J's Northern Aspect

2011-11-01T20:20:00.000-07:00

Trying different background - this shows what it would look like with dark brown stripes.

Decided on light blue for the strips.

Used as different blue print for the border with the small block in each corner. The backing is a white with light blue large print. The excess is rolled over the edge for the binding.

This quilt is the most recent large one that i have made and is yet to be hand quilted.

Cutting Quilt Blocks and Arranging the Designs

2011-11-01T19:51:00.000-07:00

Iron the light and dark pieces of fabric faces together and lay out on a cutting mat(gray mat). Using the measuring board (clear plastic with measurements at left side) Draw lines as shown to make squares the size desired and then draw the diagonals. Sew with the machine straight down the diagonal lines. Place the sewn fabrics back on the cutting mat and using the rotary cutter and plastic measuring guide cut all the horizontal and vertical lines. Stay on the lines. Press each block open along the diagonal seam.

Try out various arrangements of the 16 blocks that you have made.

You can also view these same pictures with more story attached in the Archives of this blog -Mon. Jan 19, 2009 and Sat. Jan 24, 2009. Look on the side panel.

MOM & DAD'S "FAMILY QUILT"

2011-10-31T20:19:00.000-07:00

These are the close-up pictures of the individual blocks prepared by Harry & Mary's family in 1979. There are blocks representing all the children, in-laws and grandchildren that were then in the family.

I did the family tree and later added Andrew's name but should have added John's Ruth, Hannah & Joanna.

The top block in the picture to the right has the information that this quilt was given to Mom & Dad on Christmas 1979. (You won't believe how many photo albums we went through on Sat. night to try to find that information out. I just took the quilt off the shelf this evening and there the info was staring me in the face. )

John F. was an employee of John Deere for many years and I'm sure that is why he chose a tractor. Since John was not into embroidery work he did his blocks with silk screening .

These last two pictures show the quilt spread on our queen size bed. The printed blocks between the hand worked ones has faded with use and washing. The back is a pale lilac colosrr which went quite nicely with Mom & Dad's bedroom. htts://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=671970240

John & Ruth's Wedding Quilt

2011-10-31T19:41:00.000-07:00

The quilt made for John & Ruth's wedding in 1985.

The light yellow center blocks were embroidered by family members on each side of the couple's family. This must have been a real effort on everyone's part because this couple did not have such a long engagement and the quilt was all ready by the wedding date.

the top picture is how I placed the completed blocks to decide what order they should be in.

Second picture is the quilting process after the orange strips were sewn into place, the orange backing and filling were secured on the frame before the top was placed on the frame. My youngest son, Andrew is supervising the work that I am doing.

Pictures three & four show the finished product. I haven't figured out how to turn them the right way.

Grandma's Quilts

2011-10-29T14:07:00.001-07:00

Grandma Ferris made this quilt for me when I was a teenager. It is a scrap quilt made in the design of the Jacob's Ladder (I think), it is set together with white blocks, backed with white cotton and bound with a dark green print. She had it machine quilted by someone else. It is a double bed size but I have displayed it here on a single bed.

The close-up shows the design in more detail.

The Double Wedding Ring quilt was pieced by hand by Grandma F. and given to Helmut and Me as a wedding gift in 1968. The rings are made of very small scraps hand sewn together and set in white with light green and pink 4 square blocks at each intersection. It is hand quilted I believe by Grandma. It has a scalloped edge with hand sewn pink binding and a white cotton backing. It is a large double bed size and even fits our queen size fairly well.

I treasure both of these tokens of my Grandma's art form. Both have been used considerably as that is what she made them for.

My Quilting History

2011-10-29T13:12:00.000-07:00

My dear Grandma Ferris initiated my interest in quilt making when i was probably in my early teens by giving me some quilt blocks that were already cut out for me to hand sew together.

When my sister was planning to get married I decided to make her a "Family" quilt which I took the idea from a "Friend" quilt that our church ladies group made for a missionary.

This two tone blue quilt is the "Family" quilt made for John & Pat Van Essen in 1971 for the occasion of their wedding. Each light blue block has an embroidery design contributed by Mothers, Sisters and Sister-in-laws, Aunts and perhaps Cousins from both sides of the new family. The backing is a blue print with some beige and white in it. Grandma F. wasn't so thrilled with my idea of a print on the back as she traditionally used white on the back.

Grandma F. was not very well just prior to Pat & John's wedding but she was able to attend and looked very lovely for the occasion.

The Bow Tie Crib quilt I made up of the blocks that Grandma F. originally started me with plus more that I had to contribute to make it up to the right size. I had this quilt finished in time for Mark's first birthday in Apr. 1976. It is backed with a pale green printed flannelet.

Remember click on picture to enlarge it. Sorry the pictures of the Bow Tie are not so sharp and have light specks on them.

2011-08-08T19:25:00.000-07:00

Views of the Haifa Harbour with cranes for lifting containers.

Haifa is a modern city and on the side of this mountain is the property of the Bahia Temple with beautiful gardens.

Overlooking Haifa and the sea from the upper road on the mountain.

2011-08-08T18:44:00.000-07:00

Some of the blooming bushes along the coastal highway from Caesarea by the Sea going towards Haifa.

The old aqueduct to carry water from Mt. Carmel to Caesarea.

The Ceasarea gift shop is out of order but it was the last place we visited in Caesarea and it housed the "Gladder Bladder" facility.

Over looking the Mediterranean Sea near Haifa.

IV Instalment - Day 2 - Caesaria by the Sea

2011-06-15T16:52:00.002-07:00

First place of interest on Day 2.

Caesarea by the Sea

The surrounding wall.

Herod's fresh water swimming pool.

The amphitheater - our group went down to the stage and sang a hymn or two.

Columns from the palace and other artifacts.

Special side rooms along the race track.

I think this building at the end was where the prison had stood in the time of Paul.

A gate house with a high window where a soldier could stand and watch or shot through the little gap. "Standing in the gap".

The aqua duct from way up north to Caesarea.

2011-06-15T16:52:00.001-07:00

III - Yarkon & Tel Afeq-Antipatris

2011-06-10T18:28:00.000-07:00

The tour continued north along the Mediterranean coast. We crossed the Yarkon river and then went inland a little bit to Rosh Ha Ayin (Head of the Springs) to the Yarkon National Park and the Tel Afeq- Antipatris site.

We visited the ruins of the Cardo and the Fortress.

Sat in a rocky hollow under a big shade tree while we heard the history and the Bible stories related to the area.

Last three pictures taken from the Blue Bay Hotel just north of Netanya on the Mediterranean coast. This was our lodgings for the first night. The rest of the tour group joined us at supper time to make up a full compliment of 66 persons. We had a get acquainted meeting after supper where we each introduced ourselves. Helmut had a swim in the pool before supper and several of the younger folks went for a swim in the sea.

II - More of Jaffa (Joppa)

2011-06-10T17:44:00.000-07:00

We spent quite a little time walking around Joppa. Several pictures to show you what the area looks like and some of the folks that were with us on tour.

Second from top picture Left to right four brethren from Albania - second person is a missionary to Albania. Several folks mostly from ON sitting on the wall. The brother standing alone with sunglasses on is a missionary to Ghana. The man in the black hat is the Israeli guide.

The all buildings in the misty back ground are in Tel Aviv.

Jabe talked to us about the port where the cedars of Lebanon were brought to Solomon's workers, Jonah, Peter"s vision at Simon the Tanner's home, and Dorcas being raised from the dead.

Walking in some of the narrow streets.

The pomegranate flower.

Tour of Israel 2011

2011-06-09T20:02:00.000-07:00

On May 22, 2011 we met 14 other members of the tour group at the Toronto airport and boarded our flight on El Al Israel directly to Tel Aviv at about 1 pm. The nearly 12 hour flight brought us to Ben -Guiron at about 7 am Mon. May 23.

We were met by our Israeli guides and five other members of our group who had arrived from points in Europe and Africa.

The first order of the day was to drive to the hotel to pick up two more of the tour members who came by way of Cyprus.

Our first place to sight seeing was Joppa which is a little south of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean Sea coast.

Here we walked around and the guide, Philip, gave us some general history and Jabe Nicholson, our host gave us many points to remember and think about as related to the various incidents in the Bible that took place at Joppa.

Lac Lu outing - part 3

2010-08-13T19:13:00.000-07:00

Swimming was one of the big activities of both days. when T. found out that he could actually stand on the bottom and still have his head out of the water he wanted to try without using the life jacket. The area between the dock and the rock was just the right depth for him.

After spending some time in the water it was time to get warmed up on the rock.

Sat. about noon we packed up and took a short trip into Kenora, ON to visit the Railroad Museum - it was a very interesting place with an old station like building housing a model RR which depicted rail service from coast to coast and from the early days until now. The volunteer who showed us around gave us a good lesson on the history of the RR. T. really enjoyed watching all the trains traveling around on the big model.

Outside we were able to go into a real caboose and walk around on the external walkways of an engine.

After a DQ stop we went to a park that was close by where there was a beach on Lake of the Woods - Opa and T. had a good time swimming and Oma just sat around in the shade.

When everyone was good and hot and tired we headed home to Winnipeg.

