Friday Phone Dump

April 27, 2013

1. 3 day old chicks  2. sweet kale salad  3. Sunday morning singing  4. sleuthing for spring

5. pumpkins transplanted  6. Instagram frames  7. airport pickup  8. treehouse building

9. Malachi at breakfast  10.  little piggie tails  11.  swinging  12.  2 peas in a pod

13. happy boy  14. Samuel's birthday scooter  15. lunch  16. reading picture books

From my phone this week

as inspired by

 Kelle Hampton at Enjoying the Small Things

(a little way to save the memories of this week)

Five on Friday

1.

One of my best moves is to surround myself with friends who, instead of asking, "Why?" are quick to say, "Why not?" That attitude is contagious.

~ Oprah Winfrey

2.  It's getting close to Mother's Day and as we think of the women in our lives that we love, watch this video.  It really made me think!



3.  Our chicks are one week old - and they have more than doubled in size!  I always forget how quickly they grow at the very beginning.  Despite the extra chores and the time they require, they definitely make it seem like spring has arrived on the farm.

4.  The last few mornings have been super early ones since our grandsons from New Brunswick have arrived.  They are still adjusting to mountain daylight time :)  But we are having a marvelous time - cuddling, chasing, working, laughing, enjoying these precious moments.  (And as a result, blogging is taking a back seat to living this week.  Thanks for your patience.)

5.  Which leads right into the photo of the week:

All in a row,

on the way to swimming

2013 Joy Dare

#590 - #623

-  gifts opened up - a dryer full of fresh clean laundry, crockpot with lemon herbed chicken, door welcoming little ones in after playtime
-  gifts budding and blooming - grandsons imaginations, tomatoes growing tall, peppers and squash pushing through the soil, leaves on a pussy willow branch
- gifts worn - a new scarf, warm coat, tall boots
- gifts bright - candles on cakes, sun shining on the fresh blanket of snow, icicles hanging
- gifts found looking up - blue skies, birthday girl at the top of the water slide, millions of stars

- gift in a bag - Maëlle finding shoes and flipflops and rubber boots in birthday bags
- gift in a box - pizza
- gift in a book - case studies of KIVA projects
- gifts in hard Eucharisteo - snow on the ground still,  dis-liked jobs getting done, wisdom in decisions
- gifts woven together - 4 generations around the same table, stitching on scrapbook layouts, our lives

- gifts inherited - pearls from my grandmother, generosity, "be the best you can" attitude
- gifts square - candle holder on the table, windows to look through, pieces of chocolate
- gift stacked - tomatoes in pots in the living room
- gift stashed - birthday gifts bought ahead
- gift stilled - the quiet and warmth in the greenhouse

Friday Phone Dump

1. Saturday snowstorm  2. self portrait with new scarf  3. potatoes in greenhouse  4. greenhouse in snowbanks

5. pizza for birthday supper  6. lemon cupcakes  7.  Maëlle's new boots  8. accounting books

9. my Gramma's pearls  10. brooder house ready  11. 200 new chicks  12. glass cutting board gift

13. oatmeal for breakfast  14. favourite toast 15. mini chocolate peanut butter cheesecakes  16. Costco groceries 

From my phone this week

as inspired by

 Kelle Hampton at Enjoying the Small Things

(a little way to save the memories of this week)

Five on Friday

1.

“It was only a sunny smile,  and little it cost in the giving,  but like morning light  it scattered the night  and made the day worth living.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940); American author

2.  Have you seen the new Italy inspired soaps at Bath and Body Works?  They look yummy - oh, wait, they aren't edible, are they?!

3.  Our new chicks arrived yesterday!  All 200 of them are doing well, trying to stay warm and cozy despite the -1 degree C temperatures and 30 km / hr winds.

4.  We spent this evening at a Music and Dessert event that a friend organized to raise funds for her Project Kenya trip in 2 weeks.  Most of the music was provided by their family - Mom, 4 daughters and a couple of friends who together made our evening most enjoyable. 

5.  Photo of the week from the archives:

With Grampa In The Sheep Pen

2011

Lists of 2013 - #13 - What I Love About Spring

Listography 2013 - #13 - What I Love About Spring

1.  Going outside without jackets, boots, mitts, hats - you know, without having to be totally covered because it's so cold out.

2.  Green buds and then leaves appearing on trees and bushes

3.  Flowers of all kinds from dandelions to mayday blossoms to apple buds and then bunches of lilacs.

4.  Long evenings of sunlight

5.  The fresh smell of the earth after rain

6.  Green growing tips on the evergreens

7.  The optimism that creeps into conversation and attitudes

8.  Pots of flowers on the patio

9.  Birds, flitting and flying and chirping

10.  New animal life - baby calves in fields, lambs in pens, chicks in brooders

11.  My birthday

12.  The first lawn mowing

13.  Revving up for farming

"What's On Your - - - "

Ali Edwards shared  this list of “what’s on your…” that her sister posted last week as an updated version of many of those list-style memes that travel around the interwebs.  I'm inspired by it today.  

