Back to School!

Just a quick note; been a crazy week! School started, and I had a scrapbooking gathering Thursday night, and now to get ready for Dalton's big Wish trip next week. Lots to do, as usual, so little time.
Surprised this week two learn two of my scrappy pals were in the hospital...best wished to Rebecca and Yvonne, hoping you get home soon, and feeling much better.  Certainly missed you Thursday night! The gals surprised me with abirthday party at teh gathering. I have been so overwhelmed with everything, I hadn't even given my birthday much thought.
Mother In Law just stopped by and invited us to supper tomorrow night! That will be great! I always refuse to cook on my birthday (and Mother's Day), so this will ensure the Brown family gets fed!

Grammie Grace

Grammie Grace passed away yesterday morning in the Nursing Home. We were not surprised, as she was 95 years old. The amazing thing was, when we visited her last week, she was still knitting Barbie Clothes, just as she had so many years ago.
Grace was an amazing woman. A hard worker, and so creative. When I think of how stubborn Philip can be by times, and how stubborn his mother is; I know exactly right where it came from. Grace had such determination, and could be so contrary. But when you are in your 90's, you have every right to be contrary. Grace led her life HER way. She was so independent, and hated the idea of going to the Nursing Home. It was so sad when she couldn't get a bed in GM, and had to go to Passamaquoddy for awhile. It was ok, though, because that just meant other family members got to visit her.
When I first started seeing Philip, I remember her going to market with her card table and styrofoam trays with Barbie clothes. And lobster suckers! I thought those were the most amazing. Eventually, she stopped going to market, and finally went to the Nursing Home. Dalton and I decided when we started going to market, we would sell lobster suckers, too; our little tribute to carrying on Grace's tradition. Every week, we headed to the nursing home right after church. It was often a short visit, as Dalton was always hungry and Grace had just finished her dinner. But we know it meant a lot to her.
When Dalton first got sick last summer, the family tried to shelter Grace, but word travels in a small community very quickly. I finally made the call home from ICU, to assure her Dalton would be alright and to not worry. It eased her mind somewhat, but she still worried, naturally.
Through the winter while we lived away, we would try to call Grace with updates again, especially on Sunday afternoons. The day we got the news at the hospital that Dalton could finally go home to Grand Manan was a pretty happy one. We had our list of people who had to get phone calls, including grand parents, Selena and Caroyl. The special people in Dalton's heart.
And of course, Grammie Grace. I managed to contain myself through phone calls, until that one. Tears came on both ends of the phone. She was so happy, and made us promise to drive up to her window at the nursing home so she could see for herself that Dalton had finally come home.
Thanks, Wilfed, for doing that!
This morning I went for my walk again at 6:30. The air is cool, feels fallish, and I watched two flocks of Canada Geese go by in formation. That is one of my most favorite things in the world. Almost as if God is telling us to stop and look around, time is going past; so be sure to make some noise along the way, and enjoy the beauty of the land. Thanks, Grace, for passing through our lives, and making some noise along the way.

Sneak Peeks!

FOG!!

Yesterday morning on my walk, it was simply gorgeous again...but I could hear foghorns off in the distance. I picked a pile of blackberries, and think I am about finished with them!!
One more batch of jam; blueberry I think, and I will be done with the jams for the year!
We had an interesting phone call this week from Children's Wish. Rocky's Sports Bar in Saint John has asked to sponsor Dalton's Wish trip to Toronto, and would like to meet him before school goes in. So, we are making a stop over in SJ next weekend, on our way to Halifax. They are providing meals and travel expenses, plus a night at the Hampton Inn & Suites. Dalton and I have stayed there once before and loved it! Very Nice! It will be good to meet the owner of Rocky's plus our Wish Coordinator, Marilyn.
Spent last night scrapping with he girls...wow! two nights in a row! Dalton had his first "girl/boy" party this week, so he was in need of a girly girl card. Not in my forte...but I had fun with it. Here's the pic of what I came up with, using CTMH Tickled Pink and Star Power stamp set. Of course, I can't just make one, so now I have a dozen girly girl cards!

Last week at Market tomorrow! It has been good, and Dalton has sold lots of Patio Stones, with only a few left. We will be traveling over the next two Saturday's, and with only one Market Day left of the season when we get back, I think we'll call it quits for 2010. It has been great to meet so many friends, old and new at market.
Hope to see you there tomorrow!

Where did this week go??

oh yeah...mostly Deep Cove!

Dalton had a great week of going to Deep Cove beach just about every day. I enjoyed the time in the sun with my novel.

Also enjoyed some...ok, LOTS of blackberries! Had friends over this week for a BBQ, yummy honey garlic chicken kabobs, great salads and blackberry cheesecake!!

Philip brought home more today. Now what? Someone emailed a great looking recipe for blackberry pudding, but I don't know if there will be enough left by morning...Dalton has loved having blackberries evrymorning for breakfast.

