Marching along...

Well March is indeed marching right along.  Today was our very first day of real spring weather, it seems to me - so welcome, so glorious.  And of course I had to poke around to see how things were coming along...

...Grape Hyacinth (Muscari botryoides)-looks like they took quite a hit from the frost over the past months after an earlier warm spell...

...Hyacinth orientalis....I noticed them first poking through around Christmas time  and was thrilled now to see they survived the winter nicely, about a dozen or so stalwartly making their journey sunward...

But even more heart-warming were the birthdays of two of our dear 

grandchildren earlier this month-

 Daniel who turned 4 last week...

And Megan 8 -

Megan lined up her Webkinz - getting just the right one was part of the fun for her and us on that special day - and card for the shot.

Such precious and special moments 

with such wonderful little people as these in our lives makes our hearts sing...

Happy Birthday to you!
 We are grateful.

"Break Forth..."

Two weeks ago I snapped off a few bare twigs from our forsythia bush and put them into a jar of water.  Even though I like to do this every year in late January, it never ceases to amaze me what happens within the next two weeks...

 ...this...

 It reminds me of the powerful thought that lies within this little ditty..

The leaves are gone, 

The trees are bare, 

but next year's leaves are hiding there.

And so they are.  Within the next six weeks or so, our bush should be looking like this, as it did two years ago.

 And all over the unkempt flower beds signs of spring are relentlessly making a glorious statement...

   there is life

      there is hope

        there is joy

          there is beauty...

Just like these sweet snowdrops near our front door...

Break forth into joy, 

sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.  

  Isaiah 52:9

February 2 ~ Groundhog Day

 With the early morning sky looking like this today, I'm thinking the groundhog will have seen its shadow....but maybe where you live, it didn't!  Does this really mean six more weeks of winter over here?  We'll find out soon enough.

 

From our front patio doors I was able to capture a bit of the glorious morning sky!  

 

...and again part of the Garibaldi range taken yesterday from a few blocks South of us.  Our house, hidden here, would be just behind the trees to the right.

What a beautiful day...thank you, God.

_______________________________________

Groundhog Day was always capitalized on while I was teaching primary-aged school children.  Teachers love themes. To run with a theme was a tremendous boon to daily activities ~ Math, Reading, Writing, Art, Singing, Science, an integrated approach, and a great method.  In this way even the lowly groundhog was a special assistant to me as a teacher.

Strength for the moment...

Strengthen the weak hands, 

and make firm the feeble knees.

Say to those who have an anxious heart,

'Be strong; fear not!

Behold, your God

will come with vengeance,

with the recompense of God.

He will come and save you...'

And a highway shall be there,

and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;

...the redeemed shall walk there.

And the ransomed of the LORD shall

return

and come to Zion with singing;

everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;

they shall obtain gladness and joy, 

and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Isaiah 35:3-4; 8,9b,10

These passages from God's Word, were among my mother's favourites, during her last weeks here on earth.  This came to light during her stay in hospital as we spent time with her.  She recited the last section with great fervour, in the German language, over and over again, gaining  inner strength and encouragement from them, as did we who listened.  Other favourite verses were:

"You will keep Him in perfect peace, 

Whose mind is stayed on You, 

Because he trusts in You." 

Isaiah 26:3

and...

"Call upon Me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me."

Psalm 50:15

  Mom was so secure in the promises of God, so confident, so sure that He would safely see her through...and He did.  Then silently, early on a September morning,  He came for her

Through this I am encouraged and inspired over and over again by the rich heritage of faith and triumph which my dear Mom practiced  throughout her life and from which her progeny can now benefit.  It's too good...too good and too important not to share. 

The Door

 I am the door. 

If anyone enters by Me,

he will be saved, 

and will go in and out and find pasture.

John 10:9

Birthdays~Letter to our Grandchildren

Dear Grandchildren,

One of the most exciting days of the year for you is your birthday, right? Each one of you looks forward to your birthday and a party with a cake and balloons and presents and friends and lots of fun!  We love your birthday parties.   We love to celebrate with you...we love to celebrate you!

My mother, your Greatgrandmother, Tina Sawatzky also loved to celebrate.  Let me tell you something that I remember about her birthday.

