Christmas Letter 2012

Well, here we are again, at the end of the year.  We look back to the busy events of the last 12 months and look ahead to another year of ups and downs.  I can barely remember last Christmas or winter and somehow I have been too busy to do much scrapbooking or print photos (I know, this seems impossible) but I’ll pick up the family story in the spring.

Katrina finished her first year at UBC Okanagan and got through a lot of those required courses that make her wonder “why” (as in “why am I taking this?”) but also progressing in her desired major, French.  She travelled to Sherbrooke, Quebec for 5 weeks of university French immersion and learned a great deal in French as well as about dorm life.  This fall she was back at UBCO with another puzzling courseload (French, Anthropology, Psychology, and Cultural Studies), some courses more useful than others.

I’m not quite sure what happened to my sons this year, but they appear to have pulled up their academic socks and began bringing home A’s in courses like Physics 11 and PreCalculus.  They were hired to do clean-up in March at the mill where Marcel works and worked almost every Saturday from March through October.  They also both passed their “N” driving tests in August, so they can drive on their own without a parent, but with only 1 non-family member in the vehicle.

Anthony continues to enjoy art classes.  He has more responsibility in Air Cadets this year, and was pictured on the front page of the newspaper after Remembrance Day for his part in the ceremonies at Coldstream Cenotaph.  He purchased a car this fall and is enjoying his “freedom” but also has discovered the cost of gasoline and the ups and downs of working as a casual … just when you think you have steady work, you don’t get called for a while.  He begins his Aircraft Mechanics apprenticeship this February.

Bronson’s activities are about the same as last year … drum lessons (he played in a public concert put on by Wentworth Music in June), working out at the gym and youth group.  He also is carrying a full course load and working very hard in his grade 12 courses (English, PreCalculus, History, and Chemistry) this semester.  He has applied to UBC to enter the computer science field.

Karen’s life was even busier this year:  substitute teaching, secretarial work for 2 non-profit groups, and a full summer of work (May through September) at O’Keefe Ranch, as well as the usual round of church activities. The annual camping trip was complicated by caterpillars (shiver!) but September saw a “great escape” to Langley and Trinity Western University’s 50^th anniversary celebrations.

Marcel continued with Tolko in maintenance as a millwright.  It was interesting to see how much more he and the boys communicated once they started working Saturdays at the mill.  He enjoyed fishing throughout the summer and went on a three-day trip where he caught a salmon which was over 20 pounds.

Marcel’s mom has had a tough year, which has really increased the amount of care she has needed from us.  She had cataract surgery in the summer, and the after-care involved us putting drops in the affected eye hourly for over 3 weeks, then reducing to 3 times a day, twice a day, once a day … and finally no more drops (or salve).  Unfortunately, in September, she fell at home (propelled by a mighty sneeze) and broke her left wrist and thumb.   Wearing a cast made everything complicated and every doctor visit was preceded by helping her to dress and tie her shoes.  The cast finally came off and a physiotherapist has been coming to the house to help her with exercises.  But lest we get too complacent, she has also been diagnosed with breast cancer and has surgery scheduled before Christmas.

But we don’t want to end the letter on a sad note … we have one more piece of news.  At the end of November, Marcel and I had a visit from Katrina’s boyfriend, Tyler Young, who asked for her hand in marriage.  We gave him our blessing, then waited two long days until he took her up to Silver Star and asked her to marry him.  She said YES and is now sporting a lovely diamond on her left hand.  Wedding plans have us circling July 20, 2013 on our new calendar and looking up all manner of things on the Internet … wedding timelines, flowers, bridesmaid dresses, locations … today was fun as she tried on my wedding dress and those of my mother and aunt (did they fit?  Somewhat. Would she wear them? We’ll see).

So 2013 looks like a year of formal wear … with the boys graduating in June and the wedding in July.  Next year, perhaps I’ll just send photos and not write a letter (oh no, don’t tell me you’re counting on reading all about it! Okay, I’ll write … I’m sure I’ll recover by December). 

May you enjoy all of the blessings of Christmas.

