Swimming Season???

We received an ad here in Arizona that began by saying "Now that swimming season is over..." What are they talking about? Sure, it's November, but the temperature is in the high 20s-low 30s (that's in the 80s for you Farenheit people). That spells swimming season to me...if it's so hot out that you break into a sweat walking across the street, it's hot enough to jump in the pool! Just ask these people.





We have friends down here, native Zonies, who think we're crazy for swimming when we come down here in the winter..."you just don't swim in the winter". Again, to my way of thinking, you decide whether or not to go swimming by how hot it is outside. Of course, it helps if you have a heated pool!


We'll continue to swim in the afternoon and again in the evening as long as we're here. We may be the only people in Arizona in November having fun!!!

The Orange Trunk

When I was 19 years old I bought a blue steamer trunk, packed all my earthly possessions in it, and boarded a train in Halifax, NS and after three days and nights, arrived in Edmonton, AB. The trunk at that time contained all my clothes, some books, record albums, and a set of dishes Dad had been collecting for me. Strange to think that everything I owned fit into the trunk. My best friend, Cheryl, and her brother, Lloyd, met me at the train and for the first time of many, Lloyd had to stow the trunk in his car and take it home. Little did he know that that trunk would become part of his life too.




I know - this isn't blue, but you can see some blue spots through the orange. This is what it looks like today.

This is what happened to it in the summer of 1968....

Sitting in the bare living room of the basement apartment my best friend (and future sister-in-law), Cheryl, and I lived in, I painted the trunk orange - and orange it has been ever since. At that time, the trunk fulfilled it's second role in my life - it served as a coffee table/seat in that almost bare apartment.

I don't know what I'd have done without that trunk over the past 42 years. When I brought it out of storage in Sara's basement yesterday she said, "Oh that smells old". I replied, "No, it smells like my trunk". Same difference I guess.


I opened the lid and relived my crafty hobbies of the past few decades - there was macrame cord from the '70s, some cross stitch projects from the '80s and '90s, some cans that I used to collect, most of them filled with bits and pieces of craft projects: stuff I used to make blown egg Christmas ornaments that still hang on our children's Christmas trees, yarn, fabric paint, etc. The large embroidered picture on top of the trunk above is a children's prayer that Mum embroidered in 1952/53 when we were just tiny. She never had it framed and I forgot about it. Maybe one of my children will some day take and frame it before it disintegrates. When Charlie got home from school yesterday she was so excited to be able to go through all of Grammie's stuff and we made quite a little pile of treasures for her to use. She's a crafty person too.

So what else has it been used for? Well, after I arrived in Edmonton and unpacked it, I used it to put out-of-season clothes in. Then after awhile it became my hope chest and I put linens and lingerie, and pretty things that I planned to use in my home when I got married. Then after my sister Wendy got married and handed me her wedding dress after her reception, I stored it in this multi-purpose chest until I needed it a year and a half later.

Then, of course, I started filling the trunk with baby clothes. I used to spend a lot of time baby-sitting when I was a teenager and would pass the hours knitting baby clothes. Those eventually went into the trunk, along with little shirts, socks and baby nightgowns for my future little people.

Then for years it just stored things that didn't go anyplace else in my home. Until I discovered crafts and it became the perfect craft chest. And then it got hidden away in our big house and stayed there even after we sold it to Sara and Quincey and moved out. It feels good to have reclaimed it now.

So when Sara says it smells old, I guess it might. It's been stored in basements and garages and bedroom closets for 42 years. It has moved from Nova Scotia to Alberta to British Columbia, back and forth from Alberta to BC several times, to Saskatchewan and even back to Nova Scotia and now finally rests in our house in Lethbridge, AB where it'll stay till the kids clear out my stuff when I'm no longer here. It's become part of my life, full of memories - well worth the $19 I paid for it all those years ago.

Happy Halloween

Although Hallowe'en has never been my favorite holiday, I always like the costumes that kids are dressed up in. I remember when we were kids very few people bought ready made costumes. Instead we'd rummage through closets looking for something that could make an improvised costume - sheets for ghosts, parts of Dad's army uniform, home made masks, etc. My favorite thing to be was a gypsy. All it took was one of Mum's skirts and a frilly blouse, a kerchief for our head, a shawl and whatever jewellery we could find...and of course red lipstick for our cheeks and mouths. I'm sure we were beautiful although there's no pictures in existence to prove my claim.

After an hour of prowling the neighbourhood we'd come home with our bag full of apples, candy kisses and gum. Wendy and I would dump our loot out, being careful to keep it separate from one another's stash, and would proceed to trade. I liked one kind of candy kiss and she liked another so the trading was even. It always bugged me though that her stash would last till Christmas while mine was gone in a week!

I had a hard time improvising costumes for my little kids so one year I made two clown costumes and one witch.

Amy, Jenny and Rob

The kids loved them. Those costumes lasted for years and were handed down from kid to kid until all seven wore at least one of them once or twice. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the grown-up kids still has one of the clowns stashed away someplace.

Jenny (the witch in the picture above) made a small clown costume seen here worn by her 4th son Micah.

I don't know who these characters represent. Jenn's husband Anders gets a kick out of dressing up and taking the boys out trick or treating.

