dBrief

dbrief2

2009-08-24T08:44:00.000-07:00

Apparently I ran out of uploading space for pictures so instead of deleting old pictures from old posts or paying for more space, I decided to start a new blog. It's the same name with a "2" tagged on. You can find it at www.rubydueck.blogspot.com. Cute, hey?

We're home!!

2009-08-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

Katy and I arrived home yesterday afternoon after a somewhat longer trip than we had planned. Our plane was delayed 2 1/2 hours in Toronto by a terrific thunder storm. So we sat in the plane and watched the light show as the plane rocked slightly in the wind. I have to say that we were perfectly fine with sitting that one out on the ground!
We arrived home to find our yard completely overgrown! I said I felt like Prince Charming searching for Sleeping Beauty through a hundred years of growth. Wow. What a sight. And the sunflowers just about blew us away!

They are TALL!!!!

And if anyone in the vicinity of our house is reading this, PLEASE come and pick our peaches. The poor tree is labouring under the weight of the fruit.

It is so good to be home. So very, very good. Our house is small and cozy and smells just right! Howard will be home in about 3 weeks after he settles Bethany into college.

brooding clouds

2009-08-18T18:46:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of heat and a ton of humidity in Manitoba in the last week or so. And there have been some brutal storms. Yesterday the clouds looked incredibly ominous but the result was not quite as serious as one the previous days when we got hail damage on our van!

Happy Birthday HOWARD!

2009-08-18T08:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Howard's 49th birthday. We had a bit of a family celebration on Sunday - along with the other August birthday people (my sister-in-law, Dianne and I).

Yesterday we had a quiet day together to celebrate Howard's birthday and our 24th anniversary. Since Katy and I are in the middle of packing to go back to Germany on Thursday, things are a bit "hectish" and we decided to just go out for pizza with the girls and celebrate everything together. Howard informed me yesterday that I have now been married as long as I had been single. Works for me! After 24 years with this guy I can't wait to see what the next 24 will be like. I still love him like crazy!

it's a wrap!

2009-08-16T07:48:00.000-07:00

Bethany's CD is here! It arrived on Thursday and it was a terribly exciting moment for us all. This has been a huge learning curve for us all and has required a huge amount of patience. But it's finally over and the finished product is beautiful! We are so proud of Bethany! If you are interested in buying one of her CDs let me know.

flying high

2009-08-15T14:25:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went along with Howard's sister and brother-in-law to Vernon, BC. The trip was very relaxing as we were pampered in their extremely comfortable private jet! Yes, it's true! Talk about being spoiled.

Brother-in-law Ben.
Howard's sister Dori.
The riding arena at their ranch in Vernon.
The cabins on the hill. We stayed in the one on the left.
Looking out over the ranch - Lake Okanagan is in the background.
The first evening we had supper in a restaurant overlooking the lake. There have been extreme fires in that area and all evening the water bombers were landing on the lake, filling up their tanks and then blasting the fires with water.

Back at the ranch.

The fire seemed even more serious on Sunday.
On the way home Howard was offered the co-pilot seat until it was time to land.

John the pilot.
What an amazing and relaxing weekend we had!

no joke

2009-08-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

We saw this man and his buffalo on the news several weeks ago so it was pretty cool when we saw him in real life! I'm not sure why he likes to haul his pet buffalo around in his convertible but it seems to definitely draw a lot of attention!

a good day

2009-08-12T20:06:00.000-07:00

Today was my 48th birthday. It was a lovely day spent with my family. After a wonderful supper we wandered over to the Legislative grounds...

...the light was perfect for some great pictures inside and out.

I think this is the groundskeeper!
The Golden Boy was looking very golden.
I loved the texture and colours in the flower beds.

Backtracking just a bit...

2009-08-11T19:16:00.001-07:00

I have not been posting for awhile, as you've likely noticed. It's been a busy time of traveling and packing. Now that we're in Manitoba again I will be trying to catch up on our time in Alberta.

One project that Howard and I tackled while we were on the farm was painting the trim on the garage. It turned out so well that I also painted the back door on the house and railing and also some other details which I did not take pictures of.

Another project was painting the old plow. My mom wanted me to paint a sign to hang on it and so she worked hard to get the plow ready for the sign to hang on.

It turned out quite nicely!

nature walk of sorts

2009-08-01T17:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went for a walk to find the junkie old vehicles and machinery that is stashed back in the bush. We saw some great nature stuff along the way...

