The End of May

The temperature is 0 degrees C,
4" of snow covers the ground,
the heater is running in the greenhouse,
my patio pots are covered in blankets,
the furnace is running,
I'm cold -
good-bye to the month of May!!

Only in Alberta is it possible to have snow 3 out of 5 weekends this month!
And they say global warming is real - I do agree that weather extremes are the norm these days.
Where is summer?!?!?!?!?!

Autumn on the Farm

Harvesting of grain is nearly finished here but some canola is still laying in the fields, drying down.  There was so much late green growth, due to poor germination this spring, that now harvesting is delayed.  The yields are greatly reduced - a complete reversal from last year's bumper crop.  Hay crops are a fraction of what is needed to get animals through the coming winter and lots of grain crops in our area have gone into greenfeed or silage.  Pastures are pretty well grazed off and some people are starting to feed their cattle already.  This has not been a good year for farmers!

I like driving through the countryside at this time of year, especially in the early evening.   As the sun sets, everything takes on a lovely golden hue and the sky is always interesting.  The leaves are slow to change color this year and I don't think we're going to see the bright reds  that we got last year.     Daytime temperatures are still in the mid-20's and we haven't had any frost yet!  Hopefully this warm weather will continue for a few more weeks.

Ten on Tuesday

1.  I had a delicious pumpkin scone from Starbucks on my way home tonight.  I must try baking some of these soon.  And my usual grande' chai latte' was the perfect complement.

2.  Congratulations to Linds!!  Her brand new baby granddaughter arrived safely today.  And she wrote a wonderful letter to "The Bump" just hours before she arrived.  Be sure to have tissues handy if you go to read it - it's so, so sweet. 

3.  I'm just getting a special book ready to send off as part of a children's book swap and I have another swap in the works too.  I love sharing good reads with others.  

4.  Speaking of books, our book club selection for next month is The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.  I've already read it but I should probably skim it to refresh my memory. 

5.  These beauties are gracing my table today.  It's a sure sign that spring is somewhere in the not too distant future. 

6.  And another sign that spring is coming - the sun set at 5:48 p.m. tonight and the sunset colors were still visible at 6:30.  A huge improvement over the 4:30 darkness of December!

7.  Big item on the news today is the upcoming visit of US President Obama to Canada later this week.

8.  My friend, DonaMae, hosted our book club gathering last night where we discussed Those Who Save Us, the story of a German mother and daughter who survived WWII.  For snacks she served her delicious spinach dip inside a bread loaf and the loveliest European baked breads, cakes and cookies!  It's the first time we've had themed food to accompany our book.  And one of the participants said that reading about all the foods in the book made her mouth water!!  In the book, the mother works in a bakery in Germany where she makes Stollen, Sachertorte, buns and other baked goods.

9.  On the menu at our house this week are Moose Roast, Baked Salmon, Leek Soup and Pita Pizzas.

10.  The frosty picture in my blog header was taken this weekend and is the view out of my kitchen window.  

Days of Autumn

Day 12



Colors at Pigeon Lake

30 Days of Autumn

Day 11



Harvesting the last of the garden goodness this weekend

30 Days of Autumn

Day 10








Harvesting in progress

30 Days of Autumn

Day 8



Along the banks of Strawberry Creek


Day 9



Fields of grain waiting to be harvested

30 Days of Autumn

Day 5






A late afternoon storm passing by

Ten on Tuesday

1. I'm finding out that there are some seriously cute baby boy clothes available in stores these days :)) I found blue receiving blankets embroidered with tiny airplanes and cars and newborn onesies with balls and 'little rookie' on them. So cute!!

2. Isn't email a glorious thing?!! It's so easy to stay in touch with friends and family, no matter how far away they live.

3. Happy mail came yesterday! I won a gift certificate at Stampin' Treasures in Jennifer McGuire's card drive so I had fun picking out new stamp sets. They are even better in real life and I'm anxious to play. Maybe later today!



The tree is so cute and the tag set is going to be awesome for Christmas tags. The little tickets are going to be a Christmas gift for someone.

