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.

 

 

Story Telling Sunday - A Secret Spilled

I always loved when my Dad's sister Aunt P came up to visit us. One of the reasons I loved it was she always had such neat stories to tell about her life and the family but one time she really got everyone's attention and spilled a decades old secret.

We we're sitting around after dinner and Dad and her were reminiscing about when they were kids in Nova Scotia. Grandma was sitting there taking it all in and enjoying every minute of it until Aunt P started in on one story in particular.

Aunt P was quite a few years older than Dad and when they were going anywhere she was assigned the task of keeping an eye on him and their younger brother. This time though my uncle wasn't with them as they walked back from school. They never did say why but I'm thinking it was because he wasn't old enough for school yet. And how did Aunt P get everyone's attention - when she asked Dad - "Remember when you got hit by the car?" At this Grandma really perked up - "Hit by a car? When did that happen? Why didn't I know about this?"

She wasn't too pleased that Dad & Aunt P kept laughing about it but finally the story came out. Evidently the 2 of them (Dad & Aunt P) decided that it was best not to tell Grandma - Aunt P would have got in trouble for not looking after Dad and better and besides he wasn't hurt and she would have been even more protective of him and Uncle F if she'd known. So why wasn't he hurt when the car was going the speed limit? Well this was back in the early 1900's and the speed limit was all of 5 miles an hour. All the car did was brush him aside. That didn't satisfy Grandma though and they both (even though they were in their 50's & 60's by then got a good dressing down).

Dad on the right & Uncle F on the left in what must have been 1910.

This was my April 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?

On Meeting Internet Friends

When you were meeting your internet friends for the first time in real life were you apprehensive? worried? wondered if this was a mistake?  would she/he/they be like they were on the internet or something completely different?  Well that basically sums up  the feeling my friend Cheryl and I had before meeting for the first time.

We'd become acquainted back in the late 90's via an internet scrapbooking group we both belonged to.  In early 2000, John and I decided we'd take a trip down to Las Vegas for a much needed break. Of course seeing as Cheryl and I shared everything I told her about it. I didn't know it but the wheels started working at her house (in the Sierra Nevadas of California) and soon she was asking what I thought of them coming down to Las Vegas to meet us. Now remember - this was early 2000 and we had never met or even met people who had met each other. I wanted to but.... and John was real leery of meeting total strangers from the internet. Finally though it was decided - we would meet but and this was a big but in the middle of Caesars Palace casino - how much more public than that could you get. I think both the guys were really antsy about this as they thought that was a good idea if we insisted on meeting each other.

Finally we were in Las Vegas and very nervous about this meeting but pictures of each other in hand we headed for the meeting place.  All our worries went away immediately as they turned out to be exactly as they came across on the computer and the 4 of us have been friends ever since, seeing each other as often as we can. That meeting went so well that we've now met up with lots of other friends I've made through that scrapbooking group.

Do you remember your first meeting of someone you'd met on the internet?   Were you nervous?   Did you take any precautions just in case they were weird?    I'd love to hear how you felt about it or were Cheryl and I both being super-cautious?

This was my March contribution to Storytelling Sunday that started over at Sian's blog last year. She's changed it a tiny bit this year which she tells you about here.  March's stories can be found here. So why don't you grab a nice beverage and enjoy the stories?

One of the Weirdest Sights We've Seen

I thought I had a story all ready to go for today but when I went to get the pictures to scan in to go with it I came across some other pictures that made me decide to go with that story instead.

The May 24th weekend (actually the one that Victoria Day is celebrated on - the Monday closest to the 24th) is also known around here as the start of the gardening season. Now this always means the garden centres are packed with customers to the point that sometimes you can't even find a parking spot and sometimes police are required to direct traffic around them. One year we thought we'd get a head start and take the Friday off work (giving us a 4 day weekend) and get over there a day ahead of the zoo.

I was busy cleaning up from breakfast and John decided to go get gas while he waited for me to finish and be ready to go over to the garden centre. He was back in no time flat - I thought he'd forgotten something like maybe his wallet but no he rushed upstairs and came down with his camera in hand and told me I had to come see something. I couldn't imagine what and kept asking him what he was taking me to see but he wouldn't answer - guess he didn't want to spoil my reaction. We walked around the corner & just down to the other end of our street where i was totally speechless and dumbfounded to see this.

What's really weird is this is a subdivision with tons of kids around and very curvy roads so he should have been driving slowly but the driver (who just lived 3 doors down) somehow misjudged his turn, hit some landscaping boulders and became airborne right into the top of the garage.   The owners evidently wanted to make sure it wouldn't happen again and put some extremely major boulders in that little garden after that.

