Where have I been and what have I been doing that was so important that I neglected you all?...notice how I an pretending my followers (all 4 of them) haven't gotten tired of seeing nothing new and didn't all move on to better and more funner blogs. I haven't gone anywhere (I can't go anywhere during golf season silly) but a lot had happened. 

I came back from Mexico with my brain all scattered, it was a mess. (the thoughts in my brain, actual brain is fine) so much was going on and still is but now I have a better handle on things. 

Lets start with my knitting, remember back in Mexico I was working on some baby things, I was holding out on you all. I have become "Miss Grandma", my one and only child had a baby boy, meet my grandson Loucas John born May 03 weighing in at 7 lbs 6oz, we weren't expecting him until May 16th. He looks exactly like my baby did 23 years ago except mine was wearing pink. 

Good thing I had started my knitting in Mexico this winter. 

As soon as I got home I went back to work, which I don't write much about because that is not what this space is for but I do like to post pictures once in awhile, I like to call them "The view from my office". So here are a few shots from my office

I think this will be the year of the Saskatoon they bloomed like I have never seen before. 

We even had some heat already

I even got to see a sunset, I don't usually see them here, I got to bed too early, but I see every sunrise. 

I feel in love with salads, yes salads. There is a restaurant in Mazatlan called "Mi Terreza" They serve an amazing salad (can't remember what they call it) but here is the recipe;

2 kinds of lettuce

broccoli

raisins & crasins (cranberries)

pecans & almonds

carrots

red cabbage

alfalfa sprouts
and if you want topped with grilled chicken breasts
This is a salad that even non salad eaters love, trust me, I have a friend that does not order a salad in a restaurant ever, he's from Texans, those boys down there eat a cow at every meal and he is one that recommended this to me. I change it up with whatever I have in the fridge and whatever crunch I can find, nuts, seeds, a handful of trail mix and I toss it with oil and vinegar and a wee bit of plain yogurt....here is the key, do NOT pour your dressing on the salad in your salad bowl, put the salad in a big bowl and shake it up, mixing it real good then serve in your bowl.....I know, now you have a big bowl to wash, trust me it will be worth it and only mix what you will be eating, do not put salad with dressing on it in the fridge...it will just not thrill you as much the second time around at all.
Oh I also put dry cottage cheese on it if I have. 

I can't wait until I have fresh produce from my garden

It is so good it needs wine....all really really good food needs wine. 

Then came some more excitement.......chickens, yes I finally have chickens in my back yard and this thrills me too, I am in love with them. Meet Thelma & Louise. 

I can't tell them apart, they are both so beautiful 

This is their home, still needs some painting and some finishing touches

These ladies figured out what they were to do as soon as they arrived. They got dropped off at 11 am and by 1 pm there were 2 eggs in the nesting box and since then they have faithfully given me 2 eggs every day. I am so in love with them. Every evening I sit on the grass in front of the coop and do my yoga stretches, they think I am pretty funny.  I am amazed at how they react to every sound, they have very keen hearing. A few nights ago I was in bed already and all of a sudden they were mad, making loud clucking and screeching noises so I jumped out of bed and ran outside in my pajamas and found a cat trying to figure out how to get in the coop, the ladies were some mad, one was upstairs screeching and the other was downstairs screeching, as soon as I chased the cat away they calmed down instantly, poor things, had such a fright. This has happened a few more times since and it's always a cat. You see cats can run around town but I have been told that if my chickens ever get out of my yard I will be made to get rid of them. I was supposed to call the fire chief to come and inspect my "housing" for them after I had it built, I have no idea what he will be checking for, why is it that dog and cat houses don't get checked? I still need to call him, I haven't done that yet. Once they will let me pick them up and come when they are called I will let them out when I am outside so they can wander around. They do let me touch them if I corner them and they have no choice but I want them to want to be touched and cuddled....yes I want to cuddle my chickens. 

The bounty from my garden so far....and some spinach

As if that is not enough excitement a package came all the way from Mexico, thanks to family and friends I had some stuff sent up that didn't fit in my suitcase. 

A Spanish Colonial high chair made of some type of hard wood, this is a very heavy chair. I love the leather seat. 

Some rat tail chilis, cinnamon sticks, coco beans, and Cardamon seeds, I also had sent me some pottery and  vintage cotton sheets...forgot to take a picture, it was a bit like Christmas because I had forgotten what was in the box. 

