The Journey Continues ... New Life from Old

When tragedy strikes, we are never prepared.  No amount of emergency planning really prepares us for the panic, anguish, and worry that are happening to us.  We like to hope that should something happen, that we can depend on help and that life will go on around us, waiting for us to rejoin our regular world.   For those of us in North America, it is hard to fathom the desperation being faced in Nepal now, following the massive earthquake and aftershocks in the past few days.  Death, injuries, loss of shelter and everything you owned ... these things are devastating.  But this is made so much worse when it is almost impossible to count on rescue efforts being in time to save those who are left.  With roads destroyed, no power, and overwhelmed emergency services, the terror must be overwhelming, beyond anything one could imagine.   http://www.gofundme.com/t4r2vg  tells the story of a family in a small village near Kathmandu.  This fami...

My last post was about sewing.  Since then I made a pair of pajamas for my granddaughter and have the fabric ready to make pajamas for my grandson as well.  I love sewing pajamas; they are easy to fit and comfortable to wear.  But right now, my focus is on a different home skill - cooking and baking! I received an email about a week ago, saying that someone at our church decided to take on the project of compiling a cookbook and requested recipes.  After a lifetime of cooking, where does one start?   Christmas baking Some of my favourites are a bit out of date, even though I still love them.  I'm thinking of summer jellied salads, tomato aspic, that sort of thing.  Some of the things I make frequently are not really recipes, but more of a compilation of what I have on hand.  Broccoli Salad with bacon and raisins is in this category and so is Pulled Pork.  I mean, really, I can hardly state "cover pork roast with bottle of some s...

I'm in countdown mode as I prepare to go to a "destination" wedding with my sister.  Most if not all of my father's side of the family will be attending, and there's a 60th birthday party for a cousin arranged to coincide with the wedding celebration. We are not going to be at the same hotel as the wedding group, so we'll have some quiet vacation time as well.  Of course I have a million things to do to get ready, and I have lists to try to organize my time.  .... which, come to think of it, does not explain why I am blogging instead of doing laundry and packing. My style of packing is part of the problem.  I like to organize and clean my closet, the bathrooms, the laundry room, and, oh, finish every unfinished project I encounter while doing so, all before I put anything in the suitcase.  My theory is that it will be nice to come home to an organized space, and make it easier to unpack! So I'm making this post short.  I thought I'd share the sermo...

I have always loved to sew.  When I was quite little, my mother taught me how to thread a needle and knot the thread so I could stitch patterns on tea towels.  She gave me fabric scraps to create clothing for my dolls.  I had a lovely sewing basket that carried my stash of sewing supplies that I proudly carried with me for overnights at my Grandmother's house. Eventually Mom taught me how to use our sewing machine, which was my Grandmother's old treadle machine.  I think it was given to Mom in exchange for her agreeing to do all the mending for her mother-in-law.  My initial projects were little more than stitching lines on towels or perhaps attaching ties to an apron ... nothing very difficult.  The biggest bit of information passed on to me in those early days was to make sure I didn't stitch through my fingers. I was fortunate that in approximately grade 8 we had home economics classes.  I recall picking out the pattern for a skirt with suspende...

I have a number of thoughts from the past week to process and then distill into a blog post.  It looks like I won't get around to that for a couple more days.  Meanwhile, I want to share a link to our church's Christmas Eve sermon.   http://stjamestheapostleregina.wordpress.com/sermons/  or on Facebook, you can hear the sermons at https://www.facebook.com/StJamesRegina I don't think my comments will add anything extra to these sermons, so I'll close this post, giving you time to check out these links.

UPDATE 2017:  This year, I really needed to read my own post from 2014.  With grandkids and flus & colds before Christmas, I feel like I'll never get everything ready by the time company arrives for dinner on December 25.    And from 2015: I'm so glad I don't over-do the Christmas season... Don't get me wrong.  I love the entire Christmas season.  I love the church services, especially late at night on Christmas Eve with a soft snowfall as I leave.  I love the carols, the decorations, the baking, turkey dinner on the 25th, seeing family and friends, Christmas cards ... all of that.  I even love shopping. I don't care about the crowds or complain if the stores are playing the same carols over and over.  I love it all. I just don't get overly anxious about getting everything done.  Whatever gets done is fine with me.  Whatever doesn't get done ... well, there's always next year.  There's limits to my philosophy for sur...

I'm so very blessed that my husband loves Christmas so much.  About a week ago I woke up to find he had put up the majority of our decorations.  Instant Christmas!  Our grandchildren were excited to discover the lights and all the various items we have collected over the years.  Their reaction was the best part of it all. Feeling like I should do something to contribute to the way things look for the holidays, I started some housecleaning today ... washing cupboards, cleaning appliances, that sort of thing.  It never seems right to start Christmas baking until the kitchen is just the way I want it to look, with freshly cleaned and organized cupboards.  Just a quirk of mine! While we don't do a major gift exchange any more, we do buy for the grandchildren.  I like to make something for them as well.  My plan is to start their gifts this weekend, along with the first of the baking.  I am looking for a craft to do with them as well ... somet...