A very painful sight...

Our new drivers managed to get the key out of the old combine.

driving divas

2009-07-30T20:42:00.000-07:00

The long-anticipated/dreaded day arrived today - the day of the driving tests. As you can see from the smiles below, it was a good day! We are very thankful that the "official" training is over. These small papers are only their temporary licenses - the real ones will arrive in about 10 days. We will all sleep very well tonight!

the mighty peace

2009-07-29T20:47:00.000-07:00

Last week we spent an evening with our friends, Peter and Sheryl. They wanted to go for a walk before we sat down to enjoy dessert so we walked the dike along the river for a bit.

Howard found a few Saskatoons but the crop did not look very encouraging.
It had been a very warm day and a few people were cooling off in the river. It looked terribly inviting and "peace"ful.

The back 40

2009-07-28T20:53:00.000-07:00

Last night we went out to the back of the farm to see the old barn. It's in pretty rough shape but it definitely has character - as do the fences around it.

Berry picking

2009-07-27T17:24:00.000-07:00

This morning my mom and I went to a friend's house to pick raspberries. The bushes were full and ripe and a lot of the berries were already falling off the branches. So many of them were absolutely HUGE! It was a very satisfying time of picking.

Camp

2009-07-25T21:33:00.000-07:00

On the morning of the beginning of camp two weeks ago, our girls got "the call" to come and counsel. It only took a few minutes for them to decide that yes, they would go. It was really cool for me that this opportunity had suddenly arisen for the girls as this was the camp that I went to as a kid and then counseled at as a teenager.

Though now painted pretty funky colours, the cabins are still exactly the same inside as they were when I was at Riverside. Oh, I guess there's one pretty marked difference - the cabins now have power!

The girls had such an amazing week and loved everything about being at the camp. They said they'd had a blast! The kids were great, the food was delicious and the mornings were COLD! Everything camp should be!

Wild flowers of Alberta

2009-07-24T21:49:00.000-07:00

Poncho posers

2009-07-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

The girls got into my "buried treasure" which is carefully stored under the stairs in my mom's house. They came up to show me what they'd found so we had to have a photo shoot.

Driver training

2009-07-22T18:06:00.000-07:00

Howard has been doing some pretty intense driver training with the girls this week. There have been a few much needed distractions along the way resulting in some very scenic pictures of Peace River and its beautiful setting.

On the road

2009-07-20T18:03:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we made a quick trip south of Edmonton to visit my cousin the dentist and were able to connect with special friends from our time at BFA. Dave and Barb are working toward raising support to head out to the mission field again and it was so special to see them and hear about their journey. Our visit with them was much more encouraging than my visit to the dentist!

On the way home we saw this crazy little set-up. I think it represents how Howard is feeling these days - quite strong and healthy. Of course he's not dressing accordingly but "hay", I'm okay with that!

Early morning on the farm

2009-07-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

Howard was up early a few mornings ago and took the camera with him on his walk around the farm...

Off to the Air Show

2009-07-18T15:50:00.000-07:00

Today was the day for the big air show. We left early and avoided this traffic jam on the highway by parking in a farmer's field and avoiding the admission charge as well as the traffic!

It wasn't long before lots of other people had the same idea. There were at least 100 of us out there!

Trying to keep up to this military jet with the camera while protecting the ears was definitely a challenge.

All of a sudden we saw the RCMP bike police coming down the highway and we feared the worst.
We were told that the Snowbirds would not perform until we were all off the farmer's field because we were directly in their flight path. The fact that we were in direct line with the runway when the other planes were performing hadn't seemed to have been an issue...
So we moved a few miles away and still saw an amazing show.

The end of the world?

2009-07-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

Lots of people who don't live in or who haven't visited the "north" think that it must be at the end of the world. We were walking into the Peace River Walmart today and we spotted 7 cars with 7 different plates. I guess we're not quite at the end of the world after all.

Snowbirds

2009-07-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

Howard and I were painting outside at the farm today when we heard several planes flying overhead. I rushed to the middle of the yard and saw 6 planes flying in two formations. I called to Howard and my mom to come quickly - it was the Snowbirds! There will be an air show at the local airport on Saturday and the planes are already arriving. Tonight we drove up to the airport and saw the planes parked on the tarmac in perfect formation. We have never seen these planes before so this is a pretty big deal!

We were also surprised to see this fighter jet at the airport.

