how time blows by....

It isn't often anymore that this mom gets to bake a cake for one of her children, but today was such a day! Michael's been home since Tuesday morning, and is planning to return Sunday evening. And today was his birthday! Another reason for pancakes for breakfast, and cake for supper's dessert!

But wait -

Wasn't it just yesterday that we had that unexpected early birth?

Wasn't it just yesterday that he was learning and exploring his world?

Yes, truly, time does blow by quickly.

However - this grown child of mine in his late 20's still does the unexpected, and is still exploring his world!

Trust God to help you seize the day, Michael, because time does blow by....

Trip Out East...

Nova Scotia. Ocean breezes laden with salt. Roses and rhododendren bushes everywhere. The down-home feeling. Tides and beaches. Gentle waterways. Unique and colourful homes. Fish and chips. Let's go!
We arrived with little incident, um, er, that is, well yes, there was a miscalculation regarding timing of fuel fill-up. You see, John usually got fuel just past Riviere du Loup when he delivered RV's, but we didn't take into account that the trailer was loaded this time, and that we were travelling through heavy rainstorms. However, it became an opportunity to veer off the beaten path for a bit and we enjoyed a meal in a nice restaurant. (Check Katrina's blog)
We arrived in Dartmouth just before supper on Saturday, the 10th, and we set up camp at Shubie Park. The original plan was for John and I to use the camper as our bedroom in Martin's and Emily's driveway, but somehow that got changed to Shubie Park. Threw me for a loop, because I wasn't prepared at all for camping! Oh well.
Shubie Park is a municipal campground in the city, along a portion of the Shubenacadie Canal. It's a nice place with a nice beach and nice trails, but it cost .50 for a 3.5 minute shower! During the first week, we were also able to enjoy viewing many antique cars - part of an antique car tour across Canada.
Below is a picture I took from a bridge on one of the trails just outside the campground.
The trails are wide and covered with a fine gravel - making it easy to push strollers and walk with childrenI really like this picture of our cute little Nicole!!What's a visit to Nova Scotia without checking out Peggy's Cove. Yes, the village gets overrun with people, but away from the lighthouse, it's a spashing-good experience!
On one side of the cove is a peaceful village with homes dotting the treeless hills. The cove is lined with fishing boats and lobster traps.I asked the girls to look at me across the water, but we still got an interesting shot! On the ocean side, it's a very different scene: huge rocks which are great for climbing and clambering around on (with better footwear than sandals!); and huge waves spashing on the rocks as the tide comes in. Maria enjoys the splashing waves. It's as if God puts on a special show just for her - she clapped and cheered for every big SPLASH. On one of the rainy days, we took the bus across to Halifax to enjoy the Science Discovery Centre. The girls enjoyed playing and experimenting with blocks and sand and the turning chair and lego and bubbles and balls and .....

We took in a Farmers Market in Wolfville where we bought our bread and cheese for our lunch at Blomidon Park. We also enjoyed a short visit that day to the Grand Pre Winery. Naomi asked to have a picture of her with these beautiful flowers, and this is the result. Nice picture of you, Naomi!

We celebrated three birthdays, too! Katrina's wish was for a ferry ride across the harbour so we could have filled beavertails for lunch. Of course, we added fruit and yogurt to help make our meal healthy!

Petra's birthday was the day we went to Blomidon Provincial Park. We had our lunch after we made the trek out to the water. Below you see Opa and Petra watching something in the water as the tide rises.

Rachel's first birthday was spent on the beach at Rainbow Haven Provincial Park on the ocean side of the province. We had great fun jumping over the waves and digging in the mud. Blueberry pancakes and icecream were on the birthday dinner menu back at Shubie.

A special thing happened during birthday week: Rachel discovered that her two feet take her places!

Other things we enjoyed were the Maritime Museum, a walk along the Halifax harbour Boardwalk (where we got the rum cake David and Stephanie ordered from the Rum Runners Store), campfires, ants on the campsite, reading and crafts, the Dartmouth library, and seeing Martin's and Emily's new home on Moira Street. They're making a gradual move this month to this larger home, but Russell Street will be missed. Lynn, their backyard neighbour, especially, is disappointed that they're moving, but as Emily pointed out, Moira Street is only a couple of blocks away!

The time eventually came for us to leave, and so around noon on Friday we headed down the highway again. In the vicinity of the airport, John and I heard a fluttering under the hood, but didn't stop to look because the noise went away without further incident. Not. Turned out the fluttering was a strip of the fan-belt which let go - and - gashed a hole in the upper rad hose - which we didn't notice until navigating the 6-10% grades to Fundy National Park. On a Friday evening, we felt stranded with a vehicle not going anywhere! John and Stevin found the parts needed to repair in Moncton, tested the truck and its thermometer, and we were declared fit to leave first thing in the morning. We celebrated with another hike out into the Bay of Fundy. After dinner however, truck stalled on the way back to our campsite - this time the security system didn't like the key in the ignition. Too late to do anything that night anymore, but Sunday morning, we were despairing! It was suggested by a mechanic friend of ours back in Ontario (via phone) that the truck would have to be towed to a dealer - an hour away - to be reprogrammed! Eventually, wiring was checked and voila! it started!! Hurray!

