Monday, January 17th, 2022 A dreary day, - the clouds envolope the mountain that rises across the valley. Move along, move along, - nothing much to see here except a little of the sturdy green ankles that indicate something towers above them.... Somewhere up above the January sun shines brightly, but well hidden from valley dwellers, - a trip to Penticton might take one over the top where the sun speaks of spring coming. Or am I being overly confident, - sometimes even the Pass is hidden by mist and clouds and to be truthful January is not known for its sunny days.... I understand that the early early, early spring bulbs are showing some sign of life, pushing their little scarlet stubs through the earth, but snow still clings to the hills and along the sides of the roads. In order not to upset the dear and caring wardens I have not ventured outside where I could evaluate the situation properly!!!! Mothers in their nineties are confined t0 kitchen duty, or loom work, or reading. Reading is good!!! I have a little stack of half a dozen books to inveigle me into spending time in the easy chair, underneath the lamplight..... Occasionally I press the button that raises the feet and settle back to read, - but then there is always the danger of falling asleep!!! I am in the midst of Clare Hunter's "Threads of Life" (a Sunday Times bestseller.) "An eloquent blend of history and memoir" as it says on the back cover of the book.... I was expecially interested to read in it about the Bayeux Tapestry. I spent time studying this magnificent piece while in France - but not as much as I would have liked to, as I was in the company of others. This book, in describing the tapestry and remarking on its history, was not terribly kind as to the quality of the embroidery work involved, but I didn't figure that I had the qualifications to make any judgement!!!!

January 12th (Wednesday - I had to go to the calendar to see how far into January we had progressed but here we are, on the 12th.) All the early January birthdays are over and we await the ones that pop up in the last two weeks of the month - so many of them. It makes one wonder just what goes on in March and April!!! I have been so remiss in paying attention to the computer, - busy at the loom, and today I gave serious thought to taking up the baking of my own bread.....serious thought, I say. I haven't yet put thought into action, but the idea pleases and intriques me. Maybe tomorrow, - perhaps the sun might shine and I could put the silvery tin bowl full of dough in the sunshine to rise. This is being hopeful, - the sun hasn't shone for any length of time recently, and January is being quite dull and grey, with only a little skiff of snow to brighten up the world. However we have had a few birthdays (mine included) and a few dinners out and celebrations to pass the time until the February thaws and the March winds bring spring, - oh spring! Glorious spring!! I used to love winter when I was young - spent so much time skating, and occasionally toboganning. But now???? Oh now, the sun doesn't shine here like it does on the prairies and the days are inclined to be somewhat gloomy (if mild). And I am much older!!!! That is a factor which one must take into consideration, - I'm sure young people these days enjoy winter as much as I did many years ago. Well, now you know how it is!!! The knees get old and don't know how to manage icy spots that the feet keep getting them into, and one is so happy to have the arm of a child whose hand you used to hold and lead around. I thought about that the other night when I was out for dinner at No. 3 son's, and when it was time to leave I was happy to have the support of my two youngest sons as we glided over the icy spots. All this, of course, makes indoor living the norm, and luckily I am able to find many things that induce pleasure. Lots of books to read and a nice sturdy warp on the loom that inspires all sorts of things to shuttle away at.... I keep thinking of putting a nice linen warp on and weaving a colorful krogback rug for each of the families (you will note that I have forgotten how to spell krogback properly and am using the modern method as spelling it the way it sounds - or maybe you don't know that word and I can get away with my version of spelling it!!!) Oh, when I read this over and consider how many families that would entail, I am not so sure that I have the time available to venture taking this on. Well, if I do, I will let you know!!!

Up-date, at last..... When I was out for dinner last night, in celebration of our youngest son's sixty-third birthday, I was reminded that I have been very neglectful in keeping this blog up to date, - in recording life daily, - or even weekly. So I must make yet another resolution to pay attention to each day as it passes, and write about how precious it is at this advanced age of 97!!! Well, breakfast awaits, so I will just publish this little reminder and see how well I respond to it!!!!

