A new me!!!

OK, I'm not normally a Simpson's fan....but I just couldn't resist doing this......I found the link on the blog of a Swedish art student.....http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/main.html
You can transfer it to your blog or elsewhere by using the Print Screen button....cut and paste..that way you don't have to sign up to anything.....:-)

This is my avatar.....
I don't think it's a bad likeness....:-)...you think????

I'm Simpsonized!!!!!

Slainte!!

A post of catching up......I think

It's been a long time...I know. I have been in a funk....not sure why...not sure if I'm out of it yet...but I do feel as if the light is dawning.
I finished Harry Potter today.....and no I will not spoil the ending. Suffice to say it's full of action and complexities and is riveting. I do find, when reading a book like that, I cannot stay glued to it as do some. I need to rise out of it and take a breather and do something else. I cannot fathom how someone can write like that, in that style, keeping a plotline going for that long a time......well..yes I can imagine...but it never fails to put me in awe of the writing talent. How does she sleep at night with so many characters running around in her brain????

The last few months have been very hectic with weddings and a birthday party...all out of town. The upside to that is we were able to stay with J&C in Aldergrove (they have a two bedroom suite now!!) and spend some quality time with our grandson. We were also able to spend quality time with T&D in Victoria (before the move!) as we stayed at their place on our visit to Victoria. There are definitely benefits to offspring having two bedroom apartments (or at least a comfy futon!).....it saves on hotel bills!! Some observations of our recent travels....

• Car rides are exhausting.....fun...but exhausting.
  
• I will NEVER travel the prairies in summer again. I'm of the opinion that you have to be born there to actually appreciate all the positive aspects of "The Prairies" (We had a wedding in Prince Albert, Sask. and did a road trip ...going there wasn't too bad....coming back.....hmmmmm.....what can I say....even in an air conditioned car ....ARRRRGH!!!) I think the town and cities have lovely areas....but outside the towns and cities......endless telephone poles......
• the way to cure a dog of car sickness is to take him on a loooong car ride over a period of days and stay in hotels and he'll eventually settle down. By the end of all our driving, Chauncey, dear little laddie, is happy to hop in the back seat and settle down with no drooling at all. What a trooper!!
• Pedicures are very nice!! A friend offered to give me a pedicure in Leduc and I accepted the offer...first time ever for me and it was a treat!! It did, however, make me realize how much I really should have it done regularly....or at least once in a while.
• Weddings on a lakeside beach are very cool and relaxing and informal...as are weddings in back gardens. Weddings in golf clubs are very relaxing too, in a different way. They have the formality but still retain that more casual atmosphere. All four weddings were different and all were wonderful. I am so glad DH and I were asked to attend the weddings of T's dear friends of many years. The nice thing about that is that you reconnect with the parents that you haven't seen for years, some since your kids were in high school. It was a good wedding summer!
  
• I love my camera!! I spent a lot of time taking random shots, over DH's shoulder, through the car window (between the bug spatter!!) and just pulling over and taking a shot of a great looking rock formation. I'm just not sure what I'll use them for...but some are pretty cool.
  
• I also took some pics of the fire devastation still visible around Barriere and the damage of the Pine Beetle Infestation.....somehow those two enemies of the forests will connect to do major damage in the years to come, I'm sure. Our beautiful green province, it's fast disappearing ......when we were in the Alberta side of the Rockies the green was everywhere and lush, no red and no grey....for now.
  
• If I ever win the lottery or make a pile of money, I will sell up and move to Victoria in a heartbeat!! Every time I go there I realize how much I have missed the ocean and the whole living near the ocean state of mind over the years. It wasn't as noticeable when we were in Langley because we were near the ocean (well....1/2 hr away....) and we did go over to Victoria to see my mom. But up here in Kamloops....it's sooo dry......and hot.....and well...not as green!! Judging by present house prices in Victoria now, one would have to win the lottery or be prepared to have a mortgage....something we're just not prepared to do.....especially on a pension. So.....sigh.....it'll have to be regular visits.....and deep breaths of sea air :-)
• Speaking of which....when we were down in Victoria for the birthday party of my cousin, DH and I took a little drive around and ended up at Ogden Point, the cruise ship terminal in Victoria. In the space of 1 hour 3 huge cruise ships arrived....and I was just over the moon. We had opera on the radio, sea air and a huge ship slowing coming into dock....how much of an ocean fix can you get!!

