June ~ Memories and Moments

As we are about to flip the calendar page once more...
let me share just a few 'memorable moments' from June.

The month began at Scotch Creek...

on Shuswap Lake.

Flood level high water made it difficult to sit on the park bench...

or eat at the  picnic tables...

or access the beaches at all.

The geese have no concerns about high water!

We spent the weekend at the 'Baerg cabin'...

guests of my sister Dot and Terry.

How nice that Dad could join us once again!

It was once my parent's cabin...

and we all have many good memories of time spent here in bygone years.

We had a relaxing weekend...

good food, good visits,

bike rides and lots of Rook games.

We sat under the trees...

with the campfire going...

and listened to stories being told and retold. :)

It was a good time...

and likely the last time we will be at the cabin with dad.

He turns 96 in a few months.

We took a detour through Kelowna on the way home to visit my SIL Martha in Kelowna.

She invited us for coffee in the early afternoon.

Coffee?

We arrived to this spread!  

Thankfully  a few nieces and nephews joined us.

We spent the night...

and caught up with all the Kelowna family while we were there.

We don't see them often enough these days.

It seems most of my photos were of 'birds and blooms' this month...

but I'll just post a few.

I moved my bird feeder closer this year...

and have enjoyed watching the birds from the kitchen window.

Peonies and roses were my favorite picks this month.

The dogwood tree barely blushed pink...

where it normally blooms a vibrant rose colour. 

Does it need fertilizer?

 

Earlier this month we had a Mennonite Girls Can Cook '10 year anniversary celebration' dinner at Lovella's.  

We made a decision to quit posting new recipes to the blog...

though the blog will remain as a very large on-line cookbook!

Thanks to all of you for your encouragement and support over the years.

We are so grateful for all the opportunities that came our way...

including all the monies raised to feed the hungry through cookbook sales.

And I am so thankful for the friendship of these ten women.

That was an unexpected gift from God.

After a very hot and dry May we had quite a mixed bag in June...

some heat, some cool weather and a little rain.

Even a rainbow or two!

As June comes to an end...

everything is quite green in the valley.

Emme brought her other 'Nana' on a farm tour across the fields...

...as they were harvesting the second crop of grass.

Father's Day...

a drive in the old car...

a relaxing afternoon with a book...

and evening with the whole gang at Kris and Lina's.

Love her little French country garden!

We took in Ranen's last Irish dance feis of the year.

Several costume changes...

soft shoes and hard shoes...

rolls of tape to keep the shoes in place...

bobby pins to keep the hair in place...

and always a smile.

Number 302 danced her heart out!

Ranen and Maggie both have very 'fast feet' and both represented their respective schools at the district track meet last week.

Running is their thing.

Very fast! 

And then there were the year-end music recitals.

Ryder wowed us on his drums.

Ranen and Micah performed at a violin concert in a park in Abbostford.

A beautiful setting and a lovely evening of music.

Keep it up, Ranen  and Micah.

We had good times with friends in June...

around the table or the fire.

Last Sunday afternoon we cycled to Harrison Lake through the countryside of Agassiz.
Sunshine.
Corn fields and Brown Swiss cattle.
Blueberries hanging ripe on the bushes.
And then...Harrison Lake.
Lunch at a patio and bistro and ice-cream cones on the beach with good friends.
A perfectly fine June adventure.

Before I close this post...
let me just share what was happening on the home front.

Some three weeks ago...
a pair of killdeer decided that our front driveway was a good place to build their nest.

They couldn't have found a worse location ...
since it was right where the normal flow of traffic would pass.

What to do?

We put up barricades on either side of the nest...

and allowed mama to sit on her eggs.

Those were a very long three weeks...

with no easy access to our front door.

But we have our driveway back.
And the waning  killdeer population got a bit of a boost over here.

I just happened to be out on the yard when I noticed mama killdeer was off her nest...
and there were two brand new killdeer chicks.

She was soon back on the nest...

but before long the chicks were out and about.

Papa killdeer seemed to be their guardian.

The nest has now been abandoned.

The killdeer are here, there and everywhere...

and you are free to drive up our driveway if you so wish.

It was an 'awesome' experience...

watching these birds this past month.

What an amazing Creator we have.

As this month comes to an end...
let me wish you all a very happy Canada Day weekend.

May God keep our land 'glorious and free'!