Cal & Martha

2009-07-15T16:29:00.000-07:00

Howard has known Cal and Martha for almost 30 years. They are wonderful people. They have been extremely supportive to us during all our years overseas and we are so thankful for them. When we are in Canada they always have us over and feed us amazing food! This time was extra special as Cal gave us a ride in his '49 Mercury. That was a treat for us all. Of course we had to do the posing beforehand!

Way behind

2009-07-14T10:03:00.002-07:00

It is definitely hard to keep up to the blog while traveling. Hopefully in the next few days I will be able to catch you up on what we've been doing the last two weeks. The most significant family event thus far has been Bethany cutting off her hair. She has wanted to do it for a long time but was waiting for it to be long enough to donate. It was quite the moment!

After Katy's cut Bethany made an appointment the next day and had her hair shaped up nice and short. She loves it and it looks great!

Did you know?

2009-07-02T09:13:00.000-07:00

Howard and I drove past the Canadian Mint last night and noticed all the flags that were flying there. We wondered if they represented the countries that the Mint produces coins for.

They do.
And we were very surprised to see this flag in the group.

A little bit of the wet stuff

2009-07-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

A few days after we arrived in Manitoba there was a huge storm in the night dumping 3 1/2" of rain. In the morning we awoke to see the street in front of Howard's parent's house completely flooded.

The ditches were also flooded which provided some great fun for a few adventuresome boys.

A busy week

2009-06-29T09:03:00.000-07:00

We've been in Canada for almost a week and it's been great but also pretty busy. Our first big event was our niece's grad. Allison spent 3 years at BFA with our girls where they became great friends. It was special to be able to celebrate her grad with her here in Canada.

We had a lovely visit with a former student of mine. She was part of the group of students I taught in the one-room school the year before we left for Brazil. Rose was pretty much the main reason I got through that very challenging year. It was great to be with her and her family again.

One more from Germany

2009-06-21T11:55:00.000-07:00

We are packing up to leave our home for the summer so this will be my last post until Canada. See you there!

Goodbye

2009-06-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Bethany said goodbye to this precious little guy and his family. It was a very, very sad moment. Poor little Max sat down on the curb, covered his face and cried and cried and cried. It was a hard moment for us all. Max's parents told me again that Bethany had done such a wonderful job and we have reason to be very proud of her. Definitely bittersweet at its best. She will be missed and she will also greatly miss this amazing family.
Home to unload her stuff and start sorting. This was the scene at 8:00 this morning...
...and by 4:00 it looked like this! Wow. What a transformation and what a lot of hard work today.

The best volunteers ever

2009-06-18T09:39:00.000-07:00

These are the volunteer sunflowers that I transplanted several weeks ago. I cannot believe how tall they are already! Just a few days ago I measured myself against them and I was still taller. Not any more! I wonder how huge these plants are going to be in a few months. YIKES!

A beautiful Eck

2009-06-17T12:38:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's good to just stop and look around at where we live. It's so beautiful and lush and orderly and clean. We are blessed.

Yes, I do enjoy seeing the cows. So many of the poor beasts spend the entire winter in the barns so it sure is nice to see them out and about!

At the pool

2009-06-15T22:03:00.000-07:00

For a small town Kandern really does have a great pool.
There's tons of green space. People come and bring half their households and spend the entire day lounging under the trees (and sometimes they swim too!).

These are the kinds of antics that go on. I was quite pleased to catch this in full action. The pool was quite calm this day as there was an event downtown otherwise I could have filled this post with kids running, pushing, shoving, wrestling....you name it!

I think we all know what this word means!

A few summers ago it was beastly hot. Apparently bacteria counts in the water were out of control. What was discovered was that the "boys" were coming to the pool wearing their underwear under their large, baggy swimming trunks and going in the water dressed like that. In order to stop this practice the "Speedos only" rule was introduced. We all gagged and tried not to think about it! We vowed that we would never go to the pool again, however, when it got hot enough we changed our minds!

Weed-itis

2009-06-14T00:31:00.000-07:00

You've all heard all about my weed issues - probably more than you would care to! Well, indulge me again as I bore you with yet another weed story. Last night I heard a tractor in close proximity of our house. I didn't think anything of it because tractors are often going down the street or past our house. No big deal.
After a few minutes I glanced out the window and I stopped dead in my tracks (and then rushed off to get my camera!). There was a farmer spraying weeds in broad daylight! I couldn't believe it! I have threatened many times to buy some Roundup and get out there under the cover of darkness and spray those weeds into oblivion! However, I've never had the courage to do that for fear of what the neighbours would think.
But there he was - calmly blasting out the weeds.The ironic thing is that I had come in about half an hour earlier from scraping and cutting weeds away from the sidewalk along the street. Had I known that this farmer was on his way.......

