Thursday, August 9th, 2012

A Lazy Day

Beautiful cool breezes blowing when we first rose this morning, -moved me after breakfast to cut the side lawn and give the bedded plants along side it a good watering.

That done nothing else really inspired me, - a lazy inspection of the flowers in the raised bed and a bit of deadheading the roses and the canterbury bells, which have now finished their second blooming.  Some musing about the weeds that have squeezed in between the raised bed and the fence which I can't reach to remove, and then I picked a small bouquet of white phlox, scarlet bergamot and yellow daisies, and went in to make coffee for mid-morning.

After which I did nothing!  Well, that's not so, - I read an essay written by Molly Peacock, -  'Passion Flowers in Winter" from the best American Essays of 2007.  And when I had read in this essay of the life of Mary Delany,  and how as a widow in the year 1771, when she was in her early seventies, she became passionate about creating what she called 'flower mosaiks' - flowers created by snipping with small embroidery scissors the most minute petals and tendrils and leaves and sepals from paper, to emulate the flowers she gathered around her, I had to go online to read about her.

Molly Peacock has written a book entitled "The Paper Garden" and excerpt from which can be found here,
in which she gives a wonderful description of the make-up of the Passion Flower.  There are also many more details of Mary Delany's life - her marriages, her place amongst the aristocracy and her friendship with Queen Charlotte and George the Third.

In addition Wikipedia has this to say about this artistic woman and the beautiful work she created.

"Her works were exceptionally detailed and botanically accurate depictions of plants.  She used tissue paper and hand colouration to produce these pieces.......from the age of 71 to 88 when her eyesight failed her.  During this time Mary made nearly 1,000 paper flowers...... which can still be seen in the Enlightenment Gallery at the British Museum".

"With the plant specimen set before her she cut minute particles of coloured paper to represent the petals, stamens, calyx, leaves, veins, stalk and other parts of the plant, and, using lighter and darker paper to form the shading, she stuck them on a black background.  By placing one piece of paper upon another she sometimes built of several layers and in a complete picture there might be hundreds of pieces to form one plant.  It is thought she first dissected each plant so that she might examine it carefully for accurate portrayal."

I found this all extremely inspiring,  and thought what a strong, admirable and sensitive woman Mary Delany must have been.  Imagine, still doing this painstaking intricate work at 88! The patience and perseverance, and the incredible imagination.

In the afternoon I had a little nap and then I followed Kim Klassen's instructions on how to create a light, painterly picture with photoshop, and sighed a bit that I had to be content with this, not having any talent for painting or creating marvelous mosaiks.....

I should at least start a pair of knitted socks, or something equally as practical and prosaic......

Tuesday, August 7th, 2012

As I look at the blank sheet in my daily journal and consider the forecast for hot sun and blue skies it passes through my mind that this might be the day to reconnoitre my clothes closet.

Reconnoitre....  being a military term I ask Charles if I am using the right word to describe my intentions.  We consider this together, with the help of the online dictionary.

The online dictionary indicates 'a foray into enemy territory to make observations'.

Is this enemy territory?  Well, if you consider the little men who are said to occupy clothes closet and spend their time taking in seams to make the garment in question too snug to wear, yes, that's 'Enemy Territory'!

However, reconnoitre doesn't go far enough.  Once I have finished the patrol there arises the question of what to do to clear the territory of unwanted and unused  garments, and those  that have been stitched one size too small....

Charles declares his intentions of going over town to purchase a fluorescent light bulb, and after considering the project from all angles I plunge into the closet and start removing blouses and skirts and jackets and dresses that have not seen the light of day or any other territory besides the one in which they hang since moving day!  And then they just made a quick journey from the hill house to town in the back of the van, still on their hangers, from one dark closet to another, so to speak.

They got jammed into the lovely spacious closet, along with Callie who needed the smell of something familiar to keep her happy and out of the way of the movers.  We turned on the light for Callie, - gave her food and water and turned our attention elsewhere.

The floor of the closet has a trap door which goes down into the low crawl space where all the Christmas decorations live, along with other objects that had no immediate use or space to store them on the main floor.  Occasionally we have had to clear things away and open the trap door for workmen to reach the various switches and taps that keep the mechanics of the house going, but as I keep adding baskets and boxes there is less and less room to operate smoothly, and its terribly embarrassing in an emergency to have to clear all this paraphernalia away from the trapdoor to unveil the steps that lead down below.