Here’s what’s on my…

VANITY | I don't have a vanity but I remember my Gramma having a special piece of her bedroom set that had a lower section in the middle and drawers on either side with a round mirror.  She kept her hairbrush and some bobby pins on a mirrored tray and some knick-knacks there.  I don't remember any makeup or jewellery - she was a farm wife who immigrated from Poland in 1927 - I'm sure makeup wasn't even on her radar.  My Mom used to have a perfume bottle with an atomizer that I loved to handle when I was little.  I can't remember there ever being any perfume in that bottle.  I'd like a vanity - it would make me feel connected to my past.  

PERENNIAL TO DO LIST | House cleaning, painting the rest of our house, paperwork, dealing with the basement chaos, backing up photos from the laptop onto the hard drive

REFRIGERATOR SHELVES | Thawed hamburger to make into meatballs, leftovers from roast beef supper last night, eggs, greek peach yogurt, whipping cream, cheez whiz, chai tea concentrate, milk, pickles, relishes, condiments

ITINERARY | Subbing in grade 6 tomorrow, benefit concert and dessert night, court whist card party, 4 days of subbing next week and a pickup at the airport to get our daughter and 2 grandsons who are arriving in 6 sleeps!

FANTASY ITINERARY | Hawaii, Disneyland and Disneyworld with the whole family, - Australis, Antarctica, Iceland and the Nordic countries with Bob - anywhere with my sister - Drumheller camping with the grandkids

PLAYLIST | I don't have a playlist but in the CD player in the car is an audio book, The Telling by Beverly Lewis

NIGHTSTAND | Books, books, books!  Along with vaseline, hand lotion, bookmarks, a water bottle and a vase of pussy willows (oh, and some dust too!)

WORKOUT PLAN | Ummmmmmm---

IPHONE | Pic Tap Go, Instagram, Edmonton Journal, Word Play game, a few old texts

TOP 5 LIST | Being with our grandchildren, spring flowers, pizza, chocolate, slowing down to enjoy the small moments

BUCKET LIST | More travel, especially with our kids and grandkids, visiting all 7 continents, more theatre evenings, more card and game nights, making a quilt for each of our grandchldren

MIND | Getting the chicken brooder house ready for tomorrow, taxes, teaching confirmation classes, transplanting tomatoes again, when to plant, when will the snow finally disappear?

BLOGROLL |  Linds, Ali Edwards, Ann Voskamp, Monika Wright, SouleMama

WALLS OF YOUR FAVORITE ROOM IN YOUR HOUSE | light minty green - I wish it was everywhere but I'd like white in the bathroom

LIQUOR SHELF | Homemade wine from our friends, peach schnapps for tea, lemonade slush (in the freezer)

LAST CREDIT CARD STATEMENT | Magazine order,  birthday gifts

SCREENSAVER | This month's from (in)Courage

TV EVERY NIGHT | The news on CBC, on Sunday nights it's Amazing Race, last night it was Hell's Kitchen

And feel free to make your own list too!

Friday Photo Dump

1. driveway snowed shut  2. sending birthday cards  3.  cake at Darrin and Kelsey's  4. Peyton making music
5. icicles everywhere  6. potatoes in the greenhouse  7. brownie cake at Drebert's  8. winter card party at Brod's
9. Blake's tractor plowing  10. in Naomi's drawer  11. another cake at card party  12. supper prep at Naomi's
13. Meadow taking pictures  14. biggest tomato plant  15. Maëlle making monkey bread  16. Blake hauling groceries 

From my phone this week

as inspired by

 Kelle Hampton at Enjoying the Small Things

(a little way to save the memories of this week)

2013 Joy Dare

#539 - #590

- gift found in His word: Isaiah 40: 31 - "but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
- gifts found in women:  sisters, women who serve selflessly, young women with brand-new wild ideas
- gifts spoken: passion for growing and innovating, consumers talking about food, welcoming guests
- a gift hug:  icicles on branches

- a gift written:  Christmas stories and memories captured
- a gift painted:  little Easter eggs hung on pussy willow branches
- gifts almost gone:  messes on tables, winter squash used up, postage stamps
- gifts unwrapped:  little fingers unwrapping chocolate Easter eggs, Easter treasures, little roots of tomato transplants
- a gift heard:  "He is not here.  He is not dead.  He is alive!"