December 21at, 2021 Ribbons and bows, - ribbons and bow.... I have been knee deep in ribbons and bows this morning, but it is time to leave them for a little lunch, Too early for a small glass of sherry but a little lunch time respite would be nice! I am gradually contributing to the 'filling of the bags' but there does seem to be an awful lot of them. Part of the pleasure of having a large family. There are all sorts of books stacked beside me, awaiting Christmas wrapping, and the scarves I wove this fall are disappearing into Christmas boxes to spend the rest of their lives around others' necks. It was great fun making them, and great to have family to give them to!! The sun is shining today, - lots of blue sky. A change from the mild but dreary days that mid-December has brought us. I was up in the night and lingered to look at the high moon of this winter solstice. We have had snow, and will welcome a white Christmas, but I know that underneath the snow the little scarlet stubs of the spring bulbs will soon be pushing their way through the frozen earth.... I think the cookie making is a done-for-job this year, and there is a lovely big tin of shortbread available for cookie snatchers who pass through the kitchen. No pudding this year, but it was never a favourite really, and just got made for tradition's sake - my grandmother's recipe, passed through to me from my mother..... I have fond memories of Christmas at Grandmas, but they don't include the pudding or the six year old's sulking when she didn't get the "dime" Grandma hid amongst the fruit and raisins..... I find myself confined to home, - not only because it is a recommended thing to do but also because the icy paths are not favourable once you get past ninety - or maybe even eighty. Oh dear, - time is always with us, and I watch the fancy ice skaters with great pleasure, but also with memories that make me sigh when I recall the community skating rink on Alberta Avenue (still there) and the many happy hours we spent twirling around on the ice.... Well, that stack of Christmas presents isn't going to get any smaller unless I move them from the unwrapped pile to their proper place in a Christmas bag, duly signed and recorded.... As the afternoon wears on the possibility of raiding the sherry cupboard grows sweeter, so I must get on with it!!! I hope you are all enjoying these days of activity that lead to a happy Christmas, - I guess that only a housewife and mother knows the joys of preparation!!!! When I open the fridge door it does my heart good to see the little jars of lemon curd waiting patiently to turn into tart filling. And the candied cherries, dancing to decorate the shortbread - unless you are really traditional and prefer your shortbread just nicely pricked with a fork..... I hear the sherry, calling from the cupboard. Plaintively. I just know it wants to be part of the preparation!!!!!

Friday, December 17th, 2021 It has been a while since I posted here - have been busy with Christmas cards, Christmas presents, and dressing the house up to celebrate the season. Time to stop a minute and answer the phone (my daughter, who brings me news of the day each evening) It is very icy here - we had snow, a bit of melting, another bout with cold and the ice came back to hopefully make everyone careful how they walk, or shuffle. I don't venture out myself, - it is enough to keep upright and mobile in the house. Eenings, and I am attracted by good TV programs, or a lovely read. I have been reading Robert Macfarlane (still) but new books that I purchased to give away as Christmas gifts. The one I bought for a son (I do not mention which one of the four!)is called "The Wild Places" and I quote the front cover....."An eloquent and compulsively readable reminder that, though we're laying waste the world, nature still holds sway over much of the earth's surface" Macfarlane questions whether they are any truly wild places left, but he goes on to describe journeys through some of the remarkable and amazing landscapes he walks through. I have to hurry and finish this book before I wrap it, - I shall take it to bed with me tonight!!! I also purchased a little book to go with it, called "Holloway" by Robert Macfarlane, Stanley Donwood and Dan Richards. He describes the holloway thusly, - "the holloway is absence; a wood-way worn away by buried feet......a hollow way. a sunken path. A route that centuries of foot-fall, hoof-hit, wheel-roll and rain-run have harrowed deep down into bedrock" It reminds me of a path we used to take to get to school, through tall trees and bushes. Christmas comes closer and closer..... I still have a card table laden with books and scarves and mittens, awaiting either a careful and creative wrapping or a stuffing into a Christmas bag, if I don't get on with things while there is still time before the final countdown! I find mornings when I can be most creative and 'with it' - but I will lay out the wrapping paper, the tape and the holiday ribbon before I go to bed tonight, so it will catch my eye, my fancy and my will to get on with things! I looked contemplatively at the rest of the shortbread dough that I had wrapped up and saved for another session with the oven, and probably will squeeze that into the morning agenda, too! In the meantime, I shall take my tablet and a couple of soda crackers (my dear one would have viewed frightfully the idea of taking soca crackers to bed - and it is true that I would sooner have him grumbling than any cracker crumbs!!) However, one must praise what comes to make life bearable!!!