So, the job of reconnoitering completed, I start taking clothes off hangers in a determined fashion, letting neither nostalgia or false hopes that that they might one day fit deter me from my task.

How about this lovely sea-green dress I wore to Kate and Will's wedding (no, not the Big Wedding, - this is our granddaughter Kathleen Rose, and her husband Will.  Will anybody ever get married again, or will they all just live 'in a relationship'.  I think about this a bit, and leave the sea-green dress hanging hopefully in the closet.  Fair game for the seam stitchers....

There are a couple of eyelet blouses that caught my eye in the shop, but never quite made it out of the house to any event.  I think of prospective new owners, about my size, about my age (so they won't be embarrassed and have to say 'a little too old for me, I think, Grandma'.....  No one comes to mind, - off to the Bargain Centre with you!

Here is this lovely pink and white silky skirt and shirt ensemble that I loved and have worn for ten years - still fresh and washable, - and a trio of long cotton Indian skirts of which I only really need one.

There are some shorts that have somehow shrunk a size, and a plethora of jackets that haven't been worn for a number of years; a couple of peasantry type dresses that I used to be fond of wearing around the house
and two or three extra bathrobes that are quite respectable but don't ever get worn.

I put out the washable garments for a run through the washing machine, noting with dismay that the white shirts will need to be ironed, and pack the rest into a couple of boxes for their journey around the corner to the Bargain Centre, where hopefully they will soon find a new closet to hang in, and perhaps new adventures out on the streets, worn by new owners who will find them a refreshing addition to their wardrobe.

Tomorrow, maybe - Charles' collection of shirts and pants.  He has a different army of little men who sew, but they all follow the same instructions - TAKE IN THE SEAMS AT LEAST ONE SIZE, - AND MAYBE TWO IF YOU ARE FEELING PARTICULARLY DEVILISH!

I feel quite virtuous about the look of the closet, except for the boxes that live on the top shelves and are full of mysterious things that got shoved there when we moved, and which I must investigate someday......

Monday, August 6th, 2012

Off to the grocery store early this morning,  

we are still in holiday mode.

The traffic is all going in opposite directions as everyone heads home -

or if not home along the road to their next destination.

Today is a tad cooler.

Yesterday was a scorcher....

About ten-thirty we made our way to the big car show

being held in the park, just a block away.

Me with my cane

and Charles on his cart!!

It was about 35 degrees Celsius when we left

and when we returned  a couple of hour later it was well over40!

All sorts of wonderful old cars and proud owners

and I wondered why we hadn't the foresight to hang on to the 1932

Chevy Roadster complete with rumble seat and wire wheels -

our first car after Charles returned from the war, and we were married.

(This was VJ day, hence the cigarette and the bottle of scotch and the smiling face)

We wandered around, admiring the shine and polish as well as the mechanical restoration.

It got hotter, and hotter, and hotter, and my legs called out "enough, enough"!!!!

So we adjourned to the Legion, where they were serving beer and hot dogs,

hamburgers and leftover cold meat and buns from the big Elvis celebration the night before.

I don't often drink beer, but on this occasion it would be hard to describe the wonderful cooling

effect it had upon me, and how

it changed my mood from one of

desperation to pure pleasure!!!

Heavenly......

Charles had his usual Scotch, and then we indulged

in a hot dog with all the trimmings.

We saluted all the young and vibrant people who were still sweltering at the Car Show

and took a short cut home behind the Roman Catholic Church.

We had seen the cars, and talked to friends.

The house was cool, and the lay-back chairs seduced us

into having a nap!

Lovely day...

Saturday, August 4th, 2012

The moon is at her full, and riding high,

Floods the calm fields with light.

The airs that hover in the summer sky

Are all asleep to-night.

William C. Bryant

Two full moons in August this year,

the second on the 31st, so it will carry its brilliance on into September.

Summer has finally come to us.....

five days of sunshine forecast and it seems like a visitor

on an extended stay, she has been so shy about showing her face

from behind a screen of raindrops...

we will have to get used to her warm, lazy August days.

Mornings are lovely.