Outing to Lac Lu part 2

2010-07-30T13:37:00.000-07:00

Off for a canoe trip - about a half hour paddle towards the west of the island there is an inlet from another lake - to go to the other lake requires a portage. Getting to the portage point one must paddle through an area of many water lilies and cattail plants. With careful paddling it is possible to get right among the plants and see some interesting wild life. We were able to come quite close to a turtle (likely the western painted kind) sunning itself on a rock. We also found a discarded Red-winged black bird's nest in the cattails and collected it for T. to take home for show and tell.

At the portage point there is a small rapids where the stream flows into Lac Lu. Opa found a good place to beach the canoe with T. and Oma still in it - thus we could disembark with dry feet - didn't matter to T. but Oma sure likes keeping the feet dry. We hiked around in this area and then spent some time sailing stick boats down the rapids.

When T. was in the woods looking for dry sticks he made a great find - dry animal bones (likely a young deer). Something more to add to his collection for show & tell.

Oma what happened to the tote box?
Oma had to rest for a while by sitting on the tote box. Opa had to help her up while T. took another picture which is not going to be published.

After about an hour we headed back to the cabin - reaching there in time for lunch which was very much needed by everyone.

Outing to Lac Lu - July 22-24, 2010

2010-07-29T20:43:00.000-07:00

We took our grandson for a couple of days to Helmut's sister's cabin on Lac Lu. The cabin is located on an island and we reached it by canoe. The crossing was pretty wet because it was raining but the luggage was well protected by plastic bags and the people didn't suffer much from getting wet.

We arrived after supper so only had to get ourselves settled for the night.

Fri. morning we had a pretty early start on the day because everyone was awake just after 6 am. We started out with a big pan cake breakfast. Then Opa and T. investigated the dock and tried the water which he thought was chilly while Oma cleaned up.

Then it was time for a hike around the area (20 minute walk if you keep going) . We took a little longer because we had to see where three deer went bounding off to. Then we met the neighbors' big golden retriever, who is a lot of bark but quite friendly. Stopped for a view from the rock at the top and also smelled the wild sage. When we came around to the fire pit area we saw one of the deer at the far end of the clearing.

Keep watching for the next installment.

Sun. Nov. 22, 2009

2010-05-14T20:04:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we chose to attend the Waialae Kahola Chapel which was located not far from the Diamond Head Crater. Helmut had jogged from our hotel to the chapel on Sat. morning to see exactly where it was. It wasn't all that far but very up and down hill. He had visited with a brother who was there for some reason. So we drove there on Sun. and when we arrived the sister that was in the lower area met us and asked if Helmut was the jogger.

The pomello fruit was in a tree in the adjacent yard to the parking lot. I wondered what would happen to a car if one of those fruits fell on it.

The people were very friendly with us and made us feel right at home.

Some of the young people were staying at the chapel for lunch and to practice some music. They invited us to have lunch with them.

The elderly man is a retired missionary from
Japan.

This chapel was right beside the main highway that took us to the airport where we met up with Jim and Myrna and waited around for our flight to Kona.

Waimea Valley - Botanical Garden and Water Fall - Sat. Nov. 21, 2009

2010-05-08T18:06:00.000-07:00

When driving around with Jim and Myrna on Fri. we had seen on the map this place but couldn't find it along our way. So Sat. Helmut and I went back and found it- the sign was very small. We enjoyed a fairly long walk through the gardens to the falls. We had some showers along the way. I have a love of flowers as we took many pictures. At the moment I can't locate the folder that has the names and pictures of so many of the flowers. So just enjoy looking at them.

The bird is a White-rumped Shama. It is well known for it's beautiful singing. This one was certainly going strong with the singing this afternoon. It was very close to where I was resting for a little while.

We were told the falls was about 40 ft. high and that the pool was about 30 ft. deep. We weren't prepared to go swimming.

Dole Poneapple Plantation Nov. 21. 2009

2010-05-07T18:13:00.000-07:00

Every time I use this handy-dandy tool to slice and core a pineapple it reminds me of our visit to the Dole Pineapple Plantation in the middle of Oahu, HI. We purchased the tool in the store there at the plantation. a lady demonstrated how to use it and we were sold on it right away. It is not fussy - it will slice and core any pineapple whether it is a "Dole" or a "Delmonte" grown in Hi or some where in central America.

These are pictures from the plantation. There was a little train which took us around the whole plantation with information all along the way about the cultivation of the pineapple.

We were impressed with the very colorful tree that I am standing next to. According to a book we have it might be the Bagras eucalyptus.

There are various types of pineapples but only one type is grown for market in HI. We had the opportunity to sample some and then we bought one right there and took it along to eat during the week that we were there. Bringing one back to Canada was not allowed.

The soil is so red because it is very rich in iron which is very good for the pineapple cultivation.

Touring the Windward Coast 0f O'ahu

2010-02-19T16:29:00.000-08:00

As we continue on along the windward coast Top picture is Halona Blowhole in the area where you see the spray. The video shows much better but I'm not waiting all night for the video to upload - you'll just have to come visit us or go to HI yourselves to see it.

Second picture is Mokoli'i island probably seen from some beach along the Kaneohe Bay or possibly from the Kualoa beach park area.

I think the mountains in the back ground of the next three pictures are the Koolau Range.

The coral was seen along the same beach in front of the mountains.

I am not sure where the kite-sail boarders were.

The last two pictures were from close to the north tip of the windward coast.

More Hawaii - Excursion on the windward side of O'ahu

2010-02-13T19:27:00.001-08:00

Friday Nov. 20, 2009 Jim and Myrna took us sightseeing on the windward coast of O'ahu. the first point of interest was the beautiful Hanauma Bay on the south east tip of the island. There is a lovely park overview of the bay. Many folks were snorkeling in the bay - they say it is one of the best places to do so - but they charge quite a bit and since this day was for sightseeing none of us went snorkeling. The little animal was one of the few fur-bearing wildlife that we saw on the whole trip. He and some friends were scavenging the garbage bags.

Fri. Nov. 20 Sunrise at Waikiki

2010-01-02T18:04:00.000-08:00

Early Friday morning about 6:30 we were ready for some exercise so both Helmut and I went for a walk along the beach park in Waikiki. The sun rose while we were out walking. The east is behind the sky scrapers of Waikiki and Honolulu so you don't see too much. Pretty good shot of the reflection across the bay off of another high-rise.

A fellow was sitting on a pier side and feeding the birds that would just come and sit on his hand and eat out of his palm. Helmut also noticed many colorful fish in the ocean at this place but the pictures didn't turn out so good.

This s a very nice looking Banyan tree in the park.

A nice man-made water fall.

Day 1 continued

2009-12-31T09:15:00.000-08:00

After visiting Pearl Harbor we went to the by shuttle to the Aviation Museum that is not far away and located on a military base. We were told not to take pictures on our way into the museum and for some reason I guess we just got so busy reading the history and looking at the displays that we forgot to take pictures inside.

Then we drove our rental car up to the Nuuanu Pali look out - it is north of Honolulu and higer up in the mountains. This picture of the plaque was taken by Jim on the day that they were there after we came home. The afternoon when we visited the place the wind was blowing in a gale - I feared my skirt might not stay in its proper position so I just had to grab it and hold it down. It was also much cooler up there and I wished for a sweatshirt that I didn't have with me. ( Learned right then that one should always go prepared with a sweatshirt.)

2009-12-28T19:13:00.000-08:00

On Nov. 18, 2009 we arrived in HI in the afternoon. Jim & Myrna met us at the airport, guided us to the shuttle that would take us to the car rental place and then guided us to our hotel in Waikiki.

The next day Helmut and I struck out on our own to visit the most important historical spot in HI - PEARL HARBOR. With the map and the good road signs we were able to find it without trouble.

The Common Myna bird is very frequently seen all around the place.

The park area of Pearl Harbor has many items used during the II WW on display. So we used our waiting time before viewing the Arizona Memorial to inspect all of the out door displays.

Before being taken to the Arizona memorial by a cruise boat we were able to view a video and hear some one tell a little of the history of the attack.

2009-12-28T19:07:00.000-08:00

It is time for a new post - I see the last one is really old. The picture uploader doesn't seem to want to function so I may not get any thing to post.

We had a very enjoyable trip to HI and if or when this thingy will work I'll post some details of our travels along with the pictures.

Trip to Lac Lu Continued

2009-10-20T19:15:00.000-07:00

When the family finally arrived at the cabin we enjoyed a lovely visit with them. It was really nice getting acquainted with the great nephew for the first time. Uncle Helmut did a little swimming ( he is part polar bear ) but it was a little too chilly for any of the rest of us to desire to take a dip.

Most of the time was spent visiting. Hanna and Jean had a little wallk around the property and U. Helmut did a few walks and looked for wild life to "shoot" with the camera. He "shot" one squirrel.

Hanna and Chris prepared us a very nice supper and we dined inside because it was getting dark and too cool to enjoy the deck.

Our plan had been to canoe back to the mainland before dark but that didn't work out. Hanna and Chris took us back in the motor boat and Helmut held the canoe by a rope and it floated back behind the motor boat. At the dock Helmut took the canoe to a beach area to beach it because it was closer to where he could bring the car to. It was totally dark by this time. We unloaded all the stuff on to the floating dock and then it was my turn to disembark. This is always a major feat in the very best situation. Well, because it was dark and the dock was rocking back and forth or up and down or perhaps both I missed my footing with the right leg and scrapped the front of my chin big time. I've spared you by not showing the picture of how it looked. We got packed up and on the road as quickly as possible and at the first gas station picked up a bag of ice for me to use to retard the swelling.

