friday's foto wrap-up...

The week is about over...already.

I was just looking through my pictures taken this past week...

and thought I'd post a few favorites.

A bit of this...

and a bit of that!

We had breakfast under this lovely chandelier earlier this week...

at my sis-in-law's table...

in Kelowna.

The chandelier always brings back memories of the many times I sat beneath it over the years...

and enjoyed fine food and the best of company.

It was my mother-in-law's chandelier...

a gift from dad long ago.

First it was in their farm-house.

Then it hung in the dining room of their house in the suburbs.

Then it went with her to her condo.

Eventually...

Martha took ownership and moved it to her dining room.

I've heard say that my niece plans to hang it over her table one day.

I like that...

the the gift of light keeps shining!

The eagles are back in our neighbourhood full force. 

 

I took this photo from my kitchen window one morning...

of eagles gathering in the tree across the field.

I love to step outside and listen to them  'squeak'...

their way of communicating with one another.

And just outside my kitchen window are the wee birds...

feeding at the free buffet I provide for them.

Here's something we haven't had in a long while...

 

...huge smooth sheets of ice on our grass fields...

with grands and their friends having a wonderful time out there!

I pass by this wee cemetery often...

and never really 'see it'.

Maybe it was the snow-capped peaks behind it...

that called me to stop and take a picture.

A peaceful picture...

the Tzeachten Cemetery in Chilliwack.

And those are my picks on this winter's day.

Well, let me add one more...
taken yesterday!

Tennis...
in January.

We are loving this weather.

Have a wonderful weekend!

try, try again...

'Tis a lesson you should heed, 

If at first you don't succeed, 

Try, try again.

I've learned my lesson well.

I don't give up easily!

I've been making Anneliese's French bread for the past few years.

One recipe yields two large loaves.

Quick and simple...

and ready in no time.

Usually.

Just before Christmas we had plans to go to a concert with friends.

The plan was to have a quick soup supper together before we went.

I offered to bring fresh bread.

Anneliese's French bread.

I mixed up a batch of dough...

and realized it was missing the secret ingredient.

Yeast.

I added it after the fact...

but decided it was not likely going to produce bread to share with friends...

so I quickly mixed up the second batch.

 It went into my favorite large, red Tupperware mixing bowl...

and I tucked it into the oven to rise in a warm place.

I turned on the oven for 15 seconds...

then turned it off and went back to the sewing machine.

Well, I thought I turned it off!
Some 10 minutes later...
the lid of my nice bowl was a molten mass on top of the rapidly rising yeast dough.
Not only was my favorite bowl ruined...
I still had no French bread for supper.
So I mixed the third batch.
All went well...
and it came out of the oven just in time!

I just thought I'd share that things sometimes go terribly wrong over here as well.

The lesson I've learned...

try again! 

There were a few happy endings to my story.

The first batch of bread with the yeast added after-the-fact turned out just fine in the end.

And so we had our fill of French bread.

And my favorite red bowl which was ruined...

has already been replaced.

My friend just happened to have a green one that she was saving to give away...

and so I was the lucky recipient.

One more thing...

you too can be baking Anneliese's French bread in your kitchen soon.

The recipe will be posted in the new Celebrations cookbook...

coming in spring...

along with all the variations including bread sticks and pizza rolls.

Just keep your Tupperware bowls away from the oven.

I'm just saying!

Enjoy the day...

of laughter and friends...

We were at a dinner party over the weekend...

at the home of good friends.

Just in case we ran out of things to talk about (like that would ever happen)...

we were each given a question to respond to.

I was to share where I go when I need a good laugh.

That was easy to answer.
I go and spend time with good friends.
Their laughter is contagious!

Just as lotions and fragrance give sensual delight, 
 a sweet friendship refreshes the soul. 
Proverbs 27:9 The Message

So true.  
Solomon knew whereof he spoke! 

sunflowers, sunshine, and reasons to smile...

Could there be a nicer venue for a wedding? 

