Switching Gears

My mind is in a bit of a whirl this evening.  Not sure where to begin with this post because I'm just starting to switch gears to my next adventure; a ten-day trip to Holland! I'm getting excited and also a bit nervous because just wrote down what needs to get done in preparation for my travels.  Between events already on our calendar and this new to-do list I suddenly realized that I need to get started tomorrow if I hope to be on that plane taking off for Amsterdam on July 13th. 

found three of these characters on my walk to church recently

So tomorrow we start tackling the list by first of all going back to Lenscrafters to have them check my new glasses because I'm still not able to find the right level on my graduated lenses for seeing up close for reading books and the computer screen. It's no problem without my glasses, so I know my eyes are fine. Maybe the lenses or the frame need to be adjusted somehow. We didn't realize, until we were on our way home, that all they did was hand me my new glasses.  They didn't check whether the new prescription was working for me or not.  So back we go tomorrow. We also hope to find a pair of good summer walking shoes since I imagine we'll be doing a fair bit of walking in Holland. 

And then I plan to print some family pictures to take along, get my haircut, etc. and we already had dentist appointments for this week... so lots to do in preparation for the big trip.  I'll keep you posted.Can't believe this is actually happening! 

Two Wonderful Days in Thornbury

This week we spent two wonderful days with our friends at their rented "cottage" in Thornbury (on Georgian Bay about halfway between Midland and Wasaga Beach). the "cottage" turned out to be a spacious bungalow with five bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, open concept main floor and a large rec room in the basement! Everything we could possibly need and more. It is located in town, a short walk to the waterfront and, in the opposite direction, to the main street of town.  

The very first interesting photo opportunity on main street was this wonderful red bicycle. Wow!  I have to take a picture of this!  I grabbed my camera, went to take a picture but ...the camera didn't work! Oh no! Upon checking things out I noticed that the battery was missing!  Oh, no! Hope I didn't leave it back at home in Toronto!  That means no pictures at all for the next few days! I had charged it up especially for this trip with the hope of finding some new weird and wonderful things to share with you. Where could it be?  First thing I did when we got back from our walk was go straight for my bag. And YES!!! there it was, still in the charger!  What a relief!  On our next walk my top priority was to get back to the red bike. I'm so glad I got a picture of it after all. Isn't it great!? I love it!

My favourite 'Interesting thing" I saw on Day One

 

The weather was cool and comfortable for walking.  After popping in and out of some interesting little shops, we chose to walk the Beaver Trail and came across the ruins of an old mill.

The rest of the day was spent inside enjoying visiting together over good food, reading, listening to music, and the guys playing pool and cribbage.  Very pleasant and relaxing.

Here's another style of adapted picnic table that I've never seen before.

All together a wonderful first day in Thornbury! (to be continued)

Have You Ever Seen ....?

Have you ever seen these things that were interesting firsts for me? 

* A designated parking spot with a sign like this?  We discovered it at the Chinese Gospel Church where we attended a retirement party for Steve Chu, our spiritual director at Toronto City Mission.

* An adapted picnic table like this?  We saw it near the entrance of the Cambridge On Route service centre on the 401 westbound.  

* a sink and faucet especially designated for pets? I spotted this sign above the counter in the women's washroom at the same Cambridge service centre. It was just a regular sink with an extra high faucet at the end of the line of about eight other sinks with regular lower faucets. 

* Shades like this to protect the children in the playground from the sun?  These were installed when our local school was expanded and renovated.  I've only seen this once before in Canada, but in Australia every playground I saw was covered with much, much larger sun shields than these.   

sun shields on the playground

Well that's it for the interesting and new-to-me things I've run across lately.

Our First Bed and Breakfast Experience

This week Gerard and I had our very first ever Bed and Breakfast experience.  As we approached the house I instantly knew I would like this place; house framed by mature trees, native plants in the front flower beds giving the "natural look", flower boxes above the window instead of the traditional below-the-window position, a Dutch lacy fringe curtain in one of the windows, a front porch with chairs.  Yes, I like it already!  This is the kind of place that feels homey, and "feeds the soul".

