Ghosts of Christmas Past

From our Family to Yours!

Being in a new home, and in a new community does tend to lead to a quiet Christmas for two. I have been thinking on past friends and especially Family.   Its at Christmas and other special holidays  when their absence really hits home.   Some are simply far away and some are no longer with us.

I'm lucky to have a photographic record of Christmases past to review and wander down memory lane.

This is my parents very first Christmas tree as a married couple in 1954.

It's 1959 and that's me on the left and I must be about three years old.   Its my very first Christmas party.

Here I am meeting "Father Christmas" as he's known in England. I don't look too sure of him!

My parents emigrated to Canada in 1960 and we lived in Saskatoon.  The 1960's had especially harsh winters and so Dad wore a buffalo coat when he walked the beat as a police constable.  I remember trying to lift this coat and couldn't do it. It was also a very old coat as they passed them on, one officer to another.

In the picture above and below... this is me and the year is either 1960 or 1961. I'm four or five years old.  See the Santa at the base of the tree?  My parents had that their entire married life together, and then Dad for another 20 years after Mum passed away. It and some other ornaments were what I like to think of as traditional anchors.  There was a comfort to seeing them every year.

This would be 1962.   I can still recall the Christmas parcels my Nana sent from England.  There were English style candies and treats....and...

My Nana would always send me an 'annual' to read. Usually a story book about Harold Hare, Rupert Bear, Beano or some other story collection.  I grew to love books at a very early age!

I'm almost certain this one below is Christmas 1963.  My last Christmas alone as my siblings all came along after that.

Some years later and a brother and two sisters later.... this is what Christmas Day in Dunedin, New Zealand looks like.  I'm fourteen, and my smallest sister is four.  I never adjusted to taking cold chicken to the beach for Christmas dinner or Dad bring the Hibachi along.  Everyone exchanged cards with traditional snow scenes too.  Weird!   

The lovely beach where we are sitting is St Clair at one end..... and a long ways off at the other end, its St Kilda. In the black and white above, you are looking up the St Clair portion towards Lawyers Head at the far end.  Here's a coloured view of the same beach and the sand dunes, and Lawyers Head. We spent literally hours on end playing here.  Searching for sea critters in the rock pools at Lawyers end, or at the opposite end, swimming in the open air St Kilda salt water pool.   The surf off shore was darn cold (it flows up from Antartica!) and 'here there be sharks'.  These were taken  back in the mid 1970's.  Check this link to see the beaches as they are today.

This was a New Year's day picnic 1973. The whole gang again, plus my mother on the far right and a family friend in the centre. Dad was, as usual, behind the lens.

I don't recall the name of this beach but Dad caught a nice picture of Mum sitting in the dunes while we played on the beach.  It was a very hot day and so we were ready to cool off in the water.

In 1974 we came back to Canada, life ensued and soon I was away from home, married and had my own family.  I started my own traditions with my children and faithfully put up the tree and same decorations year after year.

Now, I look around at the winter landscapes and smile at the snow scenes. I feel more at home in the northern hemisphere.  We seem to be having a colder, snowier winter than in recent years.  The pond behind our house is frozen over and kids were skating on it yesterday. Sadly I didn't get pictures but will try if they skate again today.  They left their goal posts on the ice so I think they will! 

And they did!  The fence marks the end of our back yard... and the pond is just the other side. They played until it was quite dark and seemed to be having a great time!

There is such beauty to a winter landscape. There's no mistaking snow clouds  once you've seen them!  But on a sunny or partly sunny day, with the lower weaker sunlight colours appear in the landscape that are soft, muted and delicately blended.   I  can see beautiful warps in pictures like these:

(all from Google images)

I'm thinking a winter series would be nifty if woven up in, say,  July 2017!

All the very best from Susan and Bruce 

Heart Felt

We went over to Vancouver for my son's 40th birthday this past weekend.  The year he was born, it was also Mother's Day.  I squeaked in under the wire at having him at 10:55 pm and then I asked where my flowers and card were?

Well, I thought it was funny at the time....

Anyhow we were over there visiting this weekend and had a party one evening, where I went dancing with my grandson to a live band (thank you Dr Jacks for fixing me!),  and a Mother's day brunch at their home the next.   My son and grandson Ethan made the yummiest, light as air waffles with strawberries and whipped cream.    And there was flowers and a card too.

Here they are pretending to be going very fast on the back deck on the Thomas bike:

We had bought our grand daughter a pretty dress for her birthday in early March..... and she wore it Saturday night to the party.

I think the term is " she has us wrapped around her little finger".

Little Tiddlers Road Trip

We just had a second Christmas, a second helping of *happy*!   We have been away to see the grand kids and spend time just soaking them up in all their sweet, noisy glory!    Then, we came home exhausted and our ears ringing but a very happy Nana and Grandad.