Friday - the end of the week..... I still have tidying to do in the kitchen, and it is only 7.43 p.m., but I hear my bed calling (only faintly to start with but it's bound to become more pursuasive!!! The house looks different this Friday night than it did last Friday night, as the Spirit of Christmas has descended upon me and caused me to haul out all the celebration's decorations. Which is lovely!!!! Today I rescued the Christmas Card List from the file where I had put it last January, and I opened the package of Cards youngest son had brought me from the pharmacy (which, like all pharmacies, sells many, many things besides drugs). All the sweet, old famliar names, but it tore at my heart to have to write deceased by far too many. And things keep happening to remind me that even though the spirit might be ready to celebrate Christmas chores the old body is all ears when it comes to the bed calling out!!!! For the last few years I have foregone the personal letter and written to one and all by computer, the same news of the year, adding to it my personal scrawl of love and remembrance. I think that is allowed when you hit ninety five, and if it is not allowed, well, I was always one for ignoring rules if they didn't make any sense. The drawer of Christmas ornaments also contains a whole pack of memories, and so when I open it I also let our all those remembrances. A mixture of sadness, gratitude, and some humour..... I notice that some of the ornaments seem to be showing their age, but it is a lovely maturing and in the candle light of Christmas Eve they look quite O.K. Youngest son brought home some mince meat from the store, - I may have mentioned before that I have given up "mincemeat from scratch" but I might add a few few apple slivers to add that final touch. And a raisin or two...... I am somewhat moved to make pastry, tomorrow, and tuck some tart shells away in the freezer until they are ready for mincemenat and lemon curd and maybe some strawberry jam. However, I say this in the evening, and who knows what the morning might bring that discourages me from baking again another day..... Which reminds me, - I still have dishes in the kitchen sink and I learned early in life that 'dishes in the sink' are not the thig to get up to in the morning.....so I am off to make order out of chaos!!

Monday,November 29th, 2021 We are coming to the end of November, - that gloomy month and that day which dawned this morning with low hanging clouds and a most Novemberish attitude. But somewhere, someone called the sun forth to remind the people of earth that December was almost upon us - that month of gladsome celebration!! I have started making mittens already to put under various family Christmas trees! It keeps me busy each day and evening as I watch curling and dream dreams of Christmases past....... Youngest son came upon a Christmas wreath and hung it by the door as a reminder to get out the tinsel and the decorations that foretell the coming celebration of the arrival of both the Son of God and Santa Claus Time for me to dig out the boxes of glittering balls and greenery and keep the knitting needles clicking. Son-in-law Frank has laden with twinkling lights the branches of the evergreen that is gradually taking over the eastern half of the front yard. Charles warnecd of this, but alas, nobody can prune trees like he used to! In years past I would have thought the date called for the mixing of the Christmas pudding, but I have given that up. Nevertheless it is past time when the Christmas cake should be shrouded in linen and set to absorb the brandy that was so generously added to it. Ah dear, at ninety six much of Christmas bustle lives in my memories where it reminds me what a wonderful life it has been. And how many glorious Christmases we celebrated when our last task Christmas Eve was to fill the children's stockings "hung by the chimney with care" .......and with Mum and Dad having a last sip of Christmas Brandy. More on Christmas and its preparations coming.....I think the next reminder will be the big red bow fastened to the front door.... In younger days, when we lived on the hill in Cawston, Charles had constructed a large star on the west side of our house. It was lit by strings of lights, and it shone each Christmas above the orchards all planted and occupied by veterans of the second world war.... They were lovely years with young children and dear friends all around.......good memories!

