Skywatch Friday

Oh, I am very late with my posting this week, - have been out Christmas shopping on this frosty sunny day.

Here is an old picture of a pretty wintry sunrise.



For more gentle or dramatic skies visit Skywatch Friday, here.

ABC Wednesday

U is for Ulster


Ulster. A style of long, loose overcoat, worn by both men and women, originally made of frieze cloth at Ulster, Ireland. The peculiarity of this coat is that it is cut almost straight for both sexes, reaching very nearly to the feet, and is sometimes girded with a belt; it frequently has a hood or cape. Also called a great coat. from the dictionary for dry goods

I have read in other places that the ulster was a practical item of clothing, - sturdy and used mainly for work. However, these fellows look quite dashing, and I can imagine them as late 19th century bankers.



My father wore an Ulster when I was growing up. A more modern type, without the cape. He looked almost as elegant as Anthony Eden, shown here in his mid-century Ulster and looking UTTERLY UTTERLY ELEGANT.



This Ulster would be referred to as a 'bespoke' garment these days.

The working men of the plains wear a type of Ulster, which they call a 'duster'. It serves to protect their legs while riding, and gives some warmth, as well as looking dashingly romantic as they ride off into the west, ulster/duster flying out behind them... Doc Holliday wore an Ulster, and called it by that name.



U is an interesting letter, and for more postings skip over to ABC Wednesday here, and see what is on offer, with many thanks to Mrs. Nesbitt.

Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat.
Please put a penny in the old man's hat.
If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do.
If you haven't got a ha'penny, God Bless You.

It's true, - Christmas is coming. Although Advent is dominant in our spiritual thoughts there are practical preparations that carry us forward to the Holy Day.

I have plans to make shortbread and light fruit cakes for a Christmas Tea and Bake Sale at the church next Saturday, and on Thursday there is a festive luncheon and party that calls for a little carol singing.

Today our Bell Choir did three concerts, starting at 9:00 a.m. in Our Lady of Lourdes Church where we rang at the Eucharist service. We packed up and moved bells and tables to The Manor, an assisted living facility, - had a lovely Thai lunch at a local restaurant and then went on to Orchard Haven Care Home to ring our program once more. I have to say we did a passable job!

At one time I was pretty strict about reserving Christmas carols for the appropriate time, - one didn't sing Silent Night until Christmas Ever, or any of the Angel and Shepherd hymns, but now as I age I grow more tolerant - less arrogant about assuming what is pleasing to God.

I saw many different Christmas trees, - all lovely, from the smallest to the largest, - cheering the residents of these care homes and reminding them what Advent leads to.

Sometimes I think that the busyness of December causes us to lose sight of what it is about Advent that is so important to us - the awareness of who we are, and the mindfulness of our relationships with others and our true spirituality. But then it comes to me that this interaction with the outreach of Advent touches us in many ways inwardly, as well, and I just relax and enjoy it!!!!

Skywatch Friday

December 3rd, - at 7.16 a.m. the moon is setting in the West after a magnificent journey across the skies....



Whilst at the very same moment the sky is heralding the sun's imminent arrival in the East.



Amazing show!

Go here to see the world's fantastic skies.

ABC Wednesday

T is for TEDDY

We have the Teddy Bear....



A knitted one such as I made for the two little great grand babies last Christmas

And the ones who go picnicking in the woods....





And we have the alluring Teddy of bygone times, - a daring innovation in ladies' lingerie in the nineteen twenties and thirties...

The traditional teddy was a loose-fitting under garment designed for visual appeal and to show off the wearer's figure. Traditional teddies often used sheer or partially sheer material.



I think perhaps the 'teddies' of today are far more daring, revealing, seductive, etc.

And then there were the TEDDY BOYS......



From Wikipedia a few comments on the forerunner of the present day youth culture.

The British Teddy Boy subculture is typified by young men wearing clothes inspired by the styles of the Edwardian period, which Savile Row tailors had tried to re-introduce after World War II. The group got its name after a 1953 newspaper headline shortened Edward to Teddy and coined the term Teddy Boy (also known as Ted). The subculture started in London in the 1950s and rapidly spread across the UK, soon becoming strongly associated with American rock and roll music of the period. Although there had been youth groups with their own dress codes called "Scuttlers" in 19th century Manchester and Liverpool[1], Teddy Boys were the first youth group in England to differentiate themselves as teenagers, helping create a youth market.