Nearly three weeks later it is fairly well healed.

Day Outing to Lac Lu

2009-10-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

On Sept. 26. 2009 Hanna invited us to come to the cabin for a visit with Chris, Cortney and Caleb. We drove out in the morning and met them at the Pineridge restaurant on the highway where we had some lunch. Then on to Bennet's marina where Hanna keeps her boat and we could park.

We had brought our canoe so decided to canoe across to the cabin. It took us about half an hour to make the crossing - it was a little windier than expected but we made it safely. See our canoe tied up at the dock.

We waited, anticipating the arrival of Hanna, Chris, Cortney & Caleb; then we waited some more and longer yet. Finally Helmut spotted them coming with the motor boat.

At last they arrived - just a few hold ups back at Bennet's. No problems in the crossing.

The Beauties of God's Creation

2009-06-12T19:45:00.001-07:00

Yesterday morning Helmut went for his usual run fairly early. when he passed the local lake he saw several pairs of Canada geese with gosslings. Later in the morning he went back with the camera to take their pictures but they had wondered further away onto private property where he couldn't get close enough to take their pictures. However, he saw this muskrat near the water and this female Redwing Black bird so got some good shots (with the camera) of them. Then he saw the Mallard ducks and the Pelicans on the lake.

There was a flock of Cedar Waxwings feasting in our apple trees all day so here are some shots of them.

2009-05-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

Time for a change of post. This is a lily from my garden of last summer. They are hardly out of the ground yet this spring. I was looking for a peaceful picture to go with this post and this is what I came up with.

This has been a week of a major crisis in the family and those who know us best have heard about it.

Here are some of the thoughts that the Lord gave me during the initial shock and since then as comfort and encouragement.

Isaiah 26:3 "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."
With a meditation WORTHY DEVOTIONS from Dec. 19, 2008 called GO DOWN. ( It happened to be posted on a daily bulletin of a Christian school on Mon. May 25). It was about the captain of a submarine who was unaware of the storm on the surface of the ocean because in the deep water it was calm.

"..He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul..." Psalm 23:2 & 3.

"Peace be still" Mark 4:39

"Be still and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on thine own understanding...." Proverbs 3:5

Excursion to Narcisse Snake Dens

2009-05-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

The largest natural garter snake dens in the world are located in Manitoba. Believe it or not we the Zimmermanns had never taken the time to go visit them before this week.

Due to some folks having hang-ups about snakes we kept our excursion as a mystery from our guests until we arrived there. T. went along on this outing as well as John, Ruth, Hannah & Joanna.

It was a pleasant warm sunny day so the wild life was active. The best time to view them is in May when they first leave the dens or in Sept./Oct. when they return.

T.'s first contact with a snake was while he was riding Opa's shoulders. After the first touch there was nothing frightening about them for T. Opa and T. went "fishing" down the side of the walkway to get a snake to hold.

Cousin Joanna was brave enough to hold a snake.

There are four principal den areas but we visited only three different ones then went back to the parking area where there were picnic tables and we had our lunch there.

A 4th. Birthday - part 1

2009-03-24T17:28:00.000-07:00

Read this post first and then the one underneath.

On Mar. 13 - T. turned 4 years old so he had a special day with Opa and Oma.

Opa went to pick him up at his house before his Mama left for work - he was still sleeping so Opa had to wait for him to get up. Oma was at home making breakfast and wondering why the two guys weren't showing up to eat it. We had pancakes because that is one of T.'s favorites.

After breakfast Oma went grocery shopping while Opa and T. stayed at home and did some interesting things like bathing Abby, cracking walnuts and picking out the good parts to eat. Then they played with Lego for a while and finally with the construction straws. You can see the nice tower that they built.

There was also some time for playing Jenga. They got lots of blocks out of the tower before it collapsed.

Oma made some chocolate cup cakes and T. licked the batter off the beaters - he got a little beard from the batter so Opa made himself a beard to match.

A 4th. Birthday - Part 2

2009-03-24T17:00:00.001-07:00

In the afternoon we took T. to the park to do some tobogganing. As you can see we basically had two slides to ourselves most of the time. It was a beautiful day just cold enough for good ice and warm enough that you could stand around and not get cold. ( very important for Oma) Those sliders that were running back and forth all the time didn't have time to get cold, in fact Opa got too warm.

1. - Two guys climbing up to the top of the slide.
2.- All set to go.
3.- On the way down.
4.- T. at the end of the run. His little toboggan slides real well.
5.- Opa has to use his hand to help get to the end of the run.

After about an hour and a half T. was tired and wanted to go back home. Oh, by the way Oma slid down with Opa twice but getting up from the toboggan at the end of the run was super difficult.

6.-Time for a icicle treat after we got back home. Opa is getting one from the front of the house. These are "natural Popsicles" made from melted dripping roof snow.
7.- T. is eyeing up his treasure.
8.- Trying out the icicle for flavor. Sorry about the double take.
9.- After supper of mac and cheese we had chocolate cup cakes. T. helped Oma decorate them .

the Performers

2009-02-26T21:36:00.000-08:00

This is my first attempt at uploading a home video or any other kind for that matter. This one harks back to the silent movies because the photographer didn't turn on the sound recorder. These performers make a lot of noise but not much in the way of lovely tunes - they need more practice.

Something Different

2009-02-24T20:39:00.000-08:00

I was just looking at my recent posts and decided it was time for a change -

I really don't have any new pictures because at this moment the memory card in the camera is full and I have to figure out how to get it cleaned up so I can take some more pictures.

This shot of Abby is just so you can all see that the dog is still part of our lives - she isn't very active anymore but she lets us know what she wants. She enjoys eating snow - may be she thinks it is "ice cream".

2009-02-13T21:24:00.001-08:00

Playing in the Snow

2009-02-10T21:10:00.002-08:00

Sat. morning was a lovely crisp winter day. A grandson wanted to play with Opa & Oma. Daddy went along also.

Top picture Mr. T. is King of the Mountain in his front yard while we were waiting for Daddy to get ready to go.

At McIvor park just a few blocks from M. &C.'s house there is this lovely toboggan slide and it wasn't even very busy on such a nice morning.

Second picture - Opa and Mr. T. are at the top ready to go.

Third picture - having fun whizzing down so fast.

Fourth picture Daddy joins Mr. T. & Opa and they go even further. I see this photo got lost.

Next you see Mr. T. running back up to the slide to do it some more and some more - he always let Opa pull the toboggan back up.

In the sixth & seventh pictures Opa and Mr. T. are spinning out on the ice rink and have loads of fun. We spent about one and a half hours in the park and Oma watched and took pictures.

Then we went to a place to eat our brunch - the guys all had breakfast items but oma had soup & a sandwich.

Back at M. & C.'s house there was a lot of work to do on the Quinzee. Mark & Andrew had piled up this large heap of snow in the back yard over several weeks. Some of it had been dug out already but there was much more digging to do so Opa, Mark & Mr. T. went to work on it. Finally it was enough hollowed out that Opa, Oma & Mr. T. got inside to rest. M. took that picture on his camera and i don't have a digital copy of it yet.

Remember to double click the photos as you will then see everything more clearly.

Playing in the now

2009-02-10T21:10:00.001-08:00

Tagged

2009-02-09T12:36:00.000-08:00

This beautiful amaryllis was blooming in my house in the spring of 2007 when we got our first digital camera. I have no idea if the bulb that hasn't started to shoot up yet is the one that dates back to that spring. A lovely stripped red & cream one is just about finished blooming now.

My pictures are in a one on going file so this is the fourth picture.

Rules: Go to your forth picture file and post a picture and a story to go with it on your blog or FB.

I tag - Courtney N.
Valerie E.
Andrea S. ( you can put your story on FB)
Desiree V.

The Quilt Block Choice

2009-01-24T18:48:00.000-08:00

The choice for the quilt blocks was the last one in the previous post's lineup or the one at the top of this post. This picture at the top is of the sample block in the sewed together state.

Then there are some pictures of the method -
1. Cut a piece of material of the dark and of the light colors about 16 1/2 inches by 9 inches each. Press their faces together.
2. Lay them on the cutting board with the lighter side up and draw the grid on the material - 3 7/8 inches square with diagonal line through each square.
3. Pin the two pieces of material together around the outside edges.
4. Sew a seam 1/4 inch from each side of each diagonal line.
5. Lay the sewn material on the cutting board again and cut the vertical lines using the ruler and cutting wheel, then cut the horizontal lines and then cut the diagonal pencil line.
6. Open each triangle and press seam towards the dark side.

The bottom picture is how the little blocks are arranged to get the final design. This picture also shows the chosen materials for the quilt I am making. If you enlarge the picture you'll get a better idea of the color. I had more of the dark material on hand than of the other dark material in the sample blocks. I chose this particular lighter material as the best choice of what was available at the store. I think I'll be trying to bring out either the brown or dusty blue tones a bit with the boarder (framing) strips.

2009-01-22T20:02:00.000-08:00

One cute boy

A red flower

This is a trail to try to put tags with the picture - these are very old pictures.