With love from

Marcel, Karen, Katrina, Anthony, and Bronson

(as well as Muffin the cat, who is keeping me company)

Crafty Genes and Jeans

     There's no end of craftiness around our house (and neighbourhood).  It does look a lot like messiness but it does hide the dust, somewhat (after all, "dust is a country accent").  There's a scrapbooking pile waiting until I have time to order photos, sort memorabilia, and get organized for another retreat.  There's fabric upstairs and a sewing machine that got repaired, but hasn't been put back onto its desk yet (someone surrounded it with clutter that I apparently have to sort through).  The dining room has been overtaken by my daughter, who has discovered card-making at the same time as she remembered that I had a great deal of Creative Memories paper and found out that I had several jars and tins of buttons.
     Of course, there's the stash of quilting fabric and books across the road at my mother's house ... and a few containers of random fabrics in my "bonus room" (not always suitable for quilting).  Old jeans also seem to pile up, waiting to be transformed into jean pillows for bridal shower gifts.  Yarn is also sitting in boxes ("knit me" ... "crochet me" it cries out).  We have the luxury of all kinds of hand-work ... but not always the luxury of time.  There's this thing called The Internet that keeps stealing time away from us.
     It is interesting to look at the creativity as it flows through a family tree.  There's my daughter and her cards and sewing projects ... me with scrapbooking and quilting ... my mother quilting and sewing.  Before her, my grandmother knitted, crocheted and embroidered ... as well as doing spinning on the spinning wheel and sewing on the treadle machine.  Way back in the family history in Czechoslovakia, our great- greats were involved in the cloth industry.  And going out to different branches of mom's family tree, there are quilters and seamstresses galore.
     Our creations are sometimes practical ... other times, our ancestors must be rolling over in their graves wondering what we are doing, hacking up perfectly good fabric, cutting our photos to pieces, gluing buttons on paper or photo frames, or cutting up yarn into lengths and braiding it. Or crocheting "booties" for my dining room chairs (which actually was my aunt's idea a few years back, and I finally got around to doing it this spring).  It's a lot different than making flour-sack dresses and shirts for the children, which apparently my grandmother did to provide clothing in tough financial times.
     There's also a creative photography gene that appears to run through both sides of the family and is going through to my kids.  My dad took slide photos, cousins and uncles were awesome photographers, and I took up serious photography (or not so serious) for the yearbook at university.  Then I married and my husband was interested in the new field of video-photography ... he did plenty of videos of weddings for friends and also of church events.  I was a scrap-booking consultant for several years.  With the advent of computers, the kids are able to Photoshop, edit, upload, add music and special effects ... we hung fabric for green-screen effects for a school project ... PowerPoint presentations are child's play to them.
     And then there is the artist son ... his walls are covered with his paintings ... and he's painted gifts for us for birthdays.  Who knows what is to come?
     At the same time as the internet can steal time from us, it can also inspire us with ideas from craft sites.  We can share our creations with others with a few clicks of a mouse.  We could probably even get some really good ideas on the internet for organizing all of our crafty and creative materials ... nah.  That would take up time!
 

Isn't it Amazing?

     I have to admit, I started thinking about food, for no particular reason.  Imagine all the years of civilizations and human beings deciding what was safe to eat, or to combine and eat.
     One of the stories I tell at O'Keefe Ranch is the story of civet cat coffee or kopi luwak.  I watched "The Bucket List" recently, and it is mentioned in this movie as well.  But just think about the first desperate coffee addict, denied access to the coffee that he picked, who took the civet cat dung home, separated out the coffee beans, and prepared some coffee.  Desperate times.
     Whoever thought of putting garlic butter on snails?  Was it a dare?
     And think of all the people who ate the "wrong" kind of mushrooms.  Mind you, the first person to eat mushrooms must have been pretty brave.
     Of course, many of these ancestral daredevils must have been observing the animals around them to find out what was safe to eat.  But when you think of the combinations of foods and spices that our modern chefs put together ... well, what animals are eating habanero peppers?  (Animals with no tastebuds!)
     Imagine the first chocolate cake ... or the first ice cream ...
     I am making myself hungry again ... I can do that when I do school tours at O'Keefe Ranch and demonstrate the waffle iron on the wood stove in the General Store or describe how to make ice cream in the hand-cranked ice cream churn ... I can almost convince myself that when I open the waffle iron, there will be waffles inside.  (Considering that the waffle iron is on a cold stove, that really would be a feat -- especially since I only mime pouring the batter in).
     I appear to be suffering from an overdose of imagination.  Time for a bedtime snack.

No two days are the same

Well, here we are in June.  Life at the Historic O'Keefe Ranch is always changing.  Friday, we had school tours  which were supposed to be French Immersion kids but turned out to be a mix of English-speaking, French-speaking, and parent volunteers who were all English-speaking ... which was quite a relief.  I did a Mansion tour and a few tours of the General store. I love working with the kids, especially when their eyes open with wonder at the beautiful historical items they are seeing for the first time.

