's restaurant.  His granddaughter was our waitress. I backed into a trash can (NONE of us saw it) and broke the tail light on the car.

We checked into the Palliser Hotel which was gorgeous. (Remember you can click on the pictures to make them larger.) We walked several blocks to the Devonian Gardens--beautiful gardens on the top floor of an office building. The pictures don't do it justice.  You can't imagine how beautiful it really is. The brochure said that people who work around there go there during their lunch hour. There were real turtles and real koi in the ponds.  The fox under the arbor was bronze.  We would have stayed longer but they closed it early on Saturday.  As we were walking downtown there was a wedding party being photographed in the middle of the street.  We thought it was part of a movie set.  And speaking of a movie-there really was a movie being filmed.

We stopped at the StarCuisine.com trailer to ask directions. Of course, I had to know everything!  Disney was in town filming "The Snow Globe". They had built a set outside of Calgary and the man in the trailer was cooking dinner for the actors and extras.  While we were walking down the street we saw a cow! There was an art exhibit of cows and my goal was to "shoot" them all. Here are the ones I found:

Don't you just love them?  I think my favorite was "Cowabunga" (the Bart Simpson one!) Our hotel was right by the Calgary Tower. It was beautiful. Dinner was at Joey Tomatoe's (recommended by someone we met at Jasper). After a day like today we actually ordered drinks!  We walked down to Eau Claire Market and looked around.  It began to rain so we went back to the hotel.  REST, oh sweet rest.

STARTING AT THE BEAR CLAW!

Up and out early to the Bear Claw Bakery where we had scones, muffins and bought huge delicious cookies for the day's snack.  We headed out to Maligne Canyon and Medicine Lake.  We were surprised by huge ram sheep grazing the roadside. This was the only bear we saw on the whole trip.  I kept wanting to canoe but couldn't get any takers.  The sun was in just the right place at Medicine Lake for the reflection to be awesome (overly used word! but true).   Athabasca Falls has to be the most beautiful place I have ever seen. It was a spiritual place. I told the boys when they were looking at the pictures that God was there.  Little Sam said, "Could you dig in the dirt and see Him?"  I told him that you could feel God's presence in the sound and beauty of this place.  In places it was roaring and in other places it was very quiet. 

We saw quite a lot of these buildings-inside and out. They were very clean and not as smelly as Southern "outdoor" facilities.  After a short rest it was on to Mount Edith Cavell.  You KNOW we HIKED it! Angel Wing Glacier is located on Mt. Edith Cavell. While we were hiking down to the Lake the glacier calved.  That's most unusual and even more unusual to be seen.  We each touched the glacier ice and I even ate some. Eating ice that was thousands of years old was amazing.  

I picked up a heart shaped rock while we were hiking back to the car.  I'll always remember the grand lady Edith Cavell.

We rode back to town and found a Greek restaurant called Something Else. After all the hiking and looking we were starving.  We each ordered a steak which was delicious and had wonderful veggies with it. After a walk around the quaint little town we headed back to the Lodge where we all just faded into a deep sleep.

Tomorrow's a driving day--three days left.  You won't believe what's coming up!

THURSDAY ALREADY!

  Isn't this a beautiful place for breakfast on a cool, breezy morning?  After a late sleep in, we got up and drove the short drive to the Fairmont Lake Louise Chateau for a leisurely breakfast at Poppy's. After eating delicious fruit and a wonderful banana fritter (for Ed) we walked around the hotel. There was a beautiful lady playing the harp. I talked with her and bought one of her CD's.  She was very sweet and signed it for me.  We left there after doing a little shopping and drove to Jasper.  We stopped and HIKED to Peyto Lake. The wildflowers on the way were beautiful and the lake was absolutely gorgeous. Being a garden person I took pics of all the flowers.  I was really fascinated by the things we didn't have here in Mississippi (like the Western Anemone--white one).  We saw a herd of elk on the drive there.     

Jasper Lake Lodge was a complete turn around from the other places we had stayed.  It was a beautiful log cabin type lodge with beautiful landscape and elk roaming the property. We spent more time here traveling and hiking and very little time on the grounds.  We ate at the Emerald Restaurant and I had the most expensive meal (and worst!) of the whole trip. The dessert was good though. This was the embellishment on my dessert. Oh, and don't you love the bed cover! :) 

Tomorrow is another long day and there are lots of surprises!  Stay tuned.

