At Last

Stiff Legs arrived this morning. I won him in a contest on a wonderful blog :moaromigboyles.typepad.com. She is a wonderful artist who created "The Thirteen Christmas Elves (or sometimes called the Christmas Lads) After Christmas, she had a draw to see who would win the one with the most comments. To my complete surprise, it was me!
He is right beside me. We are falling in love, at least I am. I'm hoping he will too. Perhaps he was in love with Mo'a and is missing her. I promise him a good home and protection from the naughty cats. They haven't noticed him yet.

It has been an auspicious week. The long awaited farewell to George W Bush and the ever so welcomed inaguration of Barack Hussien Obama . I loved that he used his full name. How amazing!~ The first black President wth a Muslim name! We do live in wonderous times. I loved that he stumbled with the oath, like a bridegroom stumbling over those momentous words.
I love the way he and his wife look at each other. They shut the rest of the world out. We need affirmation of old lovers. The beautiful daughters, so natural and graceful.

I wept buckets watching the video of Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen.That was a dream realized on the Lincoln Memorial, a sea of hope singing along. Woody Guthrie's song "This Land is Your Land". The poetry of it all.
The other miracle of the week was the plane landing in the Hudson River. The image of the passengers standing on the sunken wings. They looked like they were walking on water. What a beautiful image. It stands in stark contrast to the horror of the 9/11 images.That pilot! The perfect combination of courage, years of experience, confidence and I'm sure faith. The fact he was also a glider was pivitol in my view.
Isn't life grand? In the midst of the looming economic disaster, such images of hope. I am so grateful to be witness to these times.

The Girls of St Leonard's

Today I attended a funeral of a dear friend of my late mother-in-law. She and Mary grew up in the same little outport in Placentia Bay. They remained friends all their lives, raising their families in Corner Brook. Pauline was a gracious woman, very beautiful and intelligent as was Mary. As I was chatting with Pauline's daughter-in-law at the reception today, I remarked how amazing it was that these women from a tiny outport had such airs of sophisication. Not only were they beautiful, but they were very progressive in their ideas and their fashion sense.
The daughter-in -law explained some of the mystery to me. She said that her mother grew up in Clattice Harbour, not far from St. Leonard's.They would travel by boat to St Kyran's to attend mass on Sundays. The girls were competative and always tried to outdress the girls from St Leonard's and St Kyran's. How they got their sense of fashion, she explained was through French magazines, their fathers would bring back from St.Pierre and Miquelon.The fishermen would frequently make runs to the French Islands off the South Coast of Newfoundland to deliver fish and more importantly to get a load of rum, after all this was during the"prohibition years".
The girls of Clattice Harbour would pour over the magazine's from Paris and copy the styles. She said they would often pick berries to dye the clothing to match the latest colour trend of that fashion season.

I can just picture Mary and Pauline. They would not be outdone by the Clattice Harbour girls! These were young women of creative natures and a natural beauty. I would love to have seen them in St Kyran's church on Sunday. As it was, I count myself lucky to have known them in their prime.
Welcome to heaven Pauline, Mary is waiting to welcome you in her best blue chapeau!

The little Snow Queen

This is my grandaughter who is a snowboarder. Soon her American cousins will also be snowboarders. I know they will be just as cute.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year and Happy 1ooth birthday to my dear Mother, who we hope is riding bareback across the fields of heaven. This is my granddaughter, who is still four and amazed that everyday she wakes up saying "I am still four years old".

I had a wonderfu New Years Eve with old friends and new. We had Boston Brown Bread and Boston Baked Beans. Most fitting as my sweet mother used to make them every Saturday when I was growing up.

I did one thing I promised over Christmas and that was to call each of my siblings to have a nice long chat. Only one brother I couldn't reach . And my sweet sister in law in Florida. She has to email me her phone number so I can chat with her. Isn't it great that we have emails,blogs,facebook, skype and twitter to stay in touch with the ones we love . And to get to know so many others around the world. I feel I have made such wonderful friends, I am truly blessed.
What a Christmas it has been. I have been so busy socializing. Everyday there is an invitation to a party , lunch or dinner. Or just a freind droping in for tea or coffee. Today I'm going out for supper. It will be a jolly time. I am so greatful for all the blessings of my life. And I feel such an abundance, that is a real gift. In a time of econonomic uncertainty I feel so blessed.

I wasn't going to make any New Year's Resolutions as I dont want to make the usual obligatory ones I never keep. So I was thinking of vague terms about being more open to joy and things like that. I did jot down a few things I would like to work on :

1. swear less. I woke up swearing this morning (at the cats or dogs) and I continued , by the time I got home from our walk I bet I had sworn about 30 times.(the leashes twisted around my ankles warranted half of the curses)
2.Experience more joy
3. fear less
4. become master of my appetites
5.meditate more
6.move more
7.have more contact with my grandchildren away
8.laugh more (I just added this one)
9.assume good will
10.cultivate a culture of trust
11.remember that sometimes you have to teach a thing (person,child or animal) it's loveliness.
12.count my blessings

Have a wonderful new year and take time to really appreciate the good things in your life and ask for strength to see you through the difficult times. And lastly be kind!~

The Blue Café: Fresh bread and Christmas herring

The Blue Café: Fresh bread and Christmas herring

This is one of my favourite blogs... enjoy !~