And last, but certainly not least, I have heard of grumpy old men sometimes being referred to as 'just a soft, sweet teddy bear underneath it all' - presumably from those who know.



Over at ABC Wednesday there are lots of interesting posts featuring the letter T.

Sky Watch Friday

An embryo sunrise in the Similkameen



Four minutes later is scribbled across the sky...



The colours grow more dramatic



before the celestial beings start to put their crayons away.



Look to the skies here at Skywatch Friday.

ABC Wednesday

S is for Summerland



The very name conjures up a most magical place; a perfect home town with orchards and wineries and beaches and sunshine. Situated between Kelowna and Penticton at the south end of Okanagan Lake both Upper and Lower Summerland have grown more sophisticated since I first traveled the narrow windy road from Penticton, past the towering clay cliffs and the Giant's Head that sits atop the town's own mountain.





Summerland is a vibrant, friendly town, rich in early history, artistry and a fine sense of community.

It has a colourful old Steam Engine that takes passengers on two hour jaunts along the old original CPR track that went through Falder, Princeton and on to the Coast. A number of times during the summer the touristy passengers are treated to a wild west Great Train Robbery by a band of friendly outlaws. If you want to be part of this scheduled event Google it, make reservations and join in the fun.





If I wasn't so happy in the Similkameen I could quite nicely live in Summerland, thank you....

For more interesting and enjoyable posts on the letter S click here. - with thanks to Mrs. Nesbitt and her helpers.

First attempts at stitching two pictures together digitally. I hope that I will be able to do it more elegantly after some practice, and yes, I probably should have waited until that time comes. But it was such a beautiful rainbow, stretching from one side of the valley to the other (a pot of gold at both ends, perhaps???) - a shame not to see it in its entirety, rather than in bits and pieces.

November has moved on from such schmaltzy things as rainbows and sunny days and has settled down into sulky moodiness, being most earnestly melancholy and carrying on somewhat with the wild west wind.

I comfort myself with Christmas lists and inspirations from high-end Christmas magazines, knowing full well that for practical reasons we will celebrate much more simply and more thoughtfully.

"I saw the lovely arch
Of rainbow span the sky,
The gold sun burning
As the rain swept by."
- Elizabeth Coatsworth, November

Skywatch Friday

Here in the Similkameen November is playing games with us. The days vary from warm, sunny and calm, to wickedly windy and overcast with dark threatening clouds.

Tuesday was a kind day.

A pretty sunrise....



and half an hour later a heavy shower from the south resulted in a beautiful double rainbow, stretching in the north from east to west. I haven't been able to stitch it all together yet, but here is a small bright portion.



Later in the day white clouds tumbled in a bright blue sky. Fickle, giddy November. - quite out of character.



To see what skies are doing around the world click here, and enjoy.

Today someone asked me what I was doing to keep busy.

I hesitated as I gave some attention to the things that keep me going, day by day.

I answered with the obvious - I am getting so slow that it really doesn't take a great number of activities to fill my day. But I finally realized that my interrogator, being a Crafty soul, was referring to what creative things I was doing with my hands?

Oh yes, - what is it that is keeping me busy these days! Creatively busy?

There is that pair of socks that need both toes finished before they can be washed and given to one of the guys.



And there is a warp on my loom with approximately one yard woven with silk ribbons cut from salvaged blouses, meant to be made into tote bags for young, trendy granddaughters, or fine thin durys, or place mats....



There are the Handwoven and Spin-Off magazines that come with regularity and fill me with inspiration as I spend random half hours being filled with enthusiasm.

I am not sure if this can be classed as creative, but there is my casual job as Go-fer. It does require a degree of concentration and creative thinking...

There are half a dozen Christmas aprons which I cut out half a dozen years ago, intending to present them as stocking stuffers. They are neatly packaged with all their parts together and live in a basket a-top a shelf in the Collective Room! Next to my sewing machine so that if I am suddenly moved to finish them it will be in close proximity.


a free pattern from Phyllis Dobbs

And then it takes time to keep a close eye on my stash of wool and weaving equipment, - it requires sorting through at regular intervals, sighing all the while....

Oh yes, I have a bobbin half full of spun wool on the spinning wheel, and two bags of roving still to spin.... - the thread hangs desultorily from the orifice, tugging at me every time I pass it, but I have grown indifferent and cold hearted, alas...