• .....I get weepy just looking at the pics. When I was a child, my Gram lived one block off Dallas Road and when we would visit her, we would take a juice can and a sand shovel down to the beach and play among the logs. Dallas Road has always been my place to regain my "sea self". Sitting on a park bench facing the water, memories flood over me... watching the CPR ferries heading for Seattle and Vancouver and telling which ones they were by the number of funnels that they had. Dad and I had them all pegged. Growing up in Victoria ....one has to go back eventually...and I hope I will.

• The birthday party was wonderful....lots of people there, some I knew, some I didn't. T&D came for a while and probably knew much fewer than I did....but the family were happy to see them...some not even knowing that they were back from Massachusetts. Caught up on family news .....

I have many more things to say I'm sure, but this will do for now. Since we have been back, I have sorted through china, pictures, cupboards and done a little gardening.....and I have taken to sitting out on the deck at night enjoying the peace and cool night air before bed, writing in my journal and in general cogitating on the day and life in general......calm mind before bed.

Slainte!

Another Day...another wasted day....

I'm just not sure what's wrong with me. I'm sleeping ok, (for me) but I just cannot get it together to get anything accomplished during the day. All I want to do is sleep and read and wander around the house. I have a roomful of pictures to sort, an art journal to update....and nothing....NOTHING gets done.
I went outside to help DH weed today in the front, and spent the time sitting on the lawn.
I spent some time downstairs but on my laptop intending to do some updating and .....nothing....I played Poppit.
My life is passing me by and I can't stop it.
I hope it will get better soon.....

Slainte!!

To Market ..to Market ..to buy a fat......LIP????

So we went to the market this morning....lots of good stuff.
Veggies are out now and still a smattering of plants as well as strawberries and cherries.
However.....we found a place that was selling peppers, tomatoes (all different kinds) and cukes. It appears it is a greenhouse that uses biological pest control....thereby no sprays...which is a good thing.
The seller said to us, as I was picking the peppers I wanted..."Those look like a pair of lips" So we took that to heart and voila!!!



Smmmoooooch!!!!

Then there's the pic of our basket of goodies that we bought.....and no..that's not a fish...it's a cucumber covered in plastic....and the little tootsie roll on top of the honey is a doggie treat for Chauncey. There is a lady there that sells home made doggie treats of all kinds so we always gets a bakers dozen for him...he loves them!!

...and finally...as an extra....a picture of a hens and chicks plant on my patio that ..it seems...is due to flower soon. It's the first time I've ever had one of these plants get to that stage .....I'm quite pleased!!

So...all in all a pretty good morning....we actually managed to get up early enough to do the market thing. After the market we went over to Art Knapps and got some chives and seeds for 30% off....AND...we were allowed to take Chauncey into the store and the greenhouse with us. How cool was that!! A lady had a Siamese cat with her as well.....needless to say we made a quick detour to the seed stands until she was through the till and out the door. Chauncey was just a tad too curious!!

Just a little note here...I am contemplating setting up a photo and art blog....still thinking about it...but I'll post it here when I do...

Slainte!!

Random Thoughts......

So...it's been a while.
Throughout that "while" I have had several topics flow through my mind for blogs.
However, I can't remember many of them now. So I think it will be ....thoughts as they occur.

• Our marriage turned 30 on Monday. Our "friends" didn't think it would last 6 months when we got married.....not sure what they were thinkin'...it took us two years to decide to get married....so we'd better make it work!! My DH's version of our marriage..."It's had it's ups and downs". Not the marriage per say....but life in general in that time period....but then...doesn't every life?? My assessment.....my love, my life....I couldn't have functioned without him. He may not say a lot....but he has ALWAYS been there for me when I needed him. I am tough to live with and he does it admirably!!
  