The remainder of the trip was almost anticlimactic - well, we did have a lunch at St. Hubert's in St Hyancinthe, QC. And of course, cleaning up and getting back to normal routines is a natural conclusion to all trips!

We were all quite ready to arrive home, but the time that we had together will always be a special memory that I, for one, hope we can do again!
I think, though, that one of my/our next trips out east, we should take in some more touring. Falling in love with Nova Scotia means we need to discover more about her!

Summertime!!

The heat and a bit of dry weather has finally arrived; it's really summer out there! Hurray!
Not sure what to write about, because life goes on whether it's summer or not!
The girls' flower-girl dresses turned out very lovely, even if I say so myself. In fact, another princess would really like to have one, too! I was hoping to get to the sewing machine again before we leave for Dartmouth, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. My list of things to do seems to have doubled in the last two weeks. I'll have to take fabric along and maybe use Emily's machine....
And yesterday, the list grew longer when I had to give John a helping hand with the brakes for the pick-up, and he also asked for the inside of the truck to get cleaned up for the trip. Ok. Afterward, while he napped, I went around with the trimmer and wondered if there would be time to weed the flower beds.
John's done battle with pneumonia the last few weeks. The round of antibiotic is completed, and the cough isn't as bad, so we're hoping he's on top of it. It's taken its toll on him, though.
I was asked to pull the decorating scheme together for VBS as I can't help this year during that week; the painting of the bright and bold pictures were begun this past week. Even though it's another thing to do, it's kind of fun to paint like you're in grade school! Next week, I hope to put in a few more hours with it, especially in trying to mix colours to get the right shades and amounts of green and brown.
Gardening and lawn care, baking, laundry, house-cleaning, all these jobs don't go away just 'cause it's summer. They just take longer now when breaks include time on the patio!
David and Stephanie are coming here this weekend, instead of us going there, and I hope it's nice enough for a relaxing breakfast on the patio! Other meals, too, of course. But we know it's truly summer when you can step outdoors for breakfast already!

Going into Summer

Just a little on the latest ---
Naomi's flower-girl dress will be finished tonight, at long last! I've had to do a bit of taking out and re-stitching as I go along - today it seemed everything was done twice. Today's goal is a perfect princess dress! I hope Petra's princess flower-girl dress will go quicker. :)
My Mom is moving on Monday - to Maple View Lodge in Athens. We were hoping that she could come live with us (because I now have the time!), but we'll have to see how she likes the nursing home situation. My guess is that it's going to be a really huge adjustment on her part - she's going from a home into an institution. But - she will be only 10 minutes away from us, and she'll spend a lot of time here anyway!
My flower gardens are enjoying the rain we've been getting - but so do the weeds! This evening we'll see our second "moon-flower" open up. I'm going to start referring to it as a "sundrop" though - that seems to be its botanical family.
We participated in a yard sale at church last week - I've been steadily removing un-used and unneccessary items from the house during the last year and adding them to the "yard sale" boxes. We would have come out on the plus side, but John purchased a couple of things in the silent auction, and so we broke even. Oh, well!
Maria spent a couple of days at Opa's and Oma's last week, and had a good time with - - Oma! It's interesting how she's quite alright with Opa at her house, but it takes a while for her to warm up to him here! She did allow him to help her with food, but it was spending time with him at the church on Saturday that truly helped the relationship. And Opa sure appreciated getting hugs instead of tears! Unfortuately for us, she's staying at her Grandpa's and Grandma's this month, and we're not sure when she'll see Opa again! Let's hope she'll be quicker to give him hugs next time she does see him. She does know who he is though; she calls him either 'pa or papa. And she does blow kisses when he turns to go out the door.
A couple of weeks ago, I took the great-grands to grandparent's day at Naomi's school. I think Naomi should have received an award for having the most grandparents there!
And last week, the girls had a tea-party luncheon in honour of Oma's birthday. The lunch was delicious and the decorating was really nice and the playing was fun!
And last week, as well, there was an ultrasound of our next grandbaby! How blessed we are!
So that's the latest - life is full!

Blue Perfume

As I was cultivating around the patch of blue iris, my senses were assailed by a lovely and delicate fragrance. Lo and behold, it was the blue iris! My white irises are fragrant, but not too many others are, so this was a surprise. It truly smells like it could be a perfume. Here is the patch of blue iris. Behind it you see the pink bleeding heart, then the blue Jacob's ladder, then a purple iris and behind the hosta is more Jacob's ladder.

Spring in Pink and Blue

I thought I'd share some of my pink and blue garden with you. I'm quite pleased with my spring flowers. Last spring, I was quite disappointed with the tulip display, but this is the garden Naomi and Petra helped me plant. We mixed up all of the largest bulbs, and each one of them has bloomed. These forget-me-nots are pink with a little blue stripe in them. Very dainty. These blue ones, though, are a perennial favourite. Mom G. also has white ones in her garden.

As one walks down the path, the dark irises are on display. There are coral bells in between, and they are just beginnning to bloom.