Monday, November 15th How did it get to be the middle of November, I ask myself..... The days fly by and somehow they all get crammed and filled with things I want to do, and things I should do, and there isn't much time left for writing and recording..... However, this morning my back is aching, and I gave up on the loom after a few inches, or so. The easy chair and the heater that lines the back, are beckoning me, and their call gets quite insistent after a while, so I will record a few thought and activities and then go and investigate the local news as it is presented by on T.V. - sometimes I take that with a grain of salt.... It is a warm but dreary sort of day, - no cold winds or chilly air - as a matter of fact it would be a good day to spend a little while putting the garden to bed. I do need to keep an eye on it, - the Hellebore got mistaken for a weed and suffered the end that all weeds are meant for much to my chagrin! Eveenings there is a lovely moon - not quite full yet but a bright lantern in the sky that is in just the right spot to shine into my bedroom window when I crawl in under the covers.... I have been spending time at the loom, with Christmas foremost in my mind. Creative while making and hopefully gratefully received..... I seem to wind a lot of red and green and white bobbins, with a dash of gold to make them celebratory when woven. It is getting close to lunch time, and a comfy spot to watch the news intriques me and makes the easy chair almost ipossible to ignore! A minature blog, but I will be back to tell you about Fall in the Similkameen and the looming of lovely Christmas celebrations..... I am wondering why all this text seems to want to crowd into one paragraph, and haven't discovered the reason yet, - but I will keep looking, and in the meantime...........

Cookie Day

October 27th, 2021 I didn't intend to keep busy in the kitchen this morning, - not when I woke up. I had envisioned a day in the easy chair and the new-to-me book I am reading. However Burns had it right when he remarked on the plans of men going aft agle, and I ended up with a pound of butter, the rest of the sugar I had been hoarding, and anything else you might put into cookies (like nuts and raisins, etc...) to make them disappear faster. Old habits die hard!! Will I still be making cookies when I turn one hundred???????? I am quite at home with the old china mixing bowl, - not the same one I have been using for the last 75 years, but either a cousin, or an offspring, as it bears the same production motto - made in Medicine Hat! (that's in southern Alberta for those of you who are not familiar with the source of mixing bowls in Canada....) Before I tackled the cookies I planned to make for whoever might raid the cookie jar, I answered the appealing eyes of Bruce the Dog, looking up at me, and I made him happy when I made doggie biccies first!!!!! The recipe laid for a long time where it was easy to see in the kitchen, by the stove, but now I am able to line up the ingredients from memory, and I swear Bruce knows them by heart, too, and looks with anticipation at the mixing bowl, the flour, the eggs. the peanut butter and the can of pumpkin. Lucky dog, getting home made biscuits - I have always been suspicious of the ones you buy in the store, thinking that what goes into them might be swept up on the floor - I am sure this is not so, but the idea of fresh biccies has settled in my head and I don't suppose I am about to give it up at this stage of the game!!! This afternoon I plan to make a cup of hot chocolate and treat myself to whatever came out of the oven! And I'm going to read and rest my knees! I am re-reading Wallace Stegner (The Angle of Repose) and in my pile is a book I must return to the son from whom I filched it!! It is volume five of the Randy Papers - "Me Too" (by Donald Jack. Over the years I have been entertained by his previous stories, and I am anxious to devour this one, too, before I return it to Sid, who probably wonders where it has wandered to.....) Also in the pile is Greenery Street by Denis Macrail, and I treasure it as I believe he has not written anything since. I could be wrong about this and must do some research. The other book which appeals to me for a quick sit-down-and-read story is "The Best of Brevity" (twenty groundbreasking years of flash nonfiction). The many short, short, short stories are inspiring. And then there is Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman. I quote - A Smart little book that one can happily welcome into the family and allow to start growing old........ The idea of "flash nonfiction" or "flash fiction" really appeals to me, and I wish I wasn't so ancient and would maybe try to "flash" myself!!!! Well, I am off with my pile of books to make myself comfortable in the easy chair......there are many wonderful pluses to growing old! PS - note when I published this that whoever is in charge of following my wishes doesn't believe in paragraphs, - oh well, - it is readable without being fancy and well ordered, I guess......