Your Greatgrandmother, we'll just call her GG now, loved to celebrate her birthday every January by inviting those of her family who lived nearby to come over for "Faspa" and enjoy a good cup of coffee with special goodies to go with it.  I remember these times with great excitement even now, because my sisters and I hurried home after school knowing it was a special day.  It was my Mother's birthday and it came right in the middle of the month, January 15. That was a wonderful diversion in the middle of a long, cold Prairie winter.  I thought you might like to see a picture of GG when she was just twenty years old.  She wasn't  even married at this time.

  Here she is!  Isn't she beautiful?

                   

I think GG gave this picture to your Great Grandfather, my Daddy, in 1934 when she was twenty years old.  They married the following year, 1935.  That's many, many years ago.  So GG's children, she had eight of them including me, still like to get together in her honour to have a little party.  Some of us were able to do that again this year.  But we didn't have "Faspa".  We had a brunch out in a restaurant - an unheard of thing to do when GG was your age.  In fact the word "brunch" hadn't even been invented, I'm sure!

Sometime I'll tell you of how things were when GG was a little girl.  Her life was very different from yours, from mine.  She lived in a different country and spoke a different language than ours.  She also experienced a lot of sad things. 

But we'll save that for another  time.

_______________________________________________

So it seems that it's my mother, whose birthday on January 15 

begins the drum-roll...........
for all those who follow in our family.

Who follows next?

It's Dana - who celebrates her birthday on January 23 each year.  The year this picture was taken-2008- Grandpa and I were visiting Dana and Andrew, Eva and Micah  in Mexico where they lived for four years. (Joshua hadn't been born yet).  We had made an apple crisp for her and I think she looks very happy and beautiful.  We only needed one little candle, 
to light up our celebration.
Then on January 24th, oh let me see...

It's Jared,  sweet Jared... happy as can be,
with some blue candles on his chocolate cupcakes, 
...one, two,...right....
six is two times three!

It's hard to believe that Jared's 6, 
a boy who likes fun and in less than a year will be in Grade 1!

Next.... 

January 27, oh my, oh my, 
Nathan chose for his "birthday cake" a pumpkin pie!!

We celebrated Nathan's birthday a few days later,
with his sister Megan so proud of her big brother!  
Twelve years old...almost a teen-ager!   Congratulations, Nathan!

So Grandpa and I once more say,
Happy Birthday to each one of you!
You've filled our lives with happiness and adventure and love.
Each one of you is remarkable, special and so gifted with beauty inside and out! We always thank God for you... we love you very, very much 
and celebrate you throughout the year! 
God bless you.
Now we wait for February,
then for March...
We'll march right into March and there we'll see
More wondrous birthdays...one, two three!


"Children's children are a crown to the aged..."  Proverbs 17:6

Roses Enhanced...

Two of our dear grandsons stopped by yesterday with hugs and smiles and kisses ~ what an exuberant, energizing elixir!  Yes, bouquet of roses definitely enhanced!

...and then a couple of gingerbread cookies for the boys, left over from Christmas to decorate and enjoy, along with a little tea party.

 ----------------------------------------------------------------

The doorbell rang just a few minutes ago...it was Lyn, my artist neighbour down the street, with this beautiful flowering plant...

perfect colours to complement our decor!

I had been under the weather last week, that's the reason for the roses Saturday Marilyn :), and Lyn had heard about it when she called here the other day.  Now I'm surrounded by beautiful flowers and the knowledge that there are so many beautiful and wonderful people out there and I'm feeling very fine, 

mighty fine indeed!  

Thank you, thank you!

My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose...

 

Hubby came home with these gorgeous roses late this morning...and I had to take pictures and pictures and pictures...

It's difficult deleting photos so I just choose to display them...No there were still a lot more photos to choose from...

But we'll end the way we began...with the red rose singled out because..

0, my luve is like a red, red rose,

that's newly sprung in June.

0, my love is like a melodie,

that's sweetly play'd in tune...

Robert Burns

Now for a real treat please check out how magnificently it is sung by tenor, Kenneth McKellar
(Sorry, just can't get the "imbed" idea-but take the time to find Kenneth McKeller singing, "O My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose..." on YouTube-it's stunning!)

Oh the extravagance of roses in early January when poinsettias are still brilliantly aflame in the house - a glorious start to a New Year -

Thanks Dear Husband!