You may not believe this, but you haven’t heard from me this past month because I couldn’t come up with a topic that would be even slightly interesting in a blog. We’ve been staying close to home these days, except for necessary trips to town for groceries and medical appointments. Our favorite dining spots have been closed, except for curbside service, and the food would be cold before we got back home. A treat in town would be a drive-thru for donuts or hamburgers, but eating a meal in our vehicle can get messy.

Back home, my husband and I have different “comfort” zones, but both of us have decided that we have no time to be bored. There are too many things that still grab our attention. He spends hours every day in his shop… cleaning, repairing, organizing and building a variety of items in his shop. Living in a rural area gave him space to build a separate building, giving him space to accommodate his two hobbies… vintage telephones and tractors. We’ve been here so many years that he now has to find items that he can do without, or build more storage space. It takes longer to accomplish the planned goal because so many items bring back fond or not so fond memories. I’m experiencing similar days in our house.

I still have the daily housekeeping chores… laundry, cleaning, and cooking. I don’t have a garden now because there are too many deer in our area. I don’t even pretend to like gardening, but we do enjoy the rhubarb that comes up every year without any attention from me. It is the one plant that the deer won’t touch, so I get out our favorite recipes for rhubarb loaf, cookies, and upside-down cake. My computer grabs my attention and I have been re-learning photo restoration that I was able to do years ago. My software was outdated, so I have the added challenge of learning new software.  I’ve had a passion for photos most of my life, started with my parents’ photo albums filled with photos of me, their only child, from birth and with members of their families. My first paying job was at a photo studio just one block from my high school, where I learned to color tint wedding and family portraits. When I entered nursing school, there was only one other classmate who had a camera, and colored slides were a new and wonderful photo “invention”. These past several months, I have reminisced many hours while perusing photo albums and boxes of photos, some from my school days, some from my days of nursing, and many taken during our 57 years of marriage. There are black and white snapshots, colored prints, studio photos that are no longer in frames. There are photos that I took of our children during their growing up years, their weddings, and the growing years of our grandchildren. There are pictures of my best friends who are now no longer with us, and guests in our home that I can no longer remember their names, but the photographs bring back a flood of memories. The photos that I took when we were able to travel are now reminders, and as my father would say, can be our “Armchair Travels”.

Right now, I’m enjoying all the “stuff’ that I’ve saved. Yesterday, I found a box filled with greeting cards from family and friends, Christmas letters with added photos, birth announcements, graduation ceremony invitations, and obituaries They are tangible items that I can hold, that have personal signatures and hand written notes, and imperfect photos of family, friends of childhood homes. Everything seems like a treasure.

I’m thankful for this time of ‘isolation’ that has slowed us down and given us time to enjoy what we have, and remember the vast array of experiences in our past.

Tags: Hobbies Photos Friends Savings

7 comments View Entry

I have received some wonderful private messages from friends here on The Hill, and other sources. I thought I was giving everyone a “break”, because I’ve been known to be an adamant and frequent user of words, both in live conversations, text messages, emails, and blogs. However, the messages are checking to see if all is well at our patch of land, has our ‘isolation’ become a ‘seclusion’, or have I been distracted by more interesting activities. Well, here comes a ‘deluge’ of words that I’ve been saving up!

According to the media, public opinion, and assumed expert advice, my husband and I are in the most vulnerable age group, so we began our voluntary personal isolation in early March, and thankful that we are still able to enjoy rural living. My husband spends many hours each day in his shop… fixing, painting, sorting, rearranging, and sometimes, trashing long preserved items. One never knows when the saved items would be just what is needed, saving a trip to town. He also can have a short ‘uninterrupted’ nap in his favorite chair in his shop. Meanwhile, I am content in our warm home, doing a bit of cooking, a bit of cleaning, completing some items on my ‘to do’ list. I am thankful for my cell phone, my computer, the many albums and boxes of photographs in our library, and my favorite chair by the window that gives me a ‘bird’s eye view’ of our beautiful river valley. If you have visited my profile page here on The Hill, you may have seen the posted photos of the wild life that have stopped, some only long enough to have their picture taken, at our patio.