From where I sat

2009-06-12T11:42:00.000-07:00

It's amazing what one can see from the car. I pulled up and parked in Bethany's Swiss town yesterday and this little guy was on the tree beside me.Then these two were romping around. I've only included the "nice" picture and not any of the other ones that I took when they were raising some eyebrows!

One sees this symbol for the Canton of the City of Basel almost everywhere. The one for the Canton of the "Land" of Basel is similar but the top curves the opposite way and it has little humps across the top of it.

New digs

2009-06-11T06:18:00.000-07:00

Howard and the other Janz Team guys have known for quite some time that they would be vacating their offices this Spring. What Howard did not know is that he would be quite unwell for several weeks this Spring and would only have the energy to pack up his office and not actually move it himself. This is the entrance to his old office under the dorm.

Just across town a building was found which was quite suitable for the new office space.

His office was moved by some very gracious people, however, it still looks pretty much like this. Maybe in September.....

I think this is the best part of Howard's new office. Do you see the little square above Howard's door which is lit up?
He has a switch inside his office which activates this little sign.....
...it says, "Please wait". Perfect for a counselor's office!

Adelboden - part 2

2009-06-09T05:43:00.000-07:00

On the way up to Adelboden we stopped in a little town that we've driven through several times. It was quite delightful...

This graveyard was so beautiful and in such an amazing setting.

Do you recognize these verses?

These were the loudest sheep I have ever heard!
On to Adelboden...

When the cattle are brought down in the summer they are paraded through town and some of the poor beasts have to wear these HUGE bells and wear flower garlands on their heads!

Adelboden - part 1

2009-06-08T00:57:00.000-07:00

The girls and two of their friends took the train down to Adelboden, Switzerland early on Saturday morning. They had arranged to stay in the Janz Team chalet for the night and we decided that we would go down on Sunday to pick them up and enjoy a day in our favourite spot in Switzerland.
Someone once said that every cow in Switzerland has to wear a bell. It's something to do with tourism. I don't know if that's true or not but it's certainly a lovely thing to hear the bells echoing across the meadows when the cows are out grazing in the summer. This happy cow is wearing a bell dated 1933.

Almost all the homes and chalets are "decorated" with sayings and more often Bible passages. This building is part of a Christian hotel and this passage is from Psalm 37:4.

Janz Team not only has a chalet in Adelboden, they also have their very own bus stop!

We love this chalet. It's a mix of old and new and it feels like home as soon as we walk through the doors. We have many special memories of times spent in this chalet.

The Alps are much more "tamed" than the Rockies. People live high into the meadows. We often wonder how these people manage in the winter!

Grad 2009

2009-06-05T22:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday BFA graduated its largest senior class ever - 79 students.
It was another beautiful, emotionally charged day.
No, this young man was not wearing a sign in honour of his mom. This "MOM" comes from their dorm - "Men of Maugenhard". High school stuff!

I saw this German couple looking in the front door of the auditorium as the grads were filing out.
They saw me and came and asked me what was going on. I explained the whole deal to them and they seemed to understand. Graduation is not something that is part of the German school system.
The grads all congregate on the patio for lots of hugs and of course, tears.

We've known these "little kids" for the past 11 years. Lindsey was in grade 2 when we came to BFA. Jason was probably about 3.

Jesse and Josh came to BFA 8 years ago. They were both in my elementary choir.
Bryce - another choir member!
Our dear friend, Danny, with Lindsey.

Even the director signs some yearbooks.
Yoel was the student body president this year. He was in grade 1 when he came to BFA. Uncle Paul was a sub in Yoel's dorm for a few years.
Our precious friends, Mark and Laurie, and their son, Phil. Phil was the true BFA longevity winner this year - 12 full years at BFA. Mark and Laurie are leaving Germany after 26 years.

Nearing the end

2009-06-05T01:02:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the awards ceremony. It was a great evening - lots of laughs and great memories. Afterwards there is always the mad rush to sign yearbooks, give lots of hugs and start saying those painful goodbyes..... Sorry about the picture quality here. I had the wrong setting on my camera. Oh, and the weird person in the background of this picture is our graphics/yearbook guy - he has far too much energy far too much of the time!

