Troubleshooting or Shooting Trouble

A comment on Pat Bertram’s recent post made me giggle. Part of her day’s activities had been trying to troubleshoot a printer connection and repair a wobbly daybed. Then there was gardening begging for attention and a pile of boxes needing to be moved, but an injured knee made both tasks difficult. As she relayed

Home is Where?

You’ve heard the cliches: “Home is where your heart is” and “Home is where you hang your hat.” How many homes have you had? Were any of them memorable? This morning the authors of the Jungle Red Writers blog were reminiscing about their first apartments and that got me to thinking back to ours. We

Advent II – Live in Peace

Our world sure is a troubled place! Every newscast I saw today featured shots of hatred in action: fighting, killing and destruction. Today was the second Sunday in Advent, and we began the worship service at my church by lighting the second candle representing Peace. (The first candle last week was for Hope.) There are lots

Research? What kind of research?

It doesn’t seem to matter what the task is, unless it’s something I’ve done before, research has to come first. Changing the needle on the sewing machine? Check the manual. Removing a stain from delicate fabric? Google my options. Bake a special dessert? Get out the cookbook. Refinish deck furniture? Find a YouTube video and follow the

Making Vimy Ridge Personal

War has always seemed a very distant reality to me. As I was growing up, it existed mostly in sepia photos and scratchy news reels that preceded our Saturday afternoon matinées. For a time, WWII separated our family when my enlisted father was sent from Vancouver to Toronto in 1945 to be a masonry contractor during the

Another Generation

My St. Patrick’s Day post shared bits of my family background, including photos of my two sets of grandparents. They were a big part of my life all the way through childhood. Once I was married, however, life took my hubby and me away to live in assorted provinces throughout Canada — places where the

Musing

More than six years have passed since I wrote about a young man in our church (see ‘Supporting a Young Singer/Songwriter’s Dream‘) … about his talent and his dream. Johnathan Booy didn’t win the CBC competition that year, but he has made great strides towards achieving his dream. In 2015 he graduated from the University of British Columbia with

When music makes me feel old…

Every so often something grinds me to a stop and makes me consider my age. Music isn’t usually one of those things. Oh, there’s always the knowing look when a particular genre turns up on the truck’s radio and I change stations because I find it jarring. Someone is bound to think, “Old fogies are in control of

Advent I – Waiting in Hope

In church Sunday morning the children were asked what they saw that was different in the sanctuary. One youngster immediately pointed to a banner on the chancel wall: “Hope”. Another acknowledged the Advent wreath with its candles. Hope was our focus on the first Sunday of Advent. As the first of the candles was lit, we read the liturgy…

Remembrance Day 2016

Father-in-law EDISON L. GARVIN Father JOHN H. (JACK) McGUIRE Blessed to have good memories of all my parents, and of their siblings, including an uncle, HARRY McGUIRE, who also did military service in Canada during World War II. ~  ~  ~