A long-time friend invited me to join a private group on another social media website, to help with a ‘craft’ that I enjoyed years ago. It sounded like fun, but I soon learned that I wasn’t as good at repairing and refurbishing vintage and damaged photographs as I once was, and my software needed to be upgraded. Learning new things has always grabbed my attention, but it seems to take a lot longer to get the information through my thick head. I’m fascinated with the tools available now, and I’ve been spending a lot of time on this ‘learning curve’!

Tags: Update Trains Car Photos

7 comments View Entry

Father’s Day is this weekend … we are happy that our son and his wife are bringing both families together to honor Dads, present and absent, as an expression by the families. We will miss those who are not able to be with us, but know that their hearts will be here.

My father was the first-born in his family, arriving in the winter of 1906.  The family tragedies in the first few years of his life, resulting in a major move to another country, contributed to his early maturity and diligence in his commitment to given responsibilities. He had little formal education, and in his late teens, became a cattle-driver in the Cypress Hills.

I was his favorite child… and his only child, arriving in his 34th year. He was my personal entertainer and playmate when we lived on the farm. He made sure that I learned about the important things in life, and supported my mom in my pursuit of music.

Dad was a “people” person, and preferred to be known as ‘Gus’, and not by Mr. He learned to be a carpenter when we moved to the city, worked on the crew who built our second home in the city, as well as their retirement home. He sang in the church choir, and often played his mouth-organ on the porch. He even taught me how to play a tune on a ‘comb and paper’! When I showed an interest in becoming a nurse, he was my #1 cheer-leader, and financial provider. According to Dad, my husband was more like a brother than a son-in-law. Knowing that was the best gift I could ever receive from him. 

Our two children, and Dad’s only grandchildren, had great respect for their grandfather. When their grandmother passed away, their learned many things from and about him. He always had time for them, and they for him. I’m not the only family member who misses him.

Speaking of a great Dad… my kids have the best! We will be celebrating him on Sunday.

Tags: Dad Grandfather Friend Loving

6 comments View Entry

It has been quite a week at our little spot in the valley. I was feeling “a bit below the radar”, not so much about my health but about my appearance. I should have had my hair cut the week before this whole pandemic-altering lifestyle, but thought it would be good for a couple more weeks. Now it was a couple of months, and I was hoping that my dear hubby wouldn’t go and buy a dog tag for me.

One morning, I had a “news flash”! We used to have our hair appointments in a city shop, and our favorite stylist was a certified barber and hair stylist. When she resigned and started a mobile salon, we mutually agreed that we would find someone in our town because she wasn’t interested in driving to any rural location. Why not call her and ask if she would cut our hair if I drove to the city to pick her up. “I can come by myself if you will give me clear directions,” she replied. “I would love to get a bit of ‘country air’ in my lungs, and a cup of coffee on your patio.”

It was a lovely day and she “set up shop” on our driveway. No need for a drop sheet, thanks to a slight breeze. We had a pleasant conversation about family and work, and when she asked me what was filling my time, I told her how our son brought everything out of our attic, most items belonging to him and his sister. When we moved to our present home, their belongings in the rooms they had grown up in came with us because they were in education programs and didn’t have the time to sort through their stuff. That was almost 30 years ago, and now we did find some personal ‘treasures’, some items that are now almost collectable, many items that seemed to be too good to throw out, and piles of “junque” that would not be saved.

When their items were sorted and boxed, I finally had room to move in our main storage room.  I then started sorting through our stuff, and creating the three categories that I have written about in a previous blog… (1) put it away; (2) give it away; (3) throw it away! If we haven’t used it or looked at it in two years, we don’t need it. Now were we ready to find some organization who would accept the reusable items. Our other alternative was to take it to Value Village or, as a last resort, deliver it to the local dump.

I was surprised when my hairdresser asked if she could have a look at what we were giving away, so off we went to inspect the load of items in our van, and in our storage room. She told me that she had spoken to two church organizations that week, who normally have a Rummage Sale every year to raise funds for benevolent projects, but may have to cancel because they were not receiving many items that were saleable. She asked if I would consider donating our items to one of these. We were thrilled because it would be of a benefit to a local project.

As we were enjoying our coffee on the patio, so she could have a glimpse of our ‘green valley’, she asked if I could recommend where she could find a mattress for herself, at a reasonable and affordable price. She has been a single mother for over 30 years and has never been able to afford a new bed, or even a mattress, for herself. We just happened to have a ‘next-to-new’ mattress in our guest room, including new bedding. She apologized for even asking, but had just ‘popped’ in her mind. Interesting, I thought?