Fresh and cool - the small birds delight in bathing

and fluttering, and keeping us entertained  as we all breakfast together

with just the wide window between us.

And Callie, watching carefully,

her tail swinging slowly, from side to side

Until she catches sight of the grey and white cat

strolling nonchalantly on the far side of the picket fence,

turning in at the gate, and, not even deigning to notice

the cat in the window,

continuing on her way through the neighbour's yard

where the apricots grow heavy on burdened branches.

In the afternoons we read, or nap...

I have The Shoreline of Knowledge - essays by Chris Arthur

to read one essay at a time, and then to ponder.

The roses are coming into their second bloom, but they whisper

their preference for the cooler days of June.

".......fragrant, delicate petals open fully and are ready

to fall, with regret or disillusion, after only a day in the sun.

It is so every summer.  One can almost

hear their pink, fragrant murmur as they settle down

upon the grass:

"Summer, summer, it will always be summer."

Rachel Peden

Thursday, August 2nd, 2012

Terrible traffic today as the cars started rolling East to West and West to East.

People from the Coast rushing to the Okanagan - the lake, the mountains, the campsites,  the beaches.

People from the Okanagan rushing to the Coast - the ocean, the mountains, the campsites, the beaches.

I wonder what it would be like if everybody stayed home and holidayed locally, in their own touristy town, around their own lake or ocean, hiking their own mountains, catching the sun on their own beaches, eating in their own restaurants, putting up a tent in their own back yard.

I guess the campsites might lose out unless people had a yen to live in restricted space for the week-end, side by each with their neighbours,  and that wouldn't really surprise me......

There is a nice Crowded Trailer Park right next to the Skaha Lake Beach in Penticton,  close to home.

Think of how much less stressful it would be, and what an incredible gift to the ozone!

Just a thought after going to town this afternoon for groceries, and to the library for books, and waiting, waiting, waiting to get across the highway through that never ending stream of early holiday travelers who are squeezing an extra day out of this long August week-end.

An added attraction for home bodies in Keremeos is an appearance by the 5th place winner in the World contest for Elvis Impersonators.  They have been sold out for weeks!

How many people in Keremeos have camped or picnicked along the Ashnola River -(well, lots, I know).  But lots haven't!!

Or seen the Columns -

or Cathedral Park...

or made the climb to the Snazo'ist Centre that the Indian Band in Hedley has established at the site of the 1920's Mascot Mine.

Oh, I know, - it is the lure of the road.  New places, new people, new adventures, - but it really does distract the locals and make them shake their head and roll their eyes a bit, as they try to cross the road, along with all the other chickens.

I understand some people have been heard muttering dire imprecations when necessity forces them to take to the streets.....if one must support the Tourist Industry, how about starting in one's own town!!!

Sunday Evening,
July 31st, 2012

This is what we did this morning!  Picked a couple of baskets of warm sun kissed  apricots that had been growing on the small Wenatchee cot tree between our home and the neighbour to the west.  A stray branch was lying across the roof of the shed that is built close to the property line,  so we took a ladder and a trusty pruning saw to the job, and between us we (Charles and I) summer pruned the tree and popped the apricots into a couple of pails.

Gosh, what will I do with all that beautiful fruit!!!!?.  Apricots are my very favourite, - even more than peaches.  I won't make juice, as I used to in days gone by, but I have visions of deep dish apricot pies, an apricot crisp, - perhaps an upside down cake....  Jam?  Well, maybe.  Muffins???

Perhaps Charles will take one of the buckets to the Senior's Centre for people whose neighbours don't have available apricot trees, and I will stay home, put on my apron and do something creative with these lovely ripe, juicy, gorgeous globes.

If I make muffins do come for tea......

Texture Tuesday

July 31st, 2012

Free and Easy

Free to make up his own mind if he will be a ring bearer at that wedding - or not!  Pondering the decision.

Kim Klassen's Free and Easy assignment for July 31st, 2012.

Follow the link on the sidebar for more Free and Easy photos

Sunday, July 29th, 2012

Serendipity....

We went to church this morning.  I am not terribly comfortable at church these days, for various and sundry reasons, but a particularly nice retired Anglican priest was coming to take the service and so we were up early, showered, breakfasted, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Off we went.  The Anglican priest arrived, prepared to do a service of Holy Communion, as Anglican priest's are wont to do each Sunday since the church began to define itself as a eucharistic body.