Last year, Martin and Emily's backyard neighbour, Linn, gave me a small rooting of this plant. Look how it's grown! Linn calls it Baby Blue Eyes, but when I looked it up, the plant with that name has quite a different flower. So I searched some more, and I think these are a variety of creeping speedwell. I think they may be Veronica reptans "Big Blue", or Veronica pedincularis "Oxford Blue", or a Veronica with the name "Waterperry Blue". Emily, please ask Linn if she could confirm this information.

At any rate, it's a sweet flower, but it will need some control! It does like to creep!

Mother's Day Events and Thoughts

Macaroni and cheese. Hot-dogs. Store-made soup. Homemade chicken and rice. Egg and Tuna sandwiches.
Not exactly Mother's Day foods - but they served the purpose! Favourite foods make for comfort, and comfort is home, and home is where the heart is.
Stevin and Katrina and the girls were over on Saturday to dig up some trees - in the rain and mud! But the girls had their usual grand time indoors: playing on the stairs, reading, tackling Oma....
Sunday after church, I warmed up some store-prepared soup and buns to go with our coffee/lunch with Mom T. and Dad and Mom G.
But what made the weekend special were the heartfelt expressions of love. I enjoy watching the girls making themselves right at home with Oma's things. Even Rachel got into the fun when she discovered the shelf with the dish-cloths!
I did get this cute picture of her so that I can update my wall of grand-kids...

We also got these snapshots of Great-Grandma reading to Naomi and Petra -
Before they left mid-afternoon to plant their trees before the end of the day, I received two pots of blueberry bushes! I hope these plants do well - I so enjoy blueberries from the freezer all year long!! At the end of the day, a bouquet of flowers was delivered from Martin and Emily and Maria and Nicole. They are beautiful!
Sunday's chats with David and Stephanie, and later with Michael, are always special! I'm glad with Steph that she is finally feeling better!

I love each one of you! There are many things I wish I had done, or things I could do, but I am proud of each one of my 4 + 3 + 5 and a half children. I must have done something right, because each one of you is so special! I thank God for giving you to me. You continue to bless me with all that you are, and I pray that God will continue to bless you wherever you are.

Laura Jane Marie

I'm learning about scanning, these got done, but there was difficulty with increasing the sizes. Oh well, enjoy these anyway.
Laura would have been 31 years old today! And yes, I shed a few tears today between my pictures and Aunt Trish's and Aunt Gwenda's - all on FaceBook... I thought I'd add mine here as well.
The above picture was taken when Laura was baptized; it was also the day that she first started smiling. We know that John/Opa is pretty special to his girls - well, it started with Laura!

This picture was taken during a camping trip to Kilbear Provincial Park.

She was so pleased to have babies in the house - here she looks so proud to be a big sister!

This is one of my favourites of a lively little girl - she enjoyed life so much!

All kids love Christmas and presents - Laura was no different!

And here she is on her 4th birthday - she's actually on her feet here, wanting to get at that cake!

Date Night

About a month ago, we were asked which restaurant would be really nice to have dinner at: Stevin apparently wanted to surprise Katrina with a night out, and we were also asked if we would babysit. Imagine our surprise when we received tickets for a special show the same night that he was planning for!
Turns out they wanted to guarantee our availability for that night! We also received a gift certificate for the restaurant we recommended: The Mill in downtown Brockville.
We were awake very early Saturday morning - summer daylight has that effect on us. And we worked outside all day. John had a good nap in the afternoon, I caught about 20 minutes. Imagine, a nap before you go out on the town!!
We had a lovely and delicious dinner: John had the prime rib special, I chose maple-glazed salmon. Had a bottle of Chardonnay. And lemon cheese cake with blueberries for dessert. And yes, daughters-in-law, we did talk!
After dinner, we strolled over to the Brockville Arts Centre. We've lived in this area for the last 15 years, and this was our first time there! It's a very nice concert hall, constructed way back in the mid-1800's, and recently renovated. Our seats were second row from the front on the west side of the hall, in front of the speakers.
Attraction for the evening:

The Stuart McLean Show! The first half featured Patrick Watson and his band from Montreal, and Dave's week with dog-sitting. The second half was spent in Stuart's diary and music featuring his musicians, with songs according to the era. Although the show was 2 hours long, the time flew by, and we could have listened to the stories for much longer! We'll have to make sure we find a couple more of his cd's for our trip east in July!

Thanks to all of our kids and grand-kids for the gift of a very enjoyable evening! You're the best!

an attitude of gratitude

We take so much for granted, that it's hard to have an ATTITUDE of GRATITUDE. The sun rises EVERY morning. A roof over our heads. Food to fill our tummies. Family and friends who loves us in spite of us. Wedding anniversaries and birthdays. Kids and Grand-Kids. Work to occupy us for money OR for pleasure OR just because it's there!
I'm trying to keep up this attitude in spite of what's going on in our lives right now, but it's not easy. Having my income cut to zilch without the benefits of EI is a hard pill to swallow.
However, IT IS SPRING-TIME and spring brings new LIFE, and where there is life there is HOPE!