Freezes v Raccoons

The Freezes v. The Raccoons competition is not going very well. We caught possum #3 (another baby) last night. No raccoons!

I spent a few hours yesterday afternoon stapling pet-proof screening over every possible access point with staples every 2".

This morning? I came to the carriage house and the raccoon had pulled off the screening. Granted, my staple gun wasn't embedding the staples as deep as I would like. But still! It felt secure when I tugged on it.

Now I am going to pull out the Big Guns, aka pieces of plywood custom cut and fit into each opening (there are about 12). I WILL keep the raccoons out of the carriage house!

The kids were very sad when we drove out into the country to release the baby possum. "Can't we keep it and take care of it until it's bigger?" they pleaded. Nope, sorry, I'm not taking on a pet possum!

I put the trap upstairs in the carriage house, meaning that only the most adventurous raccoons will have access to the delicious bowl of vanilla ice cream inside the live trap. I hope it will keep the possums away because they aren't the ones who have been climbing up my carriage house wall and into the floor joists.

We had our normal Sunday morning pancake breakfast (except me, because I fast every day until mid-afternoon...). Eric and Ivy were at a soccer game mid-day; they won 1-0 to a team that was supposedly much stronger. So that was good.

I read outside in the sun this afternoon...cooked white bean, garlic, bacon, & rosemary soup...did a bit of video editing...watched an episode of Quantum Leap (not the best show but a fun way to do something together as a family).

Zari has been out most of the day so we probably won't hear from her until tomorrow. She was going to some of the islands on Lake Ontario and then going to Eric's cousin's house for dinner.

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Baby possum

Still no raccoons this morning, but we did catch a baby possum. It's relocated to a park. Tonight I am trying ice cream, upon recommendation of a raccoon hunter acquaintance.

I also raccoon-proofed the carriage house, stapling pet-resistant screening across every possible entry point up in the rafters. Then Eric did a disgusting task of cleaning up the piles of raccoon poop on the upper floor of the carriage house. Eww.

What else? Eric and I went to Ivy's game this morning. Her team lost 0-1 and missed two penalty kicks. Ivy did a lovely header. On the way down from the jump, her head collided with another player's. She had some moments where she couldn't breathe and had to come off the field.

There was a "Celebration of Unity" festival downtown this evening. Ivy and Inga were there for several hours, playing with friends. Eric and I made a brief appearance.

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Last night a sneaky animal--probably a raccoon--triggered the trap, shoved it over a few feet, and managed to upset the food tray so that it could fit its sneaky paws inside and grab the food.

So this time our trap is weighted down and access is blocked from the back and sides. We are going to be counter-sneaky until we catch this animal. Probably animals.

I've been waking up most mornings around 4 or 5 am and can't get back to sleep, sometimes for a few hours, sometimes not at all. It's annoying! It happened again last night so I didn't go exercise in the morning. I also had to drive Inga to her 6 am soccer practice, and it's good that I was already awake lying in bed for hours because 5:45 rolled around and she still hadn't come in to get me. It turns out she forgot to set her alarm because she was up so late doing homework last night!

Most of my day was video editing, with a late lunch break to meet a dear friend who I haven't seen in 17 years since we moved from Illinois! We had babies together (her 2nd, my first). I attended her birth with 5-week-old Zari in a sling. The hospital wasn't entirely sure what to make of it when I showed up with my sidekick :)

We've got a busy soccer weekend. I'm going to do some extra sneaky things and block off all possible entry points into the carriage house with hardware cloth and/or pieces of plywood.

Zari called for more cooking advice. Tonight is tilapia fillets and sauteed green beans, and she's prepping 12 bean soup for tomorrow. Next weekend will be a Thai curry.

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Wrong animal!

We have a pesky raccoon that's been making a mess in the attic of our carriage house, climbing up on the carriage house doors, grappling on the walls, and wedging itself inside the floor joists to get up there.