The first room off the entrance hall is the dining room. And there, as the focal point of the accent wall, was my mom's embroidered doily, beautifully framed! For a number of years my mom crocheted a lot of doilies and would sell them at fundraisers and give them as gifts. Our B&B host and my mom were good friends and so it felt wonderful to see this tribute to my mom so prominently displayed.

one of my mom's doilies

Weather permitting, breakfast is served out on the deck.  The first morning we had to leave early for the funeral so we were served in the dining room.  Gerard had bacon and eggs, coffee, orange juice, and ? (I'm not sure). I had lots of fruit, fresh vegetables, granola with almond milk and blue berries, almonds, figs, yogurt, rye toast with smoked salmon!!! -  my kind of food. It was delicious! The second morning we ate out on the deck with another guest couple and our host. So peaceful and pleasant!

This B&B is called Crown House. There are crowns and references to royalty scattered throughout the rooms.  I have a feeling repeat guests have brought these as gifts.  There were pillows and pictures and metal garden sculptures and napkin rings... 

crown napkin rings

Our unit was like a little apartment with a king-sized bed, a private bathroom, a little fridge, and we had direct access to an adjoining little reading room, which was open to the other guests as well.  Gerard got a chance to catch parts of the World Cup Soccer match in the cozy TV room.  The parking spots were numbered to correspond to our unit numbers.  

I'm copying ideas from this planter - no flowers yet lots of colour

There was so much attention to detail!  The bathroom soap, cleaning supplies, and laundry detergent were all unscented and the bedding was cotton.  There were alternatives like almond milk and herbal tea available.Totally tailored to my lifestyle (unlike motels where they have scented everything). It made our stay so comfortable. In reading through this post, it sounds like a promotion for Crown House.  I have not been bribed or been paid to write this. Our very first Bed & Breakfast experience was just a really good one!   My brother Jeff suggested we make this an annual event. Sounds like a great idea!

A Few Days in Stratford

We're back from spending a few days in Stratford, visiting with my dad, my brother, and Gerard's brother and sister-in-law.  It was great to be in a Bed and Breakfast close by, making it possible to pop in and out for little visits and meals together.  

Typical picture of my dad in his favourite chair

Walking around Lake Victoria in Stratford with Jeff.

We walked around the lake (we usually refer to it as the river) with my brother Jeff.  A week earlier he had told me about a swan that was sitting on a nest of (five?)eggs so I asked him to show it to us, but when we got there the nest was empty. Too bad  I guess the eggs had already hatched and the mother and babies (signets) moved to a new home. Maybe we even saw them somewhere along the water without knowing it.

love the maternal instincts displayed in these pictures!

It was a comfortable and enjoyable walk; relatively  cool in the shade of the trees along the trail and enjoying each other's company.  We saw lots and lots of geese and swans with their babies!  

It was a pleasant way to spend time together.  And we were really ready for some exercise!

 mom and dad? guarding their young

We also had a "gezellig"( = cozy, friendly... in Dutch.) visit with Gerard's brother and sister-in-law.  My cup of tea had this little "bucket" (don't know what else to call it) hooked on the rim. It's a convenient place to put your tea bag.  I'd never seen anything like this before, have you?  Susan got it in Holland. Interesting!  Wonder what other kinds of new and interesting things I'll experience while I visit Holland in a few weeks?

                         

tea bag holder

It was a nice little holiday.  Didn't turn out exactly the way we had expected.  But one of the things we are learning on this cancer journey is to navigate the unexpected curves in the road with grace and trust. The weather was mostly either very hot and humid or rainy, so we didn't do as much walking as I had hoped, And then we ended up going to the funeral of our brother-in-law's mother in Barrie for almost all of Wednesday - because we really wanted to be there. As we drove through Mennonite country on the way there and  back we saw Mennonites in traditional dress walking and cycling or riding in horse-drawn buggies along the highway .  That was really interesting.  That evening we attended a comedy play, "Hayfever" in the Avon Theater and enjoyed the lighthearted entertainment.

So all in all we enjoyed our days in Stratford.  Good to spend time with family and to experience some new things and places.  

Family Time

Here's who we've been hanging out with a lot lately. All of these pictures, except Hannah's, were taken by Alida at Hannah's dedication last Sunday.  The grandchildren have all been at our house during the last few weeks and again this weekend for Father's Day. It's so fun to have them over at our place!

Our play room is finally getting well used.  Oscar heads straight from the front door to the basement because he knows exactly where the toys are.  And Hannah and Charlie have both started crawling recently and they can get much better traction on the carpet in our playroom than on the slippery hardwood floors in their own homes.  So in no time they made their way across the floor to explore the toys all over the place. 