Sample Quilt Block Designs

2009-01-19T21:23:00.001-08:00

Here are some quilt block designs that I have been sampling in an effort to decide which one to use on a quilt for a queen size bed. I may not use the exact colors but I will use one of these layouts.

My readers may vote on their favorite by number starting with number one at the top. I have already decided and in the next post I will show the layout that I picked and hopefully by then I will have chosen the colors also. I have to go shopping to find out what is available. These were made from goods that I have on hand but I don't have enough to do a large quilt top.

Eight of the layouts are made with the exact same blocks in different orders.

Buildng Ginger Bread Houses - Nov. 2008

2008-12-27T12:00:00.000-08:00

On the Sat. morning after Thanksgiving with the Shorts we went to the Malvern Bible Chapel to help prepare ginger bread houses for an outreach activity that they were planning for the next week end. We had lots of fun working together with the other believers and visiting at the same time.

The gal in the dark blue in the top picture is Laura Short.

Second picture is Merve, Nancy & Ziggy

Third picture the gal in white is Carla, the "contractor" "supervisor" or the moving force behind the project.

The precision builder in the striped shirt is my dear Helmut.

In the bottom picture you have Andrew, Audrey, Barbie and the lady in red -whose name I don't remember.

2008-12-11T17:18:00.000-08:00

On the Friday after U.S. Thanksgiving Andrew, Barbie, Ruth, Helmut and I took a day trip to Lancaster County, PA. First stop was a photo op at Zimmerman's store. We didn't go in so I'm not sure if it was a general store or a little grocery store. Then we continued on to the Kitchen Kettle "Mall" which is a Mennonite/Amish shopping area. Helmut had forgotten his cap so that was the first thing we had to purchase. Mostly we walked around looking at the various wares but bought very little. We were in a place that sold hand made furniture and wooden items - it was very interesting. I found the quilt shop very nice to look at but the beautiful hand made quilts were very high priced. No doubt they require many hours of labor.

I had a baked ham sandwich for my lunch and the rest of the family waited until later in the afternoon to eat.

U. S. Thanksgiving 2008

2008-12-05T19:38:00.001-08:00

On Nov. 25Th. in the evening we left Winnipeg for the long drive to Exton, PA where our future daughter-in-law's family live. After about 28 hours of driving and riding with tired minds and bottoms we finally arrived near midnight on the 26Th.

The Shorts welcomed us and after a brief time of getting acquainted we all turned in for the night. The long ride had not been very kind to my legs so I had many cramps during the night and didn't sleep very much.

We had a leisurely morning with a late breakfast. Laura and Will had the dinner preparations in hand and their three girls helped a lot. (one of their daughters was away visiting her boy friend in Florida) There were so many items to be cooked in the oven that they had borrowed space in the neighbor's oven so they were running back and forth.

Top picture: Andrew, Barbie, Susanna with the dog Paris, Mom-Laura, Jackie and Jean.
Second picture: Dad-Will, cleaning the patio of leaves.
Third picture: Most of the Short Klan. Will has seven siblings, four of them not in the picture - the youngest sister and her family came later and didn't eat with us. One of the adult men in this picture is a nephew. Laura's Father is also at the table.
Bottom picture: Two "visitors" that passed through the back yard while we were at dinner.

Thanksgiving with the Shorts is like this every year they say but it is their main family get together of the year.

Andrew, Barbie & Ruth went to a football game in the evening while Will, Laura, Helmut & I had a good visit.

Bright Spots

2008-11-17T20:27:00.000-08:00

Do you think you could see these guys in the bush on a snowy day?

This particular style is for the avid hunters or parking lot attendants. Especially made by Opa Z.

The three in this picture are "models" - only one is a hunter. Two of the toques are for his friends.

Party Fare

2008-11-13T18:51:00.000-08:00

A party is coming up to introduce Barbie to the rest of the family that live here in Winnipeg.

For parties I like to make these two bite size meat buns. They are called Flieshpershki, a traditional Mennonite treat.

The bread dough is cut into little round pieces, the filling is placed inside and the edges of the dough are sealed together to make a little bun. I tend to put too much filling in them so they can be hard to seal.

Recipe for dough:

2 packages of yeast
1/2 cup of warm water
1 teaspoon of sugar
Mix & let rise

4 cups of scalded milk
1 cup of lard melted
1/2 cup margarine melted
2 eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons salt
Mix these together .

Place 2 cups of flour in a very large bowl and add all the liquid ingredients from above. A cup at a time, stir in more flour up to a total of 10 to 12 cups. Place on flat surface and knead. ( I have to do this in two parts).

Place dough in bowl to rise and keep in a warm place.

FILLING

3 pounds of lean ground beef - browned and crumbled
1 package of dry onion soup mix
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
Black pepper to taste
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
Mix all of these together.
Let cool a while so that sauce isn't so runny.

Roll portions of dough to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut in small circles about 1- 1/2 inches across. Place a small amount of filling in the center of the dough round and then fold over and seal. Place on greased cookie sheets. Let rise a little while. Bake at 375 F. for 15 -20 minutes.

If only one person is making these it takes several hours.

They may be frozen after baking to keep for a longer time. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Garden Notes

2008-11-06T18:12:00.000-08:00

A few pictures of the new perennials that we added to our garden this fall to enhance the fall color of our garden.

The pink balls are a type of hydrangea.

The bluish ones are asters.

The wine colored blooms are on a plant that is probably a sedum (I can't remember what the clerk at the nursery called it and it did not have a tag.)

We also got one yellow, one red and one deep pink mum but I don't have very good pictures of them.

It has turned winterish now so the flowers, even the mums, will be going to sleep for the season.

Special News Release

2008-11-02T16:47:00.000-08:00

Barbie arrived this past Tues. for a visit.

Her reaction to Andrew's bushy growth was "You look like a homeless man".

Later in the evening Andrew shaved off the bush.

On Thurs. Oct. 30, 2008 Andrew told us "I asked her to marry me and she said ,yes."

Congratulations to both of you.

2008-11-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

Views from two angles on the nearly finished drive/patio project.

It is all done now and there is one more row of pads straight out from the back door.

The brown thing in the lower part of the picture out from the back door is the top of the picnic table - it will get moved back on to the drive/patio by the back door for summer time. In the winter we have to use that part to park the extra vehicle which stays on the street in the summer time.

The Driveway

2008-10-27T21:00:00.001-07:00

Last week my dear husband decided that it was time to do something about the deteriorating driveway. There was also a need to make it a bit wider or at least more accessible in its width.

First step was to remove about half of a large lilac bush on the north side of the driveway area - it can be seen just on the outside edge of the evergreen tree at the corner of the house (if you enlarge the picture).

Secondly a area near the lilac needed to be excavated about 3 to 4 inches deep and two feet wide and about 12 feet long to give a little more parking space for one of the three vehicles that need space across the driveway.

Then comes the sand spreading step.

Followed by laying of the concrete tiles. Getting the tiles was more economical if H. picked them up in the big van but that required several trips to the company. At first he was told that they didn't have as many tiles as he required - when he returned today for the smaller size tiles they told him that they had found about 50 more of the bigger ones so he got them and then on another trip picked up the small ones that were still needed.

The pictures were taken on Sat. when there were only a few tiles laid down - as of supper time this evening most of the tiles are down - I didn't get out there a take a picture before dark.

2008-10-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

I hope that this picture of the Snowy Owl shows up a little better than the one in the previous post.

Oak hammock Marsh

2008-10-25T20:01:00.003-07:00

Sat. Oct. 18th. was a very pleasant day so we decided that we needed to have another canoe trip before the cold weather would close in on us.

Oak Hammock Marsh is about 45 minutes west and a bit north of where we are located and is out side of the city. It is a conservation area and the marsh has controlled water and plant growth to attract the water fowl especially at the migrating seasons. Generally there would be thousands of geese and ducks in the area at this time of year.

We were told that the best place to put the canoe into the marsh was on the north basin so this is where you see us launching from. As soon as Helmut put the canoe down all of the geese and ducks that were in the near vicinity took to the air and dispersed to a different part of the marsh.

All this beautiful wide water body is hardly more than two feet deep and we wondered if we would become stuck in some places but we were able to keep the canoe afloat as we paddled or "poled" with the paddles around this basin in and out among the reeds and cattails. We saw a few more water fowl but mostly they were scared off before we were close enough to get a good look.

After our canoeing excursion as we drove back along the road we saw this beautiful Snowy Owl sitting beside one of the water inlets a few meters (yards) from the road. It stayed put in its place until Helmut tried to sneak up rather close to get a better look and photo. Most of the pictures were taken using the zoom feature on the camera.

Near the marsh there are lure crops planted for the geese to feed on so we saw more geese there - both Canada geese and another type that is white - you can barely see the difference as they are in flight in the picture. ( double click the picture to enlarge it.)

2008-10-23T16:11:00.000-07:00

Remember that dog from a post a few days ago - the one that was pretending to leave home?
This evening she can't make up her mind if she wants to be inside or outside and since she doesn't know how to open the door she keeps me running to do that part of the process.

Supper is ready if any one wants to eat - Penne pasta with hamburger sauce. Aw the eaters have arrived.

Fall Colors

2008-10-17T15:13:00.000-07:00

These pictures give an idea of how the fall colors are on display right now or have been in the last week.