The calm after the storm

2009-06-03T23:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my last day in the library and it was one to remember! It was an extremely busy and hectic day and I think it was the craziest day I have had during my library tenure. No time to snap pics yesterday! Needless to say I was happy when things finally settled down and I could get out the vacuum cleaner and start on my part of the clean up. In the evening Howard and I went for a drive into the vineyards. It definitely was the calm after the storm.

Breakfast out

2009-06-01T02:11:00.000-07:00

This morning the library ladies went out for breakfast as a final time together and also to say goodbye to our former head librarian, Laurie. What I didn't know is that I was also being "farewelled" as I won't be working in the library next year. It was really a special moment for me. I was completely surprised!
Great food presentation ideas.

The people who own this restaurant also own a farm. They have a store where they sell all kinds of great produce as well as their own homemade bread, wines and juices. The cherries, as you can see, are beautiful and ready to eat!

I saw it thru the grapevine

2009-05-31T13:42:00.000-07:00

Our grape vine is growing. Yesterday, from the inside of the shed, the leaves were such a beautiful colour against the blue sky.
This is from the other side.
It turns out that my volunteer "pumpkins" were actually sunflowers! I'm still a pretty novice gardener, however, I have to say in my defense that when the plants are small, they do look quite similar!

"I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers..."

2009-05-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I came upon this quote by Monet. I was putting together a bulletin board for the library and this was one quote that I really liked. Last year we visited Monet's garden and saw the bridge over the lily pond. It was so beautiful and peaceful. His garden was lush and full of every imaginable flower. He obviously loved flowers and was obviously inspired by them...

Only the Swiss

2009-05-29T13:31:00.000-07:00

We see this kind of thing all the time in Switzerland. When they have some sort of road construction to do - especially work on a bridge - they will build a full roof over the area where they have to work. I find this simply amazing. Weather isn't the issue in our part of Europe like it is in other parts of the world and yet the Swiss take the time to prepare the work area extremely well before they begin a project so nothing hampers the progress.

Palm nights

2009-05-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

Tonight was another fairly lively night in the dorm...

After supper there was time for a few games of beach volleyball...

There is a group of students visiting right now from a school in Romania that BFA has made a connection with. They were at the dorm for supper.
Then it was time to get serious and hit the books to prepare for the first round of finals starting tomorrow!

There are always lots of phone calls for the girls every evening. Usually the girls sit in the "phone booth" for their calls and not on the back of a couch!
And the studying continues...
Our special friend, Bethany, was subbing with us tonight. It's always a bonus when she wanders up to the dorm the same evening we are there.

The end of the road - almost...

2009-05-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

Bethany has almost completed her time as an aupair. I cannot believe how quickly the year has gone. I took a few shots of the neighbourhood today when I went to pick her up with her first suitcase.
You will notice that there are several barriers on this street. This is a very simple way of slowing down the traffic. It's pretty tough to drive quickly down a street like this, especially when there are also bikes galore, children and pedestrians, besides other vehicles. Did I also mention the speed bumps?
The family she has been working for this year lives in a very lovely and quiet residential area - lots of trees and old homes.
This is my favourite...old home, that is...
This is where she lived this year.
The dreaded "Meierweg". Her little charge often complains that this walking path to the house is sooooo long!

Heat wave

2009-05-25T06:57:00.000-07:00

When it gets hot here it gets very hazy. Today is another very warm day. Predicted highs were from 28 - 35 degrees in the Black Forest and we definitely made it to the top end of the range. The German kids are on Pfingstferien - Pentecost holidays - for the next 2 weeks so the pool is a zoo! If you want a serious German cultural experience, visit a pool on a hot day. I've never seen anything like it!

Die Rosen

2009-05-24T12:03:00.000-07:00

The roses are in full, full bloom. In fact as I discovered today, they are almost past their prime already! When did that happen? And after today's 34 degree blistering heat, I can imagine that many of them may now be completely at their end.

Director portraits

2009-05-22T00:54:00.000-07:00

At our staff banquet last week we were given the job of drawing a portrait of our director. I do not draw but once I saw what some of the others were doing, I decided that maybe I do draw after all. The first one is mine...the rest belong to other staff...some more talented than others.

Palmgarten Seniors

2009-05-20T07:51:00.000-07:00

Last night we finally had the Palm Seniors over. We had a chocolate fondue which seemed to go over quite well with everyone!