October 26th, 2021 Quick, quick quick, - we are coming to the end of October and I have been so lackadaisacal about leaving a little

October note to mark the passing of the days..... It has been a lovely month, and I have had a wonderful trip up the mountain, full of memories and beautiful Similkameen spots. Thanks to Vince, who made a fine companion and a most willing driver....

Now to enjoy life, sunshine and the muted fall colours in the lower Similkameen, here at home and in the back garden and the meadow between me and the forested creek....

September 30th...... The last day of this glorious month, but it contains promises of sunshine and lovely fall days during October, which can be just as beautiful and heart warming.... The sun is shining, - there is a slight breeze, and I wonder why I am here, crouched over the keyboard, when I should be out in the garden snipping off summer blooms to make room for autumn colours...

 Thursday, September 16th

A lovely sunny September day, - it is fresh and cool, the sky is blue and the August noontime heat has gone away until next year- it is the kind of a day that reminds me why I love this month so much.....

I am about to make a chicken sandwich,  and take it out into the back garden to lunch amidst this beautiful autumn air.  Maybe I'll have an ice cream cone, too.........

Bruce, the dog, is coming with me too - I wish I could trust Callie the cat, but she is somewhat inclined to climb trees and hop over fences, and being of an age where I am somewhat inclined not to hop after her..so I will leave her hanging around on the back porch, where she can watch out the window.

I see that the boys have some of their pots of greenery out to soak up the sunshine and I follow their example and nudge the pots of petunias out of the shade and into the light....  September is definitely time to enjoy these last flowers of summer as October will quite surely bring coloured leaves strewn in their place.

Already these blooms are turning papery and shades of orange among the dried out grasses. Youngest son brought in some of the fall crocus yesterday - a beautiful clump of pure white balloons.....

I look forward to an autumn outing in the hills and am sure I will find someone amongst the children who will share my anticipation......  The creek runs merrily along some of the back roads between here and Penticton - now THAT would be a nice place to have a chicken sandwich and a cup of cider! 

There is time yet, - it will be a couple of weeks before fall has truly made its presence felt - the nights are cooler but the autumn flowers are just contemplating their blooming and it will be a while before such glorious colours as those below will be part of the landscape..

I will wait patiently!!!!

 September 8th, 2021

A little break from winding warp....

 I have two naked looms, - one in particular crying out to be dressed.  It is squeezed in between my bed and the wall, and it is much more comfortable when it is dressed in a nice  warp (as I plan to do - maybe today!)  I would rather not hear any complaining at night when I am trying to sleep.........(just in case the loom feels its nakedness when the cool evening breeze blows in the open window)

Anyway, today I am in the middle of winding a lovely grey silk warp, 6 yards long so I will have length for two scarves for sure, and maybe three.  I count to twenty and then wrap the ends with a counting thread that follows along from start to finish,  I figure on twenty to the inch, which should give me a nice drapey fabric, so round and round we go until I have reached 15, or maybe 16 inches worth   - at least three hundred wraps.

It is a smokey day, with the clouds moving up from Washington where I believe the closest fires are burning, - I saw pictures of these fires last night  and was so very grateful that British Columbia is not so inflamed (as we have been in past years).

We are into September. - a month I love.... have always loved,  when it became 

time to go back to school.

School may not be everyone's cup of tea but I reveled in it, and still do take advantage of any opportunity that comes my way to learn something new.

Mind you, not all the things you learn these days are to the average persons' advantage

but this morning I got a very small cheque in the mail.

A Covid rebate, - the cheque was normal size, but the amount was small.