• I noticed tonite that whenever I stress about something....I tend to want to retreat to childish things....simple books, easy games, things that don't require my mind to concentrate....and they make me happy. I was playing a game on the computer called Poppit, where you pop balloons with prezzies in them...and the prezzies are stuffed toys (I think) and they float down to the bottom of the board and sit there in a nice little line. If you don't make it through the round ....all the toys disappear and you have to start over. I felt a touch of sadness as the little toy icons flew into oblivion to make room for the new balloon board. When I actually finish one level....I sit and look at the toys for a minute before I blast them away for the next level. Sigh....so cuddly and non-threatening.....ok I know that's all very weird, but it's an outlet ok????
• I have a new art project that I'm contemplating. A mixture of art journalling, collage and maybe a little polymer clay. I have been perusing blogs and sites of various and sundry artists and gathering information and inspiration. So the other day, I thought I would sit down and try to put something together. It's like I have a lock on the door of my creative mind. I see all these things I want to do, yet I cannot transfer the ideas outside my head. So......to while away the time, I am teaching myself to draw...after a fashion. I'm hoping that with a little exploring and experimenting I will find the way to unlock the door and fill pages with much creative drivel, which hopefully will turn into something meaningful at some point. I'll keep you posted.
  
• We have been sorting through my family history...in letters, photos, newspaper clippings and albums. It started when we decided to go to an 80th birthday party for my cousin....and were asked to bring pictures etc that we might have from his past. I have lots of pictures and I think I have a letter or too as well. However, in doing this, we've also come across lots of other family stuff and that's only two boxes.....there are three or four more to go. I came across a lovely photo album that my father made while he was stationed in Newfoundland during WWII. It was with the old fashioned black pages and the little corner stickers...but he had illustrated and embellished it with white ink. It was just wonderful. I really didn't know he was such an artist....but then I'm not surprised, considering his sisters and mother were artists of varying types....all good. He also wrote little blurbs about the pictures as well as labelled them all. I'm not sure who they all are....but they are definitely a part of history. His history and Canadian history
• We have recently also gone back over the genealogy of our family and reread some of the information given to us by my cousin in England from his research. It seems that we are well and truly from Irish stock which pleases me no end. The roots of our family go back centuries to the pagan chieftan's of Ireland.....a proud heritage to be sure. There is still more to be researched but I think that's to be left until we actually get to Ireland.......a wish of mine yet to be fulfilled.

I think that's it for now....life continues on apace with new things every day. I'll try not to leave it so long for the next post. In the meantime......

Slainte!!

Yet another applicable quote!!!!

So.....I have thought of various and sundry topics to blog on....but they will wait...as they always do.

I have another quote....which is SO applicable to those who are frantically getting ready to travel tomorrow......


"Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward. "

— Kurt Vonnegut

so....relax and laugh and it WILL get done. Ty and Magnificent M. , enjoy your trip and the conference:-)

Slainte!!

On sleeplessness......

" Night time is really the best time to work. All the ideas are there to be yours because everyone else is asleep. "

— Catherine O'Hara

Yessss!!!!

I knew there was a reason to stay awake!!!!

Slainte!

Something for foodies....

I subscribe to Real Simple's daily inspirational quotes....not all are relevant to me....but this one I thought, was not only relevant to me, but to a few other bloggers out there....and you know who you are ;-)

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.
— Virginia Woolf, "A Room of One's Own"

I now have it (along with an appropriate picture) as my wallpaper...which I was able to download from Real Simple

Definitely words to live by....you think??

Slainte!!

To Journal or not to Journal.....

I have written some form of journal for many years....off and on. I have bits and pieces of journals in various and sundry little books, mostly stashed in my bedside table...or in my workshop...or in the bag that I carry everything that doesn't fit into the suitcase.

But now...I have a journal in my laptop computer...password protected (of course!!)

I have journaled in my computer before in Word and then password protected it and then forgotten the password when I discovered it months later....sigh!

However...now...I have a program!!

About a year ago, I discovered that when I installed Office 2003 into my laptop, it had also installed a program called Microsoft Office OneNote. (One of those things that you discover after using the program for about a year!!)I believe that the original and most logical purpose of this program is for business use....but it can be quite well adapted for personal use. There is a section.....yes there is .....called.....JOURNAL!!It's lovely....it dates itself with date AND time no less....it saves itself automatically when I close the program....and you can password protect it easily....it's great!