I'm not sure why I wasn't completely honest. I should have said I spend most of my evenings on the computer listening to music, and all my creative handwork has fallen by the wayside while I google and surf and explore the most delightful and interesting blogs. I am filling my head with knowledge, - some of it frivolous, some of it of interest and some of it even of great importance as it sets my mind along its creative path.

But my friend is not intimate with computers, and so we talked of knitting mittens and baby outfits and hemming tablecloths.

She did, however, waken in me a longing to make something beautiful in its practicality, but it may be only a temporary aberration.

ABC Wednesday

R is for Ranunculus



From Wikipedia

"Ranunculus (pronounced /ræˈnʌŋkjʊləs/)[1] is a large genus of about 400 species of plants in the Ranunculaceae. It includes the buttercups, spearworts, water crowfoots and the lesser celandine (but not the greater celandine of the poppy family Papaveraceae).
They are mostly herbaceous perennials with bright yellow or white flowers (if white, still with a yellow centre); some are annuals or biennials. A few have orange or red flowers and occasionally, as in R. auricomus, petals may be absent. The petals are often highly lustrous, especially in yellow species. Buttercups usually flower in April or May but flowers may be found throughout the summer especially where the plants are growing as opportunistic colonisers, as in the case of garden weeds.
The Water crowfoots (Ranunculus subgenus Batrachium), which grow in still or running water, are sometimes treated in a separate genus Batrachium. They have two different leaf types, thread-like leaves underwater and broader floating leaves although for some species, such as R. aquatilis, a third, intermediate leaf form occurs.
Ranunculus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Hebrew Character and Small Angle Shades. Some species are popular ornamental flowers in horticulture, with many cultivars selected for large and brightly coloured flowers".

I must to confess to being somewhat confused about ranunculus. but I think it has something to do with the Greater Celedine and the Lesser Celedine.

I do believe that Wikipedia is talking about the Lesser Celedine in the above extract as you will note that Wikipedia makes the comment about their prolificacy as follows:

" Buttercups usually flower in April or May but flowers may be found throughout the summer especially where the plants are growing as opportunistic colonisers, as in the case of garden weeds".

I have certainly found this to be the case in our garden, (see first photo) where the buttercups grow with great vigor, side by each with whichever garden flower they might fancy.

I know that you can buy ranunculus bulbs shaped like little oysters with dangly legs that spring forth in the spring in varied hues - a veritable feast of colours.



But I am only familiar with the lovely lustrous pushy type that twines its wandering roots around the Oriental Peony and is now making itself at home among the Iris.

I would welcome any information which would clear up my confusion!

For other R's skip on over to ABC Wednesday here.

Sliding through November

We were sliding through November quite nicely, thank you - until today.

The month seemed to have discarded its surliness, its lowering clouds and its melancholy darkness. Some days have been absolutely brilliant, and although the trees have taken on their stark winter beauty in many places there was still an autumn glow in the valley when the sun shone.



Today we woke to dark clouds and a bitter wind that has grown wilder with each hour that passes.

This afternoon Charles drew my attention to patches of sunshine in the Cawston Basin, with no break in the clouds to explain their presence,....a mystery we eventually solved by following the lights on the clouds to the south. Rays from the setting sun were slipping along the back of K Mountain and lighting up the Cawston hills and Orofino Mountain.





We can expect the wind to continue until late tomorrow afternoon, and I guess November is just reminding us that the lovely weather of the first two weeks was just a flirty attempt to pull the wool over our eyes...

We have a spat of birthdays to finish off the month in a celebratory mood.

The intimations of winter did cause visions of sugar plums and other Christmas delights. I have illusions about what I am able to bake this year. I know these illusions are only temporary, and eventually I will settle on a simpler version of Christmas as it was in the kitchen in days gone by.

However, I have already stocked up on butter for shortbreads (some things are essential) and soon I will buy fruit and nuts and cream cheese and lemons for tarts. I am beset with plans and questions....

Who will clean the silver in lieu of busy grandchildren?

Who will put up the lights in the garden?

Will we have a small Christmas tree in a cheery red pail?

Or will we bring out all the old and treasured ornaments and find a spot for a larger greenery?

Perhaps we could hang them on garlands around doorways and high, along hallways (large room here for disillusionment).

I glance up at the garden, where the wind blows fiercely and ponder.

