Seasons of Life

A hot day for a hike on the trail in August, 2013

We have a landmark that we keep an eye when walking through Paxton Bush. We like to photograph the same spot in the Bush to show how the woods change over the seasons; this is one of our favourite spots because it's easy to recognize.

A chilly afternoon in April by the old tree

Brrrr! December on the trail

Storms decapitated the old tree by Aug.

No more green, just lots of white (like our hair)

Journey to the Manger

Lots of planning, preparing, and praying went into the past eleven months by a Catholic Women's League committee in Chatham, Ontario.  Christmas was barely over last year, when my friend Lori laid out her inspiration for a Nativity display event for the coming year.  With our priest, Fr. Daniel, we all agreed that this would be our Christmas gift to our city, and we would not charge for admission or refreshments (a beautiful tea room was set up), nor would we sell tickets for a raffle.   Like God's  wonderful Gift of His Son, this event would be free to everyone.

There were over 380 Nativity sets loaned by people in our parish as well as from others in the community.  We hand delivered invitations to every church in town as well as newspaper articles and radio announcements.

The large rustic stable was made by Martin & his dad about 60 years ago.

I am seated here with some of the most inspiring women I've ever worked with on  committees.  There were dozens of men, women, and young people that served as volunteers throughout the three day event.

 There were over 2000 happy people that passed through our church hall in the basement.  Everyone was so pleased with this birthday party for Jesus--for that's what it felt like.

Several groups of children from Catholic schools in town acted out the Christmas story as it was r read by a narrator.  We also had live organ, guitar, & violin music.

Members of our Stained Glass Window Book committee led tours of the beautiful windows in Blessed Sacrament Church.
The Journey to the Manger ushered great expectation for the Advent season.

Random Thoughts

"As the sugar hides in the tea,
Let me hide myself in Thee."
-Newfoundland Prayer

I just ran across this lovely prayer and had to put it out there for someone else to see.  Does it speak to you as it does to me?  (There's a lot of rhyming going on here!)

As the early evening moves into the cold darkness of a Canadian night, I feel warm and content in our little home, and have pleasant thoughts of warm sunny afternoons with grandchildren in California in recent weeks.  They are all so dear and their parents are teaching them well.  They each in their unique way are making the world a better place.

Isn't there a quote about giving children roots and wings?

That's what I see in these photos.

An old Inspiration

DON'T QUIT (Author Unknown)   When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, When the road you're trudging seems all uphill, When funds are low and the debts are high, And you want to smile but you have to sigh, When care is pressing you down a bit, Rest if you must, but don't you quit.   Life is queer with its twists and turns, As every one of us sometimes learns, And many a failure turns about, When he might have won if he'd stuck it out. Don't give up, though the pace seems slow - You may succeed with another blow.   Often the goal is nearer than It seems to a faint and faltering man; Often the struggler has given up When he might have captured the victor's cup, And he learned too late, when the night slipped down, How close he was to the golden crown.   Success is failure turned inside out - The silver tint of the clouds of doubt, And you never can tell how close you are - It may be near when it seems afar; So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit - It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.

Saite-Anne-de-Beaupre', Quebec

I ran across this poem on a plaque in one of the Shrine bookstores on our recent pilgrimage to Quebec with Fr. John and a bus load of fellow pilgrims. It reminded be of an incident when I was starting my tearoom business, Penelope's Teas & Gifts, back in 2001 in California. I was overwhelmed by it all and seriously wondered if I was being foolish and had gotten in over my head. While polishing a beautiful mahogany buffet we had recently purchased for the tearoom, I pulled out a drawer to clean behind it and found a bookmark with the above poem printed on it. I truly felt God was with me and I should keep on with the creation of what would become a place of comfort and grace to many visitors.

Rah Rah for Raleigh

My very well used, before I owned it, bicycle is an old made in England Raleigh that we bought from the "Bicycle Man" in Wyoming, Ontario a few months ago for $35.  Martin bought his bicycle at the same time, a  John Deere, believe it or not, for $65.  We have more than got our money's worth out of these gems!  Today we rode the bikes up to The Tea Connection on St. Clare to stock up on our favourite Fall & Winter Tea, Lapsang Souchong.  This is a hearty black tea in which the tea leaves have been dried over smoking pine needles, giving it a -cozy sitting by a roaring fire on a cold day while reading a good book- feeling.  I've always said that tea is more than a beverage with me.

Me and my Raleigh back from a tea quest.

Feeling Dwarfed

There are so many towering churches and monuments in France that one often feels very small in comparison.  One day we visited Saint-Chapelle in Paris.  The windows in the nave are 50 feet tall, enough to make anyone feel small.  But, one evening on a stroll after dinner, we came upon a strange sight in a courtyard off a busy street.  Was this intended as a work of art depicting a certain era?

I felt like I'd been shrunk!

Fifty feet high windows!

Feeling small by something tall.

Looking upward at the exterior of Saint-Chapelle's windows.

Roman Ruins

Before we went to France, I read a book about a historical and chronological tour through the country.  The author began with the Greeks founding of the city of Marseilles.  When she got to the part about the Romans settlements in Provence, I began to pay sharp attention because I had read of a Roman  ruin called Glanum  that was a short stroll from  our "mas".   Imagine my thrill when, on our first evening in St. Remy, Martin and Willie and I followed that path after dinner and explored the Triumphal Arch and Mausoleum.  These two monuments have always stood out, while the rest of the town of Glanum lay buried for centuries.   We visited the excavation site and the museum later in our stay.

The Mausoleum at sunset

Willie & I at the Triumphal Arch

View from the hill; that's Ag seated on the wall by the road.

Looking towards St. Remy and St. Martin's Church

 The well organized travel routes and towns of the Romans throughout Europe greatly aided the spread of Christianity in the early centuries.  St.Martin's Church in St.Remy is visible from one of the hills above Glanum in  one of our photos.