THE LEAP

Today, I started a new blog. It will be about being a senior and widowhood. It is called Living in the .....Seniors lane. Every time I start a post where I want to describe or show pictures of my stitchy things, it always ends up being life related. I want to keep the two separate. In the past few weeks, I have been working at finishing my UFOs - all ??teen of them. I also hope to get into some other types of creativity and may showcase them there also. In a couple of weeks it is my daughters 35th birthday and I have been working on a scrapbook of her and her dad. She is not aware of this project, so please don't spoil the surprise. I will take pics before I give it to her, but won't show them on here until after her special day. Right now I am working on a sweater for the middle grandson. He will be 4 this week and I need to get it done before we have our special birthday day together. I try to take each grandchild out just me and them for a day to do something special. This is a hard one this week as two of my grandsons are born on the same day, but 8 years apart. So, pictures to come and maybe I will get a picture of the granddaughter in he sweater I made for her birthday. Stay tuned for the excitement!

Jean

GLUTTON FOR PUNISHMENT

Yup, that is what I am. It is spring (well sort of) and in this lovely season and in fall, I always, always have a major arthritis flair. So, what did I do today? Offer to take three of my four grandkids for the afternoon and then give said grandkids and their father supper. Mom had a wedding shower to attend. We had fun though....except for little P. He is at the make strange stage and I almost had to stand on my head to get him warmed up to me. As I put on my facebook page - They came - they destroyed - they ate - they left. Such a whirlwind of activity, but wonderful activity. They have such great imaginations and a fort became a scary cave. Of course little Mr. 4 y.o. had to keep asking Miss 7 y.o. - Koda I'm not scared of caves right? Of course little Miss 7 had to let out a cackle and tell him no, them commence to torment the child with tales from the crypt or what she perceives as such. Next was bath time. Mr. 4 always has to have a bath at my place as I have the deepest tub. He can "swim" from one end to the other and not a drop of the "waves" hit the floor. If I was a lot lighter, I may be tempted to try that one, love playing in the water, just not baths. I am a shower gal all the way. Now I have to do the dishes, sweep the floor and put my bed back together. I believe grandmoms should always let a bit of mischief take place. It makes the best memories. Then I will be off to the medicine cabinet for another round of Advil and then hopefully my back will allow me to sit in bed and read. Tomorrow, will be a true day of rest, I don't think I could stand to sit in the chairs at church, so will listen to a few radio programs. I got rid of my satellite service. I don't watch much TV and I believe I will use that money in a more worthwhile way.

If any of you out there are widows, well heck even if you aren't a widow/er go on over to The Widows Mite: Encouragement for Widows. Virginia is an awesome person who puts a lot of thought and prayer into her writing. The same for Ferree over at Widows Christian Place. If you are just starting out on this journey or if you have progressed some of the way through are maybe stuck, or just to know someone is out there and rooting for you, please visit both blogs. They both offer encouragement, advice, music and sometimes some silliness - which we all need regularly. I visit them almost daily and really appreciate this ministry of theirs. God has used them both at times where I was struggling and voila my answer was through them.

I am not even going to rant today about the long winter we are having. Spring will come, it has to, the sun is getting so much higher in the sky and I saw my first Robin today. He was bobbing along the fence at the back. I am really glad my neighbours feed the birds. I would love to, but with a small back yard and I would have to shovel a path all the way from the front to the back. I don't think old Arthur would be able to take that much action. I will sleep with my window open tonight cause if there is one robin there is more and I so look forward to listening to them sing in the early morning. If I am lucky, Mr. Meadowlark will have arrived back and I may hear a song from him also. I think I am going to figure out a way to feed the birds next year (if I am still in this house).

Son #1 and his lovely wife have bought property way out in the boonies. They will have to clear between 200 and 300 trees just to build the approach and the house. It is such a beautiful property and I can hardly wait to watch it take shape. Glenn would have been in there like a dirty shirt, working  on anything he felt he could do and then some. When we first found out they got the property, we all had the same thought of Glenn. God is good and though we had a day of grief, we now talk freely of what Glenn would have done and what Glenn would like for them to have on this property. Now we are excited and we will see what they integrate of what Glenn would have wanted for them. The littles saw the property for the first time yesterday. Koda was quite put out - it's all trees. Grandmom told her we are building a giant tree house for us all to live in. Mr. 4 thought that would be quite cool. Guess Geoff will have his hands full trying to convince them that grandmom was just teasing, but that he will build a small tree house for them. I know I shouldn't do or say things like that, but in my world that is part of making memories. All the fun and banter we have.

Well, I best be getting to the dishes and then make a nice cuppa. Maybe I will knit instead of reading. Another birthday - another sweater.

Have a blessed Sunday.

