Farewell to For Everything a Season

I don't know if it's a sign of my age or why it is that I feel like every other day the weekend is here again! The thing is, I love weekends but they never used to come fast enough. It has made me ask, where did the missing days go? 

I lay awake one night, thinking of how I began my blog, expressing the epitome of being in the fall season of my life, a life full of the colors of the changes that had transpired as our kids had found their mates and grandchildren were coming along. And just as fall is a time of new beginnings, I was also basking in wonderful new beginnings and changes. 

When I began this writing journey fifteen years ago today, I had no idea how much of my life would be captured, here now for my own memory keepsake. An easy way to write a book, one day at a time. I am so grateful for the treasures I find here. Precious discussions with littles, trips across the ocean to be with some of them, seeing my mom fall in love again, to walking her through her experiences with Alzheimers, family vacations, cooking experiences, fashion ideas, friendships, homemaking, reflections, spiritual and otherwise. 

Looking at these years, I also see how much has changed once again! Missing days today saying something about no more weekly grandkids being dropped off, no more Mondays with Mom or planning activities around my H's work schedule, and no more recipes to publish. These changes speak of how one season merges into the next, purposely slowing us down as we enter another one. 

For the first time all of our children and grandchildren are settled near us.  Our retirement home is large enough to host family, enough yard work to keep my H happy and our home filled with fresh flowers. Life is good.  We have so much to be thankful for, much to look forward to! But by now, I feel like I've captured a good segment of life and it is time to close this book.  To call it done. 

As I've had this post in draft for some time, I've come back to it many times, seeing that it is not an easy one to publish, but I need to, because I want to say thank you to everyone who has visited and kept me motivated to keep writing. I want to thank all who have mentioned to me in person, at one time or another, that you read my blog. Also, thank you to all secret readers.  Those dots on the visitor map have surprised me over and over again. I really wish I could know more about you but also respect the fact that you could just come and go, hopefully laughed and cried because life has a way of connecting us. 

For my last wish I am reminded of the words in a song by Scott Wesley Brown. 

I could wish you joy and peace
To last a whole life long
I could wish you sunshine
Or a cheerful little song
Or wish you all the happiness
That this life could bring
But I wish you Jesus, more than anything

King Solomon, who wrote about there being a season for everything, came to the conclusion that God has planted eternity in the human heart. ( Ecclesiastes 3:11)  I love that! God has given us a deep awareness and desire for more. We can try all things this world has to offer, but in the end, it is a "more" that only our Creator can fill. Doesn't that make sense? My prayer and hope is this peace for you. Until we meet. 

Auf wiedersehen, farewell my friends. 🤍🤍🤍

October Overview

Thanksgiving dinner was not the only special day this month.

The sentiments were threaded throughout the other days as well.

We celebtrated Chris' 50th birthday with a dinner out as adults and

then they had us over to their home for his favorite dessert.

This was a pretty special!

Ah, the joys of having them near!

One beautiful weekend we watched Landon's soccer tournament.

It is fun to watch him grab that ball like he owns it.

He plays goalie position. 

We've also been to several of Lacey's volleyball games.

Watching her seriousness and joy in the game makes me smile. 

She loves sports. 

We celebrated Helmut and Dorice's engagement.

She is a lovely lady and I will be proud to call her my sister-in-law.

One Sunday the whole family was invited to Shaun and Kristal's for a Charcuterie/Faspa dinner.

They recently moved into a new home and so we also got a fun tour.  

We harvested the apples from our two young trees ... 

first the ones that fell and then finally decided to pick them all. 

The girls came over for a pie making morning. 

We made about a dozen pies and all of them went into their freezers. 

We celebtated Kristal's birthday with a lunch after we made pies.

This mom of four has worked hard this past year to get her real estate license.

She loves thrifting, decorating, and making a house a home.

She is now looking forward to enabling others sell and/or find their home.

We are so happy for her and wish her a successful career. 

♡♡♡

 

Thankful for Thanksgiving

 

I've relived the joys of family getting together 

through the photos captured on my phone. 

What a blessing to set two long tables end-to-end and 

bask in the idyllic setting of all the family home!  

We began with a few appies a few hours before dinner

and went outside to harvest the apples from our two young apple trees. 

Grapes, blackberries and several fruit trees 

are planted on a ledge between two stepped retaining walls,

as our yard slopes down to the back.

Girls just want to have fun! 

And the little farmer boy heads back to the house.

Turkey dinner was brought together by everyone

and set on the kitchen island.

It is always a good scramble to get everything out hot at the same time,

no matter how organized. 

The kids sat at the far end. 

They can more easily squeeze around us to go for seconds.

