PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/31/2008

Fresh beans from our garden

Today I finished up all my medical transcription work, and then I went out to the garden to pick beans. Here is one of the bowls of beans waiting to be frozen.
We had some of them for supper. If you don't like green beans, then you have not had the ones from our garden! Crisp yet tender...just perfect!

Now I am off to wash, snap, blanch, cool in cold water, pat dry, put in Ziplocs, and stick in the freezer. It's a lot of work now, but there is no replacement for the treat we will have later!

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/30/2008

A stream in
Rocky Mountain National Park
(Taken by Gord on 07/26/2008)


I could sit and watch this for hours!

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/29/2008

Coral getting a massage

She is very excited when I tell her it is time for her next massage. At first, her arms are tight and clenched, but then they relax and she lets out a big sigh. Pretty soon, her arms are down at her sides and she is almost falling asleep.

Thank you, Moni, for your kind service to Coral!

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/28/2008

Our garden

Barry is rototilling to keep the weeds under control. He can get that thing going, and then he walks along by it keeping one hand on it to make it go straight. This end has the corn, and then on the other side there are beans, zucchini, onions, tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, eggplant, collard greens, and cucumbers. We also have a patio planter (one of those ones that has some of the plants growing upside down) with peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant, as well as one section along the side of the garden where we have strawberry plants.

The beans are ready to pick, and today I got green onions and peppers for lunch. Soon the corn will be ready, too, and then it will be time to freeze beans and corn for the winter. If we have more than we can eat now, I also like to make ratatouille to freeze ready to heat and serve with rice.

There is loads of weeding to be done right now. Who can come over and help?

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/26/2008

My father relaxing at the end of a hard day

This picture holds quite a few memories for me...

There is the front door of the living room in our home in Liberia. It was a screen door, and the flies outside considered it a nasty contraption contrived by humans to ruin their day. It had a spring on it, so it slammed whenever anyone went in or out. (I can still hear that slam so clearly!) There was also an inside wooden door which we almost never closed in the daytime just to allow a little more flow of air through the house.

I can see that old uneven cement floor which my mother gazed at ruefully when people were coming to visit. It was poured in two layers. The mixture for the first layer was made with less-than-normal cement and lots of pebbles to save money. On top of that, there was a very thin cement-rich layer. The builder was sure this would provide a beautiful smooth floor for the least amount of money. It did... for awhile... until that smooth top layer wore off in spots leaving rough porous brown patches interspersed with shiny dirty-green spots of the remaining top coat. It was a killer on the knees when scrubbing it, too!

There is the "Big Chair" which matched the Settee and Small Chair and Gray Table. It had wonderful wide arms for resting a book or writing a letter. My father loved to lie down on the settee for a few minutes after lunch and supper. He would take one of the back cushions and prop it against one of the arm rests to make a wedge for his back and head. Then he would lie down, put one leg up on the back of the settee, and there he would snooze. "Fifteen minutes is all I need, Margaret!" he would say, and he would be up and out the door again to get back to work.

On the wall is the paint-by-number picture of horses which Gord painted as a kid. The matching one must be on another wall somewhere! Totally unused to the many toys and such that are everywhere here, we thought that picture set was just amazing and waited anxiously to see the finished product!

And the kerosene lamp... We did not have electricity for more than a few hours at night, and many times not at all, so when the little generator was off, we each had a lamp that we took with us wherever we wanted to go in the house. My dad made two matching lamps like this, one for Carol-Ann and one for me, to sit on the little mantel in our bedroom or be used throughout the house during the evening. He took old metal pressure lanterns and cut the bases off to provide the kerosene reservoirs. Then he soldered on a bracket for holding the chimney and three brass-colored legs on the sides of each lamp. Since we sometimes wanted a light behind a chair for reading, he made wooden holders for the lamps. The wooden stands had 3 legs just the right distance apart to match the legs on the lamps, and in the top of each of those wooden legs was a small beveled hole. The legs on the lamps fit into those holes and held the lamps safe and secure. What a genius!
I am proud to say I have my lamp right now sitting on a shelf in my dining room!

A lot of memories in one little picture!

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/25/2008

Margaret (my mother) and her brother Harper with their grandparents
(Probably around 1925)

I don't know what the occasion was, maybe church on Sunday.
It is always hard to picture your mother as a little girl, but I have an especially hard time imagining her with huge hair bows! Ever since I have known her, she has steadfastly refused any such showy adornments that would call attention to herself!
(But look how cute she is here!)

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/24/2008

The boa constrictor that swallowed the deer!

My mother and Isabel, one of her coworkers. This had to have been a REALLY big event for my mother who had not been in Liberia all that long when this picture was taken.
This boa constrictor swallowed a small deer, and it was killed and cut open to show what was inside it! (Some of the other pictures show the deer but aren't very good quality anymore.)

