Saturday, January 26, 2008

Spelling Bee

Today Connor was in the Barrie Literacy Council Spelling Bee. Last year when he was in grade 6 he was 5th out of about 95 kids. The word he couldn't spell last year was menial. This year he did not practice very much but there was also less competition - only 51 kids. He made it to the last 20 so he gets to go to the finals again. This year he correctly spelled poisonous, antonym and hospitable.

Friday, January 4, 2008

My life

My life has a fairly predictable rhythm to it (now that the kids are more independent). In April I start back to work as a gardener. Things are pretty hectic through the spring, summer and fall. I am laid off just in time to do the Christmas shopping, baking and to catch up on neglected housework before the kids are home for the holidays. After that I am pretty much free to amuse myself. During the cold winter days I walk the dogs, do the day to day housecleaning and then I get to do what I want. I cross-stitch, knit (not nearly as much as I used to) and get together with a friend to play scrabble and do puzzles. This is our latest accomplishment.





This was one of the hardest puzzles I have ever done. There was no symmetry to the pieces. It actually came with a diagram of the puzzle shapes to use as a guideline. We couldn't have done it without the "cheat sheet". The pieces don't stay together very well and because the border is not straight there was a lot of shifting involved as we added the centre pieces. I wonder if it would be easier to start in the middle and work out? Anyway, it was a rewarding experience!

This puzzle reminds me of when we lived in New Brunswick. There was an old wooden covered bridge about a mile down the road. Just past it, on the top of the hill was an old white church. It was very picturesque.