Madison has grown and is now ten months old and has personality plus.  I know I'm somewhat biased  but she is a quiet, happy baby.   She babbles and talks but in a calm way.  You can see her concentrating on your words as you talk with her.

I thought I'd try my luck at getting her to say "na-na"...... and she nailed it!   For the rest of the visit, I was clearly "Na-na"!

Ethan, who is four in April, is a whirling dervish. He simply does not stop moving.  Consequently many pictures just didn't pan out as he was too blurry.   He's the opposite of Madison.... action filled, loud and boisterous.  I heard the phrase "inside voice Ethan" a lot!   To be fair, he was excited and happy to play trains with his Grandad.

Ethan is train crazy and has all the Thomas the Tank engines and miles and miles of wooden railway track.  He just received more track to add to his empire.  He builds his railway out of the play room (formerly a dining room) and down the hall way..... around through the kitchen and back again.  It all gets picked up and put away as their rhoomba vacuum cleaner will "eat it all up".  (It doesn't, but Ethan doesn't know that yet to his mother's delight! )

There was one special moment with Ethan when we asked him who runs the train.  The engineer.  Did you know that Grandad used to run big trains?  No, don't be silly Grandad!  Then we showed him this picture:

What is this Ethan?  a big locomotive. Then we spread the picture with our fingers on the iPad and asked him who the Engineer is?      His eyes went wide and he gasped   GRANDAD!!     He stuck pretty close to Bruce after that and Bruce spent much of the time there on his hands and knees building track and having crashes  off the big hill they made.

We had a grand time....


Now, I do have two finished scarves waiting for some sunshine to snap some pictures for you. I also have two more that are waiting for fringe twisting and a wash..... and the loom is already reloaded again.   Towels are being woven up next and I have silk being wound on the warping mill.  So there will be weaving related posts very soon.   Its been darker than Hades even with all the lights on and anything I have taken have not been very good.  The scarves are dark to begin with and the flash just washes things out as it bounces off the tencel.    Its been raining steady for some days now.  Our little stream on the property was up and over its banks a few days ago and close to the underside of the bridge decking.

We have a hand made stone wall on the back yard built many years ago by one of the former owners of this property. The land goes uphill just beyond it and so the run off fills the flower beds.   I took this picture just as it was getting dark(er still) outside and the flash shows the draining water flowing out of a small hole in the wall to its best advantage!

This is normally my herb bed in better weather. I'm not complaining as I at least don't have to shovel it !

We'll show this picture to Ethan next time.....  I think he might be impressed.

An Amazing Eight Days!

Meet "Madison Ava" born March 10th, 2015 and weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces. Yes, that's me cuddling her. She's a very calm and cuddly baby. When she sleeps, her whole body relaxes. Some newborns still stay clenched with arms and legs folded up. Not this little girl!

This was our first peek at her on her actual birth  day. The hat looks large on here there but its only three to four inches across and is *very* tiny!

We headed over to meet her and see Ethan this past Friday.  Bruce fell in love with one look! 

Okay,  maybe Nana fell hard too with my first cuddle. We are working on a burp here!

Everything is so brand new!

Then there was Ethan, who will be three in April. He is the complete opposite of his calm sister! Constantly on the move, constantly talking in full sentences, and with intermittent shrieks!

Ethan is also train crazy.  This pleases Grandad Bruce, a retired locomotive engineer, to no end! We gave him one toy Thomas the Tank engine way back when he was first born.  Then his parents surrounded him with many other toys and play centres, but he found that train and hasn't looked back since! Here we are giving him a new stool with a train on it. He can now get closer to the sink wash his hands or help with the dishes. 

He watches Thomas the Tank on the iPad. The only time he's quiet outside of his bed at night I might add.

....or sits on the couch and watches Thomas the Tank and his Friends on the big screen TV....

.....or better still, you play train crash with Grandad!  Grandad's train fell down the hill in what must have been the worse crash of Bruce's railway career!

Ethan took me upstairs to show me his room and also to show me Madison's tree:

Soft dove gray with pink accents and little dragon flies. I found a little pink onesie with a dragon fly and also bibs and little soft shoes with dragon flies. Then there was the blanket I wove this past October.... two links to view:   here and here.  This used to be our guest room when we came to stay. We had a quiet hotel room to withdraw to at night instead this time. {But we were rudely woken *early* every morning by running children in the room directly above our heads every morning!  Quite the joke huh? }

The blanket finally made its final destination and put to use right away.  That makes a weaver feel good!