Art show

2009-05-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

We were treated to another art show on Sunday featuring BFA's talented artists.

The best flea market ever

2009-05-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the annual BFA Spring flea market. I had several large boxes of stuff we had sorted through and just wanted to get rid of. Most of it was the girls' old treasures from days gone by. We decided we would set up a table at the flea market and just give it all way.
(Toby looked so cute carrying this plant that I just had to take a picture of him!)
And that's what we did. We actually only got a few benches as the tables were for the more "serious" flea marketers. But that was fine. We were placed outside where all the traffic moved in and out of the "real" flea market.
People were somewhat incredulous that everything was free, however, they adjusted to the idea rather quickly and our stuff moved at an incredible pace.
I left the flea market 2 hours before it was officially over with a small box containing about half a dozen items that hadn't been scooped up. Yes, it was the best flea market ever!

Volunteers

2009-05-15T13:58:00.000-07:00

My pumpkin patch has had a mind of its own this Spring which was quite a surprise to me.
However, once I had dug out all the "volunteers", I was able to plant my own little plants and reorganize the others.

This was a few days ago. Notice all the blue patches. It's the real slug solution - much better than beer and easier to clean up! It has rained a lot since I took this picture and all my little plants are doing well. Now I just need to get into the garden and get my sunflowers planted. It's getting rather urgent!

Liquid sunshine

2009-05-14T03:01:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been pretty humid for this time of the year and we've had some major rain storms. I love it when the sun shines and it rains. It somehow takes me right back to my childhood when I would stand on the front steps and try to figure out how the sun could be shining when it was pouring rain....

Hot lunch

2009-05-13T11:50:00.000-07:00

I'm way behind. Last Friday was hot lunch for the dorm we sub at. Every other week the dorm dad (with the help of his staff) whips up an amazing lunch and brings it over to the school for the girls to enjoy.
It was absolutely delicious and I ate way too much!
It was a another beautiful day so the kids and staff were all outside to eat their lunches and enjoy the weather.

Decorating committee

2009-05-09T08:12:00.000-07:00

Last night was the Jr/Sr banquet. Katy was on the Junior class decorating committee for this event. She was on a sub-committee of one - herself - in charge of "walls". Last Friday Bethany and I joined her committee and we worked hard for 4 hours drawing and cutting these black silhouettes. It was a big, big job but the end result was certainly worth it. The theme for the evening was "Do dreams come true?", thus the whimsical silhouettes from Neverland.

Sunny days

2009-05-08T01:06:00.000-07:00

When the weather gets nice the kids love to be able to sit outside for their classes. And, the teachers usually indulge them...
...because they enjoy it too.

The chore

2009-05-07T01:48:00.001-07:00

There are not very many things I don't like doing - especially work. Give me a project and I'm happy. However, there is one job that is a chore for me and I just don't enjoy it at all. We are responsible to keep the street in front of our house free of weeds. Yes, it's true and I think it's ridiculous too. The worst part is that our section of the street is cobblestone and the dirt and weeds build up in there almost overnight.
Yesterday I couldn't stand it any longer so I tackled this odious project
It takes about two hours from start to finish.
The results are worth it, even if I can hardly stand up or walk once the job is done.

Shakin' all over

2009-05-05T05:40:00.000-07:00

At exactly 3:39 this morning we were awakened by a shaking bed, creaking house and rattling doors on our wardrobe. Our sleepy little town had experienced a 4.5 magnitude earthquake! Reports said it had lasted less than a second, however, those of us who were shaken awake know that it was longer than that!

The epicenter of the quake was located in a small village about 12 km from us.

We actually live on quite a significant fault line and this wasn't our first earthquake experience since we've lived here. There were lots of stories to tell at school this morning!

In October of 1356, the city of Basel, which is just across the Swiss border from us, was completely destroyed when an earthquake which they believe to have been of 6.2 magnitude struck the city. Here's what happened: The earthquake struck northwest Switzerland, centering round the town of Basel. It completely destroyed the city; all major structures, including churches, castles and fortresses, within a 30 kilometer radius of Basel were destroyed. It is recorded that a precursor existed around 7 to 8 p.m., with the main earthquake striking at around 10 p.m. The earthquake was felt widely across Europe, even in areas as far as Zürich and Konstanz.

Wisteria

2009-05-03T22:36:00.000-07:00

Now it's time for these lovely vines to produce their colours. They are absolutely beautiful and the bees sure do like them!

