to make plans or not...

Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans. ~John Lennon

We had some guests around our table on Sunday afternoon...

including some elderly relatives.

They shared how so many of their friends have passed on.

'But we still make plans for tomorrow', they said.

Of course you do!

When we quit planning...

we quit living.

But this I also know.

Things do not always go according to our plan.

Ultimately...

we are not the ones in charge.

I had not planned for Dad to be sick last week.

We are hoping to do a bit of travelling next month...

but put off booking anything while he was ill.

He seems to be doing much better these days.

On Sunday evening we did our research...

with plans to book our vacation yesterday morning.

Before we got up to meet the day...

we got word that Jeremy was very ill...

and on his way to ER.

We never booked our trip.

He had an emergency appendectomy in the afternoon...

and is hopefully on the road to recovery.

I think maybe today I will throw caution to the wind...

and make some reservations.

I make the plans.

But in the end...

He holds my future.

of sunshine and signings and such...

We have had the most glorious weather over here these past days.

Blue skies and snow-capped peaks are a feast for the eyes!

It has been warm enough to play tennis...

and hike...

and bike...

or even clean up the garden.

I have done none of the above...

since my days have been filled with pre-arranged appointments and events.

 (Winks, Anneliese, Lovella, Darcey, Julie, Judy, Marg and Kathy)

On Saturday Winks hosted a special event at her shop...

one that featured the Mennonite Girls Can Cook cookbook.

Some of us joined her for a few hours...

and signed books and met the nicest of people.

Winks was donating all proceeds from the event to feed hungry children in Romania.

It was fun to meet Darcey who works in Calarasi, Romania...

and will be returning there shortly.

We had a good time!

Here's a cookbook story I just have to share.

I ran into Safeway over the weekend in search of cornmeal.

An elderly gentleman was perusing the shelves nearby...

and asked if I would happen to know where the oat bran might be.

I helped him find the oat bran.

Then he showed me his grocery list...

and informed me that he had just bought a new cookbook...

and he was planning to try his hand at baking bread.

'Which cookbook?' I asked.

'Mennonite Girls Can Cook'...was his response.

I laughed and introduced myself...

and asked which bread he planned to bake.

Sunflower Flaxseed Bread...

a recipe I had submitted.

He had seen the segment about the cookbook on Global TV news before Christmas...

and ordered the book on-line.

He had no idea any of the authors lived nearby...

and was most surprised to meet me...

in the baking aisle...

at Safeway!

Co-incidence?

I think not.

The sun is scheduled to shine again today.

I have full intentions of getting out there!

We'll see how that goes.

the vintage fork easel...

As promised...

today is all about bending a fork out of shape...

just for fun!

I saw this idea on pinterest a few months ago...

and immediately went on a hunt for old silver forks.

Old silver forks make fantastic easels...

to display a wee photo or a vintage card.

The card pictured above is one my dad gave my mom...

some sixty-five years ago.

The forks can be found at thrift stores...

sometimes for ten cents each.

Other times...

more.

I had only a photo to go by...

so my easels are 'by guess and by golly'.

Since my forks were quite curved...

I started by flattening them a little on the workbench.

Using hubby's vice...

I secured the fork tightly and then proceeded to bend the tines with a plier.

Both outside tines were bent forward and a wee bit out at the base.

The two center tines were bent to the back...

and also out at an angle.

I used needlenose pliers to flip up the bottoms of the tines.

Nothing fancy...

but it worked.

The silver is quite soft and easy to mark with the pliers..

Use masking tape on tines to prevent that...

or not.

Once the easel is done...

check to see that it is sitting level.

If not...

it may need a wee bit adjusting.

I have given these away as gifts...

have a few sitting around my place...

...and we used some on our birthday party table earlier this week.

Next week I'll share a few of the other pinterest inspired things I have made recently.

So there you have it...

a five or ten minute project that makes a great gift!

bent out of shape...

I'm a wee bit 'bent out of shape' this morning...

to think that I spent nine hours with my dad in ER yesterday.

All that just to get a doctor to write out a prescription!

Earlier this week dad spent a day and night in the same ER...

was treated for pneumonia and released with a prescription.

He took one dose of his meds...

got really sick...

and declared he would NEVER touch that medication again.

His family doctor was away until next week...

and so it seemed to make sense that we go back to ER where they had all his earlier records...

and could quickly prescribe an alternative medication.

Don't you think?

We mostly waited...

and waited some more.

Dad told stories...

loud enough to entertain some of the other ER guests as well.

I mostly listened...

and every two hours I went and fed the parking meter.

I had him home by midnight...

and when I left he was heating up a bowl of borscht for night-lunch.

He seems to be on the mend...

so I sure hope his new meds agree with him.

I found this photo in my files from his extended hospital stay three years ago...

and thought it went quite nicely with this post.

Dad quite dislikes forks that are bent out of shape.

He is known to straighten them out...

even in a restaurant!

As for me...

I've been bending old silver forks out of shape...

just for the fun of it.

That's my post for tomorrow.

the congregation in my neighbourhood....

They are back...

in full force.

We thought they had chosen another neighbourhood this year...

but it seems they have returned to their old stomping grounds.

The bald eagle.

So majestic!
I like having them around.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!