A Trip to Winnipeg

It was time to take a trip over the stunning Rockies, across the expansive Prairies, right into the capital city of Manitoba.  I knew the rhodos, at home,  would have bloomed their loveliest while we were gone and so snapped a photo just before we left in our all-purpose van, which has served us so well over the last six years when we first took a road trip in it to Winnipeg. 

The pansies, I knew, would just develop and expand while we were gone.

It was a beautiful day and the weather held brilliantly until our trip back two weeks later. 

As we entered Alberta, we decided we'd better spend some time in Banff since it was clear and beautiful.  Good choice since the Rockies were completely enshrouded on our return trip.

Stunning Mt. Rundle

But in no time we left the mountains behind us and entered the vast open prairies.  Big sky country...loved watching the grazing cattle...

And then...

We veered off the Transcanada at Highway 19, leading to the area where Al's family lived from 1927-1947.  His parents, emigrating from Russia in 1926 with their one small son, settled near the Flowing Well MB Church about 14 kms south on #19, where only a small cemetery now marks the spot.

Our anticipation was great as we headed east from there,  hoping that the original "cabin" that the senior Willms' called home for ten years would still be there.  About 10kms down the dusty country road and over the rolling hills it greeted us, standing over these many years as a humble monument to God's blessing and provision.  Truly an "Ebenezer " moment..."hitherto hath the Lord helped us" (1Samuel7:12.)

Each year or so the parents added yet another child to their fold.  Three daughters and two more sons, including Al,  were added to this young family.  Here they lived together in those early years, a tiny one-roomed cabin called, "Home".  Far away from the dreaded experience of WW1, where Al's father served the Russian army as an orderly in the Medical Corps, and the ravages of the Revolution that ensued, the Willms' were so grateful to arrive and live in a beautiful new country called Canada!
Here, the first little dwelling in this free world which the family always refers to as "The Teske" place, Al is thrilled to revisit the site and give thanks. 

  Just a few kms west from here stands the "Doner" place, which the family was able to purchase in 1937, a farm of one section-640 acres.  This farm boasted a two storey house with a cellar and a big barn for the horses, cows, pigs and a chicken coop.

Another amazing tribute to the faithfulness of God and to the sturdiness and hardiness with which the buildings were constructed in those early years, is evident in this photo taken two weeks ago today...

Here the Willms' family enjoyed expanded living conditions and this is where the last of the children, a daughter, was born and where they lived another ten years until the devastating hail destroyed their anticipated bumper crop, after chronic years of drought and disappointing harvests, drove them to move to British Columbia - a great move.

Of course we had to drive down to the "big coulee" south of the farm which is off in the distance to the right.  Many adventures were experienced around here in the growing up years of the Willms' kids.

 As we were heading back from the Teske place we noticed the land Al's family owned so many years ago being worked by a huge tractor combo.  This property which Al's Dad had painstakingly worked with Clydesdale horses and later a second-hand tractor, was now being looked after in no time with this advanced  farm machinery.  

 Waiting for the tractor to approach, we knew the driver would stop and come over to chat.  

Al was delighted to learn that local people who his family remembered from living there sixty years ago, now owned the land and the handsome young farmer was a grandson.  In the distance the farm buildings can be seen from this northeast side of the land.

But our primary purpose on this trip was to get to...

I almost missed this "Welcome to Manitoba" sign as we whizzed by.   We were in Manitoba, my childhood stomping grounds...but that's another story.

 With every kilometer we were getting more excited to see and spend time with an important segment of our precious family, Andrew, Dana, Eva, Micah and Joshie! We were not disappointed... 

This picture was taken at Gimli beach on Lake Winnipeg a week ago today!
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This weekend Winnipeg was experiencing much different weather-check it out at:
http://andrewwillmsphotography.squarespace.com/

Skipping - Letter to my Grandchildren

Dear Grandchildren,

Today I was thinking about the things you like to do outside when you're playing with your friends.  Something that my friends and I did a lot of at recess time when spring rolled around was skip rope.  Some flowers in our backyard made me think about skipping rope when I was a bit older than some of you. These flowers called "Bluebells" made me think about some of the skipping songs we sang:

   Can you see the little bell-shaped flowers on each stem?  They are one of the earliest spring flowers to bloom and they fill lots of space against the wall in our back yard with their lovely blue color.  These pretty flowers reminded me of the skipping song I used to play with my sisters and friends when I was in elementary school.  Do kids still play skipping games at school?  Skipping was so much fun but I never was good at Double Dutch.  I don't think the boys ever played these skipping games! 

Here is one of the songs we sang:

Bluebells, cockle shells,

Eevy, ivy over!

(Here we just turned the rope half-way back and forth until we came to the word, "over" when we turned the rope over the top of the person skipping.)

My mother sent me to the store

And this is what she sent me for:

Salt

Vinegar

Pepper!

 The girls who were turning the rope went very fast on the word "Pepper" to see who could skip the longest.  I always tried so hard to jump fast when it was my turn.

Another fun skipping song: 

On a mountain stands a lady,

  Who she is I do not know,  

All she wants is Gold and Silver, 
All she wants is a fine young man,  
So come on dear ________, dear _________, dear__________,
  So come on dear__________,  While I go out to play.