Jean

WATER WATER EVERY WHERE AND NARY A DROP TO DRINK

Today's flood forecast has also included a small bit that said our two major rivers here would probably not peak until Labor Day weekend. That is September in case you forgot. This means that there will be no boating, no tubing, no walking on the river trail and no water taxi this summer. Earlier in the week they thought it might turn out to be the same as the 2009 flood. Not so! After having their meetings with there North, South Dakota and Minnesota counterparts, our flood forecast has been upgraded. Ours though still will not be as bad as Fargo North Dakota. They had already placed one million sandbags and this week they are placing another 500,000 or more. The one million would have covered a once in 400 year flood (same as the 1997 flood), but now they had to change everything. And thanks to the way God made the world all waters from those states as well as Saskatchewan flow into our great province. Guess when they settled this area they did not realize it was a huge lake bed. The lake at that time was call Lake Agassiz which slowly dried up and became two large lakes and many smaller ones. By the way all this water will eventually flow into James Bay and then on out to the Arctic Ocean. It actually is very interesting to watch a flood progress from all that snow, to water everywhere, to really full rivers, to nothing. As I said in a previous post, there are still a lot of people displaced from previous floods and now this will make even more have to give up their life long homes.

This week has certainly been a hard one for those in the US and I would like to remind you all to continue to pray for them all. I cannot imagine the trauma that those bombs caused and how those people were really enjoying the day and the race and then poof - life changed in an instant. It is hard to fathom in ways, but it is one of the many ways God uses us to remember to pray not just for ourselves and our family and small world, but to get out there and pray for everyone. Then with that fire and fireball in Texas. Those poor people in that area tomorrow will be remembering the Waco killings of years before and then now this. God really does use tragedy to bring beauty from ashes. I will look forward to seeing how his glory shines through the things all these people went through this week.

Had a wonderful afternoon out with my granddaughter last Saturday. It was the big 7th birthday. Her party with school friends is not until this weekend and our family get together was not held until this past Monday, I thought to myself what a perfect opportunity for us to have a tea party. Since she was less than 2 years old she has loved tea parties. I always put out all my fine china, my good linens, whatever flowers are around and of course the full nine yards for food - finger sandwiches, scones, goodies and tea. She would always sneak into the garage to invite granddad. Granddad loved food and so was delighted to attend the tea parties. Us gals always dress fro the occasion; dresses, jewelery and hats and along would come granddad in his grungiest jeans - the ones with the holes in the knees and thighs and his "outside" chore shirt. His shirt was a castoff golf shirt from golfer son. It has an array of paint, grease, sweat, grass stains and whatever else on it. He would show up in his finery and Dakota would feel mighty special that granddad came. This is the first tea party since Glenn passed away. I knew she would talk about him and I knew that I needed to do something special. I printed a picture of him at one of the previous tea parties where he was wearing all his finery. I also printed one off of Roscoe our Bichon that I had to put down just before Christmas. We went to a tea house in a town nearby and I had them set an extra place for granddad. We had sandwiches, soup for me, apples and chips for her. We were treated to the best Chai cheesecake I ever had. My tea was called Buckingham afternoon, and the little miss had granddad's favorite - Raspberry.  Dakota was so excited and in the end she declared it was the best birthday she had ever had. She is looking forward to our next adventure. I think I will call them our Tea Adventures and will maybe have to do a scrapbook for her. Of course there were presents involved which she loved. I did hold one gift back until the family party. It was a shrug sweater I knit. I can hardly wait to see her in it.\next week I have two grandsons birthdays which just happen to be on the same day. They are nine years apart. So, I need to come up with an adventure for a 12 year old who has Asberger's Syndrome and an adventure for a 4 year old. I will not do them on the same day as I think that each should have a special day.

Well, that is life this week. Hope you all are enjoying the new green grass, the birds singing, the early flowers and the smell of damp earth. I can hardly wait for my turn.

Blessings to you all

Jean

OVERLOAD

Not much blogging happening - way too much going on. Year end at work, computer issues at work, new equipment coming in at work, six feet of snow still outside and -25C windchill values, 5 birthdays this month with 2 grandsons from different parents on the same day then May will hit with about sixteen other birthdays, one wedding, a new baby due, still selling the house, son bought property, which will now change the areas I will be looking at - so new game plan....and on and on it goes. Next week should see a turn around in some things so am looking forward to that. Enjoyment in my life right now is actually planning a family reunion. I know, most people groan at that, but I am kind of enjoying it. Tomorrow should be the start of it being a bit warmer - at least we will be on the + side of zero. I think the last time we had winter for this long was first in 1979 when we got quite a significant flood and then one year when my aunt, my brother and I think his daughter came for Easter. They brought spring jackets and it turned out to be one of those years where the north winds were just a whipping off the two big lakes we had and it was soooo cold even if there was no snow. I am thinking that must have been early 80's. The mood disorders association compiled some statistics between the calls they have had, the doctors have had and the walk ins to the hospital seeking help for SAD (Seasonal Affect Disorder). Those who usually suffer with it, still have it and now they are saying that there is a 46% increase in people seeking help for it because of our late, late spring. It is so cold, that the drains on the street are all frozen, so when the snow starts to melt this weekend, there is going to be a lot of flooded streets. I am so thankful for the operation department that take their propane tank and torch and thaw the drains and also for all the pumps they have going. Working in that cold water and ice has got to be really rough. The other stat that came out is that the garden shops are seeing unprecedented numbers in their shops - but no one is buying, they all are there just to see something green growing. Anyway, I will quit boring you all with winter in Manitoba!  Hope you all have a good rest of the week. Hang in there Spring always comes followed by summer - better known as mosquito season.