  I don't think that has anything to do with learning...I stay very close to home these days and don't expose myself to any of the strange germs that may be floating around.  Good days to turn my attention to the loom and awaken the creative juices.

Bruce and I spend a lot of time outdoors, - there are lots of blossoms that have seen better days and need to be snipped off.  Soon the asters will be in bloom and the garden will turn from the yellow of wall flowers and the golden blooms of the marigold to fall's beautiful purple colours.

Youngest son brings home peaches and apples - 

I have yet to make an apple pie but it is on my list of things to do...... 

 Peaches get eaten sliced, and smothered in ice cream.....

ah, it is lunch time

goodbye for now, 

wherever you are I hope September is being kind to you!

   

Sunday, August 29th, 2021

Sunday seems to be my day to Blog here, and I don't really know why as things of importance do happen on other days, - not often, I admit.  I seem to have reached the stage in life where nothing terribly important happens - we are between  generations and no new babies get born, or no one of the older generation dies, (although that deems possible on a distant horizon)  - but life goes on!!!! Quite ordinarily, I do admit, but less drama means more comfort! 

I get up at six and go to bed at ten, and in between I do the necessary things to make life comfortable, - take pleasure in the family who visits from across the lane or down the road, and wait out my time on this beautiful earth either in the garden or at the loom.

Youngest son has made the back bedroom his, and in the evening he comes about nine, - we discuss the day and any news he might bring that circulates around the village, or the family.  And then I go to bed.  I take a few crackers and my tablet that gives me access to Candy Crush, or news of the Day, and I circulate that around in my brain and wonder sometimes what the world is coming too!!!!  But then other times I go to sleep, content with what the day has brought, both locally and world-wide.  Is that because I am sleepy and less aware?  I hesitate to say that is so, but alas, it might be!!

It seems to me that the little world I live in is circling tight around me......the church I attended for so many years and where I played the organ at the service of deconsecration) is now to be a place where the indigenous can gather and the Anglican/United Church congregation which occupied it for a hundred years has fallen apart at the seams.......I may have mentioned this in a previous blog -it has been much on my mind.  I have memories of Charles, indicating from the congregation that I should play louder, or softer  - maybe I mentioned that, too!!!

Well, I have wonderful memories, and 96 doesn't behoove me to scurry around and get dressed for church of a Sunday morning (church online, in your jammies or nightgown can be almost as inspiring, though one does miss the rest of the friends and congregation..... one is also not inclined to nod off if the sermon gets dull, although I am not admitting to that, of course!!!   It is easy to change channels though.... 

It is a lovely day, - cool but sunny and the advent of September just around the corner is very welcome.  On the Second of September there are plans for me to go to Penticton to sign something or other in front of a Notary, and the thoughts of making that familiar trip give me much pleasure.  I might even get into a shop or two, depending upon which son is driving and what the rest of the day holds for him!!!  

Well, I shall post this, and the Dog (Bruce) and I will go out into the back garden and have a nice drink in the shade, while we admire how beautifully it has grown, - and private, as the fence is pretty well all covered with yellow blooms.....

My daughter brought me a lamb chop for supper - Something to think about while we have a before dinner glass..........

Here is a picture of Bruce - not sure of his lineage but he is a doggie's dog, - lovable, sweet and orderly.

He is friendly with Misty, the cat.... who delights in my loom and the time we spend weaving....

 Tuesday, August 17th

I shake my head and roll my eyes when I check both the calendar and the telephone to apprise myself of the date!!!  The smoke from various fires keeps me in the house, and the sky is hiding its beautiful August blueness behind clouds and haze - can this really be summertime, summertime, when the sun shines bright and the birds sing gaily.....  Ah well, often the last two weeks in August  are wet and miserable - portends of fall, but then we are blest with sunny September......and October can be very beautiful too, here in the Similkameen.   I go through the photos that Charles and I took over the years when we motored through the countryside, when the summer heat was gone and before November frowned upon us.  Lovely years and such wonderful comforting memories..... This is not a photo that we took, but one that speaks so beautifully of fall....