On the weekend, she returned with her son and his truck, and loaded everything to deliver to her church and to her home. To receive many words of thanks and appreciation, with tears in her eyes, was the ultimate payment that we never anticipated, never planned on, and never expected.

For us, that was a ‘God-Moment’!

Tags: Gift Friendship

6 comments View Entry

We’re having a quiet evening, and I’m telling myself to stop planning and start writing. It’s ‘throwback Thursday’ and if I don’t hurry, I’m going to miss it.

Considering the news reports that we have been watching from our quiet spot, I recalled one of the first ‘major’ happening in our young son’s life… meeting new friends at kindergarten. Coming home from his first day at kindergarten, he excitedly told us that he has a new friend, adding, “Mom, he has the smoothest hair, and he likes my glasses!” His friend lived in a different community, so the boys didn’t travel on the same school bus. But it didn’t take long for me to have the opportunity to meet his new friend, when I visited his kindergarten. His friend did have very smooth and curly hair, and his skin was very black, a detail that our son didn’t seem to notice. Over the next several years, we had delightful times when the two boys had play times together. Different schools, different interests, and different locations separated the boys for years. They finished school, pursued their careers, and becoming responsible adults. Unexpectedly, they met in the lobby of our local airport, waiting for their respective flights. It was amazing that they even recognized each other in the crowd. They don’t live in the same province but have had several visits, and stay in touch via computer. I’ve even been invited to be a friend on Facebook, and I love catching up with the ‘long-lost’ friend.

I’ve also been thinking about how we met our family doctor in our town. We had been hoping to change our regular shopping and medical services from the city to our town. City traffic was becoming less attractive us ‘country folk’. We didn’t have much success in finding a doctor who was accepting new patients until the new Emergency Service Center was built in our town. On one of our “emergency” visits, I asked the nursing staff if there were any doctors in town who were accepting new patients, and she gave me a list of six names. The names were not familiar, but there were two doctors in a clinic located in our local Walmart that we decided to contact. My husband asked the receptionist who she would favor of the two doctors, and she came back with this question… “Do you have a color problem?” Hubby said that he liked all colors, wondering what that question had anything to do with the question that he had asked. She gave us the name and made an appointment for us to have an introductory meeting.

Our meeting was delightful; this doctor was friendly, asked questions and listened intently to our replies, told us that his medical training and initial practice was in England, moved his family to Canada two years ago, and loved our small town and community. He has followed our health issues with care, referred us to specialist when needed, and is incredibly sensitive and intuitive. And… we learned why the receptionist asked if we had a “color problem”!

I was reminded of the words of a song that I learned in Sunday School, and also taught it to our children, many years ago:

Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
All are precious in His sight.
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

 Color Doesn't Matter!

Tags: Children Colors Medical

13 comments View Entry

Call it what you like… we are being well entertained at our home, in spite of the continued self-imposed isolation. Our last social outing was March 15^th, altered briefly by three visits to our grocery store and one delivery of files to our accountant in the city. We miss the personal contact with friends and neighbors, and the friendly hugs that are our normal greeting. Thank goodness for telephones, especially for those who still are not connected to a computer… my beloved hubby being one of them.

So, are we still civil with each other; still married? Absolutely! Why give up after what we’ve put up with for 57 years? When my husband has had his breakfast, he gets ready to go to ‘work’ in his shop, just as he did when he had a real job before he retired. He loves his shop that was, and still is, the site of his two hobbies… the rebuilding of several vintage tractors, and collecting and repairing vintage and antique telephones. Now he finds things that need to be repaired, repainted, rearranged and cleaned, and has even come up with new creative projects.

He has spent many days repairing our favorite steel bird feeder that was badly damaged by Mama Bear last year, after her two young cubs dropped by on our back patio. The bird feeder ended up at the bottom of the hill, and was rescued by our grandson who was able to navigate our hill. Hubby also designed a new birdfeeder and has mounted it near our patio door so that we can watch the activity from our favorite chairs on the warm side of the glass.

