For Jack

Time goes by so fast that I'm not finding a free bit where I'm not sleeping or thinking about going to sleep to post. I really thought I'd use the blog to chill at the end of the day so sleep would come easier. NOT HAPPENING! Either. So maybe I'll need to tie a string on my finger to remind myself to blog until I develop the habit.
I DO, however, manage to sneak a few minutes here and there to read other blogs. I start with http://things-ive-learned.blogspot.com/ I am a bit jealous of how great Jodi does with her blog. The pictures, music, and just the words she puts down on paper. I wish I could sound as deep to me as she does. I then jump to http://minnedosaunited.blogspot.com/ to see the coolest photos of our town and then http://westmanpreacher.blogspot.com/ for Shawn's insight on what this town COULD be. The passion of this man for the town, even after what has been done to him personally and professionally, is extraordinary.
When I can, I also steal time to delve a little more into my father's line's history. I have found a pen pal in the UK who sent me some information within days of my first contact with him. He knows a lady who is really into history and she must have dropped everything to help me out. I cannot wait to meet them when Ross and I go to the UK in May '08. This genealogy has become a passion that I am having real trouble trying to keep on the back burner until I have more time to devote to it.
We are finding our calendar for December really filling up. It actually started November 30 with a very quick trip into Winnipeg for our youngest's 30th birthday. Their cosy house was filled to the rafters. And, we got to see our five newest grandchildren. They all arrived into our lives very quickly! Middle child married and gained a stepson then had a daughter soon after (she's gorgeous with TONS of blonde curls - 2 1/2 years old now), eldest married and they had twin boys (they are just learning to walk and we got to see the first steps of the eldest!!!), and the youngest married and became father to a beautiful daughter who is just great with the little ones. He and his wife will also have a new baby in April. So we went from 3 grandkids for years and years to now having 8 going on 9 in one fell swoop, it seems. We'll see the new 5 for Christmas and the old 3 for Boxing Day, I think. Sometimes I think we should just rent a hall and have one humungous celebration then relax with the family.
Just in case I don't blog again for a few weeks, I want to wish everyone the best for the holidays and for 2008. This year has been one of really lousy stuff and really great stuff. I don't know know how to catalogue it. I loved my trip to Costa Rica with Ross in the early months, to Toronto with Ross and Jodi in September, to BC in August with the 3 oldest grandkids, to Guelph to spend time with my aunt and my cousin, and seeing the little ones growing. The shop has been doing well but we've had one of our terrific employees leave to move to another location with her new husband. We've lost some friends who have passed on and continue to miss their everyday presence in our lives. This also includes the four-legged one who had made our pasture her summer home for many, many years. She will be sadly missed, as well, by our eldest granddaughter who has thought of DeeDee as her own during her visits.
That's all for this time around. Keep warm and enjoy the white!

The Joys of Being a Grandmother

Ross and I headed in to Winnipeg on Saturday, November 10th because he was given Monday off due to Remembrance Day being on a Sunday. So we had 2 1/2 days to spend doing as we pleased. And naturally we made the most of it.
Our first stop was to see our only girl-child. J is living on her own with her son. She's early 30s, has her own home and does a lot of her own renovations. She's working on her kitchen now and doing a great job. At least she didn't pick orange for this house's kitchen. She has chosen a really nice dark royal for the lower part of the wall and has an off-white-putty for the walls and cabinets. It provides a very nice background for wall features and so on. I love the colour. And she's upgraded her appliances and added a dishwasher - Z's wishlist item. I am really quite proud of her and her independence.
We made arrangements with the eldest son and his wife to use their spare room for our stay. This gives us lots of time to bond with our twin grandsons, B and A. They are 16 months old now and last time I saw them they were standing alone and getting strength built up in their little legs. I just KNEW that they were ready to walk and I didn't want to miss it. Besides, it is absolutely hilarious to watch them motor around on the hands and knees - or just knees! Yes, they actually walk and run on their knees - no hands!!! Who wouldn't want twins when you see how much fun they have playing with each other. They race around on any part of the body that holds their weight. On their backs is particularly cute - they move backwards by bending their knees and pushing off with their heels. It was hard to tear ourselves away to see other kids.
We had a short but sweet visit with our two granddaughters who were on the trip with us in August. The older one had her birthday in October but we waited until I could be there to take her a card and gift. Her mom and step-dad were busy painting the living room (they are so busy that they have to grab opportunities when they can) and we barged in on them. The older M was thrilled with her gift card. Both girls took beautiful school photos this year so we have copies of them to frame. The younger M is in a regional choir and we hope to be able to take in at least one of her concerts this year. She has always had a pretty singing voice but is shy about it.
When we left there we dropped in to see Ross's dad and step-mom. We got to see a good portion of the semi-final east CFL game between Montreal and Winnipeg. What a nail-biter ending. At least the good guys won. Unlike the local team in the hockey game the night before.
Then the four of us were thrilled to join G, J, and the twins, K & L and daughter J, at Boston Pizza for supper. We don't see very much of J lately - she's become quite the little attitude girl and is going to daycare fulltime as her mom works. Her mom L is Italian-born and raised. It's really neat to hear her yammer away to her mom and Italian friends in her native language. She speaks it also to the kids so that they can also pick up some of the language. That's good because their grandparents are still in Italy and they trade vacationing. K is a hard worker who we think would rather spend more time with family matters but, with the work requirements in the last few years placing so much emphasis on long hours, he simply has to be at work from dusk to dawn.
I never did do a blog entry in October after I got back from my holiday in Ontario. It was the BEST week! My cousin and her husband drove my aunt and me around for hours to visit different cemeteries in the areas my ancestors were known to have come from. I got some pictures of headstones to use in following up my search for family history. The 3 women spent some time in the archive building that housed some of the records from the family line on the male side. I actually got a copy of the will of the first of my dad's direct line on the male side who came to Canada. I was so excited - I still am. I love this genealogy stuff. But I always liked history and this is just more personalised than what they teach in school. Like, now I want to know why they moved only a few miles from one village to another in the UK? And what circumstances led them to emigrate to Canada. What did they do for a living before they left the UK. It goes on and on. I saw a cousin and her husband that we used to see more often but hadn't for a few years other than for a few minutes at funerals. She'd been seriously sick but is on the way to recovery. I felt awful for not knowing she had been going through what she had been. Her brother and his wife made a visit to the cousin's a few days after I left but my aunt sent me pictures. I would know him anywhere even after all these years. I just had the best visit and loved spending all that time with my aunt and cousin. They are such really good people. We took in a fabric art show at an Anglican church in Guelph - beautiful handiwork done by ladies from around the country for their ministers or churches.
Looks as though I need to get out of here and go home for supper. Sure has turned wintry cold overnight! Hate to go out.

