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 

Five Days Away

We just took five days off and crossed the pond and visited family and friends in the Vancouver area. We missed one ferry by four cars and so had to wait two hours for the next. That was okay and we sat reading. The crossing was beautiful and the water flat calm.The main object of the visit?  This little boy:

Sitting with Grandad ( or Crum-Dad as Ethan calls him)

Ethan is now two and a half and a real going concern! Favourite word? NO (not much of a surprise there). His usual speed?  FAST!  I didn't even try to keep up. I couldn't....
Hours of operation? 8 am to 10:30 pm. (with a brief lull in the hostilities between 1 and 2 pm for a nap that he generally fights). I have no idea how his mother does it and holds down a job too.

We had a great time and enjoyed their company .... and the BBQ with their friends was super. We contributed home made potato salad and strawberry shortcake. Bruce taught them the easy peasy microwave method of cooking corn in the husk that impressed everyone! A trick we learned on Facebook.

We shifted to a hotel over town to be close to where my Dad lives for our visit with him. It was his birthday and it was a lovely afternoon spent chatting, eating trifle my sister had made,  and watching his little chickadee family come and go from the peanut feeder on the patio.

This adorable little man is my Dad at age two or so.

We took time to visit another elderly family member of Bruce's and had a lovely afternoon reminiscing  about people, times and places as he helped me with dates and data for my genealogy program. The time flew by!

The farm area around Vancouver is enjoying a bumper crop of blueberries this year. We saw the bushes are so loaded with fruit they are bright blue and branches are bending with the weight. We bought a ten pound box. We plan to freeze them but so far we are enjoying them fresh like candies.

Its also corn season and so we got some of the famous Chilliwak corn. Tender and sweet. Nothing says summer like fresh fruit and veggies!   We had taken fresh plums from our orchard at home and gifted them liberally everywhere we went. The tree had given us a bumper crop too.

We soon found it was time to head home. I was starting to really feel the heat along with painful joints from all the activity.  We have been 'enjoying' a heat wave again and hot weather and I are not on friendly terms.  People with Lupus are advised to stay out of the sun and that suits me just fine.

With the coming weekend being a holiday weekend, I had had the foresight to book reservations to come home. Best money spent ever!  The line ups for the ferry at Horseshoe Bay was right up onto the main highway and judging by the sheer numbers, at least a two or three ferry wait. They stopped us and confirmed our reservation for the 12:50 pm sailing and we drove right by the entire parking lot of cars. Then they saw I needed to be near an elevator on the ship and we were first up in line to get on.

They like to pack everyone in tight! We made our way upstairs and went out onto the decks to take in the view. Here are some random shots of Horseshoe Bay, the marina and the traffic on the water.

Busy place... and you can see the next ferry coming around the point.

If you look closely at this one above, you can make out the cars lined up on the road, upper left.

This lady and I took pictures of each other and shared a laugh.

I got a nice one of Bruce who was also leaning out and taking pictures.

The prop wash from our ferry and the distant islands.

For emergencies....

Lucked out with this nice shot. That's the view towards Squamish and beyond to Whistler where the 2010 Winter Olympics were held.  The pictures below were taken by Bruce:

RCMP boat for patrols.

Yes, that's me snapping pictures. Notice my new wheels? Yup, the knee is that wobbly now.

The Bowen Island ferry or otherwise called a "puddle jumper"! 

....and then we were under way and heading for home. Its just under a two hour trip. The water was flat calm. No observable wild life such as whales or dolphins. Maybe they took a little break too?

So now we are trying to revive our gardens with watering, doing laundry and catching up. Calli might have enjoyed her stay at the doggy resort initially but she's letting us know that five days was too long for her. She's alternating between ignoring us completely or following closely on our heels!

Okay folks.... August is high summer... the dog days of summer.... the last four weeks before school again.  Get out there and enjoy!

Road Trip: Friends and Family

Sorry to leave you waiting for so long! That last overshot post should have kept you thinking for awhile at least. I have been away on a road trip to visit friends and family..... and I just couldn't bring myself to announce here at the blog that we would be gone, leaving our house empty. Being a policeman's daughter, I'm cautious about such things!

After packing and making up dog dinners for Calli's time at the doggy resort, we started our trip with this view:

These gals were waiting in the ferry line up to cross to the Vancouver side!  Soon we were all aboard and on our way. This is leaving Nanaimo:

We had a grey start but these clouds soon cleared away and we had sunshine. Also the start of a high pressure that was to bring hot weather to much of our area. Our air conditioning in the car couldn't be fixed as they couldn't find the leak.... this could be a problem!

We buzzed through the Vancouver area and out into the Fraser Valley. We were heading to Merritt the first day so we had a great drive. Once past the town of Hope, we were into big mountain country and a section they call avalanche alley. While I've showed you pictures from there on last years trip.... here are some fresh ones:

Mt Yak

Not sure of this one's name but its across from Mt Yak

After a few hours we reached Merritt

After a pleasant evening there we headed out to Kamloops and found this lovely view from the hillside east of Merritt of the Nicola Valley.  This is sage brush country...home to logging and cattle ranching.

Kamloops is also a hot and dry place but a confluence of highways, rivers and quite a boom town! We stopped here for breakfast at a Denny's east of town and I snapped some pictures of the hoodoos they have all along the river. I tried hard to get the three dimensional feel of them and all the benches. Tough when you are a basic point and click shooter!

