cafeteria

I went off to my retirement dinner - turkey, but I hear that they had roast beef in the cafeteria. I wonder if it was a good hip, red and juicy on the inside. I suppose not. This is where we usually ate at the church conference. Now I am back foraging in my own fridge.

conference

Each year the church in its democratic wisdom gathers regionally. The meeting goes 12 hours a day for over two days. Hard seats. Need I say more.

enroute

I am at a church conference. It is very late and I am just back from the pub where the real stuff happens. I am staying in a student dorm which really isn't any better than the dorm I lived in 45 years ago. Here is a statue in front of the town hall in Moncton. It was on my way here.

red door

I had a meeting in Saint John the other day. I passed by this church. The door invites me to enter, but the door is locked. It seems that all church doors are now locked. So no one can enter. This religion has closed up shop.

planting the garden

I went home for the weekend. A friend came with me and we planted the potager. It was so good to be working with someone. So here is where the sugar snap peas are planted with sticks to support the coming plants. Some kale came through the winter so I am letting it go to seed.

And here is a video from the Everest camp:

trek

They reached their goal - the Everest Base Camp. In the gang are two sons and a daughter-in-law, ma belle fille. Now which is which: Alec is the second from the left in the second row. Terre is second from the right in the second row and Nathalie is in the pink in front of him. And now they are making their way down.

walking to work

I'm going home to Nova Scotia for three days tomorrow - so there will be the usual black out.
Here is a crab apple in full flight that I walk by each day. I notice things when I . walk that I never see when I drive. When I do drive I am not going on the same route in any case, but still it's true. There is so much more to see when I walk.

climbing downhill

Here are the intrepid beginning their trek.

bridal wreath

Bridal Wreath Spirea - it grew on our front lawn. We used to pick it and make wreathes for our heads and then one for the cat. Then we would dress her up and have a cat wedding. She was amazingly tolerant for a few minutes. The groom, a black tom in the neighbourhood whom she particularly favoured, never turned up for these events. While good with children, she took on most dogs. They removed themselves, howling, while she sauntered off. When her black gentleman came and sang at the window, she would leave in his company, and return in the morning somewhat the worse for wear. We loved the kittens.

Unrelated, here is a lovely video that was on Susan's blog, 29 Black Street

election

Now for a little rant. I feel disenfranchised. I work, for the time being, in New Brunswick, but my home and property is in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia is having a provincial election. I understand Nova Scotia politics, but I can't vote. I must vote in New Brunswick where I haven't a clue about the provincial politics and federally this riding has been Conservative since Confederation. Besides it seems to hardly matter here, anyway, because the province is owned by one family, and they live, it seems, in Bermuda so they don't have to pay taxes. End of rant.

university halls

When I was at the soccer practice with the boys, I turned around and took this picture of the halls of academe. In this case it is Dalhousie, one of several universities in Halifax. I love Halifax, the old gray dowager queen of the Atlantic. It is big enough to be vibrant, and small enough to be intimate.

practice

Before and after the practice. I sat on the bleachers and knitted. There were actually two practices. Eileen was at the Naval Base, HMCS Stradacona, and Hugh was at Dalhousie University. This was Hugh's practice.

rain garden

I looked over the edge of my apartment deck and took this picture in the rain this morning. Now I am ready to walk to work and the sun is shining. I am driving to Halifax this afternoon to see the grandchildren, the other belle fille and my sister, who has come from Ontario to help with the children for the next couple of weeks. So now let Friday unfold. This is a long holiday weekend in Canada.

leaving for Everest

Here they are leaving Montreal for Everest. I took it from their blog at: www.makeawishfaisunvoeu.blogspot.com. One son and a daughter-in-law are in the photo. The other son caught up with them in London. I much prefer "belle fille" to "daughter-in-law". Some things are so much better in French.

Ruth's garden

I walk to work several times a day, sometimes back to the apartment for lunch and often back for an evening meeting. I'm trying to reduce my carbon footprint. I drive a little car. But then I drive home to Nova Scotia, or like this weekend to see the family in Halifax. There is no way to get home except by car - so what to do? I am not very good in the this green business, but I want to be.

On my way to work I walk by Ruth's garden.

parsnips

Besides the fiddleheads, parsnips are the first spring vegetable, left in the ground and pulled as soon as the ground thaws when they are at their sweetest. These were a gift. I roasted them with potatoes and garlic. I think, though, that they also rank as one of the ugliest vegetables.

willow revisited

This is a maple bursting forth. I was thinking about Debbie's comment about the willow tree that was cut down. The willow has been like a relationship. It looked good, even beautiful, but under the ground roots were reaching out to strangle and break my water source. Eventually I had to gain enough courage to cut down the willow - and yet with regret. It would have been a beautiful tree/relationship, but it became so destructive. I denied it for years.

mountain

It's Mother's Day and my sons and a daughter-in-law boarded planes to begin their adventure. They will meet in London and then travel to Nepal to climb Everest. they have promised me that they will not go to the peak. I have given them my usual motherly advice, this being Mother's Day: "Dress for the weather and don't slip. Above all, be careful." What else can I do?

Fair Trade Day

I have been doing this most of the time, but now I'm making a really conscious effort when I purchase, if at all possible, to buy fairly traded, or used, or from the musician/artist/artisan. Today I went to Ten Thousand Villages, http://www.tenthousandvillages.ca/ a really neat store, and bought this book, this bag and a birthday gift, which is in the tissue paper, in case the birthday person is reading this.

parking lot

It was another rainy day seemingly bereft of photographic possibilities until I went to do my weekly shopping. I parked beside this blue car, and as I walked to the store this caught my eye. Is there truth in bumper stickers?

flower plot

It rained all day. There are daffodils dancing on the lawn in front of my apartment. But then I began to look around town and there are daffodils on lawns all over the place. There are hundreds in front of the elementary school. They are all identical. Then I realized that it must have been a town plot.

ancestral bridge

On my way back to the apartment I crossed over this bridge. It is the McFarlane Bridge. Now as my mother belonged to this clan I think that it must have familial ties. It seems somewhat good to be related to such a lovely structure.

501th post

I was going to post about my beautiful weeping willow that two guys with chain saws took down on Saturday. It was a friend. It swept by my bedroom window. The golden glow of its buds, its new leaves, its bark coloured my room. My grandchild played house under its canopy. But it was false friend. I could trace a large root heading straight for my well. It had grasping , selfish ways. So now I have had it executed, and cut up to fuel a lobster boil this coming summer. When I see the stump, I grieve.

When I came to post this I found that I had posted 500 times - imagine! I started it by mistake. I was really trying to post a comment on someone else's blog and ended up creating one of my own. Writing a title off the top of my head was very optimistic. Dancing in the the holy circle really didn't describe the circles of despair that engulfed me at that time. The dance has proven to be an upward spiral. Thank you for joining it with me.

My son tells me that the name is really a misnomer and a cheat. He thinks that it attracts Pagans and Wiccans. Then it is really about renovating an old house, so it must be quite a let down. It has served me well. I dance while I plaster and paint and all the time spent just waiting to get back.

smallish host

Last fall I planted a very small host of daffodils. The last time I was home there were only some spikey leaves. When I return they will be gone. But this time they were sunny and bright. I have been planting where the old ox barn stood. Starting another garden - there is always new life.

switch plate

I was given this lovely and fun switch plate which perfectly matched the parlour wall. I was sure that it was a mermaid until I screwed it on. Now I am not sure it isn't a merman. A couple of friends have giggled the same observation. Whatever the gender, it is a great finishing touch and a lovely gift.