Blessings to all

Jean

FED UP

I see from the blogs I follow, that not much posting is happening. I am going to assume that with this cold weather just truckin' on, everyone is kinda down in the dumps. Today for the first time I can see that some snow has melted. I am very thankful that they took all of last week and hauled snow off the empty lots and from around the individual houses in our complex. At least it gives us a glimpse of what is to come. We are to get "flurries" the next few days. Having said that though, North Dakota and Minnesota are to get walloped with a large rain storm that will start out as a Colorado Low. We are hoping to only get a passing glimpse of it, but all the same both those states and us here in Manitoba as well as Saskatchewan are really, really hoping it somehow fizzles out. The new flood forecast has us at a pretty full fledged flood and now they are hoping to keep it a bit below 1997 levels. All we can do is pray for no more moisture for the next six weeks.

These are both pictures from January last year. Now, imagine the grass standing up straight and it covering it totally. The grass stands about 4 feet tall. The picture of my rock and spruce tree - well the rock cannot be found this year and the snow is up to where the very top branch is and that is after what melting has taken place. They have now taken some of the snow away so today I can just see the very top of the rock (height of 3 feet) and the tree has only about 1/4 of height under snow now.  I haven't ventured to the provincial park for a walk as I understand there is no where to walk but on the road. All that snow water when it melts flows downhill to my son's old place. I don't know how many hours Glenn spent out there pumping water and driving around the area to see where the drainage pipes had not been opened and then opening them. During the flood of 1997 his basement was full to the rafters of water. I feel for the guy who bought it. Geoff was told later that, the RM had not wanted that land to be built on as if floods every year - but boy did they ever have green grass afterwards and then Glenn spent hours and hours every week mowing it. They had five acres and half was grass. Thank goodness the neighbours used half of it for their horses, otherwise Glenn would have had to retire just to look after their yard, never mind our own.

I have a showing on my house tomorrow. My place has been for sale since last July. It is in the country and so will take some time to sell. Now is the busy time of year so am hoping that soon there will be some action. As I mentioned before there are a couple of people wanting to put offers in, but they have to wait to sell their place. After a couple of years of living first in a larger town and then in the city, my son and daughter-in-law are on the move back to the country. They are planning to come back out this way just more east and on higher ground. They have found a place where a widow is selling her land and it can be subdivided. The smallest they would go is 2 acres. So they are thinking maybe 10 acres and then having my daughter build on part of it - good thinking as she is their main babysitter. She works 12 hour shifts, has much time that accounts for overtime as well as other time that accrues, so she has lots of time off - hence the amount of babysitting she does. She works 7 shifts out of a 2 week period. I was kind of hoping to get in on the action, but today I realized that I don't want to become the main babysitter. I lived with someone my whole life till Glenn died, and even though I am terribly lonely at times, I do enjoy being able to come and go as I please. I don't think I am quite ready to give up that freedom as yet. After all, I still haven't figured out what I want or what God wants me to do with this season of life. I always was a stay at home type person and so now I need to figure out "what my crowd is" as my daughter says. Yes, when I was younger, and up until Glenn died, I did help out a church which I enjoyed, but now I feel pulled somehow elsewhere. Time will tell.

All this talk of flooding reminds me of some TV show that was on a few years back where the grandparents came for a visit. All the grandfather did was watch the weather channel and teach the kids what all those squiggly lines and arrows meant. He was always telling them what great entertainment the weather channel was. Guess we will have a lot of folk watching the weather channel over the next few weeks. So I ask your prayers for them. Some people are still displaced from the flood of 2011 and this may certainly mean they may never get to go "home" again. I know what that feels like as where I grew up, we are not allowed in there at all. People who have homes or have childhood homes where they can go back to visit are so blessed. There are a whole lot of people in the world and not just third world countries who get displaced and it leaves a huge gap in your life. It like a big chunk has been torn from your heart.

So, please pray for all the displaced people this week. They really do need our prayers.

Hugs and blessings to you all.

Jean