All is Well

Wren's last check up was February 10th and results showed no signs of cancer. These check ups are always anxious times, but there is little that can be done. Part of the anxiety arises from the fact that "no news is good news"--the results can take several days unless they discover something worrying, in which case the results are rapid. This cycle will continue to repeat every three months into the distant future.

We were fortunate to tie in this check up with a wonderful trip to visit family in Denver, Houston, Pacific Grove and Victoria. It was an ambitious piece of traveling, and Wren and Chloe handled it with grace. Many happy memories were made.

Wren is an energetic and happily growing little girl. She has been enjoying cross-country skiing and going to Strong Start, which is like preschool with parents.  She has also been inspired by Chloe's recent violin lessons and has decided to play as well.

As you can see, here she is playing her Hawaiian ukulele like a violin, complete with fleece chin rest. It sounds a little like slide guitar. She practices daily.

Chloe has also been skiing quite a bit and is equally enthusiastic about the fiddle. She completed a 3 km ski race a few weekends ago.

We are gearing up for the maple syrup season and have our first batch of sap boiling on the wood stove. In the coming weeks we will be hauling hundreds of litres of sap out of the woods to boil on our little evaporator. We made enough syrup last year to make it right through the winter, and still have a little bit left. Ask anyone who has tried it, pretty good stuff.

The snow is slowly melting, but there still must be nearly two feet of it in the yard. At this rate, I think that the ice from the rink will last well into June!

All is well. We hope that you are well too.

Patrick, Paula, Chloe and Wren.