Clowns don't seem to be as popular a costume choice now though. And costumes have become a lot more sophisticated in design and manufacture. Over the past few years our grandchildren have been:

ANIMALS

Max as a dinosaur

baby Max as a spider

Max as a teddy bear and Layla as a bunny (with Charlie as a sulky fairy princess)

Elly as an elephant

Aidan as a fearsome shark

and Baby Aidan as a timid lion with Charlie as a concerned kangaroo with a joey of her own.

They've also been HEROS, super and otherwise,

I don't know what superhero sydney was last year

Max was an astronaut

and Charlie was WonderWoman

Then, of course, there's the ever popular PRINCESS costume

all worn by Kenzie for the past three years. Any guesses as to what she's dressing up as this year?

I'll be sure to be taking pictures of them all though. Have fun kids.

My Own Supplier

The tradition lives on. Fifty years ago I sold my first box of Girl Guide (Canada's version of Girl Scouts) cookies. It was very simple back then...we each got a carton of cookies and went door to door with a partner in our uniforms to sell them. I did this for the three years I was in Guides, including the year we lived in Germany when I was 12. We didn't have any official cookies so the pack mothers baked hundreds of them, put them in bags and gave them to us to sell. Now I look forward to cookie season and never pass up an opportunity to buy them.

Last night my oldest granddaughter, 6-year old Kenzie, who just joined Brownies a couple of weeks ago, came over to sell us some Girl Guide cookies

I bought two boxes, and will undoubtedly buy more as long as I have granddaughters who are selling them. Thanks Kenzie.

Carrot Casserole

Do you have fussy eaters in your family? Ones who won't eat cooked carrots, like some of mine? Maybe this recipe will help. I wish I had it when the kids were growing up.

When Lloyd and I went to Winnipeg in May, Wendy served this delicious carrot casserole. I couldn't get enough of it. As soon as we got home I went out and bought a package of Velveeta so I'd have it on hand when I felt like trying this recipe myself.

I don't know where Wendy got it, but I'm going to share it with you here. Excuse the fuzziness of some of the pictures. I forgot about the macro setting. You'll get the idea though.

Carrot Casserole

2 pounds of carrots, sliced

1/2 cup butter or margarine, divided

1 cup processed American cheese, cubed (Velveeta)

1/4 tsp. dill weed

1/2 cup crushed saltines (about 15 crackers)

Place carrots in a saucepan and cover with water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain; place in a greased 1.5 quart baking dish.

In a small saucepan, melt 1/4 cup butter and the cheese, stirring often.

Stir in dill.

Pour over the carrots.

Crush the saltines

and melt the remaining 1/4 c. butter

Toss the saltines with the melted butter...

Sprinkle over carrots.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly.

Serve and enjoy.

Happy Birthday Lloyd

What does a 60-year old man do to celebrate his birthday? I don't know about other men, but Lloyd and I spent a lovely day hanging out together. We went out for an early lunch and then spent a couple hours shopping. We ended up with a nice collection of birthday presents for him.

At 4:00 the family (the 21 local ones anyway) met at Lloyd's favorite buffet restaurant where I had reserved a party room for us. This way the kids could run and play without bothering any of the other restaurant patrons. After everyone was fed, Lloyd opened gifts from the kids.

Every 60-year old needs a lava lamp so we can relive the hippie aspect of our late teens - the 1960s were such a great time to be alive!

It's always nice to get a calendar filled with pictures of the family (and a schedule of the Oilers hockey games!)

Although the Winnipeg Jets no longer exist as an NHL team (they were moved south and are now the Phoenix Coyotes) Rob was able to find a Jersey like they used to wear. He was also given an Oilers t-shirt and an Edmonton Eskimos CFL football jersey.

Then back to the house for cake and more gifts.


I had prepared a "How Well Do You Know Lloyd MacKenzie" 20-question quiz for our adult kids and in-laws to work on...each one had a copy, but some of the couples opted to work together on them.

Amy and Curtis completed separate quizzes together, but the winner was our oldest daughter, Jenny, who correctly answered 13 of the 20 questions. The next runner-up only had 8 correct. Either I made the quiz too hard, or the kids didn't listen all those years when their dad talked about his childhood.

Then to end the day, the men sat around our television and watched the Oilers lose badly to their worse rivals, the Calgary Flames...but even that didn't diminish the good day we had. Happy Birthday Lloyd.

So What's in Your Purse?

• Are you one of those women who carry everything you think you'll ever need with you when you leave the house?

• Is your purse bulging at the seams with things you never use from one month to another, yet when it comes time to change purses, you just transfer everything into the new one?

• Or are you a minimalist and just carry the bare essentials?

• I think I fall somewhere in between.

Here's what I emptied out of my purse, everything is essential (I think).

• Camera
• Wallet
• Comb
• Lip Gloss
• Gum
• Cheque books
• Credit/debit/reward Card holder
• Car keys
• Keys to home, Lethbridge house and Arizona house
• Hand sanitizer
• Notebook
• Six pens
• Old grocery list
• Bill to mail
• Mints
• Motrin in pill box
• Tissue packet
• Appointment cards
  

So how does that compare to yours? I admit that there are one or two things I could get rid of but most of it is essential.