4. I decluttered part of my cookbook cupboard and found some treasures - and some junk!! Magazines from 1989 - that's nearly 20 years!! The stash of saved ripped out magazine pages really didn't diminish but I've made a file folder for new ideas and will try to test the recipes and make decisions about their worthiness that way. Sadly, I didn't find the one recipe that I really wanted :(

5. I dropped by my mom and dad's this evening - to get 2 zucchini - and I came home with a huge bag of the biggest beets I've ever seen, a pumpkin for Meadow, a braid of onions for Naomi, a bag of carrots, the last of the green beans, 4 cucumbers, 7 tomatoes, some potatoes for Jonathan, and 2 boxes of canning for Naomi and Heather. It's seriously like going to this free market garden and being loaded up with goodness! How blessed we are by their generosity - and with food aplenty that we are surrounded by in Canada.

6. The last two preserving projects from the kitchen will be zucchini relish and beet pickles. I only have enough jars left to do these 2 things!!

7. Sunflowers make me smile!

30 Days of Autumn

Day 4



8. Yeah for a new hairdresser! There are none left in our small town so I've been trying out a few others and finally found one that's not too far away, reasonably priced and who did a good job too.

9. If you are looking for good food and new recipe ideas, go over and visit Sandra. I made her Applesauce Puffs today, using my mini muffin pans and they taste delicious (not to mention how cute they look!).

10. I'm not very excited that we're in an election campaign again here in Canada. It seems like a huge waste of money that could be used to do so much good in many other places in the world.

30 Days of Autumn

Day 3



Cooking crabapples from our tree to make applesauce - I love the colour!

30 Days of Autumn

Day 2



Bit of goodness linger on in the garden

30 Days of Autumn

Many people, including Heather and Leigh, are doing a photography challenge to post a photo every day this year and I started out with good intentions. But then we went away for a month and it fell by the wayside. Our summer was full of fun and lots of activity so I didn't pick up the challenge then but now I'm ready to try again. So I bring you "30 Days of Autumn" - my take on the changing of seasons and a way to start something new in September (appropriate for a new school year, don't you think?).

Day 1



Prune plums always speak to me of autumn with their dark skins and beautiful color.

Happy September

Summer is officially ending and the temperature is reflecting that around here. Frost warnings have been issued again for the 3rd night in a row. Luckily we haven't got any yet. I'm not quite ready for this change in seasons but I guess it's going to happen anyway.

Darrin and Kelsey came home for a visit and Kelsey very graciously shared these engagement pictures that her Mom took earlier this summer. I'm so glad to have new ones!









We had the last weiner roast of the summer today and that meant a little ice cream eating was in order for Meadow and her cousin.



She really just loves the cone part and the best way to get the cone is to start at the bottom!!

I hope you are enjoying a sunny and relaxing Labour Day weekend!

First Day of Spring

We had some changes in our flight plans yesterday as soon as we checked in at MIami International Airport. The girl at the counter said the flight was already delayed and we'd miss the connection in Montreal so she booked us on a flight to Toronto instead. It meant that we had 15 minutes to clear customs and get to the gate (instead of the 2.5 hours we thought we'd have). No time for browsing or duty free shopping but we can do that next time! We had plenty of time to clear Canadian customs in Toronto, recheck our bags, grab a bite of supper and get on the next flight. The only problem with this whole plan was that we didn't have a printed itinerary and in Miami she told us we'd arrive in Edmonton at 22:00. We're on the flight, nicely cruising along, about 7:45 p.m. and Bob says to me "What time do we arrive?" I told him it was another 2 hours - and then the pilot came on and said we were 65 miles from Edmonton and beginning the descent! There's no way that was going to take 2 hours! So we landed at 8 p.m. - and had to make a quick phone call to get our 'taxi' to come earlier. (Thanks so much, Dennis!) I think she'd told us the arrival time in MIami hours instead of mountain daylight time. It was definitely better to get home earlier and a funny ending to a month of traveling.

The big difference we noticed today was that there is no beautiful green colour outdoors! We've gotten very used to lush green trees and colourful flowers so the drabness of late winter here is a big contrast. Please hurry along, Spring!

And in honour of spring starrting, I did a little cleaning!



Naomi had taken all the produce out of the fridge when we went away so today was a good day to give it a complete cleaning, before I reloaded it. Could it really star in a commercial for new fridges?! Feels good to have it done and I think I'm going to tackle a few more projects of this nature next week.

More pictures from South America coming soon, I promise!

Sunday Scenes

Today after church, we headed west to the Brazeau Dam for our last quad ride of the season. It was a glorious warm and sunny day - a perfect one to be outside, enjoying God's creation and the beauty of our little corner of the world.