We set a live trap out and got an opossum this morning! Not quite what we wanted but the kids enjoyed looking at it. It was opening its mouth and baring its teeth to me but it still looked cute and a bit pathetic.

It's now off in a nearby forest and we hope to get that sneaky raccoon.

My day: walking group, several zoom meetings, tons of video editing, and a tiny bit of gardening in the early evening.

Everyone else was gone until 8 pm or later (soccer...of course).

Early wakeup for Inga's 6 am soccer practice. I'm taking pity on her and driving her instead of making her ride her bike several miles in the dark.

Zari did all sorts of adult things today: got her Ontario health insurance card, library card, and public transit card. She and I planned a big meal to make this weekend, with the plan to freeze at least 8 dinner's worth (12 bean soup). Each weekend I'll help her think of another big meal to make and freeze. After a while, she should have a nice rotation of freezer meals. She also went to a board game club and played Exploding Kittens.

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12 hours alone

Besides Eric coming home from teaching to change into his soccer clothes, I was alone in the house for 12 hours! These long quiet days are so strange. Even our busy days in France have people home at several points--lunch, between classes, after school.

I went to my morning walking group and then worked most of the day. So at least this quiet time was productive!

Zari got her resume done and cover letter written. She has one more document to prepare tomorrow and then will apply for the urban gardening job. Then she needs to apply for lots more jobs in the hopes that she'll get one of them!

Dio had an away game tonight, losing 2-3. He was disappointed because he felt his team was much stronger overall, but the defense made some errors and let a few goals by that they should have stopped.

I'm feeling very uninspired for what to cook. Part of the challenge is the lack of ingredients that I can easily and inexpensively in France. We do eat a lot more Mexican food here since we have 2 Mexican grocery stores. Today was a staple recipe: creamy herbed pork chops, served with all of the random leftover vegetables in our fridge and sourdough flat bread. (I discovered sourdough starter in our deep freeze and am reviving it!)

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We've had a laid-back weekend, although Eric still had to work today. It's not a holiday at his private university.

We had the sleepover girls here until lunch. We made apple crumble mid-morning and baked pizza for lunch. Inga was gone most of the afternoon dress shopping with her friends for an upcoming school dance. Ivy is recovered, finally.

Dio got a haircut this evening, courtesy of our in-house barber (me!).

Zari is finishing her resume and will be applying for work-study programs. She has her eye set on an urban gardening position. It sounds super interesting and I hope she gets the job! She would be doing direct gardening work (planting, harvesting) as well as planning, testing, and quality control.

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After a morning trip with Eric to Home Depot, I spent much of the day doing yardwork: weeding, planting, transplanting, stoking the fire with more yard waste.

No one had a soccer game today--a miracle! We had time to watch two episodes of a show this evening. Eric and I also went on an evening walk.

Ivy is still stick. She stayed in my bed all day. I've been making her garlic bread with ciabatta buns and English muffins--basically any type of bread my mom bought while she was here last weekend. Then Inga wanted some too, as if it were some huge amazing dish. But it's bread, butter, and garlic powder!

It's been cool here for late August, which has been lovely for working outside.

Zari had an excursion to a park and zoo. Tomorrow she's going on a food tour.

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No news is good news?

Every night Zari has called and talked with us for a long time...until tonight! I heard from her earlier in the day that she was having lots of fun. She played in several sports events and went to the Trinity College club fair, where she listed several she wanted to join: 2 board game clubs, a pool table club, sustainability club, outdoor club, running club, Trinity newspaper, Trinity publications, historical society, athletics...

I finally got back into my normal routine of going to the gym in the morning. I do about 35 minutes of cardio (usually the elliptical so I can read at the same time!) and then lift weights. My shoulder is still bothering me so I just did legs today.

We went to a Wabash soccer game in the late afternoon/early evening. I went for the first half and then came back home once Eric arrived because Ivy wasn't feeling well.

Inga had two friends over until late tonight. We're going to have a sleepover on Sunday, since Monday is a holiday.