The yellow leafed trees are our apple trees today. The top one is taken through the kitchen window.

The small red tree is a Amur Maple that belongs to the neighbor across the street. The dark red one is our Chokecherry tree. The Amur Maple has lost most of its leaves now.

The arrival of fall is a week or two late this season - many times most of the leaves are on the ground by mid October.

Departure????

2008-10-16T17:14:00.000-07:00

LEAVING HOME - no one here wants to and this little gal is just pretending to be.

Rainy Day Jobs

2008-10-06T13:18:00.001-07:00

This is one very wet gloomy day in fall.

Working out doors is out of the question unless one feels like being a duck or fish.

This morning I quartered up all of these plums and lined them up on a tray to freeze. When they are nice and frozen I will transfer them to ZipLock bags for the freezer. You are wondering what I do with frozen quarter plums? One fine day they will be made into a very delicious plumb cake with buttery crumbs on top. A much sought after dessert at this house. Plums are hard to come-by except at this time of year so the last two years I have decided to freeze some for later use.

Here is the recipe:

Fruit Struzzel Cake (similar to Platz)

1/3 to 1/2 c. of butter
3/4 c. white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla

Mix together as for a cake. Add

2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder

Should make a medium stiff dough. Knead the dough until it sticks together then roll it out thin on a jelly roll pan or large cookie sheet with sides.

Top with plums placed very close together. Use fresh or frozen plums or any other fruit such as apricots, cherries, peaches, blue berries or apples ( which don't turn out so colorful).

Make struzzel of:

1/2 to 3/4 c. flour
1/2 to 3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. hard butter
Worked together with fingers until large crumbs form. Spread over the top evenly.

Bake at 350 F. until light brown about 15 - 20 minutes keep a close eye on it while baking.

Have a fun baking day on your next gloomy day.

Quiz

2008-10-05T19:42:00.000-07:00

Is there anything about this picture that reminds you of Polk Blvd. in Des Moines?

Be sure to make the picture as large as possible.

"Great Is Thy Faithfulness O Lord My God"

2008-09-23T14:50:00.000-07:00

We are thankful for God's faithfulness everyday.

On Aug. 24, 2008 we celebrated our 40th. wedding anniversary.

Our children planned and worked and gave us a beautiful party to celebrate.

Helmut's living siblings with respective spouses and Jean's sister were the guests as well as Cammie's parents.

We enjoyed a great time of visiting with one another and eating the great food that the kids had put together.

Ruth introduced the little program with greetings.

T. our grandson provided a solo - "Jesus Loves Me" accompanied by Ruth with the guitar. T. also strummed on the guitar.

Ruth started off some remarks about our example over the years based on Phil. 2:3 "in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves" using the example of how even though Helmut is a runner he would take time to walk slowly with me because of his love for me. (It is interesting the things that the kids notice in the family.)
Others continued with some remembrances from the past.
then Helmut made a few remarks about the rope with the double knot.
We sang "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" and a couple of hymns in German.

Thank you family for making such a lovely day for us to remember.

For some reason I've got the pictures in the opposite direction of the comments- maybe one day I'll have this blogging all figured out.

Gone Fishing - Sept. 13, 2008

2008-09-13T19:25:00.000-07:00

Today we went on an excursion to Seven Sisters Hydro Dam which is about an hour and a half east of Winnipeg and is located on the Winnipeg River. It was one of the earlier dams built for hydro power in the province.

John & Amy were our guests on this outing and were the fishing "experts" with the equipment. Helmut had never been fishing before in his life and my experience consists of going with Dad when I was 11 or 12 years old and ending up as the catch of the day ( another story).

The first order of the afternoon was to investigate the top of the dam and plan for the best location to fish. Then we had to stop to have our picnic lunch - the area does not afford tables so we put up our lawn chairs near the parking area, spread our table cloth on the ground and proceeded to make our sandwiches etc. It was chilly and windy.

After lunch week took the equipment up to the top of the dam and located a place on the deep side where John thought there might be a chance to fish. The three of them set up the fishing poles and lines and I tried to watch but Abby was restless so the two of us went for a walk around the area and when she was nice and tired we went back to the fishing area and I did some crocheting ( I went prepared).

Helmut caught the only fish that our party took in (or anyone else that we met on the dam). It was his very first fish of a life time.

About 4:30 pm we packed up for the drive home.

The last pic is Helmut cleaning the fish - also a first. We ate it fried for supper. it was a pickerel - very tasty.

"Aliens" and Serious Work

2008-09-11T12:05:00.000-07:00

The other evening we were invaded by some "strange" characters. This is a "macho" form of dress-up particularly for boys.

After all the equipment was tried out the serious work began - however, you see it is hard to work in all that equipment so the worker is down to the bare essentials.

Trip with Pat continued

2008-09-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

More pictures of our two days at Dyck's cabin at Spruce Bay and our outing to Hecla Island. the sea gulls were blocking the road near the old village of Hecla where the first Icelandic settlers lived. the little barn swallows were the first wild life that we observed. Except for the bugs that Pat tried to get rid of off the porch of the cabin.

2008-09-06T09:42:00.000-07:00

H
Enjoy the pictures from Hecla Island Prov. park I'll write more the next time. We are preparing for anothe canoe excursion.

Spruce Woods Prov. Park

2008-09-02T18:47:00.000-07:00

Some of our friends were camped at Spruce Woods prov. Park so one day we drove out there to visit them, see the park and take a canoe trip. Our first intention was to canoe on the Assinoboine River which follows through the park. When we arrived at the friend's camp site it was very hot so we decided to do a little sight seeing with them and save the canoe trip for the evening when it would be a little cooler. We went to A overlook place where you can see where the ferry used to cross the river in years gone by. They also told us that the current in the river is about 4 miles per hour which seemed a little fast for out style of canoeing so they took us to Marsh lake in the park where we canoed in the evening - saw this bird - we think it was a Merganzer and two beaver - you can just see their heads in my picture.

The "PATIO" & Helmut's Moth collection

2008-08-28T19:53:00.001-07:00

Just a couple of the photos of Helmut's moths. He was trying to take pictures of a collection of moths around our back entrance one day in July.

This is how our "patio" looked when I first set it up in July. I need to take an updated picture of how it looks now with the new table.

Take note Andrea.

We're Off

2008-08-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

Just to let you know that we are off for a couple of days. The plan is to go to the west shore of Lake Winnipeg, stay in a cabin and have some fun at the beach, on the lake and touring a provincial park that is located about and hour north of where the cabin is. Long report some time after our return. Weather is beautiful.

Work & Relaxation Aug. 12 to 15

2008-08-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

Tues. Aug. 12 it was very rainy in Winnipeg and we really wondered if we should even be attempting this trip. However, Hanna desired to go ahead as the roofing material had been ordered and was expected to be delivered to the marina dock where she keeps her boat. So Helmut and I left home very early to first pick up his nephew, Nick, Hanna's son and then to get Hanna. I guess it was about 7:30 when we finally left Winnipeg headed east to ON. The cabin is about 2 1/2 hour drive and then a 10 to 15 minute boat trip to the island.

When we arrived at the marina the materials had not been delivered and when Hanna contacted the company they gave her a real run around. However, after some talking she got a promise from them that they would deliver in an hour and a half. So we loaded all our cargo in her boats and went over to the cabin to get settled and to make lunch.

After lunch Nick & Helmut started doing some of the prep work on the roof. Then a little later the boy from the marina showed up with some of the packages of shingles and Nick took their own boat over to collect the shipment - I think it took him two or three trips. I should have been more on the ball and taken pictures of Nick & Helmut hauling the shingles up the hill from the dock - a very heavy job.

Tues. afternoon and evening Nick & Helmut were able to strip the old roofing off of the north portion of the roof that needed to be redone and put on all the new shingles.

Hanna & I had a paddle around the island at sunset - lots of fun.

Wed. was spent stripping and re-shingling the south side which was a little larger than the north side. Hanna and I bagged all the old stuff in construction weight plastic bags and Hanna hauled by dragging most of them down hill to the dock.

Everyone was good and tired that night and I had a severe back ache that kept me from sleeping until I finally took some pain killers. I was much better by morning.

Thurs. morning Hanna, Nick & Helmut loaded all the old stuff up took it to our big van at the marina and transported it to the dumping place in Kenora - I almost wondered if they got lost it took so long. Abby and I just stayed around the cabin and relaxed. I didn't try any water activities while I was there alone. I can't handle a canoe alone and I didn't want to swim inn a place i wasn't familiar with all on my own. You have a very isolated feeling on an island even when there are other cabins there but they are very distant from one another and some of them were not occupied.

Thurs. afternoon Helmut felt like resting. We took Abby on some long for her walks on the trails. Also I did the trail once alone it takes about 15 to 20 minutes.

Fri. morning Helmut & I went canoeing and swimming and it was really fun and relaxing.

Hanna came home with us on Fri. evening. Nick was staying out and his guy friends were joining him for a bachelor party as he is getting married in Sept.

Trip Continued - Aug. 7

2008-08-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

This Grandma liked it so much in ON that she decided to stay for a while. So on Mon. morning after a good night's sleep in Val & Dennis' home ( not the jungle house) we all parted company - Pat joined the Eastons to go to Bancroft for several days and Helmut & I headed towards NY state to see Uncle Horst & Aunt Magdalena.