Saturday, the Ranch hosted about 500 motorbikers ... leathers, Harleys, throbbing motors ... lots of swagger.  They were on a Poker Run and stopped for burgers.  A few toured the mansion, which was quite entertaining, as they had some rather amusing ideas of how they would use the fur rug or the master bedroom ... as a Victorian lady, I pretended not to understand the allusions.  At the end of the day, I switched out of my role as guide and became a guest for the Ranch's Murder Mystery Dinner.  It was the first time I had attended one, and it was amazing fun.  The meal was also wonderful ... roast beef, roasted potatoes with gravy, lovely steamed veggies, salads and buns ... two yummy desserts ... and I didn't have to cook or clean up!

Today, we were expecting a car club tour ... they were late ... when the first two cars arrived, about 50 motorbikes pulled in after them.  I'm not sure why the bikers were there (maybe returning from the previous day's outing), but they stopped in the parking lot to have a smoke and then came in to use the washrooms (we must have made a good impression).  Our car club eventually arrived, having got lost on the way from Davison Orchards due to road construction on the shortest or most direct route (dang GPS).  They had some very ritzy looking cars, but they were very nice people and enjoyed our tours, even though we had to speed through to get them on their way without too much delay.

Another excitement today was the shearing of the sheep.  Where was my camera when I needed it??  The shearer rested in a harness suspended at about waist height, then flipped the sheep on its back end to shear its belly, then over on each side, and finally cleaned up the legs and heads.  They didn't look that uncomfortable --maybe shearing is like a nice massage -- and they were certainly cooler afterward.  They looked pretty nice too, with the big heavy fleece off and the nice close "shave".  I'm sure all the ewes were thinking "I look 20 pounds lighter!!" (Oh to be a sheep)

We're looking forward to more school tours this week.  I hope it doesn't rain too much.  Perhaps it could rain at night to keep the dust down, and just be overcast during the day.  It would be nice to be rid of the mosquitoes as well.  Oh well, nothing is perfect.  My "day off" where I do 2 other jobs, is Thursday ... then on Saturday I send my oldest off to Quebec for 5 weeks of intensive French language instruction.  Immersion ... roughly defined as jumping into something right over your head and, hopefully, surviving.

Just a few more weeks and summer holidays begin for my high-school boys.  Still a few events to live through first ... Annual Ceremonial Review for the Air Cadet and concert for the one taking drum lessons.  Driving lesson, Fathers Day, Sunday School picnic, and family gatherings also appear in this month's list (a lot of birthdays in the extended family).

I should definitely head for bed ... because who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Happiness is ...

There have been many stories, poems, sayings and songs about "Happiness is" ... "happiness is a warm puppy" comes to mind as well as the Sunday School song "Happiness is the Lord".  Perhaps happiness is not the right word for my present state of being ... but it is somewhere between satisfaction and excitement.  And it's about working, which is amazing.

Many of my friends are looking forward to retirement.  I myself have been bouncing between teaching on call and secretarial jobs for about 28 years.  However, extreme job satisfaction comes from being hired back to a job where people felt that you did well.  And that's where I am now.

Last summer, I answered an ad in the paper for a position as a "mature interpreter" for the Historic O'Keefe Ranch, just outside Vernon.  I had a house full of company at the time, and really wasn't even expecting an interview ... but I was short-listed and interviewed.  Then because I was busy, I hadn't checked my e-mail to read the message that I hadn't got the job, so the manager phoned to ask if I was still available, because someone else wasn't able to come back after surgery.  I had actually applied for a summer student job 30 years before, so I was delighted to be hired.

Those 7 weeks were incredibly busy and exciting.  In addition to learning all the information for giving tours of the O'Keefe Mansion (about 150 years of history ... in three days ... then I was giving tours!), there was cleaning that never ended ... bathrooms, dusting, cleaning windows, and sweeping ... and I'm sure there were just 2 seasons there -- dust and mud.  I survived the heat of summer and gained stamina as the weather cooled off.  My "mantra" seems to have become "dress me up in a costume and give me a story to tell, and I'll clean all day" ... between tours.  Anyhow, I was sad to see the season end, put away the costume, and go back to my regular life for the winter.

I sent off an e-mail when the ranch began advertising for summer students ... it took a while, but I got a call back inviting me to return.  Officially, work starts Tuesday, but I've already worked a couple of hours yesterday (Saturday) with a tour group of about 30 people.

