Saturday 28 June 2008

Sex and the country

mainly sunny, warm, temps 26

A perfect day. Doug's taken the kids out golfing. I offered to go and watch from the clubhouse, but he explained this was a par-three course and the club house is a barn with a lawn chair.

So I'm at home, blogging. And doing laundry and the flowers.

So far so good. The guest kids, Elan and Spencer are wonderful. It's hard being a guest, especially as a child. rules you aren't familiar with, strange food and smells. Poor Elan is afraid of dogs. And snakes. And bugs. And frogs.

Still, she's sticking it out and making the best of it. I admire that.

We're having loads of fun. Kids living in the pool. Stopped long enough last night for chicken wings, carrots, celery, hummus and chocolate chip cookies (baked by Elan's mother - bless her!) Then the frisbee came out, immediately stolen and eaten by Maggie. Just as we'd almost convinced Elan that dogs are wonderful and gentle.

Michael and I went to bed (at about 9pm) and the kids watched Wedding Crashers on the DVD. We all seem to have had a good night's sleep, with Rozie and Elan sleeping on the sofa bed in the screen porch. We were all quite jealous since it was a hot, muggy night.

Then breakfast of cereal for the boys, pancakes, bacon and fruit for the rest of us.

So far no upsets, or tears. Little Spencer, who's about as cute as a button, said he wanted to see Sex and the City at the Princess (he calls it the Queen's) Theatre in Cowansville. Will have to call his Mom to see it that's OK. Michael's already announced he's not taking him. But I might. Mary, our sister-in-law, says it's OK for her kids, aged 10 and 12. It's rated 13 with adult accompaniment.

How bad can it be? Famous last words. What could possibly go wrong?

I'll let you know.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I understand dog fear. James, now 19, is terribly allergic to dogs. Gets hives if he comes into contact with dog saliva, gets swollen eyes and breathing difficulties if in a house with dogs for more than 30 minutes. So, our family has had to avoid dogs in general for many years. Oddly, it's his younger sister, Isabel, who has mild dog fears, mostly because she hasn't had the opportunity to spend time around them. Very unfortunate.

Anonymous said...

Thought about you again today as I was whipping up a vegetarian pot pie for dinner. Didn't you say that your brother was a vegetarian? It's cool, misty and drizzly here and it seemed like the day for something comforting. Ok, I also needed to clean out the fridge and veggie pot pie fit the bill for that reason too. Hope the trip to the movies works out.

Louise Penny Author said...

Hi Elizabeth,

Thanks for all your advice and encouragement. About ten minutes after I blogged today Elan hurt her big toe and we almost ended up in emergency. Happily Uncle Michael diagnosed a sprain, though the poor girl has quite a bruise. Very brave.

This is her first time away from home overnight, without her parents. And we seem to be breaking her. She might spend the rest of her life in her basement or a psychiatrists couch.

Camp Penny - Creating Troubled Children, Creatively.

yes, Doug's a vegetarian. I will keep him away from your comments so he doesn't expect a pot pie. Tonight we're having BBQ's chicken legs and hamburgers. Including vegetarian ones.

thanks for all the good wishes and thoughts...