2012

2012

It has been a year of visiting with family and friends, helping others, protesting, creative and destructive accomplishments.

I started out the year with a visit to Mom in Cincinnati, leaving the boys Steve and Mattie home to fend for themselves. Jessica was also visiting so Mom had a birthday with all her kids. I think Mom was the oldest kid at the restaurant in her pink, sketchers, with the white side walls, and plastic gems that light up with every stomp, a peace sign on the tongue and no shoe laces. She wore them everywhere we went and stomped in front of anyone till they noticed and she laughed. It was a lot of fun till she tried stomping her foot on the dash board of the car as we were over taking a police car, those shoes light up just like a police cruiser.

In the spring we had a great deal of flooding in BC. Steve and I are volunteers with North Okanagan Emergency Social Services or ESS. We were called to help the team in Sicamous an hours drive north of Enderby. Whole neighborhoods were evacuated. People vacationing on rented house boats lost their cars and had no way to return home; pet’s had to be cared for. ESS gives people care for three days, hotel, food, clothing if need be. Steve filled out forms and I took care of pets as they arrived. People came in bus loads all day. We have been on call through out the year. Last week all the teams and volunteers were honored at a dinner and given certificates of recognition.

To our ever annoyance our large back deck had to go. (Destructive accomplishment) As Steve removed it in stages we saw just how bad it was and how the rot was covered up making the porch unsafe to walk on. It was a big job, now we have a much smaller but safe porch built properly , it just needs the rails . Steve works on the porch when he doesn’t have work that pays, it so happened that when the weather was beautiful for working outside Steve had work (He works in the basement using his computer to design roof trusses) but when the weather was rainy and gross he had no paying work.

Another project of Steve’s was the gate made out of branches from trimming the trees in our yard, he also built a small fence of branches. This inspired me to built a deer of branches for the front yard , it goes nicely with the fence and gate.

It took two years to repair and paint our large straw bale fences. To me they are an open canvas and it took the two years to decide on what to paint on the wall. Wanting to bring awareness to the declining wild Salmon, due to fish farms, I painted life size wild Salmon on the fences. Don’t eat farmed fish please, unless they are raised in-land and not on the ocean.

I finished my first Competent communication Manuel in Toastmasters, giving 11 speeches. I now have two advanced manuals, I chose “The Entertaining Speaker” and “Humorously Speaking” . I have now given 13 speeches.

I hope this finds you well. May the new year be happy, healthy and prosperous for you and yours.

All our best to you 

The Streets I Roamed In The 50's and 60's Have Changed Somewhat

Things change  it's a fact of life. Some changes are more drastic than others. In January as I walked the old sidewalks of Carthage in Cincinnati it brought back memories of my youth.

The fair grounds, every year we would go to the fair. One year I was so scared to exit the fun house via the slide, Dad had to come and calmly talk me out. Too many crazy cartoons.

One of the lovely brick houses in Carthage.

This is the house I grew up in. The porch has been taken down, the picket fence removed, and  the lilac bushes torn out, it is now an auto parts place.

The park across the street from the house. We spent our summers in the pool, playing games, doing crafts,  riding bicycles and general running around as children do.  

I walked this sidewalk every school day I was able to go to school. I don't remember it ever being so dirty. 

Elementary school. It's now a community center. The floors shined in this school they were so clean. 

Singing in the church choir was one of my passions as a child, these doors were recently refinished.

Originally this was a fire hall, long before I came along.

I loved the ornamentation of this building, it needs some TLC.

This is where Mom gets her hair done, it's a busy place.

A side door to what was a drug store. I remember frequenting the soda fountain after high school. One day a large boy asked for the usual, I was so embarrassed for him when the woman said in a nasty tone"And what is the usual?" 

This was also a drug store.

Hodapp's funeral home, The outside hasn't changed much. I have viewed many a loved one at Hodapp's. When I had my back operations they gave us a stretcher so I could go places if need be. They also drove me to the hospital on a number of occasions.

Colonial 

Victorian

Craftsman. Three styles of architecture all on one block.

Going back in winter, it seamed so bleak with all the bare trees, so much grey. I was grateful for the brightly painted buildings with their decorative facades. Old and loved, old and used with neglect, it's all their.