He had, however, been left instructions for Morning Prayer, which rather befuddled him but delighted all the older Anglicans attending as they had not heard Morning Prayer for some time, - certainly not since the UC Emerging Church leader arrived to sway the church into his pathway.......

The organ sat silent as the UC Emerging Church leader's Assistant manipulated the hymns from a tape into a boom box.  The Anglican Priest had a marvelous singing voice, and all the weaker voices in the congregation followed his voice heavenward as we started off with a rendition of All Creatures of our God and King.

We said the Venite - I haven't said (or sung) the Venite for years, and I was rather hoping we might go on to the Jubilate.

Great Sermon on the defamation of Mary Magdalene by this "headline" and atheistic age, and the movie makers who insist on her being portrayed as a whore in order to draw more sensation seekers to the box office....when actually history gives only five known facts about her, none of them questioning her moral practices, but rather emphasizing her faithful discipleship.  Poor Mary, - even Titian depicted her bare breasted.

But Bellini was kinder to her reputation

We closed with some more canned music, and went to have refreshments in the lovely adjoining Parish Hall which we built twelve years ago to accommodate the congregation which was bursting the Sunday School room at the seams as they jiggled around with their tea and biscuits after morning service.

All eleven  twelve of us went into the Parish Hall, (the retired Anglican priest had brought his wife) and had  lovely tea and biscuits  and friendly conversation.

But the best was yet to come!!!  On three or four tables at the back of the Parish Hall sat great numbers of books in the process of being categorized, each pile being identified with an orange card as to its Dewey classification.

Only one lonely book lay beside the orange card marked 'spirituality' but lo, it was ANAM CARA, that beautiful book of Celtic Wisdom by John O'Donohue.

My heart gave a little leap.  Our local library does not carry any books by John O'Donohue.  I had bought two copies of TO BLESS THE SPACE BETWEEN US - one for a friend who was sorely in need of his comforting words, and was about to go to Amazon.ca again for ANAM CARA.

The books are for borrowing, so I brought it home....

Wonderful!

Serendipity.......

Saturday, July 28th, 2012

For many years their were six of us who went for lunch every Thursday.  Everybody arrived under their own steam, and had anecdotes from a busy life stored away to show and tell.

Gwen was the first to leave.  She had been our neighbour for forty years when we lived on the farm.  The first family to move into their unfinished house on the Veterans' Land project, and before that she rode the school bus with Charles, - a neighbour of his on the benchlands of Penticton all during their growing up years.

Except for Joan we had all been participants in that great adventure on the Cawston Bench;  wives of the Veterans; bringing up our children on the orchards and farms we had established after the sage brush had all been cleared from the land.

The years passed.  Not so much was happening in our lives.  Some lost husbands.  Small strokes took their toll from vibrant lives.  After awhile our lunches were not always weekly affairs, as it became more difficult to  gather when some had lost driver's licenses.

Five years ago Alzheimers stole Joan from us, leaving us with only her sweet smile, but still we lunched at least once a month, until she left us for peaceful parts and heavenly places a few months ago.

Now there are only four of us. I am the only one who drives, and nobody gets out much, so after we have lunched  (a pale echo of what past lunches were, but still blest with precious friendship) we go driving.  And that's what we did this past Thursday.

We don't have to go far.  Perhaps we visit Ginty's pond and the heritage park in Cawston, built in the days when we were young to honour B.C.'s Centenial Year.   Or we go west, traveling the riverside road that goes towards the Ashnola, as we did on Thursday.

The day started of with blue skies, sunshine and cool breezes, and so I phoned around to see who would like to lunch, - oh, yes!!  Everybody was eager.  If you are more or less confined to the distance you can walk, then an invitation to go further afield is always welcome.

We took a turn around the Upper Bench to see all the news houses, and the new subdivisions, and all the old houses, and the places where familiar people live (or lived).  Then we were off down the highway and across the red bridge........

The river was still high, and we didn't see any Inner Tubes on the water, but as we stopped to take a picture
we spotted kayakers on a far bend.   They seemed to be all tied together, - a colourful sight with yellow safety gear and a variety of coloured boats.  As they drew closer, led by a couple of guide canoes, the sounds of laughter and excitement  floated upstream, as a stretch of rapids came into view.

