day seven

ahoy. happy earth day. today we went out to ya ha tinda, the only federally operated horse ranch in canada (they train horses to patrol national park boundaries), and had a picnic and a wee hike. the dumpling's first hike! she insisted on climbing tiny hills in her little pink runners. she huffed and puffed and her hat almost blew away. we saw some of the bighorn falls (most of the falls was still frozen - ah spring). the only wildlife we saw were a couple of eagles (and deer, i suppose, but once you live outside of the city, deer seem less like wildlife and more like large, suicidal rabbits). it was incredibly windy; less rice cereal and cheddar bunnies, and the dumpling may have blown away.

the weekend has been lovely, though a little more difficult in terms of the detox: new challenges. but we persevered (and ate a little bit of chocolate and some cheese)! i wasn't, for some reason, looking forward to the weekend. i think i like my routine, and my alone time during the dumpling's daily nap. but now, sunday evening, i feel sad that the weekend is over. we had friends over, we played cards and laughed, we ate celery instead of chips and drank tea instead of beer. and we had a great time. the weather finally came through and we all have pink cheeks now. we enjoyed ourselves.

hank (remember hank?) is getting a makeover! i cleaned out all the dishes n blankets n stuff, and the queen is ripping up the carpet and taking out the table and cupboards and crib he put in. by may long weekend (hopefully) there will be hardwood floors, room for a small wood stove, bunk beds (no, we are neither pregnant again nor planning a second child, it's just practical) and did i mention hardwood floors wow!! then hank will get a nice scrubdown and prettied right back up, with the magnetic poetry all over the ceiling, a few less windows and no doubt, an olive curled up somewhere soft (she quite likes the bus, and i think it's mutual).

and so. time continues to pass. the provincial election is tomorrow.