- a gift held:  friendships
- a gift hoped for:  peace in relationships
- gifts round:  coloured Easter eggs, carrot cake roll, oregano oil capsules
- gifts of white: popcorn day at school, crisp white pages of lesson plans, snowbanks melting
- gifts surprisingly found: former students at the gas station, light streaming in, grade 6 discussions on local government

- gift at 11 a.m. - mocha coffee from the staff room, 2 p.m. - recess quiet, 6 p.m. - dry roads to travel home on
- gifts nailed together: the cross He hung on, bamboo floors, chairs for little ones to sit on
- gifts waited for: visits with grandchildren, celebrating birthdays, candles on cakes
- gifts rising up: honey wheat buns, tomato plants, grandchildren growing so quickly
- gifts heard:  "Gramma, come here - I need you!"

Five on Friday

1.

“The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.”

Ndukwe Dike Kalu (born 1975); American football player

2.  Even though it's still snowy and cold outside, we have potatoes growing in the greenhouse :)

3.  I had 3 different birthday cakes this year - how very blessed I am to have so many with whome to celebrate another year of living this wild and precious life!

4.  My tomatoes are growing like crazy!  The tallest one is 6" and I'm going to have to transplant them again very soon.  The sunny area in the big living room is filling up :)  Come on, spring!!

5.  Instagram and my phone camera are my new best friends!  I love having an easy to use device right there for all of life's moments.  

Dear March

Dear March,

Thanks to a Month In Numbers post that I saw Over At Our Place, I've decided to figure out how March looked at our house!

- 3 days of babysitting, 5 days of subbing

- 3 Bible studies attended

- 13 church services, including 3 funerals, Lenten, Holy Week and Easter Sunday services

- 14 stations on the Way of the Cross

- 100+ eggs hidden for 5 grandchildren to find

- 2 books read:  Under An Afghan Sky, The Novel Bookstore

- 1 audio book listened to:  Lake News by Barbara Delinsky

- 16 blog posts written

- 10 cards made while taking Pattern Play online class

- 10 Mile Meal evening

- 75 Instagram photos snapped

- 2011 December Daily album finished

- 1 week of spring break enjoyed

- 2 trays of seeds planted

- 105 tomato seedlings transplanted

- 2500+ photos saved on the hard drive and deleted from the laptop

- 1 sleepover / retreat with my sister

- 1 HAC meeting cancelled because of a winter storm

- 2 court whist card parties, 1 at our house

- 5 dozen eggs coloured with grandchildren

- 1 extremely busy month!!

Friday Phone Dump

From my phone this week

as inspired by

 Kelle Hampton at Enjoying the Small Things

(a little way to save the memories of this week)

1. using Easter eggs for breakast  2. empty egg hunt baskets  3. favourite mug at school  4. Samuel's painted egg

5. lesson plans for 4 sub days  6. shadow leaving school  7. new baked donut pans  8. beets and poppyseeds on pasta

9. icicles on the car  10. Easter eggs colored by grandkids  11. reading '419'  12. marking LA in grade 5.6

13. favourite comfy shoes  14. on a bale at Stern's  15. nothing growing anywhere outside 16. 1 mo. tomato transplants

Five on Friday

1.

“Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation.”

Walter Cronkite (1916-2009); American broadcast journalist

2.  In a letter to her son, Glennon Melton writes some poignant thoughts as she hopes that he will be compassionate towards his classmates.  It's well worth reading!

3.  Katie Pertiet at Designer Digitals used this lovely photo as inspiration this week.  It's my favourite color of all time :)

4.  I subbed 4 days in a row at the elementary school this week and I have 2 more at the beginning of next week (those will be at the secondary school).  'I'm glad it's the weekend' pretty much sums up how I feel tonight, even though I really enjoyed each day!

5.  Photo of the week:

My favourite Easter treat this year

Lists of 2013 - #12 - Easter Memories

Listography 2013 - #12 - Easter Memories

1.  Sunrise service at church as the sun came over the horizon and the sky was painted in glorious colors most years

2.  Bob's Uncle Art playing the trumpet early in the morning so that the whole neighbourhood would be heralded with the new that He is Risen (he's too old to do it now and I miss it!)

3.  The songs and hymns with refrains of "Alleluia" and "He arose!"

4.  Easter lilies on the altar and on my Mom's table

5.  The somber mood of Good Friday services and how the sky was so often dark and gloomy

6.  Hot cross buns, always hot cross buns

7.  Family and company gathered around a meal and for the afternoon

8.  Oh Henry Easter eggs - my Dad's favourite - he used to buy them by the box - 24 at a time :)

9.  And now with our grandchildren - Easter egg hunts, sometimes outside while wearing rubber boots and sometimes indoors, with snowdrifts outside too deep for little ones

10.  The message revisited every year that He took this for me - and that He lives so I live too!