Also in the last eight days, to add to the joy,  my long time bachelor brother announced he and his lady are now engaged! No date set as yet.   Then my daughter  got married this past Friday in Colorado!  She and her new husband live in the Denver, Colorado area.   Then finally, my dear Dad is being released from hospital today after being admitted in January.  His situation was touch and go for awhile, so going home again must feel very sweet!

All that's missing is the lottery win...... but I think we already have done that!

Blink... and Then He's Two...

Wasn't it just yesterday I was announcing to you that my grandson Ethan was born?   Well, he turned two on April 23rd and there was a party for him this last Saturday.

My trip over to see Ethan and his parents started with a ferry ride on Friday.  (be sure to click and see a larger version of the pictures) That's Vancouver Island slipping away behind the ferry. The Strait was flat calm and there were many small sailboats making a dash to the islands for the weekend.

It was my first big trip in the new car by myself and I must say it was wonderful to drive. I had the sunroof open and it was great on the highway.   I went and had a visit with my Dad first who has had three weeks home now and doing so much better.  He looked much healthier, even if still a bit slow. He's improving and that's what counts.  We had a good visit and supper together and I headed to my hotel room for the night.

The next morning I was up and out early and picked up fresh supplies for my contribution to the food table  "Caesar Salad" with the dressing made from scratch!

When I arrived at my son and daughter in law's home,  preparations were well underway and I joined in and washed my greens and made up batches of dressing.

Meanwhile, Ethan is giving me the look.... you know the one that says:  "who are you and why are you here?"

Quite understandable when I live on the Island and can't get over as often we would prefer.  I just gave him his space but kept talking to him anyway....     He's quite the talker and has his own baby lingo for things and so I had to get translations from his Mum from time to time.  He's running everywhere and very focused on  on what ever he is engaged in.   With the party to come, there was a nap break of course...

There had been a lot of work and preparation done for this big day. Balloons and streamers all set, food table all set and the family cats tucked  away, the guests started arriving and before too long the house was full of people.  Family, extended / blended family and friends, cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents...the whole Gang!

Here the other grandparents are helping with the gifts.  He is one lucky little boy as there was a ton of gifts!  Lego, books and much more. His favourite one? A little blue plastic wagon with wheels that made a huge racket when he pulled it around the house.  There was lasagna, cabbage rolls, meatballs, and of course Caesar salad.  Then there was cake.   Not just one cake but two! (well there were 30-32 people there so more is better.... right?)

The party theme was Elmo and the second cake is a special Italian cake with custard cream and real whipping cream. Totally decadent and totally yummy.

For a toddler who only managed a short nap, he did very well and there were only a couple of moments when a "melt down " seemed pending but disaster was averted.  It was fun but loud, crazy and a whole lot of happy!   When it was all over, everyone was very tired.  Ethan protested every step to bed but crashed instantly.

The next morning Ethan seemed quite happy to be around me and was calling for Nana and showing me his new toys.

Playing with his wagon ... and an empty box! I think he's still a bit tired... I know I sure was!
Before long, he and I were playing hide and seek and he'd jump out from the corner.

I was able to get hugs and kisses and lots of smiles and laughs but sadly I had to go home. We will be back again in June and spend more time, though no doubt we will get 'the face' for a time.

The ride home was equally as nice and there was even a pod of Killer Whales on the port side. The trip is two hours and I managed a nap for an hour.  Being a Nana is hard work!

So if you have read till this point, then you deserve a special bonus:

... Caesar Salad Recipe!

Caesar Salad

Heads of fresh crisp romaine (washed and torn up)

croutons, parmesan cheese, capers, mustard powder, vinegar, black pepper, anchovy paste, one fresh extra large egg,  vegetable oil (I use Becel) garlic clove  to taste.

Blender, salad spinner, large bowl

Wash and spin romaine.

In the blender add: 1/2 cup vegetable oil, one egg, squirt of anchovy paste, fresh black pepper to taste, 1 -2 tsp vinegar,  1/2 tsp mustard powder, 1 tsp drained capers, garlic clove and three large tablespoons of finely grated parmesan cheese.   Whip on high setting until the mix becomes a creamy colour and thickens. (it can take a while if you have an older machine) You can add a bit more cheese if need be. When ready, set blender jug into the fridge to chill. 

When ready to serve, sprinkle croutons onto of greens and spoon out dressing and toss well to coat the greens. Serve right away.  Be careful to refrigerate leftover dressing and dispose of left over mixed salad if not all eaten.  Refrigerated dressing will keep one day and then throw away if not used. 

If you need to make a very large salad, make a few batches and combine as this recipe does not double well. Better to make small batches and combine in one container.

This recipe was originally given to me by an Italian friend who came from Naples back in the mid 1980’s….

Enjoy!