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Back to work

Eric started teaching today. We're back to our normal rhythm, minus one member of the family. It's mainly School + Soccer.

Zari has had tons of orientation activities, so much that she has left early each evening. They go from 10 am until 10 pm! Today she visited an art museum with her orientation group, had "quadvising," attended a mandatory session on consent, and went to a Trinity "block party" complete with bouncy houses and free food.

She sent me this babywearing picture when she was at the Art Gallery of Ontarior. I looked it up and it's from this painting: Master of the Kress Epiphany, The Expulsion of the Money-Changers, c. 1480–1500

We're putting in a privacy fence and brick patio in our back yard...finally after 14 years of living here! Better yet, I have a brick mason who I'm paying to do it. I've installed fences several times before, but his prices cannot be beat and he has all the heavy equipment.

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Rough transition

It's been difficult adjusting to US time. We arrived late Monday night after 28 hours of traveling. I figured I'd sleep well because I hadn't really slept at all during the long flights. But no! And last night was the same issue. Anyway it will eventually get better, right?

Zari has 1 more day at home with everyone, and then we drive her up to university on Friday! We went to dinner together tonight because my some miracle, no one had soccer games or evening soccer practice. We were also hoping to play games or watch a movie, but the kids all had homework.

Zari is mostly packed: 1 big suitcase, 1 small suitcase, and 1 backpack. Her housing got finalized this week; she's sharing an apartment with 3 other girls just a few blocks from campus. The owner is a professor who lives upstairs. I have the feeling that I wrote this is an earlier post. If I did, blame it on jet lag!

We went to the big box store for some final supplies (sock, underwear, toiletries). Now it's a matter of remembering all the little miscellaneous items. But it's not like she's going to a remote undeveloped country! She'll be in an enormous city (Toronto) and will have shops galore.

I put 2 new patches on my apron. Can you spy them?

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Home, finally!

Zari and I made it home without any issues, other than some stress-inducing turbulence over the Pacific. We've been up for 30+ hours now and I'm not going to last much longer. Life continues at a fast pace for the other kids. Ivy and Inga had soccer games this evening and Dio is working on an English essay about "My Name Is Asher Lev." I'm hoping for a good night's sleep and then back to work tomorrow.

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In Sydney

We drove back to Sydney this morning, arriving at noon at the airbnb. We dropped our bags, ate lunch, and then caught a bus to downtown Sydney. I had business cards to pick up, and since we were there, we walked through the botanical gardens to the opera house. Then we wandered back through the skyscrapers, browsing in some stores and enjoying the big city energy.

We had dinner at a Middle Eastern restaurant with a few of the other instructors. Lots of midwife talk, which Zari endured patiently.

We discovered finger limes at my friend's house yesterday. Amazing! They are dark purple, about as long as my thumb, and filled with little round crunch lime-flavored bits. They are native to Australia and I've never seen then anywhere before.

3 big teaching days coming up, then speaking at the conference. Phew!

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Grand Canyon Track bushwalk

I love the term for hiking here: bushwalking. We did the Grand Canyon Track today, and it was amazing. We overprepared for it with tons of water and snacks, many layers of clothes (which we greatly appreciated given that it was just 7C when we started), and a snakebite kit. Our friends insisted we bring it, even though this time of year it's not very likely to encounter snakes.

I'm happy to report that we emerged snake-free.

The hike was listed as a 3-4 hour hike, but we finished it in just over 2 hours, including a lunch break. It was about 6.5 km with a LOT of elevation change. From the top, the Grand Canyon looks like big uniform hills. But as soon as you start to descend, you realize that the area is riddled with deep canyons, sometimes just 5 feet wide but hundreds of feet deep. It's astounding.

There was so much water that the huge stepping stones across the creeks were submerged in a few places. No big deal--it felt great to take our shoes off and wade across! We were muddy by the end of the hike because it's been raining in this area for the last week or more. Today was just a light drizzle towards the end of the hike, plus lots of falling water from the cliffs.

