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.

Bread from Heaven

We visited many beautiful churches while we were in France.  I particularly enjoyed this because of all the church history I've absorbed while reading Butler's Lives of the Saints the past year.   The oldest church we entered was founded in the year 543, making it 1,470 years old.  It is named St. Germain-des-Pres, named after a Bishop of Paris.  The church was built on the other side of a pasture from the kings palace, 'des pres' .  Christians have been worshiping God there many centuries as they still do today.   The famous Notre Dame Cathedral is celebrating it's 850th anniversary this year.  We attended Mass three times at St. Martin's in the village we stayed in.  We even got to have coffee with two priests, a nun, and some fellow parishioners in the church kitchen after a mid-week morning Mass.  There is a bond we have as fellow Christians that supersedes language barriers.

view of Notre Dame in Paris

Mass at St. Martin's in St. Remy

The tall doors of St. Martin's.

Gazing at the statue of St.Remy atop St. Martin's.

Food from the Earth

     It seems a natural flow to show the colourful produce stands on  Market day in St. Remy after featuring some lovely gardens in France.  Wednesday was Market day.  I wish I had photographed more scenes from this busy affair!  Besides fresh  fruits and  vegetables, there was bread, many varieties of cheese, an amazing array of olives, table linens and other things for the home made from those famous provincial fabrics, bread, lovely French scarves, soaps, hats,  huge pots of Boulliabaise steaming away, artwork, pastry, and did I mention bread!
     The Market stalls went from the centre of the village, in front of St. Martin's Church, throughout many streets and courtyards.  Beside the aforementioned stalls, entertainment abounded.  From accordion solos to small bands and singers, each added a

Fresh bread & cheese from Market day.

White & green asparagus abound.

Colourful crowds

Waiting in the wind.

feeling of festivity to the air.  There was even a charming merry-go-round in the central square that appears to be there throughout the spring and summer months.

Gardens: From Paris to Provence

Des Jardin Tuileries goat mowers.

Looks like a tree, but it's a bronze sculpture.

Rear view of Notre Dame Cathedral

Poppies in Glanum ruins

St. Remy container garden

St. Paul de Mausole Abbey

Shaded road to the abbey

Iris's everywhere, thoughts of Van Gogh.

Fountain de Vaucluse

From Here to There

We flew from Toronto to Paris.  The French airline was friendly and the food was delicious, fresh,  & healthy.  It's was an eight hour flight and we were ready for a good stretch by the time we disembarked.  In Paris we mostly walked, having chosen an apartment that was close to sites we were interested in.  We did take the metro (subway) once to get across town to visit Sacre Coure.  It was inexpensive, clean, and quick.  We took a high speed train (about 250 miles per hour) to Avignon.  Again, widely used, punctual, clean, and fast.  We rented a car for our two weeks in St. Remy, enabling us to visit surrounding villages, but mostly walked locally, parking being as issue.  For us, bicycles were out; it was too hilly and the roads too narrow. The car was a stick shift and diesel with unlimited milage.  We only needed to fuel up once.

Hoofing home from Eiffel  Tower in Paris

Our trusty transportation in St. Remy

Tres chic metro in Paris

Gare de Lyon, Paris to Avignon

Our 'Mas' in Provence

     Now that you've seen our apartment in Paris, I'd like to show you our 'Mas' in St. Remy in Provence.  First of all, Provence is a region in southern France.  It is famous for its lavender, wine, fabric, olives, and soaps.  A mas is a house on a farm or in the country.  Our mas was on the edge of the village of St. Remy.  We rented it for two weeks with Martin's five sisters and brother and sister-in-law.  It had five bedrooms, a large living room-dining room, big French kitchen with a table to seat 10, a covered patio with another long table (eating with friends & family is a big deal in France), and a beautiful garden and pool.  Our mas was a ten minute walk to the center of St. Remy, and a five minute walk to some ancient Roman ruins.  We were also a short walk to the cloister of St. Paul de Mausole where Vincent Van Gogh spent his last year and painted over 150 of his works.  

Front of mas, patio

pool, view from our room upstairs

five sister & me, happy hour

Bread

     Good question about the bread in France, Jen!  I looked over all my pics and could barely find a crumb of bread in any of them.  Why?  Because it was so-o-o-o delicious we gobbled it up very quickly!  The bakers in France rise very early to have fresh baguettes and croissants ready for people each morning.  People usually buy their bread fresh each morning.  I never saw "day old" on any store shelves, just empty shelves late in the day.
     I do have a picture of the bread making process.  A huge white tent, filled with ovens and bakers from all over France, was set up near Notre Dame Cathedral as part of its 850 year anniversary.  We walked through the tent  watching a series of video screens that showed the bread making process and saw in person bakers doing various tasks.  It smelled heavenly!
     While in France we bought fresh bread each morning.  You could smell the lovely fragrance of bread baking throughout each city or village.

Bread bakers in Paris - notice the cloths  used to cover the rising bread.

Up We Go

The living room.

A tight squeeze!

Poppa climbs the stairs.

Picture living here.

We found a picture in a book that showed how the inside of our Paris residence may have looked when it was first built in the 1700's as a single family home.  Note the staircase.  I loved climbing the curving stairs up to the fourth floor.  A small "lift" or elevator was available as well.  Ag and Wil demonstrate how tiny it was.