Shall I leave the dead stalks for protection during the winter? Or shall I snip them off in this bitter wind and then find protection for the garden elsewhere?

Well, that's an easy decision to make if you don't let your mind wander to March and the winds that sweep the valley in early spring, rustling through the old stalks while the eager bulbs push their way through the great disorder.

Decisions, decisions, decisions, - but lovely ones where Christmas is concerned.

I am off to dig out the Christmas CD's - Pavarotti's old original 'O Holy Night', and the newer music of Ill Divo. My sister tells me of lovely new seasonal recordings by the Canadian Tenors and Andre Botticelli. I look forward to hearing once again Boney M's 'Daughters of Zion' and all the haunting Ave Marias.

Let the wind blow as it may..... sugar plums are not confined to the land of the young...

Catching Up

A busy week, with Remembrance Day in the middle of it and it felt as if every tomorrow should have been Sunday. But it wasn't... Things have happened since Wednesday, - it has been a busy week. Late to be reporting on Remembrance Day, but important to me to to record it here, so please be patient.

It was a beautiful calm sunny day. Family who could came to help us remember our own dear ones who were taken in battle, and all of the others from this community whose names grace the Cenotaph. Others sent messages.

Here is Charles with another old Navy Vet, as he prepares to read the names of the Fallen. As he has done for many, many years. While I was shopping today someone remarked how much his participation is appreciated, and what a fine, commanding voice he had. At home, too, I commented!



The parade marches on, led by the RCMP in their Scarlet Dress uniforms, the Colour Party, the Piper, followed by the Veterans, the members of the Legion, the Service organizations and the children, - the cubs and scouts and guides and brownies.



The Two Minutes of Silence.



The laying of wreaths.








It is a solemn and reverent ceremony, one which remembers with sadness and gratitude, and in no way glorifies or romances the deadly adventures of War. Veterans are heartened by the people of the small towns of Canada who remember those who made it possible for them to live their tomorrows.

The parade marches off to gather at the Legion Hall with those who attended the ceremony - Hot Buttered Rum, Chili, Stew and Buns, singing old songs, laughing at old stories and a few reminiscences, although not as many as in the early years.



At home we talk with mixed emotions, listening to Charles' account of some of those far off days when life was tenuous for so many, and survival was fifty per cent luck and fifty per cent skill and experience, combined with a marvelous trust and dependence upon those who were as close as brothers to you in the battle.



It is one day of Remembrance, and so soon, after a night's sleep, we waken to the realities of the present. But still, there lingers the words, -

"To you with failing hands we throw the Torch, be yours to hold it high
If ye break faith with us who die we shall not sleep,
Though poppies grow in Flanders Fields".

Sky Watch Friday

Similkameen Skies - pictures from the past.







Look to wonderful world wide skies by clicking here.

ABC Wednesday

Q is for Quartermaster

Now we've all heard of the Quartermaster - the man who has the goods! In the Store, in the Store.....

Who hasn't sung this song around a fire at night, searching out the Quartermaster's Store for more wild and crazy objects to be found there, and to sing about.

Here is Burns Ernst playing this old campfire favourite, In The Quartermaster's Store.



And here are some appropriate words to sing along.....

There are mice, mice, mice running through the rice
At the store. At the store.
There are mice, mice, mice running through the rice
At the Quartermaster’s Store.

Mine eyes are dim, I cannot see.
I have not brought my specks with me.
I have not brought my specks with me. (Chorus)

There are rats, rats, rats as big as alley cats
At the store. At the store.
There are rats, rats, rats as big as alley cats
At the Quartermster’s Store.

Snakes...as long as garden rakes Goats….eating all the oats
Beans…as big as submarines Owls…. Shredding paper towels
Gravy…enough to float the navy Apes…..eating all the grapes
Cakes…that give us stomach aches Roaches..sleeping in the coaches
Eggs….with scaly chicken legs Flies…...swarming ‘round the pies
Butter...running in the gutter Fishes….washing all the dishes
Lard….they sell it by the yard
Moths… eating through the cloths
Bread...with great big lumps like lead
Foxes….stuffed in little boxes Cheese.that makes you want to sneeze Scouts…eating brussel sprouts
Soot….they grow it by the foot Leaders..slapping at the skeeters

There’s no more, more, more We’re closing up the store.
Up the store. (2X)
There’s no more, more, more We’re closing up the store
Up the Quartermaster’s Store.