Henry,Melanie, Oscar & Charlie

Oscar

Charlie

Mark, Rosemary & Hannah

Hannah

Alida & Jeff

The combination of lots of family time, many hours of working in the garden and the prospect of all our summer trips and activities is making life feel very happy these days. It's hard to imagine that last year at this time I had just completed chemo treatments with radiation still to come.

A few months ago I mentioned to Gerard that I really wanted to go somewhere or do something. "I'm so healthy now.  I feel like I'm wasting my life just going through the daily routine at home and weekly routine at church." As usual Gerard put things back into perspective for me: " Three summers ago you were in treatments, two summers ago you were helping your parents move and your mother passed away, last summer you were just recovering from another round of treatments. When did you have the time or energy to go on vacation?"

And suddenly in the last few weeks all kinds of invitations and plans have come together and we find ourselves facing a summer full of activities and travel. A year ago I would never have dared to dream that, the Lord willing, we would be experiencing a summer like this!  We were just hoping and praying that I'd be well enough to attend Alida and Jeff's wedding last November.  And we were granted that gift, and many more, far beyond our wildest dreams and expectations.  See why writing this blog is so good for me?  It helps me count my blessings!  Thank you, Lord!

Just Booked My Flight!

So to follow up on yesterday's teaser that there were exciting plans involving plane tickets...

We just booked my flight for a ten-day trip to Holland with my sister Anneke and my brother and sister-in-law, Nick and Fanny!  The three of them are going for a bike and barge tour plus some time exploring and visiting in Holland and some time wandering outside of Holland.  I'm joining them for their time in Holland. I'm looking forward to experiencing the country of our birth together, meeting some family members and just soaking in the Dutch atmosphere.  

I knew of Nick and Fanny's plans for a bike and barge tour since last summer and immediately wished that Gerard and I could join them, but with the state of my health at the time I just couldn't imagine that it would ever be a possibility. Then my sister decided to join them. I kept thinking how amazing it would be to spend time in Holland with the three of them. The thought just wouldn't go away. 

After lying awake a number of nights imagining this trip and talking myself out of it for all kinds of reasons, I felt led to stop wishing and start acting. This is a chance of a lifetime. I was convinced that if I didn't follow up on my strong desire to pursue this opportunity, I would really, really regret it later. Gerard and I talked about it together. He encouraged me to check into the possibilities. So I called Nick and Anneke wondering whether joining them for part of their plans would even be an option. And after consulting each other and Gerard, they agreed that I could manage the Holland part of the trip with them. 

Fast forward 48 hours and the flight has been booked! Lord willing, I'm going to Holland in a few weeks!  Gerard is happily endorsing this trip because he knows I really want to go, and is probably hoping this will settle down my constant restlessness of wanting to travel somewhere.  He is happy that I can travel like I want to, in the good company of my siblings, and he can stay in his comfortable familiar environment of home.  So win-win for both of us. 

the peonies are in full bloom, almost as if they're celebrating with me

I feel so blessed that with my good health I am able to enjoy so many blessings; our upcoming three-day stay in Stratford, this trip, having the little grandsons here this morning, seeing thriving growth in the garden; and experiencing Gerard's loving support in all of this.  Thank you, Lord!

Some Highlights of this Past Week

Some weeks I spend more time at the computer reflecting on life and at other times I'm so busy living life, that I forget to take pictures and there's so much to tell that I hardly know where to start. Also, I'm trying to limit my time at the computer to give my eyes and brain a rest.  So I'll just randomly mention a few things...

* we have booked a bed and breakfast in Stratford for two nights next week.  It's conveniently located; a five-minute walk to my dad's and brother Jeff's in one direction and five minutes in the opposite direction down to the river and theater park. I'm looking forward to "living" in Stratford for three days and just popping in and out at my dad's and Jeff's for a coffee or a meal or little visits.  We've reserved tickets for a play in the Avon theater and I hope to experience paddle boating among the swans and ducks. Looking forward to it!

* Gerard's leg is finally all healed up, so he was able to go swimming this morning for the first time in a whole month.

* I'm enjoying my improved vision.  However, I'm still adjusting to the new graduated lenses, trying to find the right angle to look through them to see clearly close by.  I've been forcing myself to keep the glasses on as much as possible so my eyes can adjust to them, but often find myself without glasses to see clearly close up. I'll hang in there a little longer and hopefully it will get better.

sage in bloom in the foreground

* This is where I've been spending a lot of my time this week; digging, seeding, planting, watering. In the back yard I'm growing rhubarb, pole beans, tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, kale, red beets, and in the barrels on the deck - basil, parsley and chives.. Scattered throughout the flower beds in the front yard I have spinach, tomatoes, and chives. And just as I was packing away the garden gloves, the wheel barrow, the spade and little hand shovel, it started raining.  Perfect!  