We had some down time after we got home. Zari read a book (Cloud Atlas) and I did several hours of video editing. My friend brought us on a lovely drive through the western Blue Mountains, showing us her previous house (straw bale house, off-grid). We saw many kangaroos and wallabies, although the emus weren't visible tonight.

We ate kangaroo for dinner. Yum!

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Scenic World

My friend treated us to a visit to Scenic World. It's not really a theme park...more like a touristy nature park with gondolas, cable cars, walkways, and the world's steepest railway. We had rain and fog, but miraculously as soon as we started descending into the valley the cloud cover dissipated enough for us to see everything!

We're going to hike in the national park tomorrow--so excited. The rain is supposed let up, finally.

I had some breech meetings and tasks today. One fun one was watching a live session together with my host/friend! Lots of interesting conversation about her work here as a private midwife in Australia.

I made another chocolate tart, this time with some white chocolate decorations (done by her 12-year-old).

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Palm Beach & lighthouse, Curl Curl beach, drive to the Blue Mountains

Forgot to write last night. Yesterday started early with an excursion to Palm Beach. Our host had a golfing appointment and we tagged along. Zari and I hiked along the peninsula and up to the lighthouse while she golfed. We ended at a restaurant, where Zari had brunch.

We stopped by the grocery store again for dinner supplies. I think we were otherwise at home in the afternoon, me working and taking breaks to watch Murderbot.

I gave a test run of my conference presentation--70 minutes. About 10 minute too long. We also got a simulator all set up and converted to an right position and then worked on the simulator for a while.

Today we wanted to get out in the morning, but there was a lot of rain. It let up late morning, and we took a walk south along the cliffs over to Curl Curl beach. We wanted to take the coastal path, but it was far too muddy.

We got packed up and on the road by 2:45 pm. It was my first time ever driving on the "wrong" side of the road. Not too bad, but I kept turning the windshield wipers on when I was meaning to use the turn signals! My brain knew it was on the opposite side, but my muscle memory kept overriding. We made it by 5:15 to my friend's house in the Blue Mountains. The last part was super foggy--quite eerie to drive in.

 

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Hello from rainy, cloudy Sydney!

We left at 1:45 pm on Tuesday Eastern Daylight Time and arrived at 6:15 am on Thursday local Sydney time. It's still so bizarre how you lose an entire day somewhere in that 24 hours of being on an airplane.

We had 3 flights: a short one to the Twin Cities, then a longer one to Los Angeles, then a realllllllly long one (15 hrs) to Sydney. Everything went smoothly. Not much sleep at all--I couldn't get my head to stay in place, so every time I'd fall asleep I'd wake up as soon as my head nodded or fell to the side. I've tried a few contraptions for this situation and so far nothing has worked very well.

A midwife friend picked us up at the airport and drove our rental car to her house. She insisted because, with all of the traffic and fatigue, she thought it would be best to drive us to her house. It took almost 2 hours even though she doesn't live very far (in a suburb north of Sydney).

From when we left our house to when we arrived at hers, it was 29 hours and 45 minutes! Whew!

She revived us with breakfast and herbal tea. After showering and brushing our teeth and putting on a fresh change of clothes, we felt much improved. We then headed out for a lovely walk through some bushland until we got to the sea, at which point our host parted ways with us. We took a long walk up to the point, stopping to find shells and watch the kite surfers.

Our next stop was the grocery store to buy chocolate (I wanted to make a tarte au chocolat). We ended up buying lots more things than planned and had an impromptu picnic with salad mixed, cheese & crackers & dips, and more chocolate.

We kept ourselves awake in the late afternoon by baking and watching a few episodes of Murderbot. Zari fell asleep almost mid-sentence right before dinner. We're both feeling extremely uncoordinated and giggly because we're so tired.

Meanwhile a day earlier yet at the same time, it was the kids' first day of school!

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Sydney bound!