Then I spent a few Saturdays painting a friends bus, she owns a greenhouse and needed a bus to transport her plants up north (yes more north than this) As soon as she said she wanted to paint it lime green I knew it was a job for me, I can't resist a pail of lime green paint...that is just how I am. It is not done yet so you are only getting a peek.

Who could resist this? When I opened this I went "wooo" Stunning it was. 

That's all for now, I have more to say but now I must go say good night to the ladies and do my yoga for them. 

A brief look at my winter in High Level, Alberta

It was frosty and cold of course

but I still managed to get out and do some snow shoeing 

On a sunny day the snow can be almost blinding

Living up north you soon learn that sunglasses are a year round necessity  

Don't think you can buy these anymore, I love them

Went camping up north .... yes there is more north than me. I Like to go on a  camping trip to Hay River  just before Golf season starts, once golf season starts I usually don't get to leave town.

My little cabin that I rented for 5 days

It has everything that I needed

I brought some books

and a box of wool....and no, I did not get that much wool kitted up

This is how much snow there was, that is the top of a picnic table....or the door to Narnia

The falls were frozen but still beautiful.
and once back at home
there was some baking.......

Some giant pretzels 

Some croissants with cheese inside

and of course always bread

My new to me beater

There was some sewing........

and some pretty pillowcases

some new summer pajamas, I still haven't mastered taking pictures of myself

and a some new cotton hand towels and wash cloths

I took a moccasin making class......like I need another hobby

There was some fun sewing....aren't they a cute couple.

Home Sweet Home?

January 31.2010

I arrived back in Canada without incident, it was not the joyous homecoming that I usually have as I had a funeral to go to first thing. Since then I have been living with my friend and her kids in their home out in the country. (Without internet) I just realized today that I haven’t really allowed myself to enjoy the benefits of country living, I’ve been so busy I hadn’t even noticed the peacefulness and the quiet, I haven’t once gone for a walk to enjoy the sound of squirrels and birds.....I saw a squirrel out the window once and there must be birds, also saw a fox one day out the window. Most of my time is spent in the basement which is dark and cold like all basements are...hidden from the world it seems, but in this basement there is a special project happening. I am cutting up all my friend’s deceased husbands’ shirts and pants and am making each of the kids a blanket with them. I have cut everything into 7 3/8 squares and then into triangles and am now piecing them together. I have enough triangles to make 2 twin sized blankets and I think there is enough odds and ends pieces to make another blanket for my friend in crazy quilt style. .... She sure did love buying shirts for her husband. I am very excited about this, I made sure I included pieces of shirt pockets and the strips that have the buttons on them because I don’t want it ever to be forgotten that these are his shirts and pants. What makes it even more unique is that he was a painter and every once in a while there is a piece of fabric that has paint splatters on it....it’s who he was and I wanted that to show in the blanket. I will post pictures as soon as I have one blanket top finished, right now it’s just a pile of squares.

The weather has fluctuated from bitterly cold to a little less cold and even to just a regular kind of cold, but just mostly cold. It is shocking that we survive in this and actually even think it normal. I have often tried to explain to my southern friend what it is like when it is -40C, after the thermometer hits -30C it really all feels the same. I think the saving grace to weather like this is the sun, it will usually be very sunny and bright on these cold days which makes it seem not so miserable. If you are inside looking out the window it looks like a beautiful bright sunny day, the trees are all frosted up and are just glistening and shimmering in the sun..... a gorgeous day until you step outside to start your car in the morning, which you plugged in the night before or else it would not start, everyone here has the sickening experience of going out to start the car just have it make a very sickening whining sound. It is so sickening because it sound like the car will die right there and never ever work again and also because you know you should have plugged it in and you want to just bang your head up against the steering wheel to punish yourself for being so stupid....it’s the same feeling you get when you lock your keys in the car....ever done that? Once started you leave it running for at least a half hour and after that it depend on how much gas you feel you have to spare, it doesn’t seem to matter how long it runs it will still be cold when you get in. Letting the car run is not to benefit you but the car, it lets the engine slowly warm up so that it doesn’t go into cardiac arrest when you hit the road. Even though the engine is finally warm and ready to go the rest of the car is still a frozen block of ice...especially the wheels, imagine your tires as being square, that is exactly how your car feels as you drive to work...thung thung thung thung.......thung thung thung thung....as you are driving off you shake your head and wonder again as to why you are living here...no one is forcing you (I hope) is this by choice? Did I choose this? There are places in the world where you don’t need to go through all this......all the way to work I used to wonder “why am I here, what is keeping me here?”  You don’t just have to get yourself to work, 8 hours later you now have to start your car again to get yourself home....same frozen process, unless it has miraculously warmed up suddenly. I did discover 2 years ago that it is possible for me to work here during the summer and spend the winter in Mexico....and that is what I work for now. I am not sure what I used to work for years ago, just because I had to I guess. I never had any particular goal in mind....just going to work everyday like everyone else. Now that I am working so that I can spend the winter in Mexico it makes going to work more enjoyable, it makes putting money in my savings account fun...yes down right fun, it’s like a game now....how much can I squirrel away? How can I cut my cost living here more and more each year? As I started cutting my cost of living more and more I soon realized that life became simpler and simpler, I slowly started decluttering my life...”stuff” became less and less important. I started valuing my old things more because I wanted them to last forever now,  

