As Squeeze would say, "I've Returned"...

Tom, the kids, and I went to Edmonton yesterday, mainly to get Davy's passport sorted out (three tries at the photos, and one application mailed off but returned by functionaries), which we did and successfully to boot. Very nice since we're supposed to be in another country in about two months. As a bonus, we stopped off at the Apple repair place and picked up my languishing laptop which is now in apple-pie order (and just in time to start ordering books from Amazon etc. for far-flung family for the holidays). So I'm now back in business, blogging and otherwise. Hooray.

Extra bonus -- after the computer store, we went to the former Provincial Museum, now renamed (by Good Queen Bess II when she was here in the summer for the centennial celebrations) the Royal Alberta Museum. Not too big, but lots of fun things to see, including the requisite taxidermied specimens, an exhibit called "Kid Stuff" with toys from the 50's and 6o's that all of a sudden made my pulse race (did I ever think I'd see the brightly colored boxes from Colorforms or Magic Rocks again?), dinosaurs (featuring, of course, Albertasaurus), Canadian gems and minerals, and a nifty exhibit on Native life, the Gallery of Aboriginal Culture. But the highlight was a chance to chat with the bug wrangler in the Bug Room, as we went around feeding and misting his very live charges. The kids were quite taken by the Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches, because we've learned recently that my parents will be spending the holidays with my sister and her family in Kenya, where they live; Christmas will find them on Madagascar, and while Santa may not find them, the hissing cockroaches just might. Or as Laura put it, "Grandmama will be lucky because she'll be able to hear them before she sees them." I'll have to double-check and see if my mother really considers that a benefit lol.

Glad to be back.

P.S. I see that the fine folks at www.welltrainedmind.com were kind enough to add Farm School to their list of blogs. A big thank you to them, and a welcome to everyone who has stopped by -- with apologies to those who've found till now only sporadic postings.