Friday, October 28th, 2016

A remembrance of beautiful days, wonderful years

and glorious falls...

Looming weather report...

Miserable weather today, - no, I shouldn't say that.
A warm, rainy day that may have got everyone wet
but was a good excuse to dig out the umbrella in this dry and arid country,

 and slop along in the puddles

However, the trees and the hills were sombre and misty.

and the clouds hung low along the river bottom.

But YESTERDAY!!!

I had cards to mail - great grandson has a Halloween birthday and a great-great niece recently married.  I scooped up the camera and my Ipad as I left for the post office, and duties done there I headed the car south to the river, where the sun was blessing the trees with 

the most glorious golden  aura.

Old haunts with my darling, and I had a little conversation with him about how the early fall was so dry, and the leaves so drab, but the rain has renewed their palette to its usual brilliance.

Today I went singing, somewhat saddened by the sudden and unexpected passing of one of our most friendly and kind choir members.

Tonight I have been looming, - sleying that lovely narrow silken scarf through the reed.  Shall I go back and finish it before I go to bed??

I am tempted....

Fridge Wisdom

ABC Wednesday
October 26, 2016

The letter is P for PRAYER/POEM

Here is one that lives its life attached to the front of my fridge!!

LET me do my work each day, and if the darkened hours of despair overcome me,

may I not forget the strength that comforted me in the desolation of other times.

MAY I still remember the bright hours that found me walking over the silent hills of my

childhood, or dreaming on the margin of the quiet river, when the light glowed within me, 

and I promised my early God to have courage amid the tempests of the changing years.

SPARE me from bitterness and from the sharp passions of unguarded moments.

MAY I not forget that poverty and riches are of the spirit.

THOUGH the world know me not, may my thoughts and actions be such as shall 

keep me friendly with myself.

LIFT my eyes from the earth, and let me not forget the uses of the stars.

FORBID that I should judge others, lest I condemn myself.

LET me not follow the clamor of the world, but walk calmly in my path.

GIVE me a few friends who will love me for what I am; 

and keep ever burning before my vagrant steps the kindly light of hope.

AND though age and infirmity overtake me, 

and I come not within sight of the castle of my dreams, 

teach me still to be thankful for life, 

and for time's olden memories that are good and sweet;

AND may the evening's twilight find me gentle still.

Max Erhmann

For more interesting Ps click here to visit
ABC Wednesday, with thanks to Roger, Denise, Leslie
and their proficient partners.

Sunday, the 23rd of October.

Another gorgeous day weatherwise, but as dusk falls and Bruce and I go walking, we note that the trees have lost the glow they had during the sunny hours, and have been saddened to that sombre melancholy that haunts us in the fall, sometimes.

The clouds have gathered and covered the blue of the sky and we can expect a rainy night. And that is just fine as the aquifer in this semi desert country is in need of being refreshed after a long, hot summer.

Church was confusing because of a mix-up in bulletins and the first Sunday with our "dedicated" priest...we are a Worshipping Community here, attached to St. Saviours in Penticton, and we welcome  someone who will visit our aging congregation and care facilities.  It was humorous, too, in that Kim (new priest) is a great people person with a marvelous sense of humour.  Uplifting!!  We talked about the Tax Collector and the Self-Righteous Pharisee and their counterparts in the modern world....

By the time I had attended to my Altar duties everyone had left, and the flowers which were given to us after a funeral tea reception still needed a home.  So I brought them along with me.....

After a bit of lunch and a little R and R (I think I closed my eyes awhile) I took a dip into Mary Oliver's new book of beautiful and thoughtful essays, "Upstream" in which she takes us into the natural world which she always describes with such love, and caring, and beauty.

And then I went to inspect that poor begotten warp that was so long on the loom and has such a plethora of mistakes and dropped threads.  But still beautiful after I machine-washed it..

...and cut it into the appropriate pieces,

pressed them, ironed up the hems and folded them

...and now you can't see all the errors because they are cunningly hidden in the folds!

I will cherish them, and the memories of all those blasted knots I tied,

and I will use them in my own kitchen.

By the time I did all this it was supper time, and now it is time to go and

make a cup of hot chocolate and see what's on Netflix!!!