(This picture was taken one year ago at our family Christmas Celebration at Laurel's. We are feeling the loss of Reuben who passed in May 2006. Mom was still with us. Aunty Bea and Uncle Norm were visiting. Soca was enjoying the family gathering. We lost Mom the day after Mother's Day in 2007. Soca was run over and had to be put down. Rita and Glenn were married in Cuba. Three new children have arrived since then: Nadine and Franco's first, Aliyah; Kaitlyn and Trevor's first, Nevaeh; Jarl and Rebecca's second, Parker Anders. Our family celebration this year will be at Nadine and Franco's on December 29th. We will be missing Vanessa, John, and Zechariah who are in Australia.)Trevor, Aina's boyfriend, is up for the weekend. He brought two snowmobiles, and all the necessary gear for himself and Aina. They are off to Canadian Tire first to purchase a helmet for Madison so they can all go snowmobiling for the afternoon. They couldn't ask for a nicer day to be outside. It is not too cold, the skies are blue, and the sun is shining. Aina prepared a lovely breakfast for all of us with fresh fruit salad and waffles. The waffles were delightful with a hint of spice (cinnamon) and egg nog used in place of milk or buttermilk.
Yesterday I took Madison to an old-fashioned community Christmas celebration at the Pioneer Village Museum at Lac Cardinal just outside of Grimshaw. The museum consists of several historical buildings set up to look like a little village. Some of the buildings are original: the schoolhouse, the Catholic church from Worsely, a couple of log houses, and the old store. Some are re-creations : the old railway station, the bakery, the UFA, and a few others. The museum is clearly a labour of love. All the work has been done by seniors whose average age is about 70 years. They are having difficulty finding volunteers to continue this project.
We went to the old hall first for Pancake Breakfast. The hall was kept warm and cosy by a wood fire. We enjoyed pancakes and scrambled eggs prepared by the ladies in the kitchen, and sausages grilled on the outside barbecue by some of the men. Beverages included cold juice, coffee, and hot apple cider. A highlight was music provided by Wayne Archer of Weberville. He entertained by playing the guitar and singing Christmas carols. What made it so special is that he wandered from table to table, stopping for a while at each table to entertain. He asked for requests from adults and children. He had a warm personality, clearly enjoyed himself, and had a beautiful voice, too.
Throughout the afternoon Madison and I had several rides on horse-drawn sleighs. The first was on a cutter pulled by one caramel-coloured horse (whose name was Hawaiian for Cathy) and driven by a Mr. Pimm whose father, interestingly enough, had settled in the James River area which is near our home by Caroline. We also rode on a sleigh pulled by the Percheron cross horse team of Mavis and Maude and driven by Chris McLaughlin, and the Canadian team Pete and Pal driven by Chris' Dad. We were told that Chris' Mom Sue works for the Grimshaw Town Office and is a wonderful quilter. We met the delightful Janelle and her three children, ages 4 - 9. I told her I was going home for Christmas as I missed my home and husband. She said she understood as her husband works in the oilfield and is away a good deal of the time. Today I was thinking about the old-fashioned sleigh ride compared to the modern one (snowmobile). I told Madison that she was very lucky to experience both in the same weekend.
Madison spent most of her time yesterday at the old schoolhouse making Christmas decorations. She can entertain herself for hours being creative. The building was not much larger than our little cabin in Caroline. It, too, was heated by a wood fire. The east wall was mostly large windows so there was a lot of natural light. Not far from the schoolhouse was a large bonfire and a smaller fire in a pit for roasting weiners and bannock. Large cups of hot chocolate were also available. I prepared lunch for some of the adult helpers in the schoolhouse as well as for Madison and myself. I also joined in the singsong with Suzanne and Tom McCann around the fire.
Being in the schoolhouse reminded me of one of Mom's stories. Mom said that her Mother had the contract for cleaning the Miquelon School. On a day-to-day basis my Mom would arrive early at school to stoke the fire, sweep the floors, and dust the desks. Even at an early age Mom was very entrepreneurial! Of course, I shared with Madison that her Great Grandma had gone to a school like the one we were in, and that winter transport for Great Grandma was a horse-drawn sleigh.
We left Pioneer Village around 2:30 and headed back to Grimshaw. We stopped at the Super A Food Store to buy cheesecloth to wrap my homemade fruitcake in, and we stopped at the Dollar Store to purchase, believe it or not, more craft supplies! Madison spent the evening with her Mom and Trevor. I went to Berwyn for the Lac Cardinal Regional Performing Arts Society presentation of "A Dickens of a Christmas," a musical based on "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. All the performers were children who were directed by Bill Sheets, the principal of Berwyn School. It is such a joy to see the wonderful effort put forth by young children! Dickens' tale has always been one of my favorites. As a youth I never missed watching it on TV at Christmas. When I was in grade 6 at Kingman School, my class performed a version of this play, directed by our very warm and caring teacher, Mr. Lyle Erga. A favorite Christmas song is one performed by Maria Dunn who stars as Tiny Tim in the Christmas Carol Project in Edmonton. I have never seen this performance but would surely like to. I like the words of the chorus of this song: "God bless us everyone with the riches of the soul and may hopelessness ne'er be the demon standing at your door!"