* Oh, and today we were also working on booking airplane tickets. Big plans! Can't wait to tell you about it once we get some of the details arranged. So exciting!  

fruit tray I prepared for a baby shower 

Hannah's Dedication

Jesus called the children to him and said,

Let the children come to me,

and do not hinder them, 

for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Luke 18:16

One generation commends your works to another;

they tell of your mighty acts.

Psalm 145:4

This past Sunday, June 8th, was Hannah's dedication. It was very special to witness Mark and Rosemary's public declaration to nurture Hannah in a Christian way. Our prayer is that they will be granted what they need to follow through on this promise and that Hannah will choose to follow and serve Jesus. It was also very encouraging to realize that they have a whole circle of family, friends, and church family to support them in carrying out this commitment.

out for brunch after the dedication

A very special occasion!

* photos by Alida Duiker

Today I Am Thankful for...

* Loving memories of my dear mother who passed on to eternal glory exactly two years ago today.

July 2011

* Canadian troops who arrived exactly 70 years today to eventually liberate Holland from German occupation during WWII. 

Pictures from a display in our local civic centre

 * for our appointment with my oncologist today. The doctor confirmed what we had expected to hear.  "Your blood results are good.  Everything else looks and sounds good.  It appears that your condition is stable. I'll see you in three months, unless something unexpected happens before that time." (my paraphrase)
* another concert yesterday!  The third one I've attended in three weeks.

*  this bouquet of flowers that I found in the kitchen when I got up the other day.  Gerard had already gone shopping while I was still sleeping.(I think they were in celebration of my improved vision?)

flowers from Gerard

*  Lots more reasons for thanksgiving today. Just too many to fit into one post!

I Can See Clearly Now!

She handed me my glasses with the new prescription.  I put them on and ... I could see clearly!!!  The store looked so light and bright!  I could see clearly all the way across the store! It was surprising and amazing and emotionally overwhelming.  I looked at Gerard and started crying. Then the girl said, "Are you OK?"  "Yes, I'm fine! I can SEE! Wow! I can see everything clearly!" "You're so cute," she said. "Let me get you a lollipop. It will help you feel better." I graciously accepted the lollipop, but I sure didn't need a lollipop to make me feel better. I didn't need anything else to make me feel better either.  I was feeling more than better already. I could see!  It was amazing!

In search of a treat to celebrate, we walked through the mall. And I could see everything! We settled on McFlurries from Mcdonald's. I was going to ask Gerard what kinds they offered and then realized that was no longer necessary.  I could read it myself! We settled on the Coffee Crisp flavour. I generally stay away from sweet stuff because I've heard that cancer cells love sugar, but I love these McFlurries, and we are celebrating, so for once let's throw all cares and reason to the wind and just enjoy!

with my lollipop and Mcflurry

They were so solid, that we took them home to give them a chance to soften first. On the way home I I could see leaves on the trees, I could read the signs, it was so exciting! So there we were, sitting in the living room enjoying our treat.  I looked down and... "What happened there on the carpet?" Gerard started laughing. "I knew this was going to happen when you got your new glasses!  Yes, the carpet really needs to be vacuumed."  "And the runners on the chair really need dusting," I said.  I had skipped vacuuming the last two weeks because the place looked fine to me and I really didn't feel like doing it in the heat yesterday. 

Gerard predicts that now when I look around with my new vision there'll probably be lots of things that I'd like to clean.  A thorough vacuum job is on the top of my list. Oh, and another surprise after the surgery was to discover all the wrinkles on my face! How long have those been there?  I was living under the false impression that my face was very smooth. Oh well, I'll gladly accept the reality of wrinkles over blurry vision.

                          

Hi, I'm back from a break to watch the provincial election candidates' debate. And I could see everything! After months of just seeing dark blurry images moving around on the TV screen, tonight I could see everything - even the expressions on the participants' faces!! Wow! What a change! The surgeon is now talking about removing the cataract from my other eye (probably in November). He feels that, even though I have only peripheral vision in that eye, it should still improve my overall vision even further. We'll see.  For now I am just ever so grateful that I can see clearly now.  

* balloon pictures copied from internet "balloon images"