I try to take better care of my clothes now because I don’t want to replace them, I make sure I don’t lose stuff, like the roll of tape, postage stamps....and other little things that used to send me running to store to just buy another one. I no longer forget that I have a head of lettuce in the crisper or find a box of half eaten stale crackers in the back of the cupboard. It’s easier to keep track of stuff in your house if you only bring in the stuff that you need. Even though I have made great headway in saving money and decluttering I do still have some vices that keep my saving account from reaching it’s absolute max, I love buying books, wool, fabric and I have a whole room of scrapbooking supplies that I haven’t touched in about 2 years. I spend a lot of money on a greenhouse and on building garden beds that I tell myself will pay for it’s self in time. So I am not totally cheap.....yet, but I am slowly getting there.

The Scallop guy, the Meat guy and dinner guests

I am having my first dinner guests over today. A wonderful couple from British Columbia whom I met at church are coming for dinner tonight. I when to the meat market yesterday and bought hamburger to make meat balls and ended up hanging out there for about an hour. Two of the guys there want to learn English and I need help with my Spanish so a chair was pulled up for me and we just started conversing, once in awhile getting interrupted by customers. One lady bought a whole pigs head and I had to ask “what do you do with that?” Turns out it has many uses but mostly used to make tacos, which would explain all the “head taco” signs I see everywhere. I ask the guys where I can buy scallops and they tried their best to give me directions to a guy that sells them out of his house (of course) but I could just not understand the directions. It was decided that I could just buy the scallops from the shrimp market downtown Mazatlan; I wanted to get some shrimp as well anyway. Before I headed off one of the meat guys wanted me to see his piece of land where he is starting to build a house, he was too busy with customers so he gets his cousin to take me up the hill on his guad (which is the meat delivery vehicle) We go way up the hill, he will have the tallest house on Stone Island. He figures he will be safe up there even if a tsunami comes. The view took my breath away, he had told me about the great view but I thought he had been exaggerating, wow, it was amazing. I could see the north side of Mazatlan and all the way along the Stone Island beach and all 1700 hectares of coconut plantations. He has a lot of work to do, so far they are just digging his foundation which is done by men with a spades. I hope I get to see the process of this house going up, I’m currently watching one being built across the street from me.....most interesting. Anyway, I head off to the docks to go to the shrimp market and run into Senor Papa, he asks me where I am going, I tell him I am off to buy scallops and shrimp. He says no need to go all the way to the market he knows a guy that sells scallops right here, tells me to get into his truck and off we go. We arrive at a house that is right around the corner from my house and a girl comes and gets into the back of the truck and we go a little further and she runs into a house and comes out with 2 bags of fresh scallops....money and scallops are exchanged and I get driven back home. Quite happy that I now have a scallop guy living right up the road a bit. I am really enjoying buying my groceries from individual people instead if shopping at a big store where you never actually have to speak to anyone if you don’t want to. This is so much more personal. I have a guy that I buy my fruit and vegetables from, he comes to my door everyday, I have the guy that I buy tamales from almost everyday, he also comes to my door. (He also has cheese and cactus) I have the lady that I buy my peanuts from, and of course the meat guy. There is a guy that walks door to door selling pastries and bread whom I have not bought anything from yet....I should get to know him as well. I found a lady that makes bread in a stone oven everyday....No, I don’t buy bread everyday. Of course we cannot forget the lady that sells me my tortillas and the alote lady. What will I do without tortillas and alote when I get home? I’ve learned how to eat tortillas with almost everything.
My trip to the shrimp market was uneventful; I came home with ½ kilo of great big shrimp and set to work getting ready for my guests. Meatballs had been put into the crock pot this morning and were ready. Usually bacon wrapped scallops would be done in an oven but since I don’t have an oven I fried them and they turned out great. I fried my shrimp in garlic butter.....so good! We had a great time just sitting on my roof and eating and chatting and eating some more. I am so blessed. I have some more friends coming for dinner next week and I think we will do the scallops and shrimp again...maybe chicken instead of meatballs. Or should I attempt to make head tacos?