This has been my contribution to Storytelling Sunday that started over at Sian's blog last year. She's changed it a tiny bit this year which she tells you about here.  February's stories can be found here. So why don't you grab a nice beverage and enjoy the stories?

Oh and btw, thankfully no one was hurt - just a lot of property damage.

 

Our Christmas Angel

For years our Christmas tree has been topless without a topper. We used to use the one my parents used - I don't even know how to describe it - a sort of round thing with coloured mini lights behind it with filaments sticking out all around. I think it was supposed to be someones idea of the star of Bethlehem. But it sure wasn't my idea of it.

It's not a great picture but I think it shows what I mean.

Finally it bit the dust and for years now I've been searching for the perfect tree topper that would go on an artificial tree - couldn't be too heavy.

Finally though I found it - this past summer we were down in Halifax (the Canadian one) visiting my sister Jone and her husband Ted and I saw it. Many years ago, when the kids were young, they started giving us Amos Pewter Christmas ornaments (we've got quite the collection now as you might imagine seeing as both the kids are now married and parents). I wondered if Amos Pewter had any toppers and discovered they had 2 - a star and an angel. We both really liked it but wondered would it be too heavy. The clerk assured us it would be fine on an artificial tree and that was all I needed to know.

About 4 weeks ago the time came to actually put it on our tree. Well that was quite the laughable experience. Thankfully we decided to put her up before doing the rest of the tree. John got up on the step ladder and managed to put the top branches through her 2 loops on the back. All seemed good for about 1 minute when she slowly started bowing towards the front door. Well that wouldn't do. What to do next? John thought and thought and then remembered we had some sturdy green (so that would blend in) plant sticks - the kind you tie plants up to. Off to the basement to get one. He cut off a piece of one of them and this time he stuck that through the loops. Poor little angel with all that stuck up the back side of her.

It's a good thing the back of our tree is only visible from our staircase is all I can say. :) But it looked fine from the front and sides of the tree. Next Christmas I'll have to look for a tie that doesn't quite stand out so much from the green of the tree.

This has been my contribution to Storytelling Sunday that started over at Sian's blog. She's changed it a tiny bit this year which she tells you about here. The stories for January can be found here. So why don't you grab a nice beverage and enjoy the stories?

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.

Story Telling Sunday or How My Mother Got Banned

I was reminded recently that it would be 2 cousins' birthdays in October - in fact one is today (Saturday).   It brought back memories of some family movies I'd come across recently of us many years ago when we were children and that reminded me of another picture that I'd come across recently and had actually scanned of me at the same function only years earlier - even before my sister was born.

 That's my Mum & I on the right.

That picture brought back so many memories and reminded me of how my Mum got banned.  Yes my Mum who wouldn't do anything wrong. 

Every summer my maternal Grandpa's family that were in the Toronto area would gather to attend the Plumbers picnic (Grandpa was a plumber).   There would be Grandpa, our family and my 2 Uncles' families or should I say the parents and younger family members.   My Mum's sister and her husband only attended once that I know of as they lived in the States (that's him on the left of the picture).

A few days ahead of it my Mum and 2 Aunts would plan who was was bringing what, there was a lot of us to feed (9 adults and anywhere from 7 to 11 children as the years went on) and they didn't want 2 families bringing the same thing.  Eventually as the years went on everyone brought their own thing with us bringing Grandpa's too. 

We always had tons of fun and so looked forward to it every year, even to the point of making sure we wouldn't be away that particular weekend.  I'm not sure whether we had so much fun because there was so much to do or because we were all together and that only happened at the picnic.  There was games and races for the kids as well as places to explore for the kids and for the adults as well as the odd race/game there was prize drawings.   My Mum always one to support my Grandpa would always buy tickets on those.  For years she didn't win anything but that all changed one year when she won a little prize (to this day I can't remember what).  The same thing happened the next year and then she moved onto some bigger prizes when she won some folding lawn chairs and then a Coca Cola cooler (J & I still have that) the following year.  It was getting to be a joke among the family and we'd all be wondering would she win anything that year and we'd be asking her what she had her eye on for that year's drawing.  Soon she'd moved onto the really big stuff - the main prizes.  I forget what some of them were but I do remember one year she won a Lawn Boy lawn mower (a new thing in those days) which my Dad really enjoyed and then a stand-alone hammock which the whole family really enjoyed and finally a patio lounger.

 
 My sister enjoying the hammock.

I guess all those years in a row of winning big prizes was too much for those running the draws and we were surprised one year when they announced that "Bill ....'s daughter will not be allowed to buy any tickets this year".   Although she was surprised at the announcement my Mum was totally ok with it as she'd been getting totally embarrassed every time her tickets won.   And that's the story of how my Mum was banned.

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 this month's stories here.