What a pleasure it was...

to be part of the marriage celebration of the daughter of our good friends over the weekend.

Their yard has never looked so good!

 Everyone was all smiles as they walked down the 'green carpet'.

And soon they were leaving...

the beaming Mr. and Mrs.!

I'm sure Marg will be back from her blogging hiatus one of these days...

and I'll let her share all the details with you!

 

Good friends...

good food...

in a beautiful setting.

No one was in a hurry to leave.

And...

as though on cue...

we were all treated to a fireworks display as the wedding came to an end. 

Yes.

There were many reasons to smile!

I wish them both a lifetime of happiness together.

sweet things...

A simple and meaningful gift from a friend.

Sweet.

It was just a field of weeds next to the parking lot.

But I had my camera with me...

 ...and decided to take a picture or two.

 

The field of weeds...

...was actually quite beautiful!

“I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, 

simple things of life which are the real ones after all.” 

Laura Ingalls Wilder 

My grandson usually has the biggest of smiles!

When I saw his passport picture...

it was me that smiled!

 

Is that not the sweetest passport photo?

I think he had a hard time keeping the smile off his face!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend...

filled with sweet things.

May you have many reasons to smile.

for the record...

We had a few moments of sunshine early yesterday morning.

One had to be up with the birds to see it!

And yes...

I have a new clothesline.

The weatherman suggests I continue to dry laundry indoors for now.

My dual-purpose swing is in full service mode once again.

As for the missing clothesline and pulleys from the past...

they will serve as spare parts if they are ever located!

If you have jobs that need doing around your place...

tell us about them in a blog post.

Then things happen!

:)

dual purpose ~ no more!

 I had been thinking and dreaming.

 I needed a swing for the grands...

but I also really wanted a clothesline.

Four years ago...

my dual-purpose swing was installed.

The grands could swing...

and my clean white laundry could flap in the breeze.

It was a good plan.

If it wasn't raining...

and if no one was spreading liquid-gold in our neighbourhood...

I would hang clothes on the line.

Not any more.

The grands still swing.

But the clothesline seems to have disappeared.

Hubby took it down for winter...

thinking he would tighten it up come spring.

It has completely disappeared...

along with the pulleys for each end..

and no amount of searching seems to turn it up.

Every sunny day I remind him that my clothesline is still missing.

On sunny days he has more important things on his agenda.

So for now...

we have a single-purpose swing.

And I dry the laundry indoors.

P.S. He reads my blog on occasion.

I'm thinking I will have a clothesline soon.

life is like that...

Life. It can be funny at times!

I grew up in the country...one of five sisters and one brother.  We attended the country school nearby...and a country church in the same neighbourhood.  Not far away lived another family with five girls and one boy...who attended the same school and church as I did.  My sisters were good friends with some of the girls of the other family.  I was in the same class as their boy...and we had a lot of fun together in our senior high years (particularly German class).  We were all part of the same youth group...

...and several from each family were on this particular outing in 1971.   As time moved on...many of the siblings from each family scattered...and the ties were not what they once were.   

The youngest of the other family was the same age as my ‘little brother’...always dramatic and never at a loss for words, as I recall.  I taught her in girl's club once upon a time.  I remember she brought a yummy dill dip to an event.  (Who said we only remember the big stuff?)  I also remember that she took the prize for scripture memory!  Eventually she married and moved to the interior of our province.  What a surprise to re-connect with her through Blogdom in the past year or two.   You can go pay Karen a visit at her blog called Ocean Soul.  She has plenty of time to visit these days...since she is on an imposed 'staycation'  following major surgery. 

We’ve had many good laughs over things from the distant past...since we re-connected these last few years.  I love reading her blog...especially when she tells of friends and family that I know.  Not long ago Karen posted photos of a family vacation...a trip to Mexico with all her siblings and their spouses.  I couldn’t help but smile...

 (Karen ~ far left)

...since the photo looked strangely similar to one we took on a family cruise with all my siblings few years ago.  How many families have five sisters and one brother? 

