Creston WIldlife Center....

We had such a wonderful time with our company--we went to the Creston Wildlife Center and it was so hot out, but we still managed to have some laughs, get some shots and get lost!

It was just too hot out for most of the animals and birds--they were deeper in the cool of the forest, but we managed to get some shots of pretty damsel & dragonflies--Oh, and a lovely heron.

A perfect ending to a perfect day...we had dinner at the "Big House"...Salmon Cakes, Halibut Steaks, fresh salads and home-made Apple Pie...what could be better....

Company From The Coast......

We have our first Guests! Our cousins from the Coast (Coquitlam) are here for a couple of days. We have never had company before, and having a wonderful time!

Sideboard Refinish...

My Dining Room Sideboard

I love to find a piece of furniture from the 1940's or 1950's and refinish it into a style that will work with my decor. In my new house it is taupe, black and white and the pattern is "Waverly County Life Toile". I seen this piece in a local second hand store and fell in love. It had carvings on either side and nice detail to the legs. I stripped the original finish, and it had a gold layer beneath. It was almost impossible to strip that, as it was quite a waxy service. I sanded to the best of my ability and painted it with a white melamine. I put the original black metal backing back on the door centers, and took the Asian inspired "pulls" off and replaced it with crystal pulls. Now it houses my canner, pressure cooker and other large items that will not fit in the kitchen cupboards. Now I just need to find a great deal on a china cabinet...........

Deck Building & Mosquitoes.....

We are almost finished our deck, considering we ordered the first supplies in April and got the original decking delivered in June, ~ it was defective, ~ we finally got the new load last week--we are not doing too bad!
How was the original decking "defective"? well, we ordered the EON decking, from Home Depot which is a plastic composite decking. It sounded wonderful, except unbeknown to us and the local Home Depot store in Cranbrook~ EON went into receivership in March and now a new company had taken it over and is now offering rather than the 25 year replacement warranty it originally had, a 5 year replacement warranty and up to 20 year depreciated warranty of 10%. If that wasn't enough to make us concerned, when we unpacked it, there were white splotch marks that wouldn't wash off and 3 were so "bellied" they wouldn't lie straight. When we searched on the Internet for "problems" boy, did we find them. Home Depot was wonderful about it, sent the truck back out to pick it all up, when they delivered our new Redwood Cedar decking!
We also got some great railing and will have the job finished this weekend, as we have family arriving on Tuesday.

I am amazed at the work our property holds, it keeps us busy! The work doesn't really bother us--its the mosquitoes! When we are out working on the deck, the fence, the garden, ect...they come in hoards and they will not leave you alone. I have tried repellent (which works great, until you have sweat it off!) Candles, Coils, Sprays....I am at a loss. I wouldn't mind paying the $100 for the "Bug Zapper" but on the box it has a disclaimer "Does not control mosquitoes". So, I itch and swat and finally in sheer frustration head inside, irritated with our lack of outdoor working hours.

I am new to the area, so I am not sure when the mosquito season ends, but I have been told it is in October, when the temperature turns and there is no longer a need to work in your garden or build outdoor articles to make your backyard livable...sigh.....

Its a new day....

Well, learning to actually TRUST is a life-long achievement, at least for me. I always have been the type of child, teen and adult that will do for herself and not depend on others for very much. I think it started in Grade 3 when I was moving to another school and my best friend just abandoned me, overnight. My mom sent candy with me to school to "bribe" the other kids to essentially "like me". I think I learned very young that people can be fickle and nothing is "secure". Again in 11 grade, I was graduating a year early and missed a week of school due to being sick. That was my only time missed in my entire history of going to school. Another girl transferred in, and both my girlfriend and boyfriend "replaced" me with the new girl.

So, lesson I learned is people like candy and never be sick a day in your life ;-)

Happy 16th Anniversary....

Not traditionally known as a "special" anniversary, but I realize all years you have together are all special! We have worked together all of our married life, and its been a great relationship on the whole--not that there hasn't been the blow-ups, but on the whole its been a great paring!

Happy Anniversary Best Friend, may we always have each other.....

Frances Hunter Dies

Frances Eileen Hunter
May 8, 1916 - July 14, 2009

I was saddened to hear of Frances Hunters death on July 14, 2009~she was 93 years old. Not sad for her, but for he beloved husband of 39 years--Charles, and her children/grandchildren. What a pistol! A more exuberant woman I have never known, I seen her in person once and wrote her a few times, but read many of her books. She was a part of the "Happy Hunters" a husband & wife team who for year went from country to country, State to State, and province to province with the sole reason to share the love of God. I was a mere child when I first heard of the Happy Hunters, they would have been in their 60's~they had come to Abbotsford, BC from their home in Texas to the Pentecostal Church. My dad was in very bad shape, had been going into traction on a weekly basis--they would put weights at the end of the bed, and he was on two different pain killers, one was called Blue Heavens. Mom was convinced if dad would go and get prayer--he would be able to throw away the pills and never go into that traction bed again. Charles called up anyone who had a bad back, dad went up and he prayed over him that his back would align and his leg would "grow out" (the term used when it appears the leg grows out, when alignment occurs and both become equal again). Dad walked out of there, and the pills got dumped down the toilet, free from back pain and traction. Dad is now 83 and he has never had a back/traction issue since.

There is much mocking of "faith healers" today, and some rightly so, selling miracle water for $100.00/24 pack and prayer cloths for money~ but Charles and Frances were the "real" deal. Money was the last on their minds, and they once told us they prayed for 10,000 people before they seem one miracle--but when that first miracle occurred--they were off to the races! They just had "faith" plain and simple and they never focused on the thought "What if.." they said they were called to pray, and it was up to God the rest. They wouldn't take the credit or the criticism. Awesome, wonderful people of God, who loved people so much, and that love just oozed out of them.