A September Vacation To Remember

We'd taken a lot of "land" September vacations before but September 2009 found us on a cruise to Alaska.  It was our second time for doing that and we were hoping to have better luck with seeing the glaciers as well as see how they had changed in the 3 years since we'd last been there and hopefully seeing some wildlife.

Our first stop, Ketchikan, didn't disappoint.  The weather was terrific and we actually saw a Bald Eagle.  No picture though as it was just too fast.  :)   This time though our timing was perfect for watching the salmon trying to go up the "ladder" in town an boy could you ever smell it.

 
The 2 days though that we were really looking forward to were Juneau where we would see the Mendenhall Glacier and 3 days later the Hubbard Glacier.    We arrived in Juneau the next morning in drizzle.  Uh-oh!  We kept our fingers crossed that it wouldn't be like that out at the glacier which was about a 30 minute bus ride from the dock.   But it looked worse and worse the closer we got to it.   Finally our guide/driver dropped us off at the Visitor's Centre.  By this point it was really foggy looking but he told us it should lift shortly.  We kept our fingers crossed and wound our way along the trails leading to the view of the glacier.  I'll say this much - you could hear the waterfall beside it but we were socked in - no view of the glacier.  We kept hoping as our time there was running out that the weather would lift before we had to leave.   Finally though we just had to leave to catch the bus for the rest of our tour.  Then all of a sudden someone said the fog was lifting.   J quickly rushed back and managed to get a couple of pictures.

  
We weren't able to get a good enough look at it to compare to the pictures from 3 years earlier when it looked like this to see if it had shrunk any.

 
I guess our tour just went in the wrong order that day.  We should have done the salmon hatchery first and then the glacier.  Oh well at least we had seen it in 2006.  :)

So far we were doing great on the wildlife and not great on the glaciers.  The wildlife sightings improved even more 2 days later when we were anchored off of a Native settlement (Icy Strait Point) and managed to see this from our balcony. 
 

He/she just wouldn't co-operate though in letting us get a better picture. 

Finally the day came when we would sail into the bay where Hubbard Glacier is and this time even though it was chilly there was no fog.  Three years earlier we had great views of it but no calving while we were there so this time we were keeping our fingers crossed that we'd see some actual calving.  We got pretty close to it and heard a lot of creaking and groaning from it and the very odd little bits (little to us on the ship) falling off.  We were there for quite awhile with nothing happening when the Captain announced that he'd do one more pivot to get the ship facing back out towards the ocean for our departure.   As we slowly turned our eyes for some reason were focused on one point of the glacier and we had both the SLR and the video camera trained on it just in case.  But then again we'd done the same thing in 2006.

All of a sudden we saw a "small" splash just off the side of the point of the glacier near us.

 
We'd been fooled before but as we held our breath a shout went up from the ship as we could see the top of that section gradually separating from the body of the glacier.  Were we actually going to see a calving or was it everyone's imagination and there really wasn't a gap forming?

 

 
 No - we were seeing a calving!  Everyone on our side of the ship was going nuts at seeing it!

 
 
 

It was the last possible minute as we were already starting to head back out but we did get to see quite the calving. 

I think that September vacation tops the one when we took the hot air balloon ride.  But that's another story. 

My little story was part of Sian's Story Telling Sunday.  If you've enjoyed reading my story I hope you'll enjoy some other stories from those who participate in Sian's Storytelling Sunday the first Sunday of every month. You'll find this month's stories here.
 
 



 

 

Toe Rings and Week 1 Colour Assignment

Evidently every week of DYL there is an assignment to do with colour and this was my first one.  Cathy gave us a colour scheme to work with but it just wasn't me so instead I took the colour scheme from an ad I'd always liked the looks of.   The colours were blue, cream, beige(brown) and red. Nothing to do with what it was an ad for (I think Citi Bank) just that I liked the colour scheme in it.  The template was for 8 1/2 x 11 page and I really have problems with that - I've always done 12x12 right from day one.

Back in April's Story Telling Time I shared part of the story of my toe rings.   Well today I did part of the layout for it for my colour assignment.   I will be doing a right hand side page to go along with it once I figure out how to adapt the template.  :)

 Papers - blue -Jessica Sprague Beautiful You Kit, red - same kit, cream - Katie Pertiet of Designer Digitals Vintage Blooms kit, beige Jessica Sprague Grand Intentions kit.  Date Stamp from The Voyager Collection at Digital Scrapbook Page by Kristmess, font is Tahoma for both title & journaling.

I'm going to pretty scarce probably for the next few days.  My niece is coming down next Thursday and bringing P-Man (4 1/2) and Miss M (19 1/2 months) and our house is definitely not toddler/small child proof so guess what I'm going to be doing.  :)