Walking the beach, I never finished this story because I got side tracked

I’ve started to walk on the beach, or at least try to walk on the beach. It is very easy to get side tracked when you are on a mission with a plan. Today I decided no one was going to send me veering off my path, so when I approached the beach I snuck along the edge for a while so that my friend that works at one of the restaurants didn’t see me because that usually results in me sitting down and having a fruit drink and perhaps him introducing me to some more of his friends which is all great but I end up there until sundown. As I’m walking on the beach that is so long that you cannot see the end I am always am reminded of how incredibly blessed I am to be able to be here. I am literally living in my dreams. Walking along the ocean is also a reminder to me of how big God is. It is amazing to me to hear the thundering roll of the waves coming in and suddenly they roll over as if unfolding and slowly curl in to shore and gently lap up against my feet. They sound so powerful and scary at first but as they get closer they become so gentle. Kind of like God, until you get close and built a relationship with Him he can also appear scary and perhaps intimidating. Once you get close to him you will find his ever loving arms always open to you, and you will feel his gentle love always. I walk for an hour and the only people I encounter are two local surfers riding the waves and one lone gentleman walking his dog and the guy that rents out his horses was herding them home, 6 of them altogether. Out on the ocean I see a big tanker anchored, possibly waiting for his turn to dock....apparently there’re only so many ships allowed in at a time. I also see a little fishing boat, this is my favourite, with one lone fisherman casting out and hauling in a net. I love watching these boats; they seem so peaceful out there on the big ocean. I admire these fishermen; it seems like such a noble profession. As I come off the beach and head home I am just in awe over how different and simple life is here. I see hammocks hanging from trees and roof over hangs and they actually have people in them, on almost every front step there is someone either just sitting or someone bashing coconuts or a fisherman mending his nets (a common sight) someone scrubbing clothes or kids running around. People use their homes for sleeping and storing their stuff not for living in, for the most part life happens outside. If you live like this you really don’t need a very big house at all. As I continue on home I pass a baseball game, not a little league game, just some kids on an open lot with bases marked with pieces of trash and rocks, except for home plate, it’s so worn from sliding in it doesn’t need a marker. There are no uniforms, no adults standing around with clip boards and whistles, no bleachers and no hotdog stand....although there is a chicken stand just up the street. Judging from the boyish banter and hooting and hollerin it looks like fun is being had by all. As I get to the chicken stand I find a volleyball game going on right beside it with grown men and perhaps a few teenagers also hooting and hollerin and having a blast, parked on the side of the street are a row of motos and bicycles and one lone, very bored looking horse tethered to a pole. As I walk on I pass people coming home from work, (it must be about 4:00 ) fisherman carrying buckets, people pushing wheel barrows, men on bikes with spades and shovels and ladies carrying backpacks...possibly beach vendors. Young men with their black cases that they sell jewellery and watches and you name it out of on the beach. I see the hotdog stand in front of the Big City Deli being set up and across the road the taco stand that I had very good papa locos at a few nights ago is also in full swing with a small crowd gathering in front of it. I pass a stand that is just closing that I had not seem before (I do miss some things) I ask her what her hours are and was told they are only open during the day, she tells me they do still have tamales left over if I want, I decline as I already have a tamale guy....he comes by my house every morning and I don’t want to cheat on him. (it`s a small place, he will find out). I keep on my way home and pass the peanut stand, I search my pockets, I have no change....too bad, I love fresh roasted peanuts and they roast them right there. It took me a while to figure out what the funny looking contraption was, it`s a peanut roaster. I continue limping on....I`m wearing my thongs again.
Then I pass the cutest little Hansel and Gretel house, it is so tiny but so perfect and I can totally see me retiring in a little house like that (I`ll take a picture some day for you) this house looks very out of place as it is completely finished and very neatly painted and obviously loved and adored by it`s owners. The little front porch is just dreamy. I must get myself invited into this house sometime. The lady that sells fresh coconut cookies greets me and I stop to say the usual Buenas tardes, I don`t buy a coconut cookie because I have no change and although I really really love coconut I find them a bit too sweet for me, I wonder if I can ask her to make some for me with less sugar. Maybe I`ll just make my own, there`s an idea. I pass by the little confectionary store that I can sometimes buy a great big Marlin sandwich for 7 pesos at. On the front porch there are the usual 5 or 6 men playing Dominoes, they always seem to be here at about this time.
I get home just as the sky is turning pink, it`s sundown, I debate if I want to walk just a little further so that I can see the sun set over the ocean but I decide that since I don`t have my camera I better not, I would be so disappointed if it turned out to be a magnificent sunset and me with out my camera so I just head on upstairs to my little loft. This little place is really starting to feel like home when I walk through the door. I really didn`t think I would feel so at home here, I knew I would feel at home here in Mexico but I didn`t think that this house would ever feel as homey as my house at home does. I always though that my house at home was special in a way that it made me feel very comfortable and safe and I always loved going home to it, even if I was only coming home from work. I somehow thought that if I moved I would never have that comfortable feeling again but I guess I was wrong. I already love coming home to this house and I`ve only been here 2 months. My things aren’t even in here, all my wonderful things that I`ve collected over the years that I felt I had to have in order to make my house a home, they`re not here and yet I feel perfectly at home... Interesting.