I am sad she is gone, but I am happy for her, as she is "resting in the everlasting arms"....

One of my Watercolors done a few years ago. Life has been so busy, but my goal is to get back into my paintings and start working in oil, acrylic and watercolor formats.

Thankful....

Don't you just hate it when you pick out a gift for a person, send it away for them....and wait till the phone call to come....and nothing. You check your e-mail, you silently question "Could the person not received it" and finally you make the contact to see if indeed they received the parcel, only to be told, "Oh, yes~I love it!".

I just shake my head, I was raised to call right away and show your appreciation to the giver of the gift, not so in some homes. Some people it does not come natural, to "thank". It is sad really for them, as many times people will stop giving, as they feel their effort is not appreciated.

As I sat and pondered it all, I realized how many times God had blessed me with a gracious gift, and I did not recognize the sender. How many cool breezes, just when I was so hot working in the garden, came and graced my forehead. How many times an e-mail came in just when I was feeling blue, to cheer me on my way ~ just little things that mean so much when you are in the middle of it.

So, thank you Lord for all the things you have done~that I have not seen, the earth angels you send my way~when my head is bowed in weariness, and the Grace to which I will be eternally grateful for~Thank-You!

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world” ~ CS Lewis

It's Fence Building Day!

We started the fence before Michael went away for his annual fishing trip on the Coast. He has done an incredible job of measuring the grade and figuring out where the posts need to go to make it straight~very precise!

It looks wonderful, but we just need to finish off a few things including the Pergola entrance and the left side will be done! I can start putting in a real Rose Garden, once it is protected from the wonderful deer and elk which roam in the area.

I purchased a wonderful book on Roses ~ and slowly I will start gathering my collection of Florabunda, Wild, Grandifloria, Tea, Damask, English, and my favorite ~ the Moss Rose.

The beauty of the rose is not just the wonderful scent, the richness of the color and delicateness of the petals, but the rich history it represents over the centuries.

How Does My Garden Grow?..........

I am still learning the art of weeding, watering and harvesting my garden. I am amazed at how the garden bursts forth after a rain--including the weeds. I love the organization of rows, and weeding them ~ up and down. We planted the raspberries all around the fence line of the interior garden, and I found some beautiful trellises on clearance, which keeps the raspberries straight and easier to pick.


We had such a cold spring here in Creston, we are behind about a month. The lettuce is getting to be a respectable size, but we have yet to see a cucumber, carrot, beet or a melon spring forth. Perhaps it will be too late or not warm enough for some of the items in our garden this year to bloom and grow, but its been a good learning curve for next's year garden. My goal is to have a greenhouse, and to start things off in there, rather than covering my mudroom floor with seeds and containers for weeks in the spring!


I have currents and gooseberries in the far end of the garden. I have found out that gooseberries are incrediably high in Vit "C". The one green bush was attacked by some sort of pest, but the currents and the red gooseberry is perfect and pest-free.


Where my heart lies is the Flower Garden ~ I have yet to have an actually "organized" garden, but when the fence is finished in the back I can start to have an organized Rose Garden, safe from the mouths of the deer & elk that roam in the back ravine. My plan is to have a raised bed that will level the un-even ground that drops off near the enterance of the back ravine. I found a beautiful pair of Rose Trees in a "Julia Child" Rose. Its buttery pale yellow roses are a lovely compliment to any garden. I was thrilled to find them on discount at Home Depot last week for $17.49/ea. Amazing to me, as when I first became aware of them 20 years ago they were $120.00/ea. I am blessed!

These are a few of my favorite things.......

I love beautiful things. Chandeliers, Armories, Cabinets, Moldings--all things of beauty to my eyes. I love creating from bits of wood and molding a one-of-a-kind treasure. I have always wanted to be a carpenter. When I was 17 years old and got my own room with a bathroom attached, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I can still remember long baths and soft music playing as I dreamed of making it "mine". Until the fire, I would go back and "look in" on my faithful room, which my mom had preserved- perfectly. From the hand-picked wall paper and rug to the chair rail moldings, I paid for all my own "upgrades" and made it into a palace (in my eyes!). I had loved armories, so my dad agreed to help me build one--it was made out of finished pine from the local hardware store, and it was built "in the room" as it was too big to ever leave, destined to be the armoire of whomever called that room theirs. This was my first taste of building an article from scrap, and I never lost the love of it. If you can dream it, you can achieve it.....

Its a Beautiful Day!

Today I woke up to my new drapes I finished late last night, in the livingroom. They are so sheer and light--they made me feel like I was on vacation in an elegant cottage somewhere--I love them! Generally I make something and my expectations do not match with what is in my head--these even surpassed it! I painted my little cabinet today, that was abandoned by a dumpster. It is now a lovely jet black with a simply gorgeous crystal knob. Tres Chic!

July 1, 2009

Happy Canada Day!

I can't believe how fast the year has gone! The new house and property has kept us so busy, that life has gone by in a blink of an eye. The garden was in a few weeks ago, and now we are starting to see the rewards of our labor. The Herb Garden is growing so much, I should have considered a much bigger plot. The melon patch is small and may not produce much this year--but we are learning and having fun doing so!

We started the Daniel Fast 10 days ago--doing well with it, and spiritually it is very enlightening. Convictions of areas in my life where I need to forgive and move on, and wonder of wonders--to pray for the particularity difficult people (person!) seems so clear to me now!

God is good. He strives with us till we get it!

The Condo has not sold yet, but we are 100% sure that it will in His perfect time and to the ones he wants to bless with it. It is such a beautiful, quiet condo--someone will be truly blessed.

Today is fence building day--a beautiful pergola entrance and iron decorative dooor and a trellis fence that will give the backyard a private and enclosed "feel" to it.