Our first major stop along the way was Elora, ON, not too far from Guelph. The photo is one of the main streets in the business district of Elora. We have a dear retired missionary friend living there. H. called him up once we were in Elora where we could find his phone number in the directory. Bro. Jose invited us over for a visit and at lunch time we took him out to his favorite eatery - an Italian place.

In the afternoon we went on our way to H & M's. We got some supper in a Subway in a place about 45 minutes north of them. U. H. was home when we finally arrived in the mid evening. Aunt M. arrived with Ken & Monika a little while later as they had attended a Gideon's picnic/monthly meeting.

Open House - Continued

2008-08-07T20:39:00.001-07:00

Val in the kitchen.

Dennis at the stove that they used for heating and cooking.

Val and Dennis' house with the yellow curtains.

One of the other families' house.

Jean , Pat and L. crossing the bridge to the lower camp site.

All these pictures were supposed to be in the first post but for some reason I lost them so had to make a second post. I hope i haven't repeated some of the pictures.

Open House at New Tribes Mission Jungle Camp

2008-08-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

On July 5 & 6 e visited Val & Dennis at jungle camp. Most of my readers have seen Val's pictures and explanations already so I'm not going to explain at great length. We were welcomed heartily by our family and all the other residents at the jungle camp. during the first morning of our visit we had a tour of a large part of the camp and met several of the families and observed the various ways that they had made their houses and were living in the "jungle" or ON "wilderness" about a twenty minute walk from their normal residences at NTM in Durham, ON

Two of V. & D.'s girls were happy to demonstrate how to use the kid size chair that their Dad had made them.

V. and the girls pose with two of the instructors in front of the staff house.

U. H. does what he loves - playing with the kids.

V. shows us how the washing machine works.

V. & D. and girls with U. H. in front of their house.

Some of the boys had made their own fort and were happy to show it off to L. & A.

Day Three Manitoulin Island to Durham, ON

2008-07-28T17:38:00.000-07:00

I guess it is high time I posted something new - I've been getting hints.

On day three, Friday July 4Th. we left Jansen's around 11 a.m. It was a very nice day for a drive south through Manitoulin Island - Evert had given us directions from their place so we didn't need to drive back to Little Current to find our way on the main highway. We arrived at South Baymouth, where the ferry terminal is, a little after noon. We paid our tickets and got the van parked in line for the ferry. Near the van there was a handy picnic table so we spread out our lunch things and dined in style while other folks were lining up for the ferry. After lunch we had time to walk around the area, visit the travel information center and one of the shops.

Second photo - Pat & me waiting for the M.S. Chi-Cheemaun ferry to dock in the port of S. Baymouth

Picture three - the previously mentioned ferry.

Photo four - on board the ferry and leaving the harbour.

Picture five - a light house that we passed as we neared Tobermory, ON. T. is at the tip of the Bruce peninsula.

On board the ferry we strolled around, sat outside on the deck for a while but it was fairly breezy and cool, went shopping at the on board shop and sat in the eating area for a while.

It took us nearly two hours to drive from Tobermory to Durham. We stopped for supper at a KFC in Hanover, ON before we reached NTM at Durham.

Val & Dennis' home was available for us to stay in and Pat had directions where to find the key even though they were not at home but at the Jungle Camp. We settled in for the night and Pat, found some work to keep her occupied for part of the evening. The morning just couldn't come soon enough for her.

Day 2 - Trip to Ontario - Schreiber to Hornora Bay

2008-07-19T19:32:00.000-07:00

Started out fairly early from Schreiber with the intent of stopping for breakfast a little later. We couldn't find much of anything open for breakfast at Marathon which was about an hour along the way. Helmut and Pat were able to get their morning coffees and we ate things from our own supply of food.

It was a cool clear morning with only some foggy patches in low spots.

Lots of nice scenery to enjoy on this day and lots of road construction to slow us down along the way. We took turns driving but Helmut did the most of it.

We had lunch at McDonald's in Sault Ste. Marie. From this point east the road follows the lake shore (sometimes close and some times further back). It is leveler ground with some farms in the area.

We arrived in Espanol around 4 -4:30 pm. We went shopping in a mall for gifts for Jansens and some groceries for our picnic supper. Couldn't reach J's by phone (they were expecting us but not just sure when). We drove over to Little Current on Manitoulin Island, stopped at the information center to find out about the ferry service on Friday. Then we went to a park over looking the harbour and had our picnic supper. In the harbour area we saw this boat cruising around. This is on the North Channel of Lake Huron.

We arrived at Barb & Evert's to find Barb & two granddaughters at home - Evert was out cutting hay. Another local friend of theirs dropped in for a little while and Barb served us all some tea.

Just before sunset we went to their cottage ( just down the road) and on the lake shore. It is occupied by some of Kyla's employees. Helmut and the two granddaughters went for a swim in the bay - it is very rocky there. Scott, the dog also had a swim and played fetch with a stick almost bigger than he is. It was a bit breezy and not too warm. You can see Pat is wearing a jacket - but she left the blanket back in the car.

We watched the sun set over the lake - since it was such a clear night there wasn't some of the beautiful colors that can sometimes be observed.

Evert took us out to see Kyla's riding stable just before dark - some changes have been made since we were there in Nov. 2007 and of course it was Pat's first chance to see it. Kyla was very busy laying rubber matting on the floor.

Later after we got back to the house Barb made supper for everyone - by this time we were also ready to eat again. We had a very good visit and really enjoyed our time with them.

The next morning I was awake before most everyone else ( these farmers sleep in now days because they don't have anymore cows to milk) so I went for a walk on the roads until I came to the gate of the riding stable - quite a good walk for me - about an hour. Saw a deer loping across a field. By the way I was able to exit the house without awaking Scott who sleeps on the porch or Katie, the border collie who sleeps outside or in the open back entry. Katie was up to greet me by the time I returned.

We visited with the family until about 11 am when we had to get on our way in order to make the ferry at South Baymouth on time. That will be the next episode.

Spur -of-the-Moment Trip to Ontario - July 2008

2008-07-17T12:50:00.000-07:00

The last week of June 2008 sister Pat purposed a trip to visit us and we all go to ON to visit Val & Dennis at jungle camp. Our interest in jungle camp had already been stimulated by Val's blogging all about the preparations for it. The suggestion to go visit with Pat, was easily accepted and our availability was easy to arrange.

Pat, had a very long day on Mon. June 30 riding the bus from Omaha to Winnipeg. She had planned a day with us here in Wpg. to rest up and also visit our family.

June 2 at about 6:40 am we left home making the first stop at Tim Horton's about half a mile away where Helmut and Pat got their first fill-up of coffee. Around 8:15 we crossed the border of MB & ON - both rest stops were closed which was rather inconvenient so we drove on to the first gift shop/restaurant that seemed to be open where we stopped to use the facilities, buy a post card & more coffee for the driver. I was quite surprised when the clerk ( a young woman) asked me if I was Ruth's Mother. She turned out to be Jillian Thornton who knew us from her years at camp - we have known her parents and both sets of grandparents for many years.

Near Dryden, ON we saw a semi trailer upside down and badly burnt in the ditch on the north side of the road. Lots of emergency equipment still around it.

This was a very cool morning and cloudy as well .

In Dryden we took another stop so that Pat could get to the bank to change some US money into Canadian currency.

We had our lunch in a way side rest area where there were lots of wild flowers - we took a couple of pictures. The reddish flowers are Indian Paintbrush, the white ones are Daises, the yellow ones I do not know their name.

As we neared Thunder Bay area in the late afternoon we saw many areas of Lupines in the ditches. They vary in color from white, pink, yellow, orange, blue and violet.

We stopped at an overlook area to view lake Superior but the undergrowth in the immediate area was too high to see over so Helmut climbed on a railing post to see if he could take a decent picture for Pat and one on our camera - I can't tell which picture was taken from this vantage point but I got one of him on the post and of Pat all wrapped up in a blanket because of the crisp Canadian air.

We spent the night in Schreiber, ON at a Nor-West Motel it was very reasonable.

This last photo looks just like you might drive right into lake Superior if you aren't careful.

Day Out With Thomas The Engine

2008-07-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

On June 27Th. we took T. to "A Day Out With Thomas the Engine". This was very exciting for our T. and he was already to go when we arrived at his house before eight in the morning - had to be there before his Mom & Dad had to go to work.

Getting to the location of the event was a little special in itself. the event took place at the Heritage railway station a way out on the far northwest corner of the city. The parking was a long ways from the station so there was a special bus provided as part of the package to shuttle everyone to the station. I'm not quite sure if this was a first bus ride for T.

On arrival at the station we had T.'s picture taken with Thomas the Engine but I have yet to figure out how to scan it into the computer. We had about an hour to look around at all of the things to do before our train ride.

The "Big Boy's" train was the first display we saw - "NO TOUCHING" was the rule at this place. I think Opa was more interested than T.

Then we came to the various size toy trains of the Thomas series. The littlest one was T.'s favorite. He was fascinated to play with it for quite a long time. All the children were playing alone side by side with one another and not fighting over any of the parts.

Then came the 45 minute train ride on the heritage coach behind Thomas the engine. ( Thomas the engine is mostly a mascot) Prairie Dog Central locomotive provided the pulling /pushing power. So we went backwards one way and frontwards on the return trip.