So I have used this for about a year...and I have used no other. I don't write into it everyday....just when I feel the need.

I have found that journaling can help me to dissect problems and worries into smaller groups so I can examine them more fully and try to decide what it is about the problem that IS a problem. It helps to unload the worries into written form and seeing them that way makes them more manageable....at least for me. It's like I "leave my worries in the laptop"...at least for a time.

It's not all about worries either....I like to write about things that make me happy and joyful so they remain with me..... people I love and activities that I love to do and events that put me in a positive frame of mind.

As I said, I have always journaled intermittently in one form or another, but as I grow older it seems to have become more important to have a record of the process and it's ups and downs....emotionally, mentally and physically.

Interesting.......

Slainte!

Book, books, and more books.

So in this healing time, among other things we have turned our attention back to books.

When we were in Massachusetts, we went to the Borders store near Stella's place and came out of it somewhat poorer than when we went in......and that was only the first trip.

Since we have been home we have visited Chapters at least once and then there was the symphony book sale this last week...and DH visited a second hand bookstore...on the way home from the library no less!! Luckily we only went to the book sale on the last day (when things were half price) but we still came home with 2 bags full of books.

The excitement of going to a bookstore...new or used....for me, is right up there with a good concert!!

We have a cupboard in the guest bedroom full of books we have yet to read....and there are various bags of books lying around the house.....

I ask you....is it no wonder that I never get out of the house!!!!

But....I do love books....and never more so than now, when we need the time to relax and recoup our energy. Sometimes I feel the urge to do something else....and I do it.....but then after..I end up back in my corner of the sofa under the reading lamp with my latest book and a "tisane" and the dog curled up at the end of the couch. DH has taken to sitting sideways with his feet over the the arms of the big chair to read and the dog lies on the back of the chair. When we are both reading in the same room, poochie switches between us at regular intervals....

Among other things...retirement has brought me back to reading...and for that I'm grateful. It's a therapy like no other.

Slainte!

The stresses of life....

I do not do well the stresses of life. I try....but I don't do well. ...and neither does DH as it happens......
......because we internalize everything.

In the past month and a half ...

• we have been incredibly ill with the flu and cold,
  
• we, very suddenly, lost a brother/in law (DH's brother),
  
• regained our daughter to the West Coast, and
  
• experienced travel, moving worries and their effect on dear Stella,
  
• stress of the highest level from both Stella and ourselves,
  
• some worries about things back home and now...
  

...we have been hit by a massive exhaustion that has depleted our reserves and left us filled with anxiety.

I managed to play a concert this weekend, but it was a tough go. Having J & C here for the weekend to quietly visit (and do after dinner clean up!!) was wonderful...but the fact that both DH and I are still in our jammies at 9:50 pm, having done virtually NOTHING all day says everything about how we're feeling.

I am SO happy that Stella and King D are together again, it was good to be with her in Mass. albeit at times edgy. I love them both so much and wish that we had been stronger for her in Mass. but it was an experience that I would not have exchanged for anything. We finally got to experience everything she had talked about first hand and in that respect it was a most memorable time.

I think that DH and I need to pamper and really look after US now and hibernate for a while to recoup the lost energy.....you see, we never fully recovered from the flu before we were grieving and then travelling. So now is the time I think. When a good portion of my day is felt to be on the verge of tears and I see tears in DH's eyes when we talk, I know then that we have no strength to continue and we must stop and recover and finish the grieving process and heal.

We will go to a wedding in Pitt Meadows on Sunday....but that will be it for a while I think.

This is not meant to be a whining post, or even a sad post......I just needed to say something about how we were feeling..........and the eyes are starting to brim....so.....

Slainte!!

Massachusetts et al........

So....we are in Massachusetts.....and have been for the past week and a half. It's been a busy time, a time of some sleepless nights(what's new), a time of worry, a time of exploration and wonder, a time of exilaration, and a time of relief. The weather has been good, although we landed in Montreal in a snowstorm and had blowing snow on our drive down to Mass. However, since then, it's been cold and sunny with a bit of rain and a couple of warmish days. The air is very dry.....lots of moisturiser needed...on lips and skin....and lots of water needed to go into the body.