Our good friends, Audrey and Aime'- quadding partners, great travel companions, and all around good, good people. We were practicing Christmas card poses!!




We were a few weeks late for the full effect of all the colored leaves but the tamarack trees are still golden yellow.




The sun was starting to go down as we drove back along the dyke and it was gorgeous!



You can see the mountains from here, one of the most beautiful spots within an hour and a half of our home. Thanks for coming along on our Sunday ride!

And if you could say a little prayer tonight for our sweet Helayna, we'd appreciate it. She had a visit to children's hospital today and has baby measles and an ear infection. The doctor said measles has to run its course and he gave her some meds for the infection. We pray that she will be healthy again very soon. Thanks for helping us with prayer!

Good Reasons to be Home!

We missed all of our family while we were away and especially Helayna and Meadow. I knew they would learn alot of new things and have grown while we were away. Luckily they still remembered us! The fall colors are still beautiful here -definitely great for taking pictures these days. Thanks for sharing this picture, Heather.




I know this is completely unfocussed but I still like it. I think Heather or Naomi took it on Sunday.




Run in the leaves, fall in the leaves, laugh in the leaves!




This little one has gained so much confidence and independence since we saw her last! She took her first steps on Sunday - I'm so glad we got to see this big achievement.



Today Meadow decided that the camera is very interesting and she insisted I hold it up and snap this picture! I think she loves photography already :))




It's so much fun seeing these 2 together now!

A New Season

When I look out the kitchen window this morning, I see the mountain ash trees hanging red with berries and the neighbor's fruit trees showing red and gold. With the end of summer comes a new season and all the colors that accompany fall. It will be different to miss September here at home. I'm sure the leaves will be gone and the frost will have come while we are gone. I'm leaving the spaghetti squash and Hubbards squash to be harvested while we are gone. I'll dig potatoes and carrots when we are back.

I don't know how much I'll be able to post while we are in Europe but I will take lots of pictures and share them and all the stories when we return! Bon Voyage!!!


May your autumn be colorful, fragrant, peaceful and spectacular!

Celebrating Summer

On this, the longest day of the year, I've created this list of things I'm looking forward to this summer:

- Meadow's birthday

- a Red and White picnic on Canada Day to celebrate Heather's birthday

- some weekend quadding trips

- veggies from the garden

- swinging on the patio

- using the barbecue

- having Mel home for a visit

- a Josh Groban concert

- new swings for the granddaughters

- spending some time with my sister

- a bridal shower

- Kirsten and Peter's wedding

- going to the pool or lake with our grandbabies

- fresh raspberries and cream

- painting my studio

- Dad's 75th birthday

- scrapbooking, especially with my girls

- picking strawberries

- going to BC for fresh fruit

- corn on the cob

- visiting the Farmer's Market

- purging my closets

- defrosting the deep freeze

- enjoying the potted herbs

- warm evenings on the patio with the scents of my flowers

- new potatoes with cream and dill

- reading

- not worrying about school starting again (more on that to come!)

Aby over at Creative Organizing inspired me on this list. I'd love to see yours!!

From My Kitchen Window

I was working in the kitchen tonight and when I looked up, the sky was tinted with the most delicately pink sunset. I worked for a minute or two and then decided I had to grab the camera and capture some of it. It had snowed heavily, big wet flakes, about an hour before and the sky was filled with clouds. There wasn't much open space for the sun to shine through which made for this soft, soft look. It was quite unlike our usual sunsets, which have lots of orange and gold in them.



The first picture - the delicate pinks had already disappeared and the colors were more intense.




Within 5 minutes, these glorious colors painted the sky.

It doesn't really look like the first day of spring!

One more week!

Next week at this time Melinda and Tyler will be arriving at the airport from Poland!! We are so excited to have them here for 3 weeks to celebrate the holidays with us. Last year they spent Christmas in Thailand so they didn't see snow all last winter. We will definitely make up for all the fun they missed last year and this winter will definitely make up for the balmy weather they had last December. ! The wind is blowing again and the driveway is nearly drifted shut! Bob went out to a meeting at 7 p.m., I came home at 8:30 and he was back at 10. Each time there were no tracks left and the banks filled everything back in. That was all after he plowed the driveway this afternoon with the tractor! Tonight it's soft snow but I'm not sure what it will be like by morning. And the 2 mile stretch up to the highway was also very bad - worse than I've seen it in many winters. I guess I better start out extra early in the morning.