Sunday, September 27, 2015

This, that and the other -

Well, first of all - after five wonderful great grandsons, a second precious great granddaughter to grace our family, - what a joyous welcome she received!!!  In her honour the sky is blue, the sun is moderate and kindly warm, the birds sing and the colours of fall are subtle and mellow along the roadsides and through the hills....



Everyone and all things are elated!!

 And she lies in her little crib, rosy lipped and content, and full of promise.


I find as one grows older new lives are ever more precious, dear and enduring.

I have been poking about in the garden this afternoon, cutting back the phlox and
encouraging the chrysanthemums which seem late in blooming this year.

I look with dismay at a number of our trees that are afflicted with aphids 
and the way the syrup drips from the branches and glosses
the leaves of the plants beneath.

Desperate pruning and spraying seem to be the order of the season,
either now, in the fall, or next spring.

And when I have not been in the garden these lovely autumn days
I have been knitting or reading or weaving towels for Christmas.  A pretty lace scarf finished
while I watched and listened to the Berlin Philharmoniker in concert yeseterday morning
with Zubin Mehta
(my favourite conductor) 



Or I have been reading.  After poking into the history of Kingcome Inlet
for an ABC Wednesday blog I went looking for a copy of Margaret Craven's
novel "I Heard the Owl Call my Name" and have enjoyed re-reading it after
many, many years.  Well, I have enjoyed it, but I was also in tears part of the time,
in the very sad parts.  I an thankful now that there is a greater
respect and familiarity between First Nations and the later inhabitants of this land (us).

Although, in the Similkameen, where there has always been a sharing of schooling,
there has been great friendships amongst those First Nations people in the valley who are
the same generation as we were, as our children are, and their children, too!

Then in church this morning, I was mentioning Kingcome Inlet and the book
to our priest, and he told me
that he had been in Seminary at the same time "Mark Brian" * was preparing
for the Anglican priesthood.
*(the name of the protagonist in the book)

And the friend who was sitting beside me when we were having coffee
told me that in the fifties Kingcome Inlet had been on her husband's itinerary, 
and so she was familiar with it, and with the book......

How life all fits together when we are aware......

Tonight I am planning to start another scarf  (Christmas coming....), watch the first episode
of Indian Summers on PBS, and look at the moon do its scheduled
dance with the sun and the earth.  This will be my last chance,
as I don't expect to be here in 2033....

But now it is time to go and warm up my supper.........



3 comments:

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Your baby great grand daughter is perfection personified. How wonderful. How lovely your days sound .... Except for the darn aphids. Thank you for the happy smiles to start to my day!

The Weaver of Grass said...

I think as we get older Hildred, we are reduced to tears much more easily. I have just re-read Laurie Lee's 'Cider with Rosie' and I cried in one or two places (a really good adaptation was shown last night on our television over here). Your little great grand-daughter looks adorable and what a lovely dress she is wearing.

Barb said...

What a special gift of a new baby girl in the family! She's precious. I believe I read that book long ago, Hildred - I must look it up on Amazon. My gardens are going to seed, but the Shasta Daisies, Yarrow, and Dianthus are still providing some color. You're so busy with your hand work - you'll be long finished with your gifts when the holidays arrive.