What do I do with my time, while he’s at ‘work’? About the same that I’ve always done, being a ‘stay-at-home’ mom, except there are no kids here now. I’m not much of an “outdoor” person, especially when walking becomes more of a challenge. I have been known to trip and fall over a pebble on the pavement, and I don’t relish the possibility of it happening again. I do some cleaning, read old recipe books and do some baking. Our meals are freshly prepared, and enjoyed whenever we feel hungry, and not at set times. The exercise machine gets some of my attention, I play the piano when I don’t have an audience, and my computer is rarely turned off. I do a lot of reading, I talk on the phone and send text messages to friends and family in many parts of the world, and I keep wanting to learn new things. This year I am “relearning” photo restoration, thanks to a closed group on Facebook. I go to bed late, I wake up late, and I don’t allow myself to complain or get bored. Above all else, I strive to be an “encourager”!

I won’t post any photos here but I have posted recent photos on my NOTH page. For those who read my blogs on Blogger, I am including a link to those photos. I love photos, old, new, and shared from others. It can be referred to as “Armchair Travelling”, in our home, in the neighborhood, or anywhere that we have been fortunate to enough to travel.

Here is the link …

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipN0ctmeXkJiucY5hceWZeYB1Jz53N3KyFm8NkXYX8Vhg6vB4saZJFnPl2F8K ksTWw?key=dGhUcVozTXYtUGZyVk5GX0lsLWNmelNqRERwT3NR 

12 comments View Entry

Well, I’ve been ‘self-isolated’, along with my favorite and treasured husband, and reminding each other that we have no reason to complain about being at home; home isn’t a bad place to be. I can think of a lot worse places. However, we have notes on our calendar that will remind us of ‘notable’ events the past several weeks.

How have we been spending our time here on our patch of the river valley? If you have read my previous blog “My ‘catch-up’ Story, our routine hasn’t changed much! When we are enjoying our breakfast, my husband will ask, “What are your plans for today?”, and I answer, “Oh, about the same as yesterday!” However, we had several events that added some ‘color’ to those days.

Seven years ago we celebrated our 50th Wedding Anniversary in fine style; we went on a cruise! We’re not much for big parties, and hubby wasn’t interested in one for our anniversary… too many speeches, too many old photos, and no need for gifts. He thought we may have a bit of a problem finding someone who could say nice things about us in a speech!!!!

This year, we were at home and celebrated with having a bowl of rice pudding for dessert. Don’t laugh! We celebrate with thankful hearts every day that we are still here and enjoying our time together. Being that hubby is not a computer person, I did a ‘throw-back’ for him with this picture. He was the owner and driver of that car; it certainly got my attention… and the rest is history.

What else could we do when we don’t leave home, can’t enjoy a meal at our favorite restaurant in the city, or shop for a fancy gift? We have a new bird feeder, thanks to the imagination, creativity and skill of hubby in his favorite shop. He repaired the steel feeder that we have used for several years, but was attacked last summer by a Mama bear. We did get to have a brief visit from her two cubs, but she didn’t seem to appreciate the bird feeder. He also built another feeder that will be attached to our patio wall, so that we can watch the activity from our “favorite perches” in the house. When the blue jays returned this spring, they were very noisy in the shrubs, and it sounded like they were calling to us, “Where’s the grub? We’re hungry!” Maybe not ... but we are always pleased when they return. Now that the feeders are in place, I’m including a couple of pictures of other visitors that we were pleased to watch up close without disturbing them.

We even had a coyote drop by… my husband saw her, but I was too slow and didn’t get a picture. Coyotes are usually very shy so they don’t stick around for long; they prefer to make a lot of noise in the bushes below our home.

P.S. If you have heard that our son needed emergency surgery, he is doing well and recovering nicely. No more grocery shopping for us for a while, and he is now convinced that we are still well and able to do it ourselves. We have been spoiled by him… and we appreciate it very much.

Tags: Birds Vintage Family Home

10 comments View Entry

This is a "throw-back" Thursday blog... changing the focus of our present "new normal" to a "how it was" at our home on a "normal" summer day! It is a fun memory. This was one of my postings in the A to Z Alphabet Blog Challenge.

___________________________________

W - What a Wacky Workplace! 

When do the wonderful men in our area have the most fun? When they are working on a project together. Some are ranchers, working together to drive cattle from one feeding area to another, or loading the animals to transport them to market. They also work together at branding time, and the women join in by supplying meals for them.