Times like this are a treasure to themselves!

It was so good to hear what each one was thankful for! 

I'm so grateful that we can still have our family in our home,

for a large kitchen 

and open space to share as we gather.

🧡🧡🧡

The Celebration at the Cabin in the Chilcotin

 

It was so good to finally see this place that John and Marg

have often talked about as they moved onto this land,

first with an RV and then building this cabin. 

The views are specitacular ...

I could understand why they love this place.

Elmer and Judy, as well as Harv and Bev (MGCC)

joined us here. 

We all shared all the meals.

Elmer and Judy grilled hotdogs for our first dinner

and we also shared other yummy fixings with those. 

We sat outside until the moon appeared. 

Oh, and dessert was fresh plum platz. 

My H and I were the only ones sleeping in the cabin, 

but in the mornings, everyone brought in their coffee and granolla,

and we shared something like, waffles, biscuits or muffins. 

There was no agenda.

We went for walks, ate again,

some played games or put together a puzzle.

Dinner was pulled pork on soft buns,

baked beans and coleslaw.

Apple pie for dessert. 

On Sunday  morning Lovella and Marg played hymns and worship music ...

their first try at duets and it was perfect, out there with the birds singing in the trees.

We went for a drive to a deserted homestead.

It's something we don't see too often, 

and it made me wonder about who lived here, 

and why did they leave? 

We all found something to appreciate ...

picking a type of sagebrush that smells like eucalyptus

or gettting out a sketch book. 

The guys had to study the way this home was built.

Handcrafted with precision. 

We checked out the inside,

imagining a happy family in those rooms.

There was also a chicken coop and a workshop.

A photo shoot was set up. 

The ladies had to take another walk ...

Can you hear the leaves singing? 

Fall in all its glory! 

For dinner we enjoyed John and Marg's steak dinner with sides 

and Napoleon cake for dessert.

It was windy and cool out, but cozy inside. 

The next morning it was time to pack up again,

and head home. 

We took the land route, taking eight hours. 

The colors were amazing! 

Bella Coola

Bella Coola, also known as Nuxalk (New Hawk), was the home of the Nuxalk nation, who lived throughout the central British Columbia coast until, tragically, they were hit by a smallpox epidemic in the 1860's. Survivors moved close to the mouth of the Bella Coola River, which became a Hudson's Bay fur trading post.

Today, on the small town waterfront, you will find an assortment of fishing boats, an old cannery, a tidal estuary and the BC Ferries dock. It is the only port between Vancouver and Prince Rupert that provides road access to the interior of BC. 

What I did not know is that it is the grand entrance to what is known as the Great Bear Rainforest. This is what our friends wanted us to experience when they booked a grizzly bear tour on the Atnarko River.

It was an early morning start.

We were given life vests and got into our tour guided raft,

with instructions about keeping quiet. 

The stillness of the morning air, added to the overall breathtaking beauty. 

I took a quick shot while we waited,

the sun shining on the mountain in the background,

almost too bright to be picked up by the camera.

We were still waiting quietly, or barely moving, when we spotted the first bear.

Quietly our guide entertained us with a bit of history,

and personal stories as he rowed us along,

our eyes taking in the stunning views all around. 

Travelling with friends is the best!

A view of Mount Stupendous ... 

named so by Alexander Mackenzie's journal entry when he saw it and wrote, 

"Before us appeared a stupendous mountain, 

whose snow-clad summit was lost in the clouds." (July 17 1793)

He also described this place as a "friendly village".

Wildlife was plentiful ... mergansers perching on logs, 

beautiful tiny birds flitting about and

bald eagles high up in the trees,

scouting out their next fishing spot. 

In the shallower sections we could see the water teaming with salmon, 

on their migration for spawning. 

 For the bears this is easy and perfect timing to fill up before winter. 

My H was counting the number of fish one bear caught and promptly devoured, 

I think the count was 7 or 8 within a very short time.

We saw two large grizzlies like this one 

and another one with two cubs, but we could not get close enough for 

good photos. 

Seagulls added to the wild beauty.

Three relaxing hours of floating on the river -

 something we never would have thought to do, 

had it not all been arranged for us. 

Bella Colla is remote, few people seem to know about it

and it remains raw and natural in its beauty. 

After the tour we were on our way to Pyper Lake in the Chilcotin.

Three of us riding caravan style, the one behind us towing their RV

up the steep 18% incline and switch back gravel road,

 before we hit normal roads. 

Once we got to a place where we could safely stop,

we parked and put together  a roadside picnic lunch.

Another couple of hours of driving before we got to John and Marg's cabin,

where I'll begin my next post.