The ladies are posing with this reptile, but at a decent distance!

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/23/2008

Getting off the ship!
(About 1955)
(I'm sure we were getting off the ship in Liberia in this picture, not on it, because I was younger than this when we left for our one-year visit to Canada.)

My mother is holding Gord's hand, and Esther Monus (another missionary) is holding me.
(Carol-Ann was not born yet.)

Our family traveled back and forth between Canada and Liberia on freighter ships, a trip that took about 10 days. We did not do this very often. The next time we crossed the ocean, I was 8 years old and ready for the 3rd grade.

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/22/2008

Gord

He looks like he is about 4 here, which means I was a baby. I was the baby he got tired of really quickly!

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/21/2008

Roy

Last Friday, Barry, Gord, and Paula drove to Cheyenne, Wyoming, for Aunt Frieda's funeral. Barry's and Paula's mother comes from a large family, and Frieda is one of Mom's sisters. She and Roy were married for nearly 70 years, and Roy said that Friday was the saddest day for him so far.

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/20/2008

Nathaniel's new car!

On Thursday, Nathaniel brought this beauty and parked it in our driveway so that we could be duly impressed, which we certainly are! I even sat in the driver's seat for a few minutes. It's a 2009 and has a computer touch screen that operates the GPS and other stuff. You can even watch DVDs on that screen!

CONGRATULATIONS, NATHANIEL!
Enjoy your new car,
but drive safely!

(Nathaniel is my nephew, Gord's and Paula's son)

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/19/2008

Atlantic Puffin
(Another of Gord's pictures, taken in New England, 06/15/2008.)

That crease going back from its eye makes it look so sad to me!

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/18/2008

THE REST OF THE STORY...

Barry & me with Doug & Heather Shantz, my pastor and his wife.
How blessed we were to have them guiding us during this time!


At the reception, Carol-Ann sang a song that she had written especially for my wedding day talking about some of the funny and some of the serious times of my growing-up days. She sang it again 5 years ago at our 25th anniversary party--what a great memory, Carol-Ann!

Because my parents were still in Liberia, Gord had a recorder ready, and he went around the reception area putting together a tape with lots of comments and greetings for them to enjoy.

(I realized much later that my mother calculated the difference in time zones, and at the exact time our wedding began, she sat in the living room, thinking of us and imagining it all, and refused to be disturbed until the wedding was over. That makes me cry!)

I got a turn, but I have no idea now what I said!

My friend Rene headed up the preparation and serving of the most wonderful reception. There was lots of food for everyone, and this was a major feat, as there were no RSVPs and no way of knowing how many would be there. Everyone attending the ceremony was invited to go downstairs to the fellowship hall afterwards to celebrate with us. The planning and preparation and work and expense and love that went into it makes me cry again when I remember. Now, 30 years later, I have a better idea of what they did for me than I was able to understand then.

No frosting on my face...

I love this picture, not because we were young or good-looking, but because it symbolizes the way Barry treats me. When he fed me cake that day, he did it with kindness and consideration, and that has been his way--every day--for the last 30 years.

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/17/2008

THE CEREMONY

My uncle Frank and me
As I mentioned before, my mom and dad were not able to be at our wedding, so I asked Uncle Frank to walk down the aisle with me. This was a first for him and for me, and I love the comforting way he is holding my hand!


The wedding party waiting for me
Keith was Barry's best man and traveled all the way from Colorado to be at our wedding. This meant a lot to Barry and to both of us.



After we lit the unity candle, I sang a song to Barry. It was Kenny Nolan's song, "Love's Grown Deep." Heather Shantz, my pastor's wife, did a beautiful job of playing the organ for me to sing!


The kiss
(People teased us that if they had blinked, they would have missed it!)


Here we are, Mr. and Mrs!

I was probably the most un-nervous bride ever! Not one question or doubt crossed my mind, (and it certainly helped that a lot of other wonderful people were doing all the worrying for me!)

But I know the real reason was because I had confidence that my marrying Barry was pleasing to God. Years before, I had tussled with wanting my own way on this, no matter what, but circumstances and an awful lot of prayer brought me to the point of saying, and truly meaning it, "Okay, Lord, only if you want me to!" After that, I never pushed my way forward or initiated any relationship with him, knowing that if God was for it, it was not up to me to make it happen. Oh, how glad I am to be able to say this now -- after 30 years!

(Okay, I admit there must have been just a teeny nerve somewhere, because there was that dream I had the night before the wedding...I was all dressed in my beautiful white wedding dress, sitting on a soccer ball and bouncing around in the little church foyer!!)

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/16/2008

Barry and I have celebrated our 30th anniversary in a calm sedate manner, just like you knew we would! We still like spending time with each other more than with anyone else, so a few hours out with an unhurried agenda, some good food, talking, being quiet, totally comfortable with each other -- well, that was our celebration!