Today is reminiscent of stew and baked potatoes and homemade bread -- I contented myself with popping a potato in the oven to have with a bit of leftover chicken and a piece of apple pie brought by my loving daughter!  That would be after the ginger ale and orange brandy......

I have been busy today, hemming the towels that came off the loom and are earmarked as Christmas presents.  Also have half a warp wound in anticipation of a couple or three silk scarves.  I scrounge around bedroom shelves where I have stashed cones of cotton, and make plans and have dreams of lovely striped and checkered towels. - sometimes I feel it is time in my life to make good use of all the odds and ends of cotton and silk because I have failed in my attempts to inspire family weavers who would be glad of them when I might be gone (false anticipation, - I am sure at some point I will be gone, as are we all!)

The garden is beginning to show signs of late summer beauty.  There are a few peonies budding out nicely, and all the yellow daisies are suspect of wanting to take over the garden.

These peonies are from the garden on 10th, a few years ago.  Nothing as spectacular hereabouts.....

and so are these, - a collage of peonies and poppies with a few statice thrown in for good luck.....it seems my early morning gardening is a thing of the treasured past and I must content myself with poking and digging and a lot of yellow daisy like flowers that flourish (I kid you not) here, there and everywhere!!

In the evenings the house is awash with the scent of hostas (I think that is the name) and the dresser that flanks the entrance to the house reflects the beautiful bouquets I have been given lately by family who stopped by and whose presence was so very welcome.  

This last Sunday our oldest son came with his wife to attend the last service to be held in St. John's. the church that has been home for the last seventy years, but is now being deconsecrated and used by the Indigenous people of the valley.  I am not sure where the decision to do this came from - it has left me with very mixed feelings.

I played the organ at this last St. John's service, and was glad of the opportunity to do that - though saddened..... times and values change, one grows older and sometimes the act of adjustment is harder than at other times......   

The Bishop came, and one of our dearly loved and former priests was present. 

I was very conscious of how my dear husband would have responded - he was so stable and so adept at adjusting to life and the surprises it brings.  I missed him.

 Monday, August 16th

I must at least acknowledge August, and perhaps I will regain the habit of writing the months away, once again, if I persist!

Another smoky day - not as bad as it has been these last few weeks - at least one can see the mountain across the valley even if the sky is clouded and the smoke from surrounding fires makes the day dull and not nice to be out in......

I am up early, - , the cat and I.  Youngest son, who has taken to keeping me company in the house at night (much appreciated)  still sleeps on, - and Bruce, the dog, persists in burrowing his head in the pillows on the couch, - nature not having overtaken him yet!

I find this is my memory time, - I linger over breakfast and coffee, - sometimes I read a bit, or lose myself in long ago contributions to Daybyday.  Being ninety-six provides one with a lot of memories of years gone by, and of people who once inhabited my life but now have gone on to whatever awaits them in the future.  If there is a future????

I have been thinking this morning of the years of my youth when I lived with my family in Edmonton. 

 Across the road was a tennis court where my father used to play while he was still able, - and up the street the rectory where the Canon and Mrs. Clough lived, a place that was as familiar to me as the home we inhabited in those depression year 

My parents struggled to purchase this newly built house, but in the end I think those hard and difficult years overcame their desire to be home owners, although my father worked for T.H. Peacock all through the Thirties....  We moved to the West End, - not to one of the elegant houses that the West End was famous for, but to a smaller dwelling with a wonderful vegetable garden, out on the St. Albert Trail.  Good years!  My sister went to High School there, - I caught the street car every morning to go to work in the City Architect's office.  Time marched on.......and memories grew more poignant as the war years overtook us.

That was in the long ago years, - in the present I am growing more used to being confined to one street, one house and one back yard, and although I don't even get to go over town ( probably because I am too nervous to make the journey on the scooter) I welcome all who come through my door to visit!!!! Especially family, and they are so good about that.

                                         Old picture, taken while the Beloved was still with us.

 

July 7th, 2021

I write this on the anniversary of my sister's birth, ninety one years ago.  

