Odds and Ends

Story Telling Sunday - May

I've been sitting here wracking my brains trying to think of a story I could share that I hadn't already shared or that family members might prefer not be shared.  After hours of not coming up with anything I thought would be good I finally started going through pictures or should I say going through the laptop looking at ones I'd scanned in as part of my digitizing our slides.  Finally I had it when I saw a couple of  pictures of my niece and my Dad taken many years ago.  It`s most definitely out of season.  They're not very good but they are the only ones I have of them with Lisa (aged 2) participating in a family tradition for her very first time.  

I'm not sure how this little tradition of ours started but I know that every Christmas and Thanksgiving after my Mum died in 1976 my Dad took it upon himself to get the bread ready for the stuffing - he might have done it before that but I don't remember.  Dad did the bread every year right up to his last Christmas at the age of 97 in 2003. 

This was my May contribution to Storytelling Sunday that started over at Sian's blog last year. This month's stories can be found here.....Why don't you grab a nice beverage, sit back and enjoy everyone's stories and even better it would be great reading your story next month.

 

 

Those Middle of the Night Phonecalls

This past weeked was going to start out with remembering my Mum on what would have been her 103rd birthday on Saturday.

My Mum in a picture she had taken for my Dad while he was overseas in World War II

But at 3:25 on Saturday morning the phone rang. Middle of the night phone calls are definitely not good. They are either wrong numbers, fax machines with their high pitched squeals or just plain not good news. This one was the latter.

While I, half awake, tried to find the phone (that's the problem with portable ones), John wondered if it was a wrong number or a fax machine and then all of a sudden had a thought that it was his brother. Sure enough it was him calling from Las Vegas to say that the hospice had just called to say their mother had passed away.  About 7 weeks ago he'd been told that she was going downhill fast and at that point they didn't think she'd last the night so we were expecting it.

What a Year It's Been So Far

It's been a very busy start to the year here, one which I think I'd like a chance to have a re-do on. For some reason I went nuts signing up for on-line courses although I must say some of them are for the entire year while I've got 3 that are basically just the month of January. The ones I've signed up for that are basically just January (and it's already the 13th) are "Get Great Photos with Any Camera" with Elisha Snow at Big Picture Classes, "Digital Art Journaling" with Jessica Sprague and "Just One Sketch" with Kirsty from the Curiouser and Curiouser blog. I started out with the best of intentions to be pretty close to up to date on these 3 but life has thrown a clinker in there.

Last Thursday night I came down with a pain and we thought it might be my gall bladder so off to Emerg I went on Friday morning - 5 1/2 hours later, after blood tests, numerous x-rays and an ultrasound there was no diagnosis other than it was not my gall bladder (or heart related for that matter). The Dr. in Emerg said it could possibly be muscle related or shingles but there was no other symptom other than the pain.

Saturday we spent un-decorating (is that really a word?) the tree. But before we did that we took some pictures. John had fun (not) trying to figure out how to use the tripod with his new camera (well it's not really new anymore but he hadn't used the tripod with it yet). Finally he got it figured out and we were able to get some pictures.

The next morning we were off to the Walk-In Clinic as a rash had appeared - which meant the pain was being caused by shingles.  Wonderful.  Two & a half hours later I had my confirmed diagnosis and a prescription for an anti-viral and another medication that I just wasn't sure about.   I decided that I'd try & see my own Dr in the morning and not take the the other med in the meantime.   Sure enough as soon as she saw it she told me not to take it and instead gave me one for Tylenol 3. 

The rest of the week has been taken up with working on my Project Life Week 1 (will share in another post shortly) and taking meds which tend to make me pretty drowsy - hence no course stuff getting done.   I'm hoping today I manage to get somethings actually done on them.

Little Miss K at Her First Christmas

I thought this was the cutest picture when my nephew's wife shared it on Facebook. Remember my tiny little Great Niece that was born in April at 3 pounds 3 ounces that a lot of you were including in your thoughts and prayers? Well here she is Miss K happily playing in a box this past Christmas. With my niece-in-law's permission I'm sharing it with you so you can see how great she is doing.

 

I'm waiting for my niece to share pictures of my Great Nephew and other Great Niece so I can share a couple of the 2 of them too.

29 Years

In one sense it's gone by in a flash and in another it feels like we've always been together.  Happy Anniversary John.

Here's a couple of pictures from then & now.

Taken by friends of ours that came over on Tuesday (actually he was John's Best Man).

We've definitely changed a bit haven't we?  I've given up on the contacts and there's a lot more white/gray hair now - and we won't talk about weight.  :)

Merry Christmas Everyone

I've been very remiss at blogging this month and have a lot of catching up to do but I wanted to make sure I got on here today to wish you all a very Merry Christmas or Happy Hannukah (I know I'm late on that but think it's still going on).  

We're having a very relaxing morning and haven't even done the tree yet - guess you can tell there are no kids in this house.  :)    Just finished breakfast and will soon be having our Mimosas while we do the tree and stockings.   It's just the 2 of us this year and I'm really missing my family but hoping the phone lines aren't jammed later today and we get to talk with them.

 

The Tale of Dad's Other Christmas Tree

I've been thinking and thinking about what story I was going to share on this the last Storytelling Sunday of the year and then it came to me, out of the blue as they say, when my niece Lisa shared a picture on facebook last night.

Dad was always one to have a big real Scotch Pine Christmas tree.  Nothing else would do.  But this is the story of a little ceramic tree that he came to love.

Back in the 1970's I was working at one of the major power plants in our province. There were over 500 employees there but only 10 of us were women. With such a small number we became friends and did a lot of socializing together - most of us even took up golf when one of us expressed an interest in it and we were soon heading over to the nearby golf course once a week after work to try and get 9 holes in before heading home. But that's another story.