A whole bunch of other things going on

It's taking a while getting on to this blogging thing as you, the reader, can see. It's been nearly two months since the vacation with the grandchildren. We had a pretty good trip considering the age differences. The girls were totally surprised by seeing their dad at the airport in Kelowna - they had no idea so their expressions were priceless. The kids saw a lot of new and wonderful places. The badlands in the Drumheller area were awesome! They really HAD to climb the "mountain". And spending 2 or 3 days just lounging at the lake and meeting new cousins. They met a wonderful great aunt who gave each of the girls a beautiful doll from her collection - their own choice! They were very appreciative. I hope the kids remember the trip. Melissa has said she will do a scrapbook so we printed off a lot of the trip photos for her to use and bought her the scrapbook and some embellishments and stickers. I can't wait to see the finished goods.

My aunt is one of the truly good people I've ever known. And she helped turn me on to genealogy. I have a cousin (not a child of hers) who had done a lot of genealogy and got me started. I love searching for more information. I'm a bit of a history when it comes to family but find I have trouble remembering facts. I have Family Tree Maker so enter the new information as soon as I find it. Later this month I will be traveling to meet her in Ontario so another cousin can show us around where the family lived before moving to Manitoba. I have to take my trusty camera to record the trip otherwise I'll forget most of it. And a journal for notes......

And while on the topic of family history, Ross and I are taking part in a Rotary Exchange to the UK in 2008 for two weeks. At the end of it, rather than fly straight back home, we are planning to stay for another week or so to go to Wales where his grandmother came from and to Suffolk to see where my ancestors came from. I was so excited to find that we were accepted as one of the couples that would be going!

Chipperfields had its first Home Routes concert at the end of September. We hosted The Laws, a couple from Ontario who were absolutely great. Try to find their music online and check them out! Our Chipperfield friends really enjoyed them. They are also a really nice couple as we found out at supper and visiting before the concert. The next show is October 26th when we host Chuck Suchy, a folksinger, farmer, songwriter, storyteller, etc. From what I have listened to of his, I am going to love the concert.

Since I began my Blog in August we have found out that we are going to be welcoming our 9th grandchild in the spring. When I met Ross, his youngest son was 4! He already has a beautiful stepdaughter and he and his wife and their daughter will be enjoying a new baby soon.

We are beginning to make our shop ready for Christmas. Loads of new giftware is arriving and I have some great staff getting it all set up. And we are trying a whole bunch of new loose tea of all sorts of flavours. I have to figure out how to get my girls to do a window display that will make heads turn! The early darkness and the white snow make Christmas displays look so gorgeous, don't you all think?

Goodbye for now! Enjoy the autumn - it is lasting forever, isn't it?

My first post

I decided I needed a place to write down thoughts that run through my mind BEFORE I say them out loud so I can see if they make sense to me. If so, who cares what others think about my sanity? I also have things I want to do and places I'd like to go before I take the final journey. I want to QUILT! I have tons of fabric and books and patterns and IDEAS but lack of time and overabundance of fear have stopped me from doing any projects. I enjoy reading - science fantasy mostly. Yes, I like to read about dragons and talking creatures and other realities! I've read most of Anne McCaffrey's and Piers Anthony's books. I'd love to have been sent off-planet to live on Petaybee, or Pern. I think I like walks in the woods (although I have developed a fear of wild animals). There is a hiking trail in Eastman that my husband and I did a couple of times when we first started out together. The first time was magical! We packed bread, cheese, drink (wine, I think), etc. and hiked in to the rapids. The water was cold and ran over stones and rock ending in a long rapid. Some brave souls were swimming over the rapids but, being non-swimmers, we elected to watch and wade. That date is one of my favourite memories. Glacier National Park also has a hike that we both loved - it ended at a lake that seemed to be pristine and untainted by man- after such a hike it should be! And shallow as far as I could see. But way too cold to swim in. My husband and I love to travel and plan to spend the next few years seeing places we've talked about going to before health problems make it unfeasible.

One more thing about me, my husband and I are the owners/operators of the Chipperfield Coffee Company specialty coffee shop that the Chipperfield Chronicles introduced to the world. With the Chronicles closing, I will probably post some Chipperfield Coffee Company tidbits here for your information. For example, the girl you know as Kriss is getting married in a few days. She is so excited and overwhelmed at the same time. We'll miss her while she's on her honeymoon, that's for sure. Congratulations to her and her intended.

Please be patient with me until I get comfortable with this blogging thing. We are going on vacation for a couple of weeks beginning Aug. 10th so I may be busy getting Chipperfields and us ready for the trip - taking 3 grandchildren with us - and no, we haven't lost our minds.