Another timely bit of information about the Quartermaster's stores refers to the absolute necessity of the Quartermaster in providing for the military, wherever they might be.

Wikipedia tells of the presence of the U.S. Quartermaster's Corp on the beaches of Normandy.

"No one seems ever to think a soldier in QM ever gets to smell any gunpowder, dig any foxholes, get into any fighting, go without food, mail and the like. Our QM outfit hit the beach on D-day right when the heat was on, and more outfits are hitting the beaches every day--to unload and load rations, ammunition, and all other equipment and supplies. Opening and running dumps under combat conditions is a tough job. We sleep in foxholes, wash and shave in helmets, dig slit trenches, eat in the open as do other Army outfits. We also have bazooka men, machine-gun men and operate twenty-four hours a day--about fifty percent of that time in the rain and mud."

Private First Class, James P. Hatchell,
(in a letter to the Stars and Stripes Newspaper, August 10, 1944)

Almost everything a soldier wore, carried or ate on D-Day was supplied by the Quartermaster Corps

Quartermaster units and personnel were in the English Channel and on the beaches, Omaha and Utah, when the Allies landed on June 6. QM railhead, service, and truck companies saw continuous operation in the assault at Normandy, in the breakout at St. Lo, and the rapid pursuit across France in the summer of '44. They had some unforgettable experiences.

The 407th Airborne QM Company, for instance, went into Normandy on D-Day in two echelons, the first in gliders and the rest by ship. The glider-borne contingent landed at 2115 hours on June 6th and set up a temporary bivouac on the outskirts of Blosville, a short distance from Ste. Mere Eglise.

Tech 4 Fred Gilbert's unit, the 3891st QM Truck Company, landed on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day and immediately began hauling rations, ammo, and Infantrymen. "In other words," he wrote, they considered themselves "a part of the mobile infantry."

The British, Canadian and Australian Quartermasters were with their Regiments also, supporting and supplying and parachuting behind enemy lines with supplies.

On Remembrance Day we honour those amongst them who gave their lives and made the Quintessential sacrifice.

For more interesting facts about the letter Q go here to Mrs. Nesbitt's inspiring meme.

Veteran's Week in Canada
November 5th to November 11th




In Remembrance


Here is a video in Remembrance of those who gave their lives in the First World War

The music is Sarah Brightman singing 'Pie Jesu'

Video "Battle of the Somme - Real Footage"


Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone
Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone

When they come I will stand my ground
Stand my ground I'll not be afraid

Thoughts of home take away my fear
Sweat and blood hide my veil of tears
Once a year say a prayer for me
Close your eyes and remember me
Never more shall I see the sun
For I fell to a Germans gun

Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone
Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone
Where before many more have gone

Joseph Kilna MacKenzie

In Flanders Fields - Click here for the most popular videos

Skywatch Friday

November surprised us yesterday with a sunrise that was unexpectedly spectacular, and very brief.



Within five minutes it had faded to a delicate pink.



But in the west the moon was still high in the sky, a porcelain coin in the gradually brightening sky.



A pretty gift from a usually dour month, - given a little grudgingly perhaps....

For wonderful skies visit Skywatch Friday here.

ABC Wednesday

P is for Peony

A spectacular flowering plant, native to Asia, southern Europe and western North America but cherished wherever they can be grown.

The Peony is named after Pacon, a student of Aesculapius, the Greek god of medicine and healing. Aesculapius became jealous of his pupil, but Zeus saved Pacon from the wrath of Asclepius by turning him into the peony flower. (Wikipedia)

The photo above is called Candy Cane and is from a Peony Tree that is just starting to flourish and bloom in our new garden.

In our Old Lost Garden the Peony Tree was about twenty-five years old, and the blooms were magnificent for about a week, but then faded and the ground around the tree was covered with wine coloured petals.



This lovely Oriental Poppy below accompanied us to our new home and blooms along with some wild buttercups that were transplanted with it originally from #2 son's garden.



This is a delicate white peony with a pretty blush that is just establishing itself in the new garden.



Along with the plum blossom the Peony is a traditional floral symbol of Mongolia. It is known as the 'flower of riches and honour,' and is used symbolically in Chinese art.



How can one help but love a flower that is as appealing as this....



For more interesting P's visit ABC Wednesday here with thanks to Mrs. Nesbitt