We had a great visit tonight with Mrs. Romig, She is such a dear; and nice to see Vicky and Doug, too. I love the Romig family; everyone of them is so genuine, warm hearted. Philip's siblings grew up hanging out with the Romig kids every summer, as they visited from Rochester, New York a their summer home on Philip's Point. When it was time for Philip and I to decide on a minister to marry us, there was no question, it had to be Mr. Romig. We miss not seeing him at the house

September?

brr...a certain chill in the air, makes it feel like September...shiver!!!
Yesterday turned out to be a gorgeous day, and warmed up nicely. Dalton begged to go Deep Cove, for the second day in a row, but I convinced him to just rest, so he could go to Teen Night at the Club.
Today, we shall go to the beach though!
We enjoyed some time with Tom and Dan, Dalton's younger cousins. It is hard for him now, you notice the age difference between them, so he isn't as excited to hang out with them. Of course, this became especially clear when his own friends arrived on the beach!
This week seemed like a long one, with chemo trip to DECH on Mon/Tues, and then going to St Stephen on Wed to pick up Callie's things. That was hard. Thursday was a pretty slow day, both of us feeling the need to catch up on R & R. I finished my novel, started another one. I just read Even Now, by KAren Kingsbury. It was ok, certainly nice and light for summer, but so predictable, and I didn't feel like the characters had true depth.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The latest offering from Christian publishing phenom Kingsbury spills over with her trademark sentimentality and easy prose, but is marred by melodramatic implausibilities. In the prologue, Emily Anderson, a beautiful, brilliant, athletic college freshman is pining for her lost parents, at which point the novel flashes back to how they got lost. While Kingsbury strives to make their disappearance believable, it never quite adds up. In particular, readers are led to believe that Emily's famous fighter pilot father had been inaccessible to her because she was spelling his name wrong when doing internet searches. Still, the story is less of a stretch than Kingsbury's mistaken identity novel, One Tuesday Morning, and this one is also more complex and nuanced: it deals with teenage pregnancy, Iraq and Afghanistan. Kingsbury indicates in her author's note she believes she has represented the debate fairly, and there's no doubt her treatment of the topic is gentler than most, but she conflates Christianity with conservatism and support for the war. Her one antiwar character is a liberal non-Christian who, despite being a seasoned war correspondent, appears never to have thought very deeply about her beliefs. As is the case with Kingsbury's other books, any shortcomings are unlikely to faze her ardent fan base.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description

Sometimes hope for the future is found in the ashes of yesterday.Shane Galanter---a man ready to put down roots after years of searching. But is he making the right choice? Or is there a woman somewhere who even now remembers---as does he---those long-ago days . . . and a love that hasn't faded with time?Lauren Gibbs---a successful international war correspondent who gave up on happily-ever-after years ago---when it was ripped away from her. Since then, she's never looked back. So how come she can't put to rest the one question that haunts her: Why is life so empty?Emily Anderson---a college freshman raised by her grandparents, and about to take her first internship as a journalist. But before she can move ahead, she discovers a love story whose tragic ending came with her birth. As a result, she is drawn to look back and search out the mother she's never met.A young woman seeking answers to her heart's deep questions. A man and woman separated by lies and long years. . . yet who have never forgotten each other. With hallmark tenderness and power, Karen Kingsbury weaves a tapestry of lives, losses, love, and faith---and the miracle of resurrection.
(from Amazon)
Now I am reading Beneath the Harvest Sky by Tracie Peterson. Set in the 30s, I am enjoying this one a bit more. Apparently it is book 3 of a mini series; found it at a yard sale, but so far I don't think I am losing out by not having read 1 & 2.
Well, off to start the day; get meds ready and dressed for church. I was doing well with my morning walks, but just couldn't get out the door this morning. Tomorrow!

:o(

Had a fun time at Rotary Festival, but a solemn mood hung over Dalton as we waited to hear from the vet on Friday about his dear little Callie. Thanks to Hugh and Sandra, who were heading to the Vet anyway, Callie was able to get checked out, and was tested for Feline Leukemia. When the vet first called to suggest that test, we were blown away. How much Leukemia can one kid handle? Friday morning we learned the test was negative, but still, no one could tell us what was wrong. The vet gave her antibiotics, and told us he would like to do bloodwork, but didn't feel she was strong enough yet, he would see if she could get through the weekend. Unfortunately, we got a call Saturday morning to say she didn't make it.

It was hard to tell Dalton, but he didn't say much, expecting such news. He remained quiet the rest of the day.

I know we didn't have Callie in our lives very long, but she quickly found a special spot in Dalton's heart. She is one of the two cats that showed up the week before Dalton got sick last summer. She and her sister were abandoned on the pulp road beside our property, with a bag of cat food. She was a petite calico, quite endearing and gentle. We were happy when Ms. McQuaid, Dalton's teacher, became her foster mom for the winter. Dalton looked forward to getting her back in the spring when we returned home. Callie had a bedtime routine...every night when Dalton went to bed, she would run upstairs and settle in on a pillow beside Dalton. It probably didn't hurt that Dalton kept a bag of treats in his night stand drawer! Callie would fall asleep as Dalton did, but when Philip or I headed up to bed a couple of hours later, she would pop in our room and snuggle in on our quilts. When morning came, Dalton was usually the first one up, and she would follow him down stairs.

Every day of life.

Funny how cats can even establish their own routines, and adapt to their humans with habits!

She wasn't too thrilled about Wilson showing up at our house, but the hissing actually subsided over the past few weeks.

We have since had several offers for replacement kitties. I know people mean well, but it annoys me, because Dalton needs time to grieve. The same thing happened when his kitty Hermione died last March. We would never dream of trying to replace any other family member that passed away, so why are pets any different?

I am sure we will have another kitty in the future, but we are in no hurry. I am a firm believer in cats choosing their owners, so the right one will choose Dalton when the time is right.

It worked for Hermione and for Callie, and even for Wilson. They all have their own unique qualities, but were so special in their own way for how they interacted with Dalton. That's why I love cats! They choose us!