What a difference a day makes...

Remember this picture from my blog (Feb 19)?

Well here's what it looked like yesterday.

The daffodils were in full bloom when they were surprised by a cold blanket of snow. The temperature dropped from 8 degrees C. on Tuesday to -5 degrees yesterday. Around 9:30 in the morning I was watching about 30 robins looking for worms in the field below the office windows when the snow started. It snowed all day - not just a light dusting but a full out blizzard, the wind blowing the snow horizontal so that we could hardly see the house from the office windows. By 11:00 everything was white and the robins had gone - looking for refuge from the storm, I'm sure. Even my crocs and the little stone birds on the porch got their dusting.

Today was all sunshine - the white fields blinding us. As you can see, the mountains - especially Mt. Cheam - were spectacular in their bridal clothes.

I have to admit, like most of the Fraser Valley, we had already welcomed Spring who has proved somewhat fickle. I hear she's on her way back but we will have evidence of Old Man Winter's whirlwind visit around

for a little while yet.

Can you see the eagles in the tall tree on the left? They alert us to their presence with their piercing cries. Majestic and mighty, they survey the fields from their lofty perch.

Happy Birthday Lovella

It's Lovella's birthday today...

A milestone one I'm told, but I won't give away which one.

Suffice it to say she looks terrific.

She's also a great cook and has the gift of hospitality - to her family, her grandchildren, her friends and total strangers -

all of whom feel right at home with her.

Her blogging claim to fame is the acclaimed "Mennonite Girls Can Cook" recipe blog. If you haven't heard of it, you can find it here: http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/

It's a great site with wonderful recipes and has resulted in a warm and supporting friendship circle among the women who contribute to it.

Thank you Lovella.

Have a wonderful birthday today and we wish you a fabulous year of celebration.

Dorothy Canfield Fisher, who wrote one of my favourite childrens' books,

"Understood Betsy", said:

"One of the many things no one ever tells you about middle age is that it’s such a nice change from being young. "

May the Lord bless you all the days of your life. Psalm 128:5

Happy Birthday Dad

(This post was supposed to be published on Feb. 20/09 but I was away and wasn't sure if it would publish itself on the day I set it to or not. Obviously it needs a human to push the publish button.)

Happy Birthday Dad. You are so special to Janet and me, to our families and to your many friends.
We're so proud of you and feel so blessed to have you as our Dad.

You always took time to play with us as we were growing up - my favourite memories are ice skating with you along 15 Mile Creek back in Ontario, hands linked, your strong hands guiding me, making me feel loved and so special. When I walked with you, you always made sure I was on the inside of the sidewalk - afterall, if a car veered off the road, I would be protected.

We loved it that you were home from work waiting for us when we got home from school. You'd lay on the grass, reading the paper and we would climb on your back. You made sure we stayed in touch with our extended families - working hard so we could go to BC to see your side of the family every couple of years. Those trips, by train and by car where such a highlight for us. We learned to love our country in a way that couldn't be taught through a text book.

You modelled generosity and kindness, and introduced us to our heavenly Father at an early age. You and mom showed us the importance of having and being friends and showed us how to maintain relationships through good times and bad.

When our children came along, you made the effort to come and see them - occassionally more than once in a year. You and mom willingly came and stayed with our children (ages 6, 9 and 11) so I could accompany Harv on a working trip to New Zealand that extended to 6 weeks. The kids were loved and cared for beyond our expectations. Now that we're grandparents we know exactly how big a committment you took on!

What a joy it was to welcome you to BC 20 years ago, when you and mom decided to move here. That took courage - to leave the area you'd lived in for 40 years, all your good friends, and familiar activities to come and start over here. Our children are so fortunate to have known their Opa and Oma and our grandchildren the same. Now that Mom has gone, you have worked hard to adapt to the changes this has brought to your life.

We love you and are so proud of you.
You are the best, Dad!! Happy Birthday.

Signs of Spring 2009

Its only February but this is what I can see in my flowerbeds. Can you find the bees already hard at work?

Each springtime I am amazed and awed at how a small dried up bulb has a life that is renewed each Spring. How does it push those leaves out ? From what are they made? And the extravagant beauty and detail of the

flowers it produces for our enjoyment.. there is only one answer....

God, the Creator of heaven and earth has done this marvelous thing.

And when life gets overwhelming and worrisome, we are reminded to:

"Consider the lilies how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is,

and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, Will He not much more clothe you? Matthew6:28-30

Valentines

I got a call from my Grnadson N early in the week : "Nana, I'm mailing an envelope to you today!"

