As we move into the new year I find myself thinking about the past year. Was it what I thought it would be? How am I feeling about my accomplishments? Did I spend as much time with my friends and family as I had hoped? Is everyone well? Is the store still a source of joy?
I never use the answers to beat myself up, rather an instrument of guidance for the next 365 days. The answers to these basic questions allow me to alter my course a bit to live a fuller and happier life. That is always my goal.
There have been a lot of changes the last year. I have more than enough garden area now and it brings me joy. The store has changed into a true reflection of who I am and is bringing me joy. I have started painting and being creative and that is bringing me joy. I have spent a lot of time with my family and that brings me joy. My brother and I have really connected through our mutual love of gardening. That brings me joy. My sister as always brings me joy. I am happy and content. That sounds like a year well spent. I have a feeling that this is going to be a great year. One I will always remember. So here is to 2016. Cheers.
I love snow, as you well know, and I was in my glory during the Blizzard of '96. The city was shut down and our area was dead quiet and nothing was moving. We live not too far from the airport, highway and ferries. Even though you aren't really aware of noise, once it is completely silent, you realize how much noise there is. I came downstairs knowing that something was different. When it snows we can hear the snowplow at the airport. I hadn't heard it so I didn't look out the window. When I got to the deck door, what I was looking at was so surreal I couldn't take it in. When I went to bed there was a bit of snow, as it had been snowing a bit for a few days, and now I was standing face to face with snow about five feet deep against our glass balcony door. I honestly could not wrap my brain around it.
Those are cars in this snow
I ran and got Allan and we assessed what was going on. Quickly we realized that there was snow up the sides of the greenhouse almost to the roof and once it got wet and heavy it would cave in. We literally pushed a path through the snow to the shovels and started shovelling toward the greenhouse. We shovelled a trench around it. A very light rain started to fall as the temperature crept above zero, and the snow was getting so heavy we could barely shovel it. When we got to the back/south side I noticed there was about a three foot drift on the greenhouse roof. Allan was ahead of me and I took my shovel handle and gently tapped the drift. Tap...tap, tap, tap, swoosh, the whole wet heavy drift came down on Allan's head. We just kept shovelling. On our return down the path after we finished the greenhouse, we could see an even worse catastrophe in the making. There was a drift on the same south side of our house roof over six feet deep. Allan went straight up and spent hours clearing it. It was still raining lightly and the snow acted as a sponge and was extremely heavy. The men on our block started shovelling the roofs of the seniors on our street and not one roof collapsed. Next came shovelling a trench along the curbs on both sides of the street, as the quickly melting snow was threatening to flood the area's houses as the drains were completely blocked. The men on the block shovelled all day. Most greenhouses in greater Victoria collapsed. Our Rec Centre rink roof collapsed. Thrifty Foods Broadmead store had a partial collapse I believe. It was quite a disaster. We found out that Victoria had two snowmobiles and CFAX radio was organizing people who needed to get to hospitals, or to appointments for Dialysis etc. Nurses and Doctors were matched with people in their area who needed help. There was a woman in West Shore whose home was command central. Apparently she had huge sheets of paper, laying out people's needs and volunteers and matching them up by area and accessibility. It was an amazing experience. The best in people shone over that few days.
This video was put together by CHEK6 after the blizzard hit our area. The video's snow scenes are in somewhat chronological order and quite beautiful.
Last night at midnight I made my cranberry sauce. I use my vitamix after it cooks and it is more like jelly than relish. Just a hint of Grand Marnier. Yum.
This is my largest Mason Cash bowl. We really love stuffing. I make it from fresh bread, onion, pecans, sausage and herbs. Everything is chopped in my old food processor to make the pieces so tiny!
Pecans. Nothing to add to that! Family will start arriving soon, so I must cut this short.
As you know I have a nostalgic way of approaching the holidays. I like homemade Shortbread, the Fudge I've been making every Christmas for 48 years, bottle brush wreaths and trees, candles, my parents old German Glass ornaments, my beautiful tree, Christmas Eve at my sisters where the whole family exchanges gifts and then Christmas Dinner at our house. A very traditional turkey dinner. I love it.
This year I decided to use a basic and old fashioned way of wrapping my gifts. I found some lovely red embossed paper. I then tied a simple bow in green in the gifts. Of course you can't tell from a photo, but this ribbon is exquisite. It is bright, thick and as soft as silk. It is stunning. So if people want to, they can use it for something else when the gifts are opened. Like tying up a stack of letters from a much loved grandmother.
I love bottle brush wreaths and trees. I was born in the 50's and it was very much a part of Christmas for me. Last year I asked my mom if she still had the wreath. She said no, but I still have high hopes that it will turn up some day. She surprised me last Christmas with this lovely green one in amazing condition. This year I am going to find the red berries that they used to have on them so it will look authentic.
While shopping with my sister this fall I found this bottle brush tree in a shop in Oak Bay. I thought it looked cute with that fun little red stand. I flipped it over and found this tag. I'm not sure if I screamed out loud, but in my head I sure did. When I was little, I used to go to Woolworths with my Grandmother in Orillia. My time with my grandmother are the most precious memories of my childhood. So, to say this is special to me is an understatement. In my minds eye, I can see this little tree, brand new, priced at .19¢ on a shelf in Woolworths. It appears I am feeling even more nostalgic than usual this year. And that takes some doing.