Zari and I are 2 flights into our 3 flights to Sydney! We also accidentally wore matching outfits. (Excuse the squinting--it was super bright.)

I'll be teaching vaginal breech workshops as well as speaking and teaching at the Convergence of Rebellious Midwives.

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Last full day of the reunion (it's a short one, sadly). We have tomorrow morning to pack and clean.

More of the same fun things, plus Capture the Flag, Talent Show, Family Dance Night, and Freeze Family Track & Field.

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Back home (for a day)

We arrived back in our (American) home last night around midnight. Since we had a few hours to spare before catching our flight home, we stopped in downtown Salt Lake City to see the sights. The bathroom building in Temple Square was so fancy that Dio said, "I want to live in this bathroom." You feel like you're in a posh 5-star resort.

We also visited the Gilgal Gardens, which is a garden filled with bizarre rock sculptures. A stonemason started filling his back yard with sculptures and at some point it opened to the public.

Inga was happy because she'd never seen a "big city" before--one with skyscrapers--and this filled her bucket list.

When we pulled in last night, we were greeted by an absolute jungle. It's been the wettest July on record here, which means astounding weeds. (It doesn't help that the person I hired to do the weeding ghosted me...). Honestly it was depressing and stressful, knowing how much weeding was ahead of us. I even woke up in the middle of the night thinking about it.

The worst are the nettles that keep spreading, followed by Snow On The Mountain in places where I don't want it.

But first order of business this morning: feeding the horde. We had no food and the kids were hungry! Our town just got an Aldi--one of the few things I'm excited about coming back--and we spent well over $300 to restock our kitchen.

Then...the weeding started, plus mowing and car washing. By the end of the day things were looking much better and we have a pile of weeds almost as big as a small car. We also burned all the fallen branches and took an afternoon Smores break. Why not?

I had to run errands after dinner to get ready for my and Zari's departure for Australia tomorrow. So crazy! I got some new clothes at the thrift store and then ran to the big box store for things like travel-sized toothpaste, contact solution, etc.

I also had to do some woodworking to get the wood pieces ready for the simulator. I fired up the table saw, compound miter saw, orbital sander, and angle grinder.

Oh, last night I woke up in the middle of the night absolutely freezing. I was buried under the covers and still couldn't get warm. I finally decided to investigate. I went into the hallway, turned on the lights, and looked at the thermostat. Someone (cough cough...Dio) had turned it down to under 70F! (21 C) I usually keep it at around 78-80 with the fan blowing constantly, which is very comfortable without having to put on a sweater. (I HATE being cold in the summer. It's bad enough in the winter.) No wonder I was so cold!

I was still cold the rest of the night but it got slightly better. I gave Dio a lecture in the morning about not touching the thermostat. He still had his winter comforter on, but everyone else had just their summer covers on, and they were all very cold as well. So yeah, not a lot of sleeping happened after that rude awakening.

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Family reunion fun

Some of the things we (including all of the extended family) did today:

• swam in the pool
• swam in the hot tub
• swam in several of the lakes (mostly the one behind our lodge)
• caught fish
• played card games
• worked on a puzzle
• played guitars
• played a pickleball tournament
• looked at the stars and felt a sense of existential dread and awe (that was me and Zari!)
• rode bikes
• went on walks
• planned a massive game of capture the flag for tomorrow morning
• sat on the porch or deck and did nothing
• read books

Eric caught a huge trout in the lake, using lots of stealth and a net. It was big enough that he was unsure if he could keep it (fish over a certain size are considered trophy fish and you have to pay $80 to keep them). He let it go and it wasn't acting very well. Eventually it swam off. He tried to find it later in the day. Some of the cousins spotted a large dead fish which we think may have been the same fish.

I went swimming in the lake twice--the water is very clean. There's no lake smell at all during or after swimming.

Even at just half full, the moon is super bright and casts clear shadows. It's so nice to be outside at night and not be attacked by insects (or bears!). There are coyotes here; you can hear them howling and yipping at night.

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