Category Archives: Photos

October 25, 2009 · 4:45 pm

Indulgences

I am waiting in the airport in Calgary, in the Maple Leaf Lounge.This is a good place to wait if you have studying or reading to do.  It is quiet and there is free tea and coffee and other things.  Leo decided that if I was going to travel, he would get this little perk for us.  And it is well worth it.  Otherwise airports are no fun at all!

Anyway, I am on my way back to Saskatoon after ALIVE, our church’s adult retreat.  I’m not sure if these things should be called a retreat since in the true sense of “retreat” it was not.  We did a lot of visiting, some worship with music and we heard God speak to us through Ruth Hill.

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Ruth and I have known each other since back in the Congo.  Now it seems we are on a similar sort of faith journey, discovering that in our late 50’s/early 60’s, we are hearing God call us on into new endeavours that involve study. 

We also both have a weakness for chocolate and after spending our free time on Saturday in our books studying, happened to head out into the hotel corridor at the same time. We drove into downtown Canmore thinking we’d walk around and browse some shops.  Instead we just happened to walk by a Creperie within the first block and were divinely led inside to enjoy some wonderful crepes – Chocolate and Nutella.  What could we do but indulge?

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October 4, 2009 · 6:33 pm

It’s hard to describe

…what made this weekend so special.  Maybe I am simply different.

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Maybe it was the beauty and quiet and the presence of God’s Spirit with us as we met and talked and shared stories of our journey along the paths of faith we are walking.

I think I am a bit different from having been there. 

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October 2, 2009 · 4:14 pm

Up into the mountains again

In about an hour I leave for Calgary.  Then I will head up north west to a beautiful retreat centre – Kingsfold.

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The Covenant is having a leadership retreat there and I have been invited along to do some spiritual direction. 

I have enjoyed doing this the last few years.  I’ve only been at Kingsfold once but it is beautiful and the sort of place where God can be sensed in both the beauty of the location and in the hospitality of those who run the centre.

It will be good.  I am not sure if I am attending out of a sense of fulfillment I get from sitting and talking about growing relationships with God or if I need this kind of quiet place for some healing of my own soul.

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September 11, 2009 · 3:57 pm

Grandmother stuff

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Last week, as I spent time with Kieran and Nea, my understanding of a most wonderful truth about being a grandmother grew. It is OK to play. It is more than OK actually – it is almost a requirement and in fact it is fun.

This kind of playing belongs mostly to grandparents I think. I suppose a really silly parent can get by doing the same things but most parents take the importance of their high role too seriously. A grandparent can get away with being really silly or simple and no one is likely to judge you for being a poor grandparent because of it. They will probably watch you down on the ground picking up stones, examining them carefully with a five year old and marvel at the joy you still find in life.

This summer, as I drove out to Vancouver, I gathered a few treasures along the way. Rocks.

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My excuse was that they were for Kieran. But maybe it is the repressed child in me. I always gathered rocks on my summer vacations as a child. Why not do it again now? This will perhaps be the last period of my life when I will be able to gather them. And a grandmother needs no better reason than that I will be able to sit with my grandson and admire their shapes and colour.

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Filed under Family, grandchildren, Photos, Travels

September 8, 2009 · 11:15 pm

More Pictures

Tonight I took some time to add some more pictures to our set of vacation photos.  The ones added are from our time in Skagway.  Its an interesting old gold rush town that now lives for the tourist rush in the summer.  The railway trip up to Fraser, BC was beautiful as well as fun.  You can check them  out on Flikr here.

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This is one of my favourites – the old wooden trestle bridge.

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September 6, 2009 · 9:31 pm

Pictures

One of my goals for today was to upload some of my pictures to Flikr and get some sets of my vacation and on my newest granddaughter.  This stuff seems to take a lot of time but some of the pictures are up and can be seen here (Kadyn) IMG_1407

 

and here (vacation). 

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The vacation set will see some additions as the week goes on.  I have a  lot of pictures to go through. 

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August 14, 2009 · 9:21 pm

Vacationing

I think my posts will be sporadic over the next few weeks.  It doesn’t really seem as if a whole week of vacation has already passed.  It has been very good. 

The first couple of days were just spent around home.  I don’t think I got a lot done although, now that I think about it, I did clean out a closet and get ready to depart on my travelling camping trip,driving to Vancouver where I’ll meet Leo and Kieran for the cruise up to Alaska.

I also spent a couple of days out at Anglin Lake, a gift from my staff. It is one of my favourite places to go and, although it seemed busier than usual, was a wonderful two days.  It may have been busier due to the perfect weather.  I even swimming and sat on the beach.IMG_0233

Wednesday I left for Alberta.  There is another of my favourite spots there – Elk Island National Park.  The camping is great IMG_0391  and there are no bears resident to the park so I feel pretty safe camping there.  It is so close to Edmonton but so quiet.  This morning in the rain as I was leaving the bison were all over the road.  It took a few extra minutes to get to the highway but it is fun to drive through a herd of these huge animals that are at relative ease with vehicles.

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And now here I am at the Friesen’s in the field.  I  timed it just perfectly. This morning, I awoke at about 5 am to the sound of little droplets of rain on the roof of the tent.  Wisely, I pulled myself off my comfy air mattress and took down the tent, packed up the car and then finished my morning sleep inside the car in the parking lot before heading down here.  It has been raining all day.  I am happy not to be tenting anywhere tonight.  It has been raining all day and it is supposed to get quite cold tonight.  I could handle cold maybe but not cold and wet. 

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July 19, 2009 · 7:20 am

A Day With Friends

We spent the day up at Waskesiu with our good friends the Kents yesterday.  The weather was perfect – hot and sunny – perfect lake weather. 

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Waskesiu has become quite the vacation hot spot in this area.  A few years ago there was little development.  Now new and very expensive cabins are going up where there used to be tiny little cabins and shack tents.  In fact there is a “historical” display of these old structures by the administrative centre.  It is indicative of my age, I guess, that this is history I remember – like yesterday.

Anyway, pictures are worth more than words so here are a couple of shots from our day.  There are more over at Flikr.

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July 13, 2009 · 8:01 am

What a good weekend!

All weekend seemed like one big party/visit.  And it was. 

Leo’s brother Paul was up for the weekend so Leo was busy entertaining him.  PAUL visited the farm and saw the llamas that Michelle bought at an auction.  Pets for Kimia I’m sure.  Then he went shopping with Michelle while Leo and the guys watched CFL – Yeah Roughriders!  He came home with some fish which died overnight and some plants which were still living this morning when he left.

Yesterday was Kieran’s sixth birthday party.  The plans were to have a barbeque out at Little Red Park.  It was a beautiful day yesterday and there was not a single picnic table to be had out there.  So just before I left for the park, thinking that was where the festivities were happening, I got a call.  “Can we all come to your place?”  So there you go – always have the house in some reasonable semblance of order for these unexpected occurrences!  We have a nice yard and over the weekend I actually did a lot of weeding and planting and had gotten it in decent shape. 

So we celebrated in style.  Kieran had a good time and that was the main thing.

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May 22, 2009 · 10:27 am

On a less stressful note

It is my hubby and best friend’s birthday today.  He joins me now in my old age. 

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Sixty years suits him well I think.  He gets to become a doting grandfather and having lost well over 100 lbs in the last year, he has more energy to invest in life.  In fact, he was off to play golf at 6 am today to begin his birthday celebrations.

Looking forward to the next batch of years we have together.

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