What about the guys in the neighborhood who are not ranchers? When we first moved from the city to our rural location, we were all 'displaced' city slickers and had to learn to do rural stuff… building fences, plowing snow, mowing weeds on the sides of our roads. They rode dirt bikes together along the river and up and down the hills, stopping occasionally to catch a trout in the 'Blue-ribbon Bow River. In the winter, the snowmobiles were well-used. Dads and kids had a lot of fun together, but the kids are all grown up now, and busy with their own families. Few of those kids live in the neighborhood, a few are in the city, and many live in a different city, a different province, and even a different country. But there are still wonderful memories!

We have a wacky workplace in our yard. Ed built his shop originally to store his telephone collection, and then it became the shop where he refurbished several vintage tractors. There was a parade of guys, from the neighborhood and from the city, who would arrive on the weekends to see how the work was progressing. Sometimes, they would give unsolicited suggestions and even offer some "elbow grease" that was much appreciated by my husband.

The 'wacky workplace' has been a center of activity this summer, and is still a busy place. A number of friends had fewer work days due to health issues, early retirement, and other circumstances, and they came to Ed's shop to chat, drink coffee or non-alcoholic beer, tell stories and stay for lunch if they were invited. The work projects in the shop included learning to refurbishing vintage telephones, repair our boarder's vehicle, and talk politics. I often heard laughter coming from the shop, and later my husband would tell me about "SOME" of the conversations. They were having a lot of fun, even when they were working.

The gang of these 'wacky guys' include a train engineer who is on medical leave, a friend in the community who works for the power company(mostly on the night shift), a Jewish friend who reminds me that since I met him, I now know two Jewish carpenters, and a doctor from South America who is not able to practice his profession in Canada. I am so happy to have them at our table for lunch, spiced with laughter, some serious talk, and hugs of thanks for the cook.

They keep life interesting!

Tags: Hobbies Buddies Fun Times

3 comments View Entry

A message to my friends is long overdue and I decided to write an “update” blog. Where has the time gone? I do drop by almost every day to pick up my “mail” and reply where necessary, but then off I go to other areas of interest on the Internet. Like what, you ask? If you have been 'messaging' with me, you may already know some of my story.

I love to read, and even though I had cataract surgery this past year, it didn’t turn out the way it was expected, so I still read on my tablet or computer. I like to learn new things, most especially computer related. However, I’m beginning to realize that I am often relearning something that I used to know how to do, but either my software is too old since upgrading my computer to Windows 10, or “Use It or Lose It!” is a quote that is certainly my case. I have a passion for photography, and have been enjoying our “old” photo albums, and have been re-learning how to restore damaged and faded vintage family photo treasures. I am so thankful for TC & EB and their newsletter that was my original “teacher” and now my information source is their daily Cloudeight InfoAve Daily and their Cloudeight InfoAve Weekly newsletter! “Altara”, an active Staff member, has also been very helpful and a great source of information.

I hope that you have had a great weekend, even in our “new reality”. I hope you have found new and interesting things to do with your time. Our self-imposed isolation (because of my hubby’s health challenges last year) has given us lots of things to be thankful for … continued good health, great country air, and a loving family who frequently check up on us. Hubby is able to spend hours in his beloved ‘Shop’. He tells me that he has many projects… fix things, paint things, rearrange things, trash things… and when he works too hard on those projects, he has the occasional nap in his favorite “shop” chair. 

What fills my time? I do a bit of cooking, a bit of cleaning, some walking around our yard… and a lot of time on my computer! My computer gives me an endless supply of music, books to read, free communication tools to keep in touch with family and friends internationally. I’ve recently learned to shop online for groceries and then drove to town to pick up my order, all without ever getting out of our vehicle. I even experienced ‘curb-side’ service from the ‘Easter Bunny’ who brought our prescriptions to us in the parking lot. The pharmacist decided to “deliver with a smile” and hopefully bring a smile to the faces of the customers too. She succeeded!

Most of these experiences have also caused personal spiritual reflections. Is our Creator God allowing this pandemic for His holy purpose? God is never the author of evil; GOD IS LOVE! Has the events of this month diminished my faith in my Heavenly Father? Not a bit; I have a calmness that even surprises me. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been reminded through songs and reading Scripture to take “one day at a time”, and nothing is gained by worrying over something of which we have no control. And what about praying? If it seems hard to do, we need to be reminded that prayer is like a conversation with God, our Heavenly Father. He’s not concerned about “formal words” learned recitation; He knows even our unspoken thoughts!

Remember… One Day At A Time!

17 comments View Entry