The amazing thing for me is that my enthusiasm for the job was recognized and that I was remembered as doing a good job.  In all my years of teaching, I don't think I've ever heard the comment "we loved having you.  Can you come back again?" (Oh, maybe the occasional kid ... but not a serious employer comment).  I know I've done a good job in other offices that I've worked as well, but never has there been such a good fit between my abilities and interests and the job.  Never have I had a job that I've raved about (positively) for months afterward.

So for the next while, "Happiness is working at O'Keefe Ranch" ... though I know my feet will be tired; though it will be a scramble to keep up with laundry, dishes, and meal prep at home; though I'll probably miss a few important events that I would have liked to attend.  Yes, I could earn more teaching on call ... but the down side of being on call is that I never know when or if I will be called.  Steady employment at a job I love ... the pay cheque is just a pleasant bonus.

Come out and see the ranch if you are in Vernon ... we're open from Mother's Day to the Thanksgiving weekend.  I'll be the one in the costume with a BIG smile on her face.

This MAY be a busy month!

Spring has sprung ... we've even had sunshine and blue sky on occasion, and had to sleep with the windows open.
The grass has riz ... it has no excuse not to grow with the spring rains we've had.
I wonder where the birdies is ... I've seen robins, pheasants, and quail for sure.  There was a deer browsing our back yard the other day (I know, deer aren't birds, but they are wildlife) and marmots are out as well.  Oh and ducks and Canada geese.

I'm very excited to be returning to my job that I had last fall at O'Keefe Historic Ranch ... all the walking and drinking water will slim me down by Thanksgiving, I'm sure.  I love working with visitors, dressing up in costume, and telling stories, so this job is a great fit for me.

Other work related activities ... I had 2 days of teaching in April for School District 22, 1 day at Vernon Christian School, and worked along with the New Hope board to put on a 1 1/2 day retreat for widows and widowers at Emmanuel Baptist Church (aka "my church").  Now, to finish getting the NH newsletter out for May/June before I start on May 7th at O'Keefe.

I'm working on a philosophy of only doing fun things ... of course, my idea of "fun" is a little bit insane.  Working in the church library is fun.  Teaching preschoolers in Sunday School is fun.  Also hilarious.  Unfortunately, cooking supper and cleaning house is not fun ... but necessary.  Scrapbooking is fun.  Quilting is TONS of fun!  Visiting friends on Facebook is fun.  Going to bridal and baby showers is fun, now that I don't have to organize them all!!

What does May look like?  Work for New Hope, Canadian Kindness Society, and O'Keefe Ranch.  Attend Bible study.  Teach Sunday School, when possible.  Send sons to youth May Camp! A bridal shower is impending next week and a baby shower should follow soon afterward. Drive boys to youth group and one son to cadets.  One son is off on a band trip and will have an orthodontist appointment.  Both will have a driving lesson.  Daughter is looking for work (I remember how hard that was, in the days when I had no qualifications or experience).  Mother's Day (at O'Keefe Ranch ... that's their opening day)  Birthdays for mother-in-law and daughter.  Possibly guests for the May long weekend.  That's about all I can foresee ... and that already sounds overwhelming.

Perhaps I should relax and get ready for the onset of busy-ness!  Sounds like a plan.

