Category: Thoughts

Little thoughts from us to you!

Summer Pastimes

Published on by Hannah Greentree10 Comments
Me, Kayla & Babe

HEY – it’s me, Hannah, I’m back! (That’s me pictured above with a little friend and one of my ponies.) If you have never seen my previous posts please check them out by clicking here >>> How to Draw a Dragon & Our Crazy Animals!

I did it! I finished grade 8 (and part of grade 9 actually… there are some perks to home schooling like; going at your own speed 🙂 ). I’m so happy school is finished and that I am on summer holidays! HOORAY!!! What do you do during the summer – when there’s no school to distract you?

Playing video games is all very well, but in the summer??? No, I think summertime is for getting outside for a walk, going for a bike ride, jumping on the trampoline with the sprinkler underneath or… you could simply drop a water balloon on a friend when they aren’t paying attention! 😉 The possibilities are endless!

Summer pastimes may vary, but in my opinion it is the best season!
For two reasons;
1: No school!! :}
2: and well…. NOOOOOO SCHOOL!!! (Hee hee! 😉 )

So what do I do during the summer?

Well… usually I go camping with my family at some point but because we live on a farm far away from downtown and a little distanced from most friends then one needs to get creative; I can train the pigs, play with the chickens, give the horses a bath, go for a walk with the dog, or give the barn cats some attention.

This is one of our newest barn kitties – her name is ‘Mrs. Norris’.
(I know, a very grown-up name for such a little girl!)
This is our other newbie – his name is ‘Eragon’.

I really like to  listen to music and hang out with the animals – sometimes daydreaming, sometimes drawing, or thinking up new ideas for a story. (I actually find that a farm also has its own type of music too: the horses are the beat, walking along, the chickens are the guitar chords, clucking and crowing while the dog is a singer barking at the cats. 😉 ) You could ride in the wood-shed wagon down a hill and have it tip with you still in it and fall – hands and knees – into a puddle. Or you could carry a hen around and see if she eats more grasshoppers than your brother’s hen. You could jump into the horses’ water trough when you’re hot and run – barefoot – around their pen, jumping, playing, rolling in the dirt and then getting back into the water… who knows?!  (Just so ya know – these are all based on VERY real experiences! 🙂 )

This is one of our piglets – her name is ‘Squirt’.
This is my favourite hen – her name is ‘Sweets’.
She is so tame that she’ll eat out of my hand and I can carry her around with me anywhere. 🙂

ENJOY YOUR SUMMER!!!!!!!!!
Hannah 🙂

Of Mice and Children

Published on by Hannah GreentreeLeave a comment

When I was six I lived a couple of blocks from St. Mary’s church. Both grand and inviting this beautiful circular structure was created by aboriginal architect Douglas Cardinal. My sister, friends and I loved to play hide and seek among the confessionals and pews. But we especially liked the mice that lived in the fields around the church.

One crisp October evening we got it into our heads that it was too cold for the mice to sleep safely outside. So we gathered up a dozen of them with the idea of providing warmer beds within the church.

I don’t know where we got the idea that mice couldn’t survive outside, but I have a feeling it had a lot to do with the stories we read as kids. From “The Night Before Christmas” to “The Country Mouse and the City Mouse” these critters seemed to be a lot like us humans. Thankfully, the kind priest helped us understand why mice must live outside.

Even though I no longer view mice through the humanizing eyes of a child I still love the children’s stories that do. I guess that’s why –even though Miss Emily Goes to Bat is the story about a cat –you’ll find mice on every page.

You can have a look at this amazing church at http://stmarysparish.shawwebspace.ca/photos/view/our_church/. The field is gone and the rose garden is new, but the building remains a work of art.

~Trina