Here's a little flashback to 30 years ago...

THE PREP

Fastening the dress...
Carol-Ann is looking on to make sure I don't rumple something!

I wanted to get our wedding dresses from Liberia where I was born and grew up. Barry's parents and mine were living there at the time, and the moms went out shopping with measurements in hand to see what they could find. They bought my dress and two complete sets of the attendants' dresses so that I could pick which I liked best!










Adjusting the veil...








Giving Carol-Ann and Paula their bouquets...
Rene, a wonderful organizer and one of my best friends at church, took me under her wing and made this wedding happen. I still have no idea of all she did to orchestrate everything, including the reception! She asked Ruth, who is famous for her gorgeous garden and wonderful flower arranging, to make our bouquets and corsages. I did not know it until much later, but Ruth was so nervous about having them perfect and unwilted on that hot July day! The flowers turned out beautifully, as Ruth's flowers always do!

Giving Heidi her basket of flowers, another of Ruth's creations. Heidi (Rene's daughter) was the most beautiful flower girl I have ever seen!

Mary, Barry's cousin, was also a bridesmaid. She was driving with her mom from New Jersey for the wedding and could not make it in time to get dressed with the rest of us ladies. I miss her in these prep pictures, but she will be in the pictures tomorrow.








Don't be dropping that ring, girl!
I don't want to be hearing that ring rolling across that church floor!

And what, pray tell, was the groom-to-be doing while the ladies were beautifying themselves?? Can you believe it?? Playing a little soccer to get his mind off things!

If you have read the comments and are wondering what on earth we are talking about, here is the picture I "dressed" up!

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/15/2008

It was 30 years ago today!

(I ran out of time! We are taking a half day off and going out together to celebrate. More pictures tomorrow.)

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/13/2008

My pastor Doug Shantz, Barry, and me

Barry and I had the distinct honor (and fun!) of being the first people that Doug married. He was understandably nervous but did such a great job. We had been engaged for two years, me living in Toronto, Canada, and Barry living in the western United States. Barry came to Canada about 2 weeks before the wedding so that we could take care of last-minute details -- like marriage counseling! Doug had several counseling sessions with us and assigned us books to read and homework to do.

It was our appointed evening for our next session with him, and I told Barry I wanted us to wear the matching skirt and shirt we had. All the dresses for our wedding were purchased in Liberia (a joint effort between our mothers). This skirt and shirt must have been bought for us at the same time, but right now I cannot remember the details about them. (Maybe someone can remind me??) We arrived at the church for our session, and ... another surprise! All the men and ladies of the church were there to give us a wedding shower!

The church basement was beautifully decorated on the theme of a "wishing well," and there was no way I could have thought of wishing for all the wonderful things we got that night. There were some very fun-loving folk in that congregation, too, and they put forth some of their very best efforts for us! (Check out the inflatable Blue Jay baseball player standing in front of the wishing well!)

Our wonderful friends filled that wishing well to overflowing and gave us an evening we won't ever forget.

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/12/2008

(More than one picture this time!)

Two months before my wedding, our friend Merle suggested that Carol-Ann and I sleep over at her house one night. That sounded like great fun, so we got on the bus and over we went.

I'm sure Carol-Ann was in on it, but I was totally unsuspecting! I was too new to all the North American ways to even realize or think about a lot of things. In fact, I am sure there were many breaches of etiquette on my part because I did not know the customs or understand what was expected.

How shocked I was to find a whole group of my friends, ladies young and not so young, from church! Merle and everyone gave me the best time and made me feel very special.



Carol-Ann, Beth, Merle, and Marilyn busily chatting (one of the things we all do best) while watching me open my gifts!


Opening the special gift of the evening, one that my friends went together to buy for me -- a lovely white negligee set. I had never had anything nearly that elegant and beautiful! And I'll always be grateful to my friends for knowing me so well and getting me something I would love and enjoy wearing.

I have been thinking back 30 years and realizing once again how very blessed I was to have friends and a church family who loved me and went WAY out of their way to make this time in my life perfect for me.

My parents were still living in Liberia, and the only communication we had was letters that took weeks to go back and forth. My church family took me in and did so much for me. To be honest, I didn't know what I was doing, had absolutely no money, and wanted almost nothing! So when they asked me what I needed or wanted, I could not even give them hints! They were not put off by that and came up with what was exactly right for me. Now those were true friends!

.

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/11/2008

Barry and me on a trip in the mountains ~ 1976

July 15 will be our 30th anniversary, so I want to post a few pictures about us for the next week or so.

It was August, but I was freezing, and Barry loaned me his jacket. We were high up on Trail Ridge Road in the Colorado mountains, and there was still a little snow in shaded places. Besides that, I had just changed continents and was still used to tropical temperatures.