A green rant

   Sometimes the entire environmental movement seems like one large Catch-22.  The things I want to do, I can't do and the things I don't want to do, I have to do.  Okay that makes very little sense. But here's how it goes:
   Composting is good for the environment because it reduces the amount of stuff in the landfill and adds nutrition to your garden.  I don't have a garden, however, because marmots invade and eat it.  In fact, they dig under the compost bin and eat the compost, then knock down the "door" of the bin and march out.  So why compost when I can throw watermelon or cantaloupe rinds or banana peels at the marmots?  Those crazy rodents think it is a win-win situation.  But will my neighbours appreciate my attracting rodents?  Probably not.
    So, let's not compost things ... I'll grind them up in my garbage disposal.  Oh, that takes my peels from the landfill to the water reclamation plant (aka sewage plant).  This is not going well.
   Maybe I could just dig a hole in the flowerbed and hide the peelings.  Hmm ... the shovel has disappeared, and if I could find it, I would probably strain some muscle attempting to get deeper than about two inches.  Did I mention the marmots also eat most things in my flower beds?  The neighbourhood deer like tulip bulbs too.
   Then there's the whole question of water in this dry Okanagan valley.  We have the weather for growing things (if you get the wildlife out of the picture), but our water utility wants us to conserve water.  When we cut down on our lawn watering, the lawn dries up and is a fire hazard.  When we reduce our overall water consumption, the water utility has to raise the water rates because they aren't making enough money.  Catch-22.
   Recycling ... there's a good one.  We religiously save our cans, cardboard, newspapers, and plastic bottles and put them out by the curb every two weeks.  We used to be able to include glass jars, but they tended to break and now it costs more than they are worth to ship them somewhere to be melted down.  What to do with the empty jam jar then?  Use it to collect the bacon grease and french fry oil, then close the lid and put it in the garbage?  I think our landfill may just fill up with jam jars and grease.
   I'd really like to bicycle to work.  Unfortunately, I live at the top of a hill.  I might be able to get to work, but I'd never get home.  Sure, I could put the bike on the rack on the front of the bus that comes by once an hour, but ... the bus stops at the bottom of the hill.  A solar powered bicycle might help with that, but they are several thousand dollars and I'm pretty sure that if I had a solar powered bike, the sun would go behind a big black cloud and I'd never get up the hill.  So, those brilliant people who are narrowing the roads in my area with bike paths have no clue that I will never be able to use them.
   What to do, what to do?  The environmental movement is now able to guilt entire populations because no one (except maybe David Suzuki) can possibly do all the things that they suggest when they live in a small to medium city.  We're not rural enough to have a small farm (and the marmots would probably move in and take over even more). We don't have a large enough population to have the recycling facilities for our household refuse.
   Now there's an idea.  Refuse.  Just say "no".  It works for 2-year-olds.

What's new, pussycat?

 The wallhanging for my Sunday School ... yes, those are sheep, but there are honeybees on it too.

A cat quilt for a new baby ... my husband knows the dad from work and I know the mom's mother from teaching on call.

Finally done my Bargello wall hanging for my bedroom.  I quite like it.

Well, I should be going to bed, but I thought I would ramble on for awhile. Since November and the completion of the T-shirt quilt, I've been working on my bookshelf quilt.  It is almost done ... but I want to enjoy the finishing touches and not feel "driven" to do it.  So, everyone at our quilting group comes past my machine and wonders whether I'm finished it.  No, I'm not.  I have finished a few other things though, as you can see above.  I've also done a couple little projects ... quilted pads that go under our sewing machines and  a"thread-catcher".

I really need to wrap up a few of my little projects as spring is finally beginning to happen, and soon the quilting season will be over.  (What?  It has a season?)  Our quilting group will be meeting into the month of May and then will just have a few get-togethers over the summer.

What have I been up to besides quilting?  There was income tax to send in, for myself, husband, daughter, mother and mother-in-law. I discovered that I had 5 employers last year ... which would really confuse the Employment Insurance office if I submitted a claim.  Two substitute teaching jobs, two secretarial, and then O'Keefe Ranch.   My 2 sons have started working on weekends ... so I suppose next year I'll have 7 tax forms to prepare.  There's Facebook ... I resisted the Timeline as long as possible and then got enthusiastic about putting my life history (and appropriate photos) into it.  There's also a new group for some of the TW alumni ... and we've been doing a lot of reminiscing.  Trinity Western is celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, and it will be my 30 year reunion as well ... I would really love to go.  We'll see.

Books and papers ... someone recommended a particular author for our church library.  I hadn't read anything by her before, so I went on-line to the regional library and requested some of her books.  I've read 3 so far and don't think she's appropriate for the church library, but is definitely a writer of absorbing books. I've also been helping my daughter with her papers for university ... times have sure changed!  I used to have to take out books from the library or travel 45 minutes or more from Trinity to UBC to do research in the "big" library.  My kid can go on-line, sign in to the UBC library, and then download journal articles from around the world!  She'll probably never know the feeling of being in the stacks 4 or 5 floors down, until 10 pm or so (Hogwarts library or the one in Ghostbusters must have been in one of these university libraries to get their ideas.  Although I've never had a book yell at me.)

Sons were on Spring Break ... I tried to continue life as normal, with quilting, New Hope, and a new secretarial job for Canadian Kindness Society.  For some reason, they seem to think I am the source of all cooked food in the house.  Sigh.  I'm not even that fond of cooking when they are only home for one meal a day (yes, they are breakfast-skippers).

Two minutes to midnight.  Time to wrap up the ramble, take some medication, and get to bed.