She has been gone now, for a number of years, and I do miss her so, - always wonderful to see her, and spend time with her, over the years - and when that wasn't possible the phone was a dear substitute.....and the camera.....

                                                                sometime after I left home...

                                                                  Dot, in her Easter finery

June 2nd, 2021

Sundays come and Sundays go, - two of them have passed by since I last wrote here and we have left May behind as we say hello to June -  but they have encompassed busy weeks.  Or lazy ones, - or a combination of the two!!!

A warm day, and the shady spot in the back garden was enticing this afternoon...

I am an early riser and am out before breakfast to enjoy the coolness of the garden - pull a few weeds and relieve the plants of the blooms that have wrinkled up overnight after a hot afternoon.....  I am reminded of the mornings when I used to slip out of bed and sometimes spend an hour before Charles would rise and call from the window.  Lovely memories....

Now I take my coffee with me, and Bruce (The Dog) and neither of us are as energetic as we once were, but content to wander a bit and tidy up the beds.

The peonies are out,  the lovely floppy white ones and the sweet pink clusters, - the cabbage roses wander over the gate that leads to the garden and those beautiful purple clematis are just starting to bloom.  June is such a dear time in the flower beds that line the lawn.

                               Today was very hot, and I sat in the shade at the back of the house, 

                                                                        with a cold drink, 

                   and thought about how very lucky I am to be surrounded by such beautiful blooms

                             and how much my dear one would have enjoyed the afternoon......

Charles, the flag and the garden gate...

May 16th  2021

Sunday again, and a beautiful blue sky day, as it was yesterday and as they say it is going to be tomorrow!!!

A slight breeze cools what would probably be a hot hot afternoon, and it draws me out into the back garden where the Peonies and the Iris promise a lovely display during the next week.  The ants are exploring the peony buds these days - why is that, I wonder?  Must look it up..... I peer across the meadow that borders, and slopes down into the creek running at the bottom of the bench hill, hoping I might see the family of deer who habitat the creek bed, but the meadow is green and solitary.

I haven't been to church yet today, (online church that is) - most pleasing when you can watch and take part at your leisure, and when it is convenient.  And you could also 'choose' your church, but being born an Anglican it is where I find most comfort and inspiration, and that is usually where I end up, with the old, traditional services......   Although I find the actual church of my youth leaning somewhat towards the native land upon which the church was built, which is o.k.because the old traditional prayers and order of worship are still there.  The ones I know by heart and love.....

Here we are in the middle of May, and the garden is responding nicely to the great growing weather we are having.  Sometimes I remember with affection and longing the years when we had large gardens and a great variety of veggies and flowers, but old bones and sore muscles tell me that affection belongs in my memories, and the little bag of potatoes that got planted are enough to satisfy my gardening instincts.

Here is the big garden I speak of, and below,  the willing and well loved gardener!

When we moved to smaller quarters on the hillside orchard we concentrated more on flowers and shrubs, but I don't think we were ever without a garden in all the sixty-seven years we were married, - well, maybe the first year - married in May and many things interfered with the gardening business.....

Some of the flowers that grace the garden these days...

Here, in town, the garden is much smaller, and the only nod I have given to vegetables is a big bag of soil in which I threw a few cut up seed potatoes.

Nevertheless, youngest son drove me to the local garden spot and I came home

and filled many, many pots with the plants I couldn't pass by or resist....

Once a gardener always a gardener, I guess - regardless 

of age and creaking bones.....

 

 Saturday, the first of May

by Peter Burn

Queen of monrhs, supremely fair,

Clothe with garments rich and rare,

None in beauty can compare

With thee, sweet May

Lovely month, thou bringest mirth,

Spreadest sweetness o'er the earth,

Causest Nature to give birth

To fruits and flowers

Thou are love by young and old

Joys for each though dost enfold

Never shall our hearts grow cold

To thee, sweet May

I love May, - it has so many garden delights, and it has brought so many

other delights, that have made life eternally enjoyable, 

eternally meaningful!!