This picture was taken a few days before Barry asked me to marry him.

(Paula, Barry's sister, is on the left side of the picture.)

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/10/2008

Najee

Our cat Najee thinks that everything we do has an intended purpose for her.
If we sit down, it is because we want to give her a lap to sit on. If we are vacuuming, it is because we cooked up a plot to scare her. If we are fixing dinner, it is because we think she looks hungry. If we let L.C. in from outside, it is because we knew she needed another cat to annoy. If we go to bed at night, it is because she is waiting to warm up our feet. If we lay some clothing on the bed, it is so she can have the perfect spot to shed some fur. And if we strip the bed to wash the sheets, she thinks we are giving her a wonderful big place to stretch out!

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/08/2008

Our "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree"

Here is the tree in our front yard, the one with the mourning dove nest in it. Isn't it the strangest looking thing? It actually has more leaves on it this year than usual. It has a healthy straight trunk, and the branches are symmetrical and would make the tree a lovely shape -- if only it had proper leaves on them! The doves did not have to fight off any other birds who thought this tree would be good to nest in! Actually, the other birds are all laughing behind their wings at their poor choice!

(The sprinkler happened to get in the bottom of the picture.)

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/07/2008

Andrea's new kitten, Professor!

To quote from Andrea's email:

"Her name is Professor and she is very playful and curious. She purrs constantly and has stayed up with me all night for two nights. She loves her feather toy and when I let her out on the deck. She is super cute, but she sheds everywhere! A great thing is that my allergies have not acted up since having her around."

What a cute kitten, and a great name for her, too! She sounds like she will be a very good-natured and friendly pet!

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/05/2008

The mourning dove nesting in our tree

In our front yard is what I call our "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree" because it looks so ... well, strange! It has a straight trunk and lots of branches, but the leaves are all bunched up at the center of the tree, mostly where the bottom branches join the trunk, with long bare branches sticking out all around. Right in the center of those leaves, a pair of mourning doves has built a nest, and they are taking turns sitting on it.

The doves have been keeping a sharp lookout for L.C., the cat, but also have been very wary of us humans. We seem to have one big round eye that stares at them and lets out a bright flash of light, so the minute they see one of those eyes approaching, off they dart to sit on the roof or the power lines to wait until it is safe again! Gord tried every approach including sneaking around from the back of the house, all to no avail. A picture taken through the glass of our front window just didn't make him happy! So after reading on the internet of the best screens to use to fool birds, he settled on staying in his van and taking pictures through the open window. This sure wouldn't work for me, but it did for him because he attaches his digital camera to his scope so that he can get great closeups.

So here is the shot he got yesterday. Click on the picture to see how long the dove's tail is! It goes almost all the way to the edge of the picture.

(Another one for the calendar he will give us at Christmas, don't you think?!)

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/05/2008

Puffin

Another of Gord's pictures!
(Needs to go in his "calendar file," I told him!)

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/04/2008

Kinza giving Grandma her birthday cake!

Carol-Ann, Bruce, and Kinza live very close to my mother, so they went over to visit her and took a cake and some red jello -- perfect for Grandma! [Please read yesterday's post to understand about the jello!]


While they were visiting, I called on the telephone to wish her a very happy birthday. Carol-Ann snapped a picture of her talking to me!


Kinza is holding the flowers that were a gift to my mother from all her children and our families.

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/03/2008

My Mother's Baby Picture

Today is my mother's 91st birthday. I searched through my picture box to find this one of her when she was very little, maybe not even one year old yet. How much this little girl has seen happen in the past 90 years!

A few years ago, my mother put together a book for her grandchildren, and in it she told about her family and what things were like growing up. Here is her memory of birthdays long ago...

"I did have one brother -- a "big brother" because he was three years older than I was. He was born on August 28, 1914, and I was born on July 3, 1917, so we both had our birthdays in the summertime. Strange, but I can't remember any birthday cakes! Our very special treat for those birthdays was -- jello! We didn't think of it by flavour, but by colour. We always had a red one, and then we could choose one more, a yellow one or an orange one. And what a decision that was to have to make! We didn't have a refrigerator in our home, or even an old-fashioned "ice box," so how to get the jello to "set" in summertime was a problem. Our father sunk a large crock into the dark, cool, earthen floor of our cellar, where it was not nearly as warm as in our bright, sunny kitchen upstairs. The bowl of jello was placed inside the covered crock, and we hoped for the best. We made ever so many trips up and down the cellar steps to see how it was coming along, and I remember being told that it never would set if we didn't leave it alone!"

Happy Birthday, Mother!
(in the jello colors!)

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 07/01/2008

New Jersey bunny

Gord has gotten awfully good with his camera. Tonight he sent me this picture that he took just a week or two ago, and I thought you might like it too!

(How about giving us calendars for Christmas, Gord??)