My mind went into search mode and came up with "Oh no! It's Valentines Day this week and I haven't sent the grands any cards yet!"

so, the rest of the morning was spent in my craft room making the cards you see here. First off, I did a bit of a search on the internet for Valentine Verses - well, I found a couple of' Dinosaur themed ones for the the Sask. boys' cards and a cute owl one for the baby. These are the cards that resulted:and and then I came across these cute little creatures.

I couldn't resist, so the Seattle grands are getting these. The are made from 3 different sizes of hearts. One for the stand, the largest for the mouse and the smaller for the ears. I used eyelets for the eyes and knotted some thread whiskers. I forgot to give them noses - the pictures I saw used a tiny pom pom.
I somehow lost the website where I saw this idea so I can't give credit where it is due But they sure are cute aren't they? They were fun to make.

Recommended Reading

My Daughter in Saskatchewan phoned me today with a book recommendation. She said she thought it one of the best books she's read and thought I would love it. So I checked the library here in town and found that there were 115 holds on 26 copies! I couldn't get it when I wanted it (NOW), so I went out and bought it.

I'm half way through and am finding that Chris was right - I love it.

It's engaging, funny and very well written. The title is

"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society"

and it is written by Mary Ann Shaffer and her niece, Annie Barrow. (That's kind of neat in itself, isn't it; to see an aunt and her niece do a book together?)

The novel takes the form of letters written between members of the society and a writer in London and is written about the Nazi occupation of the British Island of Guernsey.

It's delightful - I highly recommend it. Beg, Borrow or Buy yourself a copy, pour yourself a cup of tea and enjoy it as much as Chris and I have.

"Heaps of fun"

We had a wonderful weekend. First off, we went dancing. Harv and I took dance lessons several years ago, had forgotten alot since then and decided to get back into it now after Christmas. The Dance class held a party on Friday night and we had alot of fun. I can't think of a better way to spend a few hours than in my hubby's arms.

Early Saturday morning we left for Seattle to see the grandkids (and our son and his wife of course). We had such fun with the grands. Baby B has grown so much since we last saw him at Christmas and GrandPrincess and Grand boy N keep us entertained with their incredible conversational skills. They are both "full of beans" as my hubby says and tuckered us right out by the end of the day. I wouldn't have it any other way!

It is so great to see the family interaction and the love and respect our kids have for their children. Mom and Dad have alot of fun with their kids and there is lots of laughter in the family. The children are encouraged to seek Christ's way in solving disputes and are being taught and shown how to live godly lives.They are almost 5, 3 and 5 months and even at this young age they are demonstrating an understanding of how God's word applies to every part of their lives. It blesses us to see this in their family.

Our drive down to Seattle had taken us through alternating bright sunshine and dense fog and it was a bit gloomy and grey all morning. But by afternoon the sun came out and we got to play outside for awhile.

After a great supper, pre-bedtime play and some stimulating grown up conversation it was time to leave for home. What a great day!

How I've been Spending my Time

Oh have I ever been having fun! My DIL introduced me to a progam she used to make a book out of their European holiday pictures. I downloaded the program, and went to work, and I got the results in the mail last week.

I am so excited with the finished product. Isn't it gorgeous? It's a coffee table quality, hard covered book with MY photos in it, with the story of OUR motorcycle trip to San Fancisco last summer.

The program is called "My Publisher" and if you want to give it a try, email me or leave a comment and I'll forward the link to you.

There's a reason for my request - if I refer you and you decide to put a book together like I did, I get $20.00 off my next order. The program is free to download and so easy to use. My book cost me about $60.00 (including shipping) which I feel is well worth it. After all, making a scrapbook costs alot more in photo finishing, supplies, and time.

You can drag and drop your photos into the program, choose how many pictures you want on a page, choose from a number of templates and styles, type in captions or have a page or two with only text.

A basic book with 20 pages is $34.95 (US) and it's only .99 /page to add extra pages and $4.95 if you want the snazzy book jacket. To top it all off, I took advantage of their introductory offer of a second copy for free. So I sent one as a gift to our friends who did the trip with us and they were as thrilled as we were with the book.

If you're like me, you've got wonderful photos cooped up in your computer where no one can see them. And as much as I love making those wonderful scrapbooks, they take me alot more time than this does. I'll still do special albums but this is an option for some of those photos that realistically won't make it into a scrapbook type album.

Just think of the possibilities. My DIL is working on her second book - "2008 in Review". You could make a book for yourself or for a gift; one on your garden flowers, a book of your grandchildren's photos, a wedding album or maybe a Christmas book. I 've already started on my second travel album.

Can you tell I'm excited about this? Look it up - you'll be amazed how easy it is and you'll be so happy to have those great photos out where they can be shared and enjoyed.