Also part of the activities provided were inflatables for the youngsters to play in. The train one had such a strong wind at the entry way that we couldn't convince T. to enter it and it was too small for adults to go in it. T. really enjoyed the Tiger and was able to get up in it and jump to his heart's content.

It was almost as much fun bouncing in and out on the tongue of the Tiger as jumpin inside of its belly.

Around about 11:30 we had to find some hot dogs for our lunch because Oma was so hungry.

Tid Bits

2008-07-13T16:06:00.000-07:00

We traveled 5000 or more kilometers, spent two days in the forest and picnicked in various wooded places without any encounters with "bad bugs". I get home last evening and today I sit at my computer in our study and get a tick crawling up my shoulder right out of my reach so had to get H. to pick it off.

Activities in late June

2008-07-13T15:48:00.000-07:00

" Abby stinks" T. said when he passed the dog in the back landing. That was the "sign" to Opa that the dog needed a bath according to T. So lots of doggie shampoo to sweeten her up; then the rinsing and finally the towel drying and the big shake that I didn't get the picture of. Sorry got the drying photo on here twice.

Unexpectedly one day I noticed a big puddle of water coming out from under the washer and dryer so thought that the washer was leaking. It turned out that the water was coming in under the basement wall behind the washer. So my H. had to take down the paneling and try to seal up the seam where the walls meet the floor. The water was actually coming from a leaky faucet on the out side of the house - so that part was remedied with a new washer in the faucet.

What is it?

2008-06-19T15:06:00.000-07:00

Now you are curious why I would post a picture of this....

Last Friday my hubby came home with this item just for me. That was a surprise in itself because he isn't in the habit of buying things like this for me when there isn't a special day, i.e. birthday or anniversary.

Second surprise .... when I used it on Sun. I got lots of comments from other gals - more than on any other handbag I ever had.

The cloth is hand woven here in Winnipeg by refugee women from Minemar (Burma), the Karen tribe. they make the bags as well as table clothes and scarves. They are Christians and attend one of the chapels.

Marinated Chicken

2008-06-18T07:42:00.000-07:00

This post is for my sister but anyone else that wishes to try this recipe is welcome to do so.

Quick Zesty Marinate-

1/2 cup of Zesty Italian dressing
2 Tbs. Soy sauce

Mix well until blended. Pour over four pieces of skinless, boneless chicken breast and let stand for at least half an hour. The longer the meat stands in the marinate the stronger the flavor. I usually marinate it in a Ziplock bag but any glass or plastic bowl will work. May need more marinate sauce if the bowl is too large.

Heat frying pan on lower medium setting. Melt 1 Tbs. margarine add meat lifted directly from marinate sauce and place in fry pan. Cover and cook slowly turning at least once but perhaps several times. Check it often to prevent burning. Takes 15 to 20 minutes depending on thickness of chicken breasts. I sprinkled a little bit of a " No salt" steak spice on them. You may use a little more of the marinate sauce part way through the cooking process. Do not save excess marinate sauce that was on the chicken and is not cooked as it will spoil.

Enjoy!

P.S. Same marinate sauce may be used on beef steak or pork steaks and chops. Can grill meat on the BBQ also.

Golden Linings

2008-06-17T12:41:00.000-07:00

You have heard of clouds with silver linings - our clouds had golden linings one evening last week. These rolled up very fast one evening and just kept going without dropping any rain on us although a little way from us it must have rained because we saw a little bit of a rain bow in the southeastern sky for a few seconds. Views from our back yard.

Lacy Leaves & Caterpillars

2008-06-17T12:16:00.000-07:00

This is one of our apple trees. If you enlarge the picture and look carefully in the center of it you will see at least two different caterpillars at work. they are the "creator" of the laciness of the leaves.

These little fellows start out pale green and turn a dark color as they get bigger. They can hang from very fine threads that they make themselves. So when you walk under a tree where they like to eat you will come face to face with many of them.

Since they particularly like our apple trees we have quite a few in our back yard. They also really enjoy Siberian Elm leaves so they are abundant along the place where I usually take my walk.

At the moment they are only about an inch long but as they continue to feast on leaves they become longer and fatter.

I picked these two off of the back of my neck while sitting here by the computer - they had hitched a ride indoors after I was out taking their pictures so now you see them close up on my desk.

They do not feed on humans but they tend to tickle and if there are many on you at one time they feel uky. I have seen people getting quite upset about them.

Ah, don't ask what their name is I don't know which ones they are.

Pine Bluff - Pebble Beach Lake

2008-06-06T10:33:00.000-07:00

We really love having a home on Pebble Beach - it is such a famous location. This is our lake side dwelling on this very rainy Friday, June 6th.

In the top picture you see the car that decided not to try passing through the deep waters. The driver stopped right where you see the car backed up turned into our driveway and turned around to go back the way he/she had come from.

In the 3rd. picture you see the lake from south to north on the Pebble Beach Rd. it extends from our driveway at the back edge of the house to the drive of the house across the street from us - about one block.

The 4th. picture shows the length of the lake east to west from the curb (grassy area) at the bottom of the picture to the driveway of our next door neighbor - the lots are 60 feet wide plus about 14 feet from our lot line to the street and the width of the street.

5th. picture is a brave soul testing out the depth of the lake - the water comes to the top of his boots - when he told me he was going to wade out there I thought he was going to put on his swim trunks and go barefoot - I thought it was a bit cool for that. (We used to take our kids out to swim in this lake when they were smaller and it formed on a hot day.)

Last - most vehicles go right on through like this truck. It was fun to watch a little Smartcar driving through.

This lake has been here since early morning - it is 1pm. now and the city workers are out there now trying to figure out how to get it to drain. It continues to rain.

First Week of June 2008

2008-06-06T10:17:00.000-07:00

The top and bottom pictures are of two of our four apple trees while in bloom last Sun. evening.

Then you see some of the first tulips to bloom on the east side of the house.

Next the lovely lowly chives that come up year after year near the back door.

One of my projects this week was to paint the enclosure for the air conditioner.

Abby enjoying a sunny afternoon - all the white dots on the lawn are the apple blossom petals.

Nature Study - Johnson Island Lac Lu, ON

2008-06-03T18:09:00.000-07:00

Some pictures of our nature study on Sat. May 31, '08. Remember to double click the pictures to see them on the full screen - the details will be much better.

Starting at the top the first two pictures are a Bald Eagle that has a nest in a tree across a narrow strip of water from Hanna's cabin.

#3 is a small bird's nest that Helmut spotted on the ground near a little tree. It has five eggs in it . We were not able to determine what type of bird the nest belongs to.

#4 a small white flower.

#5 a Creeping Charlie plant and flower - there are lots of them in the lawn near the cabin.

#6 & 7 Wild strawberry plants and blooms.

# 8 Common blue violet

Nobody got a picture of the other water fowl, turtles and deer. I didn't want to take the camera when we went canoeing because of my tendency to fall in the water - of course this time I stayed high and dry. I guess I should invest in a waterproof camera.

Over-nighter at Lac Lu near Kenora, ON

2008-06-02T19:24:00.000-07:00

I am sorry that the pictures are in reverse order to the text - these things seem to happen to me and I don't know how to fix them short of starting all over.

"and shall pitch it within and without with pitch" Gen. 6:14b.

Fri. May 30, '08 Hanna, Helmut & I arrived at Johnson Island, Lac Lu, (near Kenora), ON.

Unfortunately the boat hit a rock as we were landing at the dock and so a seam gave way causing a leak. First order of the afternoon when the rain stopped was to fix the leak so that the boat would not take on so much water as to sink. H & H were able to find some roofing tar in a tube left over from some previous patching of the roof. so Helmut pitched the boat corner ( leaky seam) within and without just like God told Noah to do on the ark.
the boat is on dry dock and Hanna is weighting it down while Helmut hangs over the end making the repair.

Sat. turned out to be a lovely sunny day. In the morning Helmut did various little repair jobs on the cabin and around the property. Hanna did some tidying up and all the cooking. I did some reading and knitting. Before lunch all three of us went hiking around the property to enjoy the spring growth, look for plants and animals and just get some exercise. We saw lots of wild flowers and in another post I will show you some of those pictures, there seemed to be about three deer on the island - sighted by one or the other of us at various times. After lunch Helmut & I went for a relaxing canoe trip to the west end of the lake - it took a little over an hour.

Hanna did the mowing and cleaning out some of the junk so that it could be removed back to the city to be disposed of.

After our canoe trip Helmut loaded all the "junk" in the boat in preparation for our return to the main land and the city in the evening.

We had a nice supper before leaving the cabin . We left the parking place for the two & a half hour trip to Winnipeg about 8:35 pm. Arrived at Hanna's home in Winnipeg about 11:15 unloaded her stuff and got on home before midnight. It was a very lovely over-nighter.

The Top of the Week

2008-05-26T08:57:00.000-07:00

It is a Monday morning and is looking like it will be quite a nice bright day. it was quite cool overnight so is taking time to warm up and I haven't been out yet to see what it is like.

This picture shows how my gift mum - received on April 23rd. looked a few days later with my African violets that were putting on a good display then. The mum " bit the dust" a week or more ago and has been relegated to outdoors in hopes that it will get rested & renewed by late summer.

