MEMORIES

Sandra and I with our daughters
July 18, 2012
Heading for Norway!

Today I am looking back to this date last year when my sister Sandra and I left Regina on the trip of a lifetime.  We flew to Toronto, spent a few hours at the airport and then had an overnight flight to Copenhagen, Denmark.  So a year ago at this hour of 9 p.m. we were flying over the Atlantic!  From Copenhagen we flew to Oslo and were met by Kari Eika whose grandparents once lived in Torquay.  That connection brought us together and thus began a wonderful three weeks in the land that our ancestors left behind.  They may have physically left that land, but I'm sure their hearts must have longed to be back in the homeland.  I can't imagine being the grandmas in Norway who said good-bye to children and grandchildren never to see them again, never to talk to them and rarely to see a picture of them or the five new grandchildren who were born in America.  My mother saved postcards sent to Canada from the grandma who never got to hold them in her arms but treasured them all in her heart.

What a contrast to today when I can talk to Todd and his family in Norway just by picking up the phone.  Or even better, I can visit with them "live" on Facetime.  I get emails with videos of Nora, now ten months old - see her learning to crawl, "talking" on a toy telephone or throwing clothes from the couch to the floor.  And I can share them with you on my blog!  I am so blessed to be able to keep in touch with all my family, whether near or far away, thanks to the marvels of communication that  is easy to take for granted now.  I was in grade ten before we had a telephone in our farm house.  Now toddlers are using iPads!  Here are pictures sent from holidays in Sweden.

Well, back to the events of this week.  Jeff, my boarder from the border, had three days off so made a quick trip to see the mountains in Alberta while he is still "out west".  He spent a night in his tent in both Jasper and Banff so is a "real camper".  That's how our family camped when I was young - in a tent, so that's my idea of camping, not in a camper that has all the amenities of home!  I guess I'm old fashioned or maybe just OLD.

Today the Torquay Grannies went along with Pastor Danny and Nick, the intern at Faith and Trinity, to take part in worship services at Estevan Regional Nursing Home at ten, and St. Joseph's Special Care Home at eleven.  We helped with the music and wore our new tee shirts for the first time.  On seeing the three of us in blue, Nick gave us a new name - The Smurfs!!

The Torquay Grannies aka "The Smurfs"

We enjoy visiting at these homes, especially visiting with old friends and new.  They are so appreciative of visits so it's something we need to do more often.  The accordion group that I am with will be playing at Midtown Manor at 1:30 on July 31 and at St. Joseph's Care Home at 3:30 that same day.  It works well for us "out of towners" to have two bookings on the same day so thanks for arranging it that way, Susan.

We had a nice gentle rain that lasted for over three hours on Wednesday.  It was great for most fields but those trying to put up hay would have liked it to have held off a bit.  The lawn was needing water so it came just in time.  I had just watered my two apple trees and tomatoes but rain does a much better job.  I didn't get any applesauce canned last year so hope to do some this year.  I stocked up on canning lids today at Home Hardware so I'm ready for Elberta peaches!  They are due in Crosby next week, Tuesday the 23rd. I was told to check on Monday as they aren't always shipped when scheduled.

I enjoyed my overnight stay at Kirk's last Sunday.  The kids had spent the morning at the pool so were ready for "stick waffles" when Grandma got there.  Each waffle can be divided into three "sticks" and dipped in syrup so the kids like to eat them that way.  They cleaned up the whole batch!  We played board games, "crashed" a birthday party at the neighbours, and watched some movies and the first episode of "The Bible".

 There was a cool breeze on Monday morning for their first day of swimming lessons.  Carter and Lindsay biked to the pool but I drove Jamie and stayed to watch their little group of three in level one.  Kirk and Shauna were home before two and I left soon after.  There were tornado warnings out for much of southern SK so I didn't even stop to shop in Estevan, just got home as soon as I could.  Thankfully there were no storms in our area.  Four tornados were spotted in the province but none did any severe damage.  Heavy rain and hail hit some areas.

With Jeff away and Clare's off to Kenosee, I had no extra cooking to do so I had a holiday at home.  I got started on a novel from Torquay library and just had to keep reading to find out how it ended!  It's the first book in a series of three so now I'll have to go back and get the next book to continue the story.

I got the pattern for the "Posies in the Park" quilt.  I need to find the right green fabric for the park background.  I like to order online but I think I need to see the actual fabric this time as I don't want too big a print.  Colours aren't exact online either.  I'll take my time as it will likely end up to be a winter project.  There are too many other projects calling my name these days - both inside and outside.

Now I think a Scrabble game is calling me so I better go and see who has made a move.  Is it Marilyn, Heather, Carol or Laurel?  I like to keep several games going at once and check on them whenever I sit down at the computer for a break.  See you on the weekend!