I have a few observations of Massachusetts......

• Lots of big houses and expensive cars (especially in small exclusive towns like Concord)....but the houses are nice, stylish and historic for the most part and lots of the cars are Volvos!!
• People are, for the most part, nice and friendly and usually have been north of the border or know someone who has been north of the border.....but there are some still, who don't have a clue about our wonderful country.
  
• Development of housing.....(at least in the outlying areas)...our leaders could learn a thing or two. Lots of trees, no clearcutting.....it's as though lots are sold and the homeowner clears only what he needs and leave trees around .....they are everywhere.....no clearcutting here. But then, that's the New England charm....the autumn colours....so they preserve it. But the concept is a good one. The housing is interesting, unique, fits with the landscape. None of these chicken coops of all the same shape and colour, that go on endlessly.
• Still with trees.....they are everywhere, especially along the highways.....we even found a huge Target store all by itself surrounded by trees with the roads in and out through trees. The DHL office was in a industrial park opposite a fairly exclusive residential area and the industrial park was landscaped and surrounded by .....TREES!! So much nicer!!
  
• U turns....they are legal here....people do it all the time....especially at advance left turn signals....in some places it's the only way to get where you want to go.
• Some of the driving habits here boggle the mind.....like....when you see that the traffic on the opposite side of the interesection is stopped and hasn't moved for some time....why would you travel through the intersection and end up stopped in the middle, thereby blocking traffic going the other way (we were one of the fuming blocked and of course, told ourselves that "We would never do that in Canada....would we???) We extricated ourselves by dashing across two lanes of traffic following a similar fuming motorist into a small opening in traffic when our light was green.....Yaayy!!!.

We are taking the day off heading into Boston tomorrow with Stella ....so I'm sure more observations will be forthcoming.

In the meantime....back to packing and sorting out last minute details.

Slainte!!

• 
  

Freedom ......and witterings....

So....today was a banner day....
After being housebound for a week and a half.....I finally went out!!
Yayyy!!!
....to get some more cold medicine and groceries and library books....

....you see.....I may be on the tail end of this NASTY cold/flu bug....but
DH is right in the middle of it!!

I so need this all to be over by February 13th....because I have heard that flying with a headful of "ick" is a most painful experience......and of course we have things to do.....a "list" of things to do before we go.

The upside of all of this is...I have lost 5 pounds. One can only hope that it will stay off.
I rather stumbled upon a solution to the "weight" problem. .....let my husband do the cooking.
You see I do the "mothering" type of cooking.....good, tasty food and lots of it.
He has the "don't overdo it" attitude to cooking dinners...single tasty portions ...at least I think they're tasty. Due to this D'd virus I have no smell or taste. It looks good and fills the stomach, so I can only assume it tastes as good as it looks. I am very much a visual person :-)
In any case, it works for the weight loss....we will see if that continues....although I'm doing the cooking tonite, being the least ill of the two of us! Chicken burgers here I come!!!!! *snirt!!*

So the agenda for the next week is to GET HEALTHY, lose another five pounds (I don't THINK so), get organized and prepare for a bit of a working holiday. Exciting hey???? I am SO looking forward to this trip mostly because Stella and Bastet will be coming home with us and secondly we will hopefully be able see a little bit of New England in the process.....oh....and I forgot.....we get to experience TRADER JOE'S.....Woohoo!!!!!

Ok...now I have to get the chicken burgers out of the freezer......;-)

Slainte!!!

Doggy Funk....

So our little Bichon is in a bit of a funk. We're not sure why. He gets this way now and then where he just drops his tail to "drag" position, doesn't eat (snacks or otherwise) and needs cuddles or goes into a corner by himself to mope.
.
He seemed fine this morning, but something has niggled him and so he's gone into a funk.

The cure for this is usually a walk with DH......which is what will probably happen this morning.
The scents around the neighbourhood get him into "move ahead" mode and when he returns his tail will be up and curled again and he will head to his pillow to munch on his morning snack.

Whatta dog!!

Slainte!!

Muddled and Settled.....

I have not posted for some time.....