As we headed back towards town  thunderclouds were gathering in the west, although the sky was still blue, but down from the south we were being approached by dark clouds and the occasional rumble of thunder, the quick and distant flashes of lightning.

As I returned Margaret to her residential facility the first large drops of rain began to fall, and there was a great and mighty clap of thunder.  Home was only two blocks away, but by the time I arrived we were in the midst of a cloud burst and Callie, wide eyed and frightened,  had found a hiding place to wait out the storm.


I don't bemoan the frequent showers and storms or the lack of devastating heat - the roses have loved this cooler season, but Hazel's geraniums, which are usually spectacular, are really sad and pouting......

This and That on a So-So Wednesday
July 25th, 2012

Besides it being St. Christopher's Day, the Feast of Saint James the Greater, Thread a Needle Day and Carousal Day (that appeals to me most.... it has been a day of sun and showers, gentle breezes and stormy west winds. 

We took advantage of a beautiful morning and Charles went off on his electric cart to see who was having coffee at the Seniors' Centre, where all sorts of matter are discussed and settled, old tales repeated, and even a bit of gossip finds its way into the conversation.

I wandered out into the garden and admired the new flush of roses, the second bloom on the Canterbury Bells and looked for bees among the Bergamot.

At this point in my conversation I discovered when I posted  that Blogger was up to its old tricks, framing all my text with white and making it impossible to read.  When I tried to change the colour of the font somebody got really nasty and upset and snatched all my lovely words away......deep sigh!


What I told you about was mainly the weather, and how Callie the Cat disappeared to find safety and solace under the sofa, only coming out when the angry Sky Gods had stopped rolling thunger and flashing lightning at her.  And that in response to me scraping that delicious-cat-food into her dish.


And I wanted you to know that the Temptations ad is not to be believed, - the one where the cat leaps high fences and tall buildings to get home  to the rattle of the Temptation package.  T and L will trump that any stormy day.


The weather also played havoc with the television, losing the signal just as the weather report was to come on, - just at the end of Upstairs Downstairs (which they are replaying again) and half way through Suits, causing us to lost the thread.


And that reminded me that today was also Thread the Needle Day, which I found had two interpretations.  The literal one for sewers, of course.  But also the term denotes the ability to negotiated controversial subjects without giving offense or making peers or constituents angry.  I didn't know that, but can see it would be as good talent for any number of people to possess in any number of sticky situations.


I am also reminded that St. Christopher is the Patrom Saint of Travelers, and so I say a small prayer for all those who are out on rain swept roads, with thunder and lightning and wind combining to make travel difficult for them!


I am off to bed to see how much Emily Donahue I can read before falling asleep....and hope that this ;posting is readable.

For Texture Tuesday

July 24th, 2012

Photo July 22nd,   Cawston, B.C.
edited with Kim's Autumn Burst



Follow the Texture Tuesday link in the sidebar for a beautiful variety of photos.

Saturday, July 21st, 2012

I got blown out to tea yesterday!  Just at two o'clock I left the house and as I opened the door the first sprinkling of rain and the first gusts of wind came riding from the west on dark storm clouds.  I had thought I could gain the teahouse before the storm came down upon us, but no, - I arrived for our assignation breathless and wind-blown, the last to gain shelter.

I joined the tea table and felt moved back in time.  This Tea Shoppe is a new business in town.  The tables are laid with white linens and lace, silver and fine china, and the lady who serves tea also makes the  most incredibly light scones.  I brought two home for Charles - lovely sweet raspberry delights that practically float an eighth of an inch above the china plate beneath them, - so buoyant and crumbly, they fairly melt in your mouth.

This was a gathering of the ACW, - a group of Anglican Church Woman who have been friends for many years, but have now reached the age where they have retired the organization to having tea every once in a while and a jolly old chin-wag!

We lingered at the table, savouring the friendship as much as the tea and scones.  Outside the wind howled, bowing the boulevard trees and scattering leaves and sheets of rain perpendicularly down the main street, but inside the warmth of friendship and the lovely old-fashioned ambience of a real Tea Shoppe were enough to keep us quite happy and content and immersed in talk and laughter.