Miracles needed and wanted

Acts 3 tells the story of Peter and John healing a lame man in the name of Jesus. Peter and John were not Jesus, they were ordinary men, no different from anyone else. Peter acknowledges in verse 16 that it is in Jesus’ name that the man was healed, not through the power of Peter and John. It was through the name of Jesus that Peter had the authority to say in verse 6 “in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk”. Did Peter just assume he had the authority to say that or did he receive a message from Jesus telling him to say that? Last week at Casa Damasco we prayed over a man that is in great pain. He had a leg injury of some kind (I don’t know the whole story) the doctors put a metal rod inside his leg and now he has a very bad infection, his leg is all swollen and the flesh did not heal around the rod and now seems to be shrinking, the rod is almost completely exposed now. It is a horrendous sight and I feel pain just looking at it. We laid hands on him and the Pastor prayed (as we always do) and when he finished another gentleman said “but we didn’t pray for a miracle of healing, that is what the man needs” so we prayed again, for miraculous healing to take place, when we finished we all shook the mans hand, gave him a hug and wished him well and went on our way. When we finished praying I noticed that no one asked the man to pull up his pant leg so we could see if he had been healed.....why? Why did I not ask? Could the answer to that possibly be the same reason why a healing did not take place? I didn’t ask him to pull up his pant leg because I didn’t think he would be healed, why did I bother praying then? Why did I just know that I didn’t have the authority to say “in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk”. I prayed in the name of Jesus Christ, I believe that Jesus can still heal; I believe that Jesus does give the power of healing to us ordinary people. Is it my faith that is stopping the miracles from happening? Yesterday we had another instance when we felt we were on the brink of a miracle but nothing happened. There is a lady that lives on the Island that I am on that has MS, she is in a wheelchair and cannot use her hands anymore at all, her fingers are so clawed that she can’t even turn the pages of her bible, she’s a very devout Christian. Her husband and her two young sons (17 & 19) have to take care of her completely; I can’t imagine how humbling that must be for her and my heart just goes out to her. Since she can’t come to our Bible study we go to her house to do a bible study with her once a week. This week the La Vina had a missions team from the US come so about 4 of the team members were with us as well, just before we left we prayed over her (as we usually do) we were saying our good-byes and one of team members was just over come with the Holy Spirit and she felt that there would be healing taking place so we laid hands on her again and prayed, the lady was crying out, most of us were crying in anticipation of a miracle and nothing happened. Two of the people had visions of her getting up and walking, she said she felt her feet get extremely hot and felt that she should be floating.....but nothing. As I was wiping her tears my heart was just breaking for her, I felt like we had gotten her hopes up and then failed her. Why did God hold back? This is the kind of miracle that this Island needs to bring glory to God; I think an amazing miracle that this would do amazing things for Gods’ Kingdom. The devil has ruled here for so long why is God not taking this opportunity to take back some territory? Or is it not God that is holding back, is it us and our weak faith that is holding God back? I feel like I’m way over my head here.