I'm excited about my daughter returning and happy that my son-in-law returned safely

My life right now is a mixture of reading many books, organizing my workshop and talking to Stella and J'lil bro. .....and feeling the growing anticipation of our trip eastward to Massachusetts.....and lying awake at night going over everything in my head.

I'm presently fighting some kind of respiratory thing...probably a cold that can't get attached (yay Vitamin C!!) and so I rest....for now.

I really want to post something profound.....but my mind just isn't working that way.
Let's just say that...despite the muddled state of mind and current events.....I feel more settled than I have in a long time.

Life is good!! (Cough Cough!!)

Slainte!

Nappen??????

I was so pleased.....I managed 5 nights of good solid deep sleep.....I had hoped it would continue....
But...alas it is not to be.
It is presently 4:25 am and I have been up all night....
However, as is my habit, I will think positively of the new day ahead, try to get at least one thing done and of course there is always....NAPS!!

What WOULD I do without naps.....they are the glue that keeps my life together....

I rarely nap in the bed (only if I'm REALLY tired)....usually on the couch, or sitting up in a chair watching TV or looking out the window and sometimes even in front of my laptop, or on the couch beside my laptop, which I might add, I put there for that very purpose!! I nap in the tub and I even have been known to nap at the dining room table whilst reading after lunch. I seem to have the ability to close my eyes and drift off without any problem if I'm tired. It's a handy trick, especially on road trips.....put sun glasses on and no one knows your eyes are closed....(and no I'm NOT driving!!;-))

So I was interested on how the word nap originated....(I think of these things when I can't sleep...)
and I came up with the following......

nap. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved January 03, 2007, from Dictionary.com website:

[Middle English, from nappen, to doze, from Old English hnappian.]

nap'per n.

Word History: The famous verse 4 of Psalm 121, rendered in the King James Version as "Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep," is rendered in a Middle English translation as "Loo, ha shal not nappen ne slepen that kepeth ireal." The word nappen is indeed the Middle English ancestor of our word nap. Lest it be thought undignified to say that God could nap, it must be realized that our word nap was at one time not associated only with the younger and older members of society nor simply with short periods of rest. The ancestors of our word, Old English hnappian and its descendant, Middle English nappen, could both refer to prolonged periods of sleep as well as short ones and also, as in the quotation from Psalm 121, to sleepiness. But these senses have been lost. Since the word has become less dignified, we would not find nap used in a modern translation of Psalm 121.

....all I can say is....who knew?????

On that note......to bed!!!

Slainte!

.....and then the day was done......

So, Christmas Day is over.....and the shopping madness begins (or continues?)

It was a quiet day....slow starting, slow moving, and slow ending.....
We webcamed with the travelling offspring to open presents and it was wonderful!! For the rest of the day I felt that I had actually spent time in the same room with them ....in person....and it was a good feeling.

Because it was a sleepless night for me on Christmas Eve, I napped for 2 hours in the afternoon and then we had our M & M dinner!! I must say that their Beef Wellington and frozen veggies are quite lovely. We had a huge turkey dinner last weekend, so turkey was NOT an option for us on Christmas Day. We decided to go the convenience route and bought 2 single serving Beef Wellingtons from M&M and a bag of assorted frozen veggies (so much fresher and tastier than the supermarket assorted veggies!!) and then we had potatoes. ....and that was our dinner ....with wine of course. After dinner we relaxed on the couch drinking wine and chatting (mostly reminiscing!) and then watched a VHS version of Holiday Inn. That was about it for me.....I headed to my bed to read and then snuggled up to sleep the night away.....and didn't emerge until 10:45 this morning. It's amazing what a couple of glasses of wine will do to you!!

Today, it's present wrapping for J'little bro's prezzies as he's arriving late on Thursday....and then tomorrow we just may attempt to tackle the crowds and pick up some last minute stocking stuffers for J.

We have snow on the ground and more to come today if the forecasts are right.....so I guess it's just stay at home day for sure.....time to make appetizers for New Years Eve......hmmmmmm.......or not. I'm going on gut feeling here.....do I feel up to it.....or is it just wrapping and reading today? We will see. Time seems to fly by so fast.....

All in all.....a very satisfactory Christmas Day.