Kalte Sophie

2009-05-02T00:14:00.000-07:00

My "greenhouses" are in full production. Actually, the rate of growth in them this year is a bit unsettling. I cannot plant my little plants until May 15, which is called "Cold Sophie". That is the day after which one can "guarantee" there will be no frost. So, I have to hold off a bit on the planting and in the meantime, will my plants to slow down!

May Day

2009-05-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

Last night when we were at the dorm we saw the Maypole procession coming into town. After supper we zipped downtown to see the last efforts of putting up the pole in celebration of today - May Day.

We weren't surprised to see a tent set up with someone selling "Wurst".
This was an event and selling food made it just that!

Lilac time

2009-04-29T11:24:00.000-07:00

My mother had lilacs at her wedding. I often wonder how she managed that - did she or someone pick them the morning of the wedding? I don't know. I just phoned her to ask her this burning question and she wasn't home. It will have to wait for another day.

From where I sit at the computer I can see three lilac trees (they let them grow into trees here) with three different colours of lilacs.

They are so beautiful and the lilac scent is wonderful.

Wells

2009-04-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

Wells like these can be found in towns and villages alike. The water is often not drinkable but it's perfect for watering flowers or gardens.

Music Festival Honours Recital

2009-04-24T13:43:00.000-07:00

Tonight we were treated to the best of the best from this week's music festival. It was a delightful evening.

Magnolia trees

2009-04-22T06:05:00.000-07:00

There are hundreds of magnolia trees in this area. They are so amazingly beautiful.

The Black Forest in green

2009-04-20T06:19:00.000-07:00

A lovely Sunday

2009-04-19T10:40:00.000-07:00

Just around the corner and up the street from us is a house with an amazing yard of flowers with a profusion of colours.
Everywhere you look the trees are in bloom.
And the cows are happy...

This ancient bench was an aid to women carrying milk from one of the small villages over the hill to our town of Kandern. Halfway along the route they would come to this bench, set their loads down on the top level and sit and rest on the bottom level. An extremely practical and ingenious invention.

BFA soccer home game

2009-04-18T08:18:00.000-07:00

Today was BFA's first home soccer game. It was a rather coolish day but we managed to get through the two varsity games before the rain came in in torrents! There was lots of great action and our teams won both games. :)

Our guys scored their first goal about 1 minute into their game.

Some fans don't watch much of the game...
...but others do!

Gotta love those colourful cleats!

Pink

2009-04-17T07:55:00.000-07:00

I love Spring

2009-04-16T05:26:00.000-07:00

Final Vienna post - I promise!

2009-04-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

The Austrian parliament.
At the famous "Naschmarkt".

Mozart's residence for 2 years. We were able to tour it but weren't allowed any pics.

The Spanish Riding school.
Not a bad place to ride a horse!

Breakfast in a beautiful cafe.

Mozart memorial.

"Hundertwasserhaus" - designed by Mr. Hundertwasser.

In Vienna or "Wien" one has to eat a "Wienerschnitzel".
Belvedere castle.

A huge highlight for us was attending this concert in Vienna's oldest concert hall, which was quite a small room. In his day, Mozart also played here. There were only 21 of us "in the audience" that evening. The music was amazing - the setting magnificent.

Back to Vienna

2009-04-14T04:57:00.000-07:00

Katy's trip to Jordan

2009-04-11T10:42:00.000-07:00

Katy was blessed to have been a part of a mission trip to Jordan over the break. (Thank you Russ for helping us with the pictures for this post!)
She saw some amazing sites like Petra...

...got to ride a camel...

...and even visited the Dead Sea.

But mostly she was touched and moved by the Iraqi refugees they were there to befriend and help with English learning.

The refugees' stories of pain and suffering are completely overshadowed by their JOY in having found peace, not only in their personal surroundings (although temporary) but in their spiritual wellness having found Jesus! Katy was moved and impacted very strongly by these amazing people who, having left everything behind and some barely escaping with their lives, have such a glow and a genuine peace in having found true freedom in Christ.

The kids also cleaned up a terribly dirty play room and spent a long time cleaning off inches of dirt on these toys!
Visiting a mosque.

One of the poorer parts of Amman where Iraqi refugees have settled, the team's home for the week.
Pray for Jordan, for the refugees and for the real Hope to be found!