And how did it happen that both guys are reclining for the family photo op?  I know my brother wasn’t even a little amused by the way the photographer lined us up...but his sisters thought it was quite funny!

 

Who knows?  Life is like that. 

Karen gave me permission to 'borrow' her photo...and to share the tale of the two families.  And I give you permission to go wish Karen all the best as she recuperates. 

Have a great weekend!

the missing wheelbarrow mystery...

The old wooden wheelbarrow has been a trademark on our yard for many years.

When we first moved here...

there was next to no landscaping...

and everything looked very bare.

My brother-in-law was storing some things over at the farm.

I laid my eyes on his wheelbarrow...

and decided I would borrow it  for 'my front porch'.

Just until he needed it, of course!

It stayed on the porch for many years.

I think my BIL decided it was easier to build himself a replacement...
than to even try to get his old wheelbarrow back. :)

Eventually it came to rest under the willow tree...

and made a great prop on a photo shoot or two.

For the most part...

the birds used it as perch.

And the winter weather took it's toll.

And sometime last fall...

the winds flipped it over and one of the handles broke off.

It would not be doing too much 'wheeling' anymore!

I was a little sad.

 

At Christmas I jokingly asked my BIL if he did warranty work on his wooden wheelbarrows.

He said...'sure'.

But really, I couldn't ask that of him...

when I had so brazenly taken ownership in the first place!

Last week, I asked hubby if he could somehow replace the broken handle for me.  

He agreed...

and went out to measure.

He came back in...

and asked me where the wheelbarrow might be.

What?

For years it had sat in the same place...

and now it was missing from the front yard.

 We decided that someone had stolen it while we were on vacation.

There was nothing to be done about it!

 

Yesterday morning I looked out the front window...

and there, right at the road...

was a spanking new antique wheelbarrow!

I can only surmise that my BIL has gone over-and-above any warranty obligations...

and built me a whole new wheelbarrow.

I quickly moved it away from the road...

before someone else felt compelled to 'borrow' it.

It sits quite handsomely where it's predecessor sat.

I love it.

Thank-you, Ron!

 

the slippery slope....

Though we are surrounded by mountains...

and live just over a mile from the base of the closest one...

we can't always find a slippery slope when we want one!

When the snows first arrived...

before the big blizzard...

we had a lovely Sunday afternoon to play in the snow.

The three grands pulled their sled across the fields...

and came over to see if we had enough of an incline for a little sledding.

Even with a bit of a push from above...

...the ride wasn't much of a thrill! 

It wasn't long before we all piled into the truck...

and went in search of a slippery slope!

Two miles east...

and on up the hill...

and we all had fun!

The snow had all but disappeared...

other than the drifts around the house...

when it started again on Saturday.

It was just enough to make the roads slick ...

though not everyone seemed to notice.

This young driver found a route onto the middle of our front lawn...

between the hydro pole and the willow tree.

He found it plenty slippery without a slope!

Getting there was easier than getting out of there...

since we didn't really want spinning tires leaving big ruts.

Farm 'tow truck' to the rescue!

The lawn will be fine.

The truck took a bit of a beating along one side.

Expensive lesson.

Next time it snows...

he'll be driving really slow!

If he wished to keep his 'slipping and sliding' incident quiet...

he picked the wrong lawn to slide onto.

Life as it happens...

coming to you from 'my front porch'.

we're in this together....

They have new rules in our country...

regarding dipping into the pension plan that we have been paying into.

I decided with a birthday coming up soon...

I should maybe look into the new rules.

A visit to the government offices seemed a good place to start.

In a city of 90,000 folks...

what are the chances of meeting someone you know while running errands uptown?

As I was trying to locate the government offices (which had moved recently)...

I ran into my good friend.

She was on her way to the hardware store...

but decided to join me on my mission.

She has a birthday coming up real soon as well.

Maybe she should be asking questions also!