On Sat. we took a one day trip to Fargo, ND to attend a Bible conference. The conference was very refreshing both from the standpoint of the ministry from God's Word and the fellowship with the Lord's people. We also had a mini family reunion with my sister, aunt, uncle & cousin who came up from Lincoln & Omaha, NE. , my second cousin lives in Fargo area so we also saw him.

Bro. A. McIntee spoke about the sufferings of the Lord Jesus from Psalm 22. Bro. M. Atwood spoke about leadership from the first chapter of Joshua. Our only regret was that we couldn't stay for the complete conference (until today).

Spring at Last

2008-05-17T17:22:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots of things blooming in our yard right now. The top is a Bergenia - this interesting plant is evergreen and when the snow melts away the leaves look as good as the previous summer - they have a little more red color during the winter but are covered with snow anyway. the blooms are among the first to come in the spring and even beat the tulips and daffodils in our yard this year.

Picture 2: the Shubert Chokecherry tree in our front yard has fresh green leaves coming out as summer advances the leaves turn dark maroon.

Picture 3: The blooms just opening on the Nanking Cherry shrub - many years this is in full bloom for Mother's day it is a little late because of the very cool weather this spring.

Picture 4: Those beautiful yellow "weeds" that every little kid loves to pick a bunch of for Mother.

2008-05-13T19:36:00.000-07:00

Mission hospital mattress production.

On Saturday, May 10, '08.

Top picture: Michael turning the covers right side out and preparing the corners for stuffing.

Bottom picture: David folds the foam mattress in half and straps it together so that it will slip into the cover easily.

Middle picture: ( sorry they got out of order)
Helmut puts the foam in the covers.

After completing 50 mattresses they wrapped them in bundles of three in clear plastic vapor barrier with an address label. (No picture of this step.)

This evening 50 more mattresses were finished with Les and me lending our hands to the project.

Every thing is now ready for delivery to Portage la Prairie to pack into the container to Zambia.

2008-05-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

It is a welcomed rainy day here in Winnipeg. It is so nice to hear the rain dropping on the shed roof - that way I know it is still raining even when I can't see it. We have had very little rain this spring.

These mums were given to me for my birthday by my dear husband. I like to make an arrangement like this to photograph - I'll probably use it for a greeting card.

The computer is frustratingly slow this morning so this is the end of this post.

2008-05-10T17:18:00.000-07:00

A few pictures from recent events.

The beautiful bouquet of red roses, carnations, mums and baby breath given to me by T. for my birthday.

We celebrated M.'s and my birthday on April 27th.

The untimely snow on Apr. 25th. there was more on May 4th. but I didn't get a picture of it

Then there was the day that A. had to take the turbo charger out of his car so you can see the two "mechanics" hard at it. there is still a day coming when he has to put it back in.

Tid Bits

2008-05-06T10:35:00.000-07:00

It is high time for a new post. I am feeling a little like spring today as it is lovely out.

These orchids are native to Manitoba along with many others. We were quite surprised about how many native orchids can be found in our Provence. We didn't see any of the others at the orchid show that we know of. The grower of these said that they are quite hard to grow in pots and force to bloom for the right time of the show.

Another person who was promoting the MB search for orchids had a big chart of pictures of the various types that can be found in MB. Hikes are sponsored by this group to go looking for the orchids - you need to be a member.

I thought on such a nice day I should clean my oven - for some reason the self-clean program doesn't want to work so I just cleaned up the worst part with a wet cloth and scrubbed the racks. Forget the "self-clean" - blah!

Not much is growing in my garden yet as it has been far too cool so far. No daffodils or tulips or apple blossoms yet.

Van "Eating" Culinary School

2008-04-27T19:06:00.000-07:00

April 10 - Baking 101 - Instructor P. V.E. - student B. V. E. - Recipes of the day - Chocolate Chip Cookies - Fudge

The photographer arrived after the lesson was under way so missed the steps of mixing the dough.

Tasting the fudge.

2008-04-18T20:17:00.000-07:00

More of the 50th. celebration pitures. This is the best one of Bob & Marilyn that I have.

This is Janet & Steve's home- very large on a very large lot. They need it with their 8 kids and number nine on the way.

My brother Jim chatting with one of Doris' daughter-in-laws.

B. & M.'s daughters Valerie and Janet visiting their aunt Bernedette ( in the green)

The 50 Year Celebrastion

2008-04-18T10:46:00.001-07:00

Robert & Marilyn R. celebrated their 50th. wedding anniversary on April 5, 2008 in the home of one of their daughters in Overland Park, KS. Robert (Bob to most of us) is my cousin on my Mother's side of the family. ( My memories of the day they were married are mostly associated with the fact that it was a very windy day and night and the home where my family stayed rattled considerably from the constant onslaught of the wind.) This day of their 50th. celebration was a lovely spring day and the home was rattling mostly from the many visitors and grandchildren.

Myrna & Jean have a visit with cousin Ernie.

The grandkids helping themselves to the eats.

B. & M.'s daughter Wendy with a friend (in red) and B. & M.'s niece by marriage, Trudy.

Daughter Karen taking pictures of the occasion.

My brother, John with cousins Vicky & Diane.

Four of B. & M.'s granddaughters.

More pictures on the next post.

More of our visit to Lincoln

2008-04-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

We spent Friday April 4 with Pat and John. After supper Matt & Sarah brought all their kids over to see their Grandpa. we got some pictures of the three oldest boys, the youngest girl, and the new baby boy. Somehow we missed the girl that fits in just ahead of the one pictured.

John's brother and sister-in-law were also visiting during the day.

Southward Bound

2008-04-14T11:15:00.001-07:00

This is the first installment of our trip to the U.S. - April 3 to 11, 2008

The trip was uneventful and the weather was very nice on that early spring day. These pictures were taken at an information/rest stop at Sioux City, Iowa. It was about five in the afternoon so the old ship -information place was closed. We walked around on the deck of this old boat this along the side of the Missouri River.

We arrived in Lincoln, NE about 8:15 pm. about 12 hours after we left home.

Packing Party

2008-04-02T20:54:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday evening, April 1, ten of the folks from our chapel got together in our basement to pack parcels to send to Zambia.

Helmut had to finish hemming a few receiving blankets in order to complete a few more baby kits.

Here are several views of the sisters packing the boxes.

When the boxes are full they are carried by the men or boys to the workshop where the men seal, address and weigh them.

Then they are carried to the bedroom and stacked.

Later David tallied up all the weight. We had 43 boxes with a total weight of over 1800 pounds.

Then we all went upstairs and had a good snack furnished by four of the sisters.

After the snack, Helmut, Oscar & Michael loaded our van.

Today we drove the load to Jeffries Vegetable Growers and some of the employees helped Helmut unload it.

FINISHED for another 5 or 6 months.

A Visit to the Conservatory

2008-03-28T19:53:00.001-07:00

This morning while Andrew was sleeping (he had worked the night shift) we took our guests, his friends from PA to the Conservatory here in Winnipeg. We were surprised to find that the Orchid Show was on and that there were lots of visitors. Here are some of the many pictures that I took.

On the left is Chelsea A. & on the right is Barbie S

Helmut taking in one of the displays.

Since I was manning the camera you can't see me. Ha!

Spring

2008-03-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

Spring is in the air in Manitoba. It was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine and warm temps enough to melt some snow. The walkways are becoming dryer so that it is easier to walk on them. We had a very nice walk from 5:15 - 6:15 this evening before supper. It is unusual for us to put supper off but I wanted to enjoy the fine day before the sun went down. Didn't even have to wear long pants today could just go out as I would dress for in the house except that I did have on a coat & toque.

No our tulips are not up and blooming yet. The picture was from last April just before we left for Germany. that patch of garden space is clear of snow now but nothing is shooting up there yet. There are also chives in that area and they usually come up before the tulips.

Company arrived safely - they and A. & R. all went to M. & C.'s for supper. We haven't had much chance to visit yet.

Isaiah 53:5

2008-03-20T11:44:00.001-07:00

"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

Juan 3:16

2008-03-18T21:15:00.000-07:00

Porque de tal manera amo Dios al mundo, queha dado a su Hijo unigenito, para que todo aquel que en el cree, no se pierda, mas tenga vida eterna.

Recent Projects

2008-03-14T09:51:00.001-07:00

Thankfully everything about this process of uploading pictures and blogging has gone without a hitch today so far.

These pictures represent a little of the activities that have been taking place around our house in the last week or so. Last Sat. Andrew and Helmut started rearranging the family area of the basement. In the picture where Helmut is working on something and you see a large empty space under some shelving you can imagine that the entertainment unit used to sit there. Since Andrew acquired a new very large TV it wouldn't fit in the space of the unit so all the changes were made. The unit was cut down and moved to the place where you can see the TV then the shelf part of the unit was remodeled and is sitting on the floor to house the other components. The big orange couch was moved into the space under the shelving unit on H.'s right. The other hide -a- bed faces the TV along with two chairs. Behind the hide-a-bed is R.'s drum set. Sure looks like a mess in these pictures - it is a little tidier now.

The little dresses and skirts are hanging in front of the mattress only for the photo taking so that you can see some of what I've been making. On the back of the orange couch are a few of the vests that Helmut knits and I crochet the edges of.

Yesterday I finished the calendar project for this year so they are ready to be mailed.