WE'RE GONNA' DO WHAT?!!

Early wake up today and off to the coffee shop for a danish.  Short drive to Lake Louise for a HIKE of nearly five (5) miles up a mountain to 7000 feet.  It took us two hours to get up the mountain and there we had soup and sandwiches at the Lake Agnes Tea Room. After several photo ops we hiked back down. The man below was playing the Alphorn. He played Amazing Grace and it was beautiful.  People were canoeing on Lake Louise.  No one would canoe with me.  The fact that it was 37 degrees might have been a factor. Aren't the mountain and lake beautiful behind us?  The water was such a different color.  Laura was jealous of Beverly's hiking stick so I found her a stick on the trail.  She left it--I thought she should have smuggled it back to the states!  One of our favorite things at the tea room was the chipmunks! The scenery was so beautiful from the mountain top.  There were wild flowers and waterfalls and streams so clear you could drink the water. The beauty was unbelievable.  The trip down was not as hard as the trip up (or as long).  We're starving--back to the Station for burger and fries and an early turn in.

ON TO LAKE LOUISE. . .

Early wake up and delightful breakfast--fresh fruit with honey almond yogurt, great omelet, warm croissant! Checked out of the "castle" and off to Lake Louise.  We rounded a curve and this beauty was standing on the side of the road!  Now you might not get excited about seeing this beautiful elk but coming from a family that loves wild life, I nearly jumped out of the car! (well, actually, I did).   I was really close to him and loved it! 

The Lake Louise Inn was a "come down" from the castle.  After a complaint from the big mouth Barbara, we got upgraded to suites with fireplaces--which we used every night. It was cool and we enjoyed the fire.  We went to dinner at a restaurant called The Station.  It was a quaint little place sort of like a depot with absolutely gourmet food. The fresh watermelon salad with fresh basil and balsamic vinegar was delicious as well as beautifully plated.  I ate grilled salmon with citrus sauce, baby vegetables and grapefruit sections. The bread was homemade and HOT right out of the oven.  The waitress talked me into strawberry rhubarb pie with ice cream for dessert.  A lot of their ingredients are grown right there at the restaurant in their garden.

A wonderful day--tomorrow is an adventure!

ON TO BANFF. . .

The drive to Banff was beautiful.  We passed by the Olympic Park and saw some of the venues where the last olympics in Canada were held. We all decided that there was no way we could have gone down those downhill ski runs!  Our arrival at Banff Springs Hotel was like a dream.  Guys came from everywhere with little earpieces to gather our luggage, usher us to the desk, etc.  One even had on kilts. Do you think the hotel looks like a castle?  Oh, yeah!  I was down looking up!  The flower beds all around the hotel were gorgeous.  The colors were so vibrant.  We barely got settled before Beverly was ready to hike!  Bow Falls was a short hike down and back so we started with that.  I have to admit that it was beautiful and I enjoyed it.  A great start to a great trip. We were getting ready for some rest since we had eaten a late lunch after the flight. Tomorrow would be exciting!

SLOW EASY BEGINNING?

With a 3:00 AM wake up going to bed early was not a problem.  It was the midnight call from the alarm company that rattled us.  I don't remember what Ed said to the person on the phone but we went back to sleep.  At 4: 15 AM the house alarm went off and we both jumped out of bed.  I looked at the clock and screamed out words that can't be put on a blog.  I was supposed to be at my friends house at 4:30--ready to ride!  Ed took care of the alarm (and I mean "took care of it!") while I brushed my hair and teeth and threw on clothes.  I was only ten minutes late and it's a twenty minutes drive to town.  Thank goodness I had everything packed and all I had to do was close the suitcase. (I truly can't think of a thing that I forgot.)  There was an accident on the interstate and we found out later that traffic was closed for hours during the early rush hour.  God was truly watching over us.  The flight was uneventful and we arrived in Calgary full of excitement and anticipation of a good time.  Even getting the luggage and rental car went well.  We loaded up our luggage and headed out for Banff.  Guess who got to do the driving?  Thank goodness the Canadians drive on "our" side of the road! Tomorrow--Banff and Lake Louise.

I AM READY--LET THE TALE BEGIN. . .

Tomorrow I will begin the tale of the trip to Canada.  I have the pictures in the computer at least and have "in my head" the way I think I want to tell the story.  I had no idea how disorganized I could be with all of this.  Let the journey begin. . .