A Special Saturday

My youngest granddaughter, Lindsay, will turn 11 tomorrow. She is quite the girl, and I am extremely proud of her.  She asked her Mom if she could have a birthday party, but rather than get presents, she wanted to have a special day and have her friends give to a charity, instead of her. She decided on Give Kids the World, which is a place in Florida where children with devastating health problems can go with their families and stay without charge. Many children who go are sent by the Children’s Wish Foundation. It is a wonderful place for families and the children who struggle day to day, just to stay alive.

            Lindsay, with the support of her friends’ families, and folks from the community, was thrilled to have been able to collect over $400. It was a great day, where ice cream was the mainstay, with lots of sprinkles, cones, sodas and banana splits served, accompanied by music, games, face painting, noise, lots of laughter, noise, and noise.  I was thrilled for Lindsay, and extremely thankful to the people who supported her.

Sister Rae. Her friends did the face painting

Slide show of Give Kids the World

Lindsay, with the information on the table behind her

In the evening there was a spaghetti supper at our church in support of one of our young people, who is going off to Guatemala on a mission trip. It was very successful as well.  This will be her second trip, and I think it is wonderful that she is willing to do something like this.

It is raining today, and I am not complaining. The ground is dry, and the forest drier. There have be forest fires already, and the hot weather has not even begun. I hope people will be extremely careful when travelling through the woods.  My newly planted blueberries also need the water.

I have finished my latest painting, and had a great time on Friday, past, at Michaels, which is a large craft store. I had been encouraged to go there to get my framing done. I am glad I did. The gals there were very helpful, and I had a wonderful time picking out frames for four of my paintings. It felt good to frame them. I normally don’t bother, but tuck them away, or give them away. Somehow, by picking out frames for these pictures, I had a real sense of accomplishment, that I had created something of worth. I just had a pleasant feeling of affirmation.

I am getting restless. I want to get out to Ironwood, to see my daughter, and the new spring lambs, 19 and counting.  She posted a picture on their blog, and the little one is so sweet. If you are interested in checking it out you can find it at  www.ironwoodfarm.wordpress.com 

The Magnolia in bloom

Sadie says "hello"

Dyed wool for felting

I will soon be May, and my felting class with the kids at school. It will be here before I know it.



Must be spring...

Whether or not it snows again, and there is every possibility of that in our neck of the woods, I think Spring has arrived.  This morning, the first scab spray went on the orchard, with Dawn on the tractor.
She was up bright and early, had to scrape frost off her car windows, then found things a bit frozen up on sprayer, but the spray had to go on. And so it begins.

Heather (Ironwood Farm) visited me on Thursday, bringing me two blueberry bushes.  She put them in the ground, and told me to expect berries this year. Hooray! Heather and Rupert have been busy with lambing at Ironwood. They now have 13 new lambs, I think, three sets of twins, two sets of triplets and one loner.
I can't wait to get out there and see the new babies. They are so sweet.

My Magnolia is bursting its buds. Another day of sun and warmth and the blossoms should be out.

Blueberry plants

Magnolia tree

Blossom just beginning to peek out



I have been busy painting, and hope to finish the picture in the next few days, then I will get busy planning for a group of children at Lindsay's school, who want to learn a bit about needle felting. That should be fun.  I'll have a small group for four Wednesdays in May.  Heather brought me lots of wool, plain and dyed, and I shall have to dye some too.  Love that Heather has sheep, therefore wool.

The sun is shining now, and the dream of warmth is becoming more of a reality.

A hug from the sun is always a welcome hug.  I love hugs. I get them all the time from my daughters and granddaughters, and friends. Hugs are special, no words needed. They let you know that someone cares. I love to give hugs too, so here's a hug, ( ), to anyone who reads this.

Easter Sunday

     Like others in the Maritimes, I woke early this morning prepared to go further up the mountain for an Easter Sunrise Service.  Opening the door for Sadie to do her thing, I saw that there was quite a bit of snow down. Sadie noticed that too, and perhaps thought she was dreaming, for where there was green grass yesterday, this morning there was that wet, white stuff. She was not impressed and had to be encouraged to accomplish her task.
    Because of all the snow, and the roads being covered, the sunrise service was held at the church. Several brave souls made it out, and then enjoyed Easter breakfast afterward. I took pictures just to show that Easter can sometimes look like Christmas.

This was about 8:30 am, with the snow continuing to fall, and the roads getting greasier between  then and the time for Church.

    You just never know what the weather will do when you live in Nova Scotia. That's what makes life interesting, I guess.

It has been a very long day, so I imagine I will make an early night of it.

Peace be with you.