The nice lady at government services had a good laugh at us.

It seems people don't come in pairs to ask CPP packages.

It seems most folks don't have so much fun...

with this milestone birthday.

We decided to document the occasion...

for the records.

The gal on the sidewalk who did the honours thought it was too  funny...

two old friends from high school checking out Canada's pension plan together.

From the basketball court...

to the 4-H circuit...

to sleepovers through our teen years...

to a fine neighbourhood in Rosedale...

to the carpool with our daughters...

to long walks and talks...

and good games of tennis...

and now...

on to the golden age!

Did I just say that?

the bumps along the road....

Just in case you think everything went off without a glitch over here during the Christmas season...

let me tell you about a few of the little bumps along the way.

We made several trips across the border to pick up parcels before Christmas.

One of the packages had been shipped on December 1st...

 but had not yet arrived when we went down the first time.

A few days before Christmas we made another trip to Ship Happens...

with plans to pick up the last of the packages.

But I'm thinking it might have been on this Greyhound bus...

 ...which ran into troubles along the way.

We waited in a long line-up to cross the border into Sumas, Washington...

and then waited in a long line-up at Ship Happens...

where many Canadian shoppers were picking up parcels. 

While waiting to be served at Ship Happens...

one can amuse oneself by reading the sayings posted on their walls.

Or even taking photos of them...

so they can be shared!

I thought they were worth passing on.

We arrived at the front of the line...

only to find the package in question was not there.

Since that time...

Christmas has come and gone...

and a gift from American Girl is still missing.

Many phone calls and e-mails later...

the package has still not showed up....

and no one seems to have a solution for  finding or replacing the item...

which has been paid for...

of course.

Emme may just have another gift to open sometime in the New Year! 

There were other things that never went as planned!

Here's one we can laugh about.

I had made up a number of Christmas ice-cream cakes for several occasions over the holiday season.  

There was one totally untouched...

and so I offered it to Broni for the turkey dinner she was hosting on Christmas Day.

I packaged it up for her...

and sent hubby down to the basement to put it in the freezer.

On Christmas Day...

Broni came calling for her dessert.

Hubby went down to retrieve it...

and was gone for a very long time.

He could not find the dessert!

At long last he decided to look in the fridge...

and there it was.

An ice-cream cake that has spent five days in a fridge is not a pretty thing!

We did some quick thinking...

and found an alternate dessert for Broni.

Oh boy!

Stuff happens.

Sometimes we just have to laugh about it!

So...let's hear about the hic-cups in your well-laid plans!

surprises on the front porch...

It was Saturday...

Christmas Eve...

and I was working my way down 'the list'...

and checking it twice.

A little car zipped into the driveway...

and someone ran to the front door and rang the bell.

I opened the door...

and there stood a neighbour holding out a tray of goodies.

She wished us a Merry Christmas...

and hurried on her way.

Check them out.

These cookies were not only delicious...

but a work of art!

No sooner had I put the goodies on the counter...

than the doorbell rang again.

Another neighbour held out a jug of mulled apple cider...

and wished us a Merry Christmas.

Did I tell you...we have the best of neighbours?

Hubby came home bearing gifts from two employees.

I thought we should be giving them gifts.

Since when do employers get gifts?

Did I tell you...we have the best employees?

I just turned on the vacuum cleaner...

and the doorbell rang again.

There stood our builder...

who had just completed the barn project for us...

bearing a gift as well.

Did I tell you...we have the best contractor around?

We gabbed for some time...

and then he was on his way.

Back to the vacuuming...for a moment.

And then the doorbell rang again!

There stood my brother-in-law, Terry.

He was making a special delivery from my sister.

She had made me a Christmas wreathe...

and I knew just where to hang it.

The picture of butterflies and wild flowers which hangs on the powder room wall year round...

has been replaced for the festive season. 

It needed a little bling!

Did I tell you...I have the best of sisters?

We had a lot of unexpected surprises over Christmas!

We are most thankful for one and all.