If anyone of us was having a "party" - plant, jewelry, tupperware you name it - we all went.  That's probably how I ended up with so much tupperware come to think of it.  :)  It was at one of those parties that I met Ella - the wife of one of the men at the plant.

Ella was into ceramics, not just buying them but making them - she had a little studio in their basement and would turn out all sorts of things down there.  It was during one of my visits there that I noticed she was working on Christmas trees.  I hadn't seen them anywhere before.   She had 2 different sizes of them - little tiny ones (well compared to the one I liked).  I've always been into Christmas decorations and immediately decided to order one for myself.  As soon as I got back to my apartment I thought well that was dumb I should have ordered one for my Mum and one for my sister as well.   After a quick call to Ella I'd ordered 2 more.

When I showed up at Mum and Dad's with theirs Mum was delighted with it and knew exactly where she was going to put it - right beside the nativity scene on the buffet.   Dad on the other hand thought as he told me later  - hmmm a ceramic tree next thing you know she'll want us to get an artificial tree instead of a real one.  For the next few years it held its place of honour on the buffet even though Dad still didn't care for it.  It all changed though when Mum passed away  - it became the first Christmas decoration he'd put out every year and be the last one put away.  When he moved into his retirement residence many years later it was one of only 4 Christmas decorations he took with him.  Every time we put it out for him he'd comment how much Mum loved that little tree.

When Dad passed away and we were going through his things I asked my niece if there was anything special that she wanted - the tree was her quick reply.   Now it sits in her house and as she said on facebook yesterday - Christmas has officially begun in their home - she had put the little tree out.

Oh yes that comment of Dad's about next I'd be wanting them to get an artificial tree - well he decided that all on his own once he was spending most Christmases down at my sister's in Halifax.

If you've enjoyed reading my little story as part of Sian's Story Telling Sunday you can enjoy reading some more from those who participate in Sian's Storytelling Sunday the first Sunday of every month. You'll find the stories from the last Storytelling Sunday of the year here.

Story Telling Sunday - Scottish Dancing

Lately I've been thinking a lot about my Mum and when I realized that today was the first Sunday of the month I thought I'd share a little bit more about her - this time from before I was around.

This month is more the story behind the pictures than a real story.  It's one which I wish I knew more about but by the time I was interested in learning more unfortunately she was gone. 

When I was young my mother enrolled me in Highland dance classes. I thought it was because she was Scottish and wanted me to learn something Scottish but I found out there was definitely more to it than that.

My Mum and her family came over from Glasgow in the early 1920's when my Mum was still a preteen.

This is the only picture I have of the entire family and it just happens to be from right around that time - that's my Mum with the long hair on the right.

As she grew into her teens she became increasingly more involved in Scottish Highland dancing.  I'm not sure whether she took it up (Highland Fling, Sword Dance & Sailor's Hornpipe among other dances) once she came to Canada or had started doing it in Scotland.  She evidently became quite good at it and participated in competitions around the area during the 1920's.  Even ending up teaching it (although not to me).  (:

She was so good at it that when we were clearing up my Dad's belongings after his death we came across numerous awards she'd won. 

I think it was a big regret of hers that she just couldn't help me learn even one of those dances - I guess I just didn't have her dancing genes but I do remember a few of the steps from the Highland Fling even to this day.

If you've enjoyed my little story please check out Sian's blog for links to more.

Quiet & Warm Thanksgiving

It's been an absolutley glorious weekend here.  Sunny with hardly a cloud in the sky.   And the temps well just look at what our indoor/outdoor thermometer was reading yesterday afternoon.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to get out there yesterday to experience it but I sure had all the windows open in the kitchen while I prepared Thanksgiving dinner.   Thankfully I got some of the things made the day before (like my Cranberry Orange Relish which needs to sit for 24 hours).  But yesterday was still a full day of food prep.

Which included tearing the bread apart for the dressing.  Looks like there's going to be a lot of green bin stuff going out this week (that's what we put our food scraps in unless we put them in the composters but with the raccoons we've using the bins instead).   Oh yes the raccoons - more about them in another post.

We took a break at lunch time and decided to have the Gazpacho I'd made the day before for lunch instead of at dinner (good thing as I don't know how I would have been able to eat another thing).  Finally at 7:00 everything was ready and we sat down for our Thanksgiving dinner (one day early).

Hmmm, I should have policed that plate better before I took that picture what with that stray carrot.  :)   We ended up not having the Apple Walnut Bundt cake I'd made the day before but that will most definitely be served tonight.  

I think I must have used every pot/pan in the house because I hardly knew where to start with the cleanup afterwards - all I can say is I'm thankful I have an operating dishwasher.  :)   

Today we're just taking it easy - not!  J's been busy with the garden cleanup as that only gets picked up every 2 weeks and this is the week for it, while I continued the cleanup from yesterday.  But today we're getting the chance to enjoy the fantastic weather and are now headed out for a drive in the 'Stang.  Probably the last top-down ride this year.

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day here in Canada but in our family we've always celebrated it on Sunday so that's why I'm technically one day early with my greeting.

We have so much to be thankful for this year.  Most importantly family and friends but most especially the health of our newest great niece, Miss K.  She turned 6 months this past week and has now officially quadrupled her birth weight and weighed in at 12 pounds 11 ounces at her 6 month checkup on Friday.

 Photo thanks to her Mummy's FB page.

We're also thankful for the chance to see her cousins - our great nephew, P-man, & great niece, Miss M, this past summer.  Living in separate cities really makes it hard to see them.

 
 Photo thanks to my niece's (their Mummy) FB page.

We've had the opportunity to visit with my sister and her husband this past summer and next month to visit with J's brother and his wife all of whom live at great distances from us (one in Halifax and one in Las Vegas - yes real people do live there).