The Opera House

2009-04-10T00:32:00.000-07:00

Our friend George, who had lived in Vienna for some time, told us that an absolute must see was the Opera House. So our first evening of wandering downtown we wandered over to the Opera House. A show was just about to start so we followed the crowd into the lobby...

...it was quite phenomenal! I took a few pictures and we also happened to notice that one could buy last-minute tickets for only 10 Euro! I told Howard, unfortunately, that I could NEVER sit through an opera without getting a migraine - I was quite sure of that!
We decided to come back the next day and see about getting a tour. Which we did, only to discover that the next tour would be on Saturday, the day after we left the city! Hmmm. What to do? I figured that I was going to have to bite the bullet if we were going to see the inside of this amazing building. So about 15 minutes before the performance was to begin that evening we purchased our 10 Euro tickets to the Opera!

We climbed and climbed to the highest balcony and there we found our seats - and our view!
If we leaned way out we could see about 1/2 the stage! But hey, it was all about the experience and getting to see the inside of the Opera House.

Each seat had a small screen where the words being sung were displayed so it was quite easy to follow the story, even in German!

All in all, it was definitely worth it and we actually enjoyed the whole experience!

Vienna

2009-04-09T02:27:00.000-07:00

Vienna is a grand city. We enjoyed it so much. The people are friendly and several went out of their way to help us find our way. These are a few pictures of the core of the city. The Stephansdom is right in the center.
If you look carefully at the left side of this church you will see that it's actually covered with a piece of fabric (a very LARGE piece of fabric!) that duplicates exactly what is underneath. We have seen this done several times on different buildings when they are working on the covered area. It's very clever.

Notice the price on this teacup! That's about Cdn $575.

A wood carving on a door.

First stop

2009-04-08T00:26:00.000-07:00

The first thing we did in Vienna was get on the bus to Bratislava, Slovakia! Bratislava is only about 50 km from the Vienna airport and we decided that since we were so close we would take advantage of visiting another country.
A memorial to the fallen Jews of the city.
Mozart played one of his first concerts in Bratislava. He was only 6.
We enjoyed our short time in Bratislava, however, we didn't get much of a sense of the pulse of it. We stayed only in the old city and that was probably why.

A market was set up selling all kinds of Easter eggs. They were absolutely beautiful and not very expensive either - only 2 Euro for a handpainted egg. I bought a few....

The opera house.

Fortunately our bus did not look like this one!
Row upon row of communist apartment buildings.

A long time coming

2009-04-07T09:18:00.000-07:00

Twenty-six years ago Howard was based in Vienna with a summer mission. When we were married two years later, he told me that one day he wanted to take me to Vienna. He had loved the city and wanted me to see it too. After living in Germany for almost 11 years we finally made it to Vienna last week, with the help of a very generous gift.
I took tons of pictures so it will take a few posts to share just a few of them with you. Featured today are the Swiss Alps. As we were leaving Zurich the pilot said we would have a glorious view of the alps. We looked out the window at the overcast conditions and then at each other. Ya right. Quite a view. Well, the pilot was right and we were very wrong. He even confirmed with us all that he was indeed right... "See what I mean? Didn't I tell you the view would be spectacular?" And it was...

India #3

2009-04-06T07:05:00.000-07:00

Some of the young teachers at the conference where Howard and others taught. Many of them traveled several days to get to the centre where the conference was held.
The whole group. Howard is in the back row just to the left of center.
A few more impressions...
The milk carrier...
...and his helpers.
This woman is wrapped literally from head to toe...
And we thought the trucks in Brazil were colourful!

India #2

2009-04-05T08:59:00.000-07:00

Yes it's true - it's not hard to see cows wandering everywhere at will.
Howard was able to meet up with Dave and Beth who were on staff with us here for one year.
They now teach in India at an International Christian school which has a rich mission heritage going back 160 years
A market in Delhi.
Inside the train he traveled in for 7 hours.
Imagine that. Eating curry!
The Himalayan foothills.
Howard found someone (who actually latched onto him!) who gave him a tour of a Hindu temple.

India

2009-04-04T13:13:00.000-07:00

On Monday Howard returned from an 11 day trip to India. He was there to teach at a conference for missionary teachers, many of whom are posted at schools in some incredibly remote parts of the country. On the way to and from the conference he was able to get a bit of a taste of India.
There are monkeys everywhere and are "protected" as they are one of India's sacred animals. Howard said he was fortunate to get this picture because as soon as they would see a camera they would run for cover!

Inside a "tuk tuk" which is a three-wheeled taxi.