Eventually it was time to leave, - I went to get a few groceries in the wind and the rain, stuffed with raspberry scone which, unfortunately,  took its revenge on me during Happy Hour with dire heartburn, - or maybe it was the Orange Brandy.........

There is still another scone left in the refrigerator

Shall we divide it at coffee time?????

Thursday evening, more than half way through July!!!

Outside, doing the last of the watering chores, I am delighted by the coolness of the evening breeze after an exceedingly warm day.

Up early this morning, and we made a quick trip to Penticton for an 8.30 driving appointment.  With age comes driving examinations and this morning it was Charles' turn.  By the time he was finished the morning tourist traffic was crowding the streets and we came straight home to a cool house and a pleased-to-see us cat.  Close to her lunchtime - she sits on Charles's knee and cuddles, but I know with me it is strictly cupboard love!!!

It was a lovely morning for a drive, but not terribly successful in the picture taking department.  The sun reflected strange images on the photos, - dazzling lights and blurred images.  In one picture I saw my hand, holding the camera, and Charles' arm, cradling the steering wheel - imprinted on the gorgeous greens and golden sunshine around Yellow Lake.

Well, here are some I was able to salvage.

The shadowy hills and the sprinklers on the meadow

A few glittery leaves surrounding a field of green, where the creek runs through.

In the distance, as we break over the hill into the Okanagan Valley, the far hills are faded shades of blue.

Skaha Lake is bathed in gleaming sunlight 

A water skier about to plunge through those sterling silver ripples.

A nice day.

The water is on the side lawn, and the sprinklers that Charles

wound around the fence to satisfy the thirsty bed that grows outside the fence

are spraying most satisfactorily.

All's well, and I am about to go to bed with "The World According to Bertie" by

McCall Smith - a sweet story that compares very well with

"The World According to Garp" (which, to tell you the truth, I barely remember -

not because of it's literary qualities, I assure the author, but just

because some things get crowded out the older you get)  sigh.....

ABC Wednesday
July 18th, 2012

A is the letter of the day

A is for Applause, and this is what I plan to do this round.  Much as I have loved and enjoyed participating I this time Around I think I will sit on the sidewalk, watch the wonderful Alphabetic parade go by, shout my comments, twirl my parasol and clap my hands for all the wonderful blogs I expect to visit!

I will be back next time Around.  In the meantime, for more Adorable A's visit here, at ABC Wednesday.

July 14th, 2012

Saturday afternoon.......Monday morning....

I have been a long time away.  Completely zonked as far as blogging is concerned.  I keep coming back, hoping time and inspiration will be on my side, but no....life goes on but I don't seem to be fully participating.

and now Monday evening....

Over coffee this morning Charles and I got to discussing the wonderful yodeling a ninety-one year old friend of ours entertained us with at the Singers' Summer Potluck, - an event hosted by the group Charles sings with every Wednesday morning.

One thing led to another.  We reminisced about another old and good friend who played guitar, sang Wilf Carter songs and was an outstanding yodeller;  well known during World War 11 for entertaining his fellow soldiers, and always popular at parties and get-togethers when we all settled to grow fruit on the Fairview Height Veterans Land project.

We remembered in particular a reunion of Charles' crew members in 1997.   Charles was Seconded to the RAF so there were Scottish and English members of the crew as well, - and one Trinidadian. The overseas  crew flew into Calgary.  Charles and I met them there with a bright red Van and wetravelled leisurely through the Rockies, across central B.C., down the Okanagan Valley and home to Keremeos. 

When we reached home our children had prepared a wonderful party for our visitors and for our friends in Keremeos who were so anxious to meet these men who had kept their comradeship alive for over fifty years.  At that time Bill, our yodelling friend, sang those wonderful Wilf Carter western cowboy songs and delighted us all once again.  He is sitting beside Charles in one of the pictures below.

Brownie, the Wireless Op, had a movie camera with him and sent us pictures.

We spent the rest of this morning watching the tape on the VCR, with a great deal of poignancy.

Amazingly four of the crew are still alive, but so many of our dear friends who were

with us that day have now left us, except when they are in the room with us,

laughing and talking on the screen, and we would wish to reach out and touch their 

dear hands and hear their voices again.

Sentimental I fear, but there you are.  We are lonely for those

familiar friends who have gone on before us.