(The girl skipping calls her friend's name where the blank is and she jumps in when the first girl says, "play!")

Here was another fun one:

Teddy bear, Teddy bear, turn around,

Teddy bear, Teddy bear touch the ground,

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, show your shoe,

Teddy bear, teddy bear, that will do.

Teddy bear, teddy bear, brush your hair,

Teddy bear, teddy bear, climb the stairs.

Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn out the light,

Teddy bear, teddy bear, say "Good Night".

 We did the actions to the words and on the words, "Good Night" would jump out without stepping on the rope if we were lucky!

And now I'll say "Good night to you, my dear, dear grandchildren!"

Word for the Day

I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols

(things you esteem higher than God). 

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.

I will take out your stony, stubborn heart,

and give you a tender, responsive heart. 

I will put My Spirit within you.

Ezekiel 36-25-27

My eyes caught sight of this column in today's local paper written by Alice Maryniuk, someone I've quoted before.  I have high regard for this woman and not because we happen to share the same name, but because I value her insights and applications.  The Scripture impacted me immediately since I'd memorized it years ago and still keep praying for a tender heart.
To see her column find it at:
http://www2.canada.com/abbotsfordtimes/index.html
In the left column click on Faith-her's is the second title listed today.

Beautiful Spring

This is a most beautiful time of the year!  I love being outside puttering around in the yard, turning the compost, cutting the grass, pulling buckets of weeds all the while thrilled that I can send as much of this garden refuse out biweekly as I want to - as long as its in  tagged garbage cans.  We only got this garden service last June and so now I savour the fact that we don't have to save it up and cart it away ourselves when we have a load. 
I do my daily check of the garden:
-for the ubiquitous snails cleverly hidden deep underneath the yellow alyssum
- coax my newly planted climatis, alongside the mature but struggling vine, along to vigorous growth and cheer the bulging buds into colorful bloom
-count again the possible number of deep majenta-hued peonies
-pick up fallen twigs and roots and garden debris over and over again - I just love the looks of a tidy garden.

But the prize today goes out to my neighbors' gorgeous dogwoods - one a cultured pink and one a Pacific Dogwood, BC's official flower.  What a show this lovely pink tree presents every time I look out my front window where I see it right now from my computer...

...and as I look over my shoulder through another window I see the stunning white dogwood next door to us.  Its branches have become so long that some of them reach across the catwalk that separates our properties skimming our hedge.

O Welt du bist so wunderschoen...

(O earth you are so very beautiful...)

Happy Birthday, Lorna

Lorna and Lyle have become very dear friends of ours over the past years - ever since our sons played basketball together at Trinity Western University in Langley many years ago by now.  They've moved to Chilliwack from Calgary since then and so we can get together and celebrate more regularly.

Today was such a day - Lorna's birthday.  Lorna is a morning person and loves going out for breakfast and so we invited them for a 9:00am brunch at our place.  We had great fellowship over our food and coffee. 

Happy Birthday, Lorna!

Variations on a Theme

 

The yellow perennials, Euphorbia (Spurge) and Alyssum, are gorgeous at this time of the year alongside red tulips.  Just never tire of their beauty.  Couldn't choose between the dozen or so I shot before the rains came this afternoon and decided to post most of them! 

See how the lilies of the field grow...

If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, 

which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, 

will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 

So do not worry...

from Matthew 6:25-34 NIV

"Zacchaeus and the Orange Tree"

Dana and Andrew, with their three children, have recently moved back to Winnipeg from Mexico, where they lived for four years.  One of the great benefits of spending time with them, along with playing Scrabble, traveling to old colonial cities, just hanging out and telling stories to and singing songs with Eva and Micah - Joshie came along later- was enjoying the oranges and lemons from the three citrus trees in their back yard.

Here Dana, in the shade of the orange tree,  is holding  Micah- 3 months old at the time- while 2 year old Eva is sweeping the patio. 

The tree was loaded with juicy tangerine-type oranges.  Over the three week period that we were there we had pretty well stripped the tree of its juicy fruit.  Eva enjoyed them as much as we did.

One of the songs we'd been singing over and over again was:

"Zacchaeus was a wee little man, 

a wee little man was he,

he climbed up in a sycamore tree, 

for the Lord he wanted to see."

 Every time we came to verse two:  

"And as the Saviour passed that way, 

He looked up in the tree,"

 we would convincingly speak the next line:

"Zacchaeus, you come down..."

 and so it went.

As we were nearing the end of our stay we were scrounging around for the last of those precious oranges.  I was convinced there must be a few more hiding somewhere within those thick, somewhat thorny branches.  I urged Al to go around the back and see if he couldn't snag a few more oranges for us, by carefully getting into the center of the tree.  After he'd been attempting this for a few minutes and most of Grandpa was not visible to little Eva, she got a bit concerned and walked over to the tree, shook her little finger in the air and out of the blue convincingly repeated:

"Zacchaeus, you come down!" 

And he did...wearing a great big grin and bearing precious fruit!

But while the tangerine orange tree was bare the "juice orange tree" was just coming into its own and we enjoyed freshly squeezed orange juice at breakfast.