They are really beautiful and reminded me of our visit to Dinosaur National Park near Brooks, Alberta in 1993. If you are ever near there, you *must* see it!

After Kamloops, there are small little places along the road: Pritchard (Hi Wendy!), Chase, Sorrento, and Blind Bay. We used to live in Blind Bay and we just had to cruise by the old house:

The trees are larger, fuller and the place looks nice. Yup, we should have stayed there.... oh, well! Too late now and too much water under the bridge. (I'd cut those cedars back if it was mine still)

We arrived at Gudrun and Alfred's place in Tappen just after lunch. They live at the foot of Mt Bastion, across the Shuswap lake from the city of Salmon Arm. Their little community of Sunnybrae is beautiful and a real slice of paradise.  Gudrun had some of her weaving on display at the local art gallery and the day we arrived was the last day of the display, so we had to go and see it!  Now there was weaving by three other weavers but unless you had their express permission, you could not take pictures, not even a over-view shot from the doorway!  So it looks like a one woman show as a result.

Gudrun with her metal sample loom. Her Jacquard woven yellow sunflower weaving in behind.

Beiderwand table cloth with Pine Tree Borders

Interesting bit of history associated with this one!

We posed for pictures: Elizabeth (Shuswap Guild President), Gudrun and myself.

Gudrun played the grand piano (she is a lovely pianist!)

We left there about 3:30 pm and had some time so we visited Lori Talerico's Fine Art Gallery nearby. What a delightful little gallery! Lori has so much talent and when we arrived she was working on a 'caustic' painting (I think that was her term) Its where you paint and then apply wax over top, more paint and then more wax and you build the painting up in layers. The finished result has a 3D look to it. It also means using a heat gun to melt the wax and given the ongoing heat wave, Lori is truly dedicated to her craft!

Alfred enjoying a coffee and some of Lori's art.

Then Lori and I realized that she had bought one of my shawls a few years ago and agreed to model it for me! My first "post purchase" picture. I usually never really know where my weaving goes after it leaves my hands so this was neat for me! 

Next up, we went just a short distance from Lori's gallery to the lake foreshore and Alfred and I sat in the shade of a tree and admired the view:

Shuswap lake and Mt Bastion is to the right of the picture. Gorgeous huh?

Bruce and Gudrun walked the pier.

At 5 pm we went into town and met Shuswap Guild friends for supper. What a GREAT time! I was hugged so much and it was nice to see them all. Given it was a long weekend, it was nice of them to take time to come and see us.  

Meet (left to right) Elvi, Judith, Gudie and Julia. Elvi is a beautiful weaver; Judith a spinning instructor, Gudie is the Queen of Recycling Fibre (and yarn bombing), and Julia is an accomplished fibre enthusiast, and woodworker. She usually plays a harp every Christmas at the annual sale that she made

This is Darlene with Gudrun. Darlene is a sweetie and also a beautiful weaver/ knitter.

We spent the next day quietly at Gudrun and Alfred's home. Gudrun and I discussed all things weaving. She has two studio rooms: one for her antique Scottish loom and the other is for her tapestry loom.

Tapestry loom with new project under way! This will be revealed here in the future when its all done. Trust me, its very unique! On the wall to the left, a tapestry called "Night Migration"

Here's all the shades of grays being used and all fibre types depending on the effect Gudrun wants to achieve.

The light from the windows make getting a shot of the front difficult but you can see the fly shuttle boxes.

Its an amazing loom and built in 1932 or so.

There is weaving all over Gudrun's home: rugs on floors, tapestry on walls, table cloth on the dining room table along with placemats and napkins. Even new upholstery fabric on their Ikea chairs! Its really a weavers home and every room had something special.

Transparencies hanging in the stairwell...

...and the most amazing overshot coverlets on the beds!!

This was our bed. It was woven in two pieces and sewn together. It takes a careful beat to get two sections to match up and trust me, they match! (on both coverlets)

After my last post on overshot, this was a real treat to find!

We enjoyed the cooler evening air on their deck with this stunning view of Mount Ida and the city of Salmon Arm along the shore of Shuswap lake.

Next day we headed off down the road and drove through towns like Enderby, Armstrong, and Vernon:

Swan Lake north of Vernon

Coldstream Valley

The beach at Kalamalka Lake was full of people trying to keep cool!

Almost to Kelowna!

and then we arrived in Kelowna to visit Bruce's mother. She was celebrating her 90th birthday! By the time we arrived, the heat had me all done in. It was reaching 38-40 degrees Celsius and I'm used to a more sedate and cooler 20-22 degrees on the Island.  A cool shower and some time in the cooler basement and I felt better!

We stayed with Lorraine for three days and before we knew it, we were on the road home again. We weren't too far along on the highway between Kelowna and we came across these beauties browsing along the highway near Pennask Summit:

The scenery between Kelowna and Merritt on the "connector". Rolling hills...

Then back through Avalanche Alley....

This rock cornice looks menacing...especially when you look at the slope below it!

The fresh green growth is where previous snow slides have taken out the trees. We try not to travel during the winter months and that starts in late September way up here.

Finally we arrived in Vancouver!  We stayed overnight at the Sheraton and I upgraded our room as a special treat: king size bed on the top floor, free internet and wifi, free dinner appies and a free full breakfast. Best of all, air conditioning!! It was the crowning touch to a great week away!

Then we were looking at this welcome view.... That's Nanaimo in the middle there and home is forty five minutes away. Oh, and the heat wave eased off once we got in the door.