Best wishes to everyone and I hope your holidays are special and full of good things.....and as I recently heard one person say in his greetings.......just don't forget to laugh!!

It's all good !

Slainte!!

A pictoral essay....getting ready for Christmas...

The tree is up!! In it's little nook, surrounded by accumulated stockings draped on the railings.
It will sit like this for a few days "to let the branches fall into place"......or so they say. Who is "they" you ask??? Well....that would be the people who sold us the tree.
I miss the tree farms....:-(









Time to take a break and enjoy the snow falling in the back yard. The top picture is of an apricot tree stump that used to have a bird feeder on it that I haven't set up for this winter yet.....tsk tsk....I really must get to that. Poor birdies!!








This is looking out directly from our patio doors to the terraces in the back yard. The rocks are where the wee meeces hide out in the winter in the hopes of grabbing a few tiny seeds that the birds spill about! I took both of these pictures with a flash at night and the falling snow came up wonderfully....although I'm not sure you can see it in these pics.









Well....the lights are on the tree now, but not so visible in the daylight......mini-lights also went up around the front windows so we could view the North Thompson valley through a halo of slowly changing colours.












Whew....that was exhausting....time for a nap with the cat!!!
...note the bins of decorations...they will remain there for a few days.....keeping the lights on the tree company!!







Saturday was tree trimming day....a day of memories with each of the ornaments collected for J & T over the years. I believe there are at least two that T (Stella) cross-stitched for Grandma, which I inherited ......also little stockings with coins in them that were knitted and crocheted by Grandma for J & T...with their initials worked into the stockings.....a silver bell with J's name engraved on it.......and somewhere (not on the tree) there is an ancient Christmas card given to my Mom and Dad many years ago, with a little lad in his jammies and plaid dressing gown....singing...."Oh come ON all ye faithful". That card always sat on the piano when I was growing up....and always made me giggle!!





The finished product, taken at night without a flash. I do think that this is the nicest way to view a decorated lighted Christmas tree......don't you?? It glows!!





Slainte!!

A good evening.....

A good evening.....2 brothers, 1 husband, lots of Christmas food, wine, single malt scotch, and much conversation full of many memories.

Far exceeded expectations!!

We definitely must do this again sometime!!

Slainte!

A Sad Day....

Today has been a mixed day.....which has ended in sadness.
We started the day with excitement, planning our trip to Shrewbury, flights, car rentals, dates etc.....it was wonderful and we finally got it sorted....although nothing booked yet...but itinerary has been firmed up.
After this, I decided to make some more shortbread, still feeling pretty upbeat, thinking about Christmas and the upcoming visit with my brothers......then the phone rang.

My mate answered it and I knew from his voice that it was my dear aunt from the coast....and then I detected a note of distress and surprise in his voice. He mouthed to me that my cousin, whom I've only just over the last few years gotten to know again, had passed away this morning.

A huge weight has settled on my heart.....

My aunt (his mother) of 95 (whom I've blogged about previously) was remarkable. Apparently it was a lung cancer that travelled very fast - weeks rather than months and the end was days rather than weeks. She was grateful for that. He didn't suffer long and now he is at peace. She lost her husband four years ago after a long drawn out battle with cancer and she could not go through that again.
"My dear, I am so thankful that I had him for 73 years!!" was her response.

I didn't see my cousin that often, but we did send emails and cards, and my aunt kept us both up to date on each others comings and goings. He used to bring her out to visit us when we lived in Langley. I have memories of my childhood when he used to babysit me and my brothers. He was a bit wild at times, but always so much fun and he thought the world of my mom and dad.

There is a lot that I can say, but suffice to say that I will miss him, or rather I will miss knowing that he's there if I care to email him....I will miss hearing about his studies at SFU (just to keep his mind active)......I will miss hearing about the excursions that he and Auntie D. took to Steveston ....... I will miss hearing about the good natured ribbing between he and his brother.....and I will miss hearing about the close friendship between he and his lady D. that lasted for 50 years.

It has all become memories.......

It seems that, lately, so much of my childhood and past is being relegated to memories.

But as we get older I guess that's as it should be.

Rest well cuz...

Slainte