Yesterday I took Madison to an old-fashioned community Christmas celebration at the Pioneer Village Museum at Lac Cardinal just outside of Grimshaw. The museum consists of several historical buildings set up to look like a little village. Some of the buildings are original: the schoolhouse, the Catholic church from Worsely, a couple of log houses, and the old store. Some are re-creations : the old railway station, the bakery, the UFA, and a few others. The museum is clearly a labour of love. All the work has been done by seniors whose average age is about 70 years. They are having difficulty finding volunteers to continue this project.
We went to the old hall first for Pancake Breakfast. The hall was kept warm and cosy by a wood fire. We enjoyed pancakes and scrambled eggs prepared by the ladies in the kitchen, and sausages grilled on the outside barbecue by some of the men. Beverages included cold juice, coffee, and hot apple cider. A highlight was music provided by Wayne Archer of Weberville. He entertained by playing the guitar and singing Christmas carols. What made it so special is that he wandered from table to table, stopping for a while at each table to entertain. He asked for requests from adults and children. He had a warm personality, clearly enjoyed himself, and had a beautiful voice, too.
Throughout the afternoon Madison and I had several rides on horse-drawn sleighs. The first was on a cutter pulled by one caramel-coloured horse (whose name was Hawaiian for Cathy) and driven by a Mr. Pimm whose father, interestingly enough, had settled in the James River area which is near our home by Caroline. We also rode on a sleigh pulled by the Percheron cross horse team of Mavis and Maude and driven by Chris McLaughlin, and the Canadian team Pete and Pal driven by Chris' Dad. We were told that Chris' Mom Sue works for the Grimshaw Town Office and is a wonderful quilter. We met the delightful Janelle and her three children, ages 4 - 9. I told her I was going home for Christmas as I missed my home and husband. She said she understood as her husband works in the oilfield and is away a good deal of the time. Today I was thinking about the old-fashioned sleigh ride compared to the modern one (snowmobile). I told Madison that she was very lucky to experience both in the same weekend.
Madison spent most of her time yesterday at the old schoolhouse making Christmas decorations. She can entertain herself for hours being creative. The building was not much larger than our little cabin in Caroline. It, too, was heated by a wood fire. The east wall was mostly large windows so there was a lot of natural light. Not far from the schoolhouse was a large bonfire and a smaller fire in a pit for roasting weiners and bannock. Large cups of hot chocolate were also available. I prepared lunch for some of the adult helpers in the schoolhouse as well as for Madison and myself. I also joined in the singsong with Suzanne and Tom McCann around the fire.
Being in the schoolhouse reminded me of one of Mom's stories. Mom said that her Mother had the contract for cleaning the Miquelon School. On a day-to-day basis my Mom would arrive early at school to stoke the fire, sweep the floors, and dust the desks. Even at an early age Mom was very entrepreneurial! Of course, I shared with Madison that her Great Grandma had gone to a school like the one we were in, and that winter transport for Great Grandma was a horse-drawn sleigh.
We left Pioneer Village around 2:30 and headed back to Grimshaw. We stopped at the Super A Food Store to buy cheesecloth to wrap my homemade fruitcake in, and we stopped at the Dollar Store to purchase, believe it or not, more craft supplies! Madison spent the evening with her Mom and Trevor. I went to Berwyn for the Lac Cardinal Regional Performing Arts Society presentation of "A Dickens of a Christmas," a musical based on "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. All the performers were children who were directed by Bill Sheets, the principal of Berwyn School. It is such a joy to see the wonderful effort put forth by young children! Dickens' tale has always been one of my favorites. As a youth I never missed watching it on TV at Christmas. When I was in grade 6 at Kingman School, my class performed a version of this play, directed by our very warm and caring teacher, Mr. Lyle Erga. A favorite Christmas song is one performed by Maria Dunn who stars as Tiny Tim in the Christmas Carol Project in Edmonton. I have never seen this performance but would surely like to. I like the words of the chorus of this song: "God bless us everyone with the riches of the soul and may hopelessness ne'er be the demon standing at your door!"
My car is at the autobody shop until Wednesday. I am using a loaner, a blue Ford Station Wagon. Hopefully all goes well with getting the work completed and paid for. So far I have no sub days booked for this coming week. My plan is to do some more baking and some packing. I hope to head for home (Caroline) on Thursday or Friday. I plan to attend Madison's school concert on Thursday morning.
Jarl and Rebecca and Spencer and Parker were here on Friday evening. We shared pizza that they brought from Panago. We had planned to go to the live nativity at the Mile Zero Evangelical Church in Grimshaw. However Spencer was not feeling well, Parker was ready for a feed, the evening was cold, and we were all a little tired from a busy week. We enjoyed a quiet evening visiting indoors. Sonja called. She was looking forward to going out with Ben, a new fellow she had met. She had one exam left to write on Saturday morning. On Monday she plans to go to Edmonton to spend a few days with Kai and to go shopping. Helge also called Friday evening and talked with family. Even though we are separated by distance we try to stay connected. Aina wrote her Module 1 Accounting Exam on Saturday so is greatly relieved to not have to worry about studying for a while!
I have a sniffle today so plan a quiet kind of day. That might include a nap and some correspondence. However, I should make the effort to get outdoors for a walk as it is such a lovely day! Though I am missing my home and husband and old friends my heart has been warmed by memories of the past and sharing good times with my children and grandchildren and new acquaintances.
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