These are some of the cards I've made in the last two months.  Click on them to see them close up. 
The upstairs "guest" room is slowly but surely becoming my room.  The closet where all those drawers full of sewing stuff had been - well the drawers are still there, but now they are full of papercrafting stuff - and sorted too!
The little desk right by the door is where I do some of my cardmaking now.  Most of the pictures above were taken at that desk.  I used the mirror on the wall to take the picture of me taking the picture.

Dec 11th

Dad and I at the Senior's Christmas Dinner in Barriere.  I was taking the picture with my left hand, which is why I was sort of leaning in to dad, I was trying to make sure I got myself in the picture, too!

Thanksgiving Dinner (2010) in Merritt

The above were all taken at Sylvia's in Merritt.  Antoon, Merina and Liz came up from Vancouver for the day.  Dad, Wim and I came over from Barriere.  The turkey, and other dishes were scrumptious.  We were positively stuffed!  Dad had a low count at lunch and so could really have a decent serving of everything, including dessert.  Unfortunately, the dessert was rather sweet, so by suppertime his count was kinda high.
Oh well, by the next day it had settled back to normal again.
Sylvia gave Liz a sewing kit, and that is what she is playing with in the pictures.

2 days to Christmas...

Well, this Christmas is turning out pretty good I think.  My boss, Al, gave me a turkey, some butter and a huge block of cheddar cheese for Christmas, as well as a wrapped present.  I got (and gave) presents to my two other co-workers, Lisa and Jill. 
I bought Wim a new pair of boots (and already gave them to him as his were starting to fall apart), and dad a lovely warm cap with flaps to cover his ears.  I also got dad a small box of sugarless Purdy's hedgehogs which he'll get on Christmas Eve.
Poor Cleo, she's very disgusted with the weather.  She keeps meowing to be let out, but takes one look outside and comes right back in.  I think she's looking for the door to summer!
Tomorrow, Friday that is, I'll take the turkey out of the freezer to thaw.  I'll be cooking it on Saturday.  We'll also be having, yams, beets, a garden salad, potatoes, gravy, and cranberry sauce.  Dad and Wim don't care for stuffing, so we won't bother making that.
For dessert, I've make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, speculaas (dutch spice cookies), and fudge.
I know we'll have plenty of leftovers for Sunday if Sylvia, Antoon and Merina (and Liz if she comes) decide to stay for supper.  For Sunday I'm making another dessert. I've picked up some chocolate shells which I will fill with milk chocolate pudding, topped with a marachino (gah - how do you spell that!) cherry.  Yum!
My next several posts will have pictures of various things and events from the last few months.  (I finally got around to downloading all the pictures off my camera - there were over 300!)

This is my puss - Cleo... otherwise known as Mao.

Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Well, 2010 certainly was an interesting year.

Way back in January, I was busy trying to find work... and managed to land a part time job with a local fellow who makes signs and does computer repair and web designing. That particular job has dropped down to just a couple of hours a month for me to keep his books up to date.

Then in February, the local newspaper office asked if I was interested in being their office manager as their (then) current office manager would be retiring at the end of March. That job has worked out wonderfully for me, especially as the office is right across the street from our house!!! Yay! It is Monday through Friday, from 9-5, except Fridays when sometimes we close early.

I thoroughly enjoy the work and my boss and co-workers have expressed their appreciation and approval of my work.

In early June I took part in the Celebration of the Arts Festival here in Barriere and sold many of my handmade cards (which was a lot of fun).

My garden thrived for the most part, although my tomatoes were so late in coming that I ended up picking them while they were still green, as otherwise the fall frost would have gotten them. The sweet peas were very prolific and supplemented our meals many times.

Dad was given a scooter in the Spring by the Barriere Lion's Club. He has enjoyed riding it to town and back on the warm summer days and even partly into the fall - it was fun to see Wim trotting along beside him. Once it got cold, he parked it in the garage, where it will stay till the weather warms up again in the spring.

For Father’s Day we went to Sylvia’s in Merritt and had a great afternoon of fun.  The only ones who didn’t make it were Robert and Loretta, but they did call.

At the beginning of September Barriere always holds their North Thompson Fall Fair and Rodeo on Labour Day weekend.  The week prior to the Fair they invite all the residents and local businesses to “get into the spirit” of the Fair by dressing up their yards, shops and also themselves! 

Here I am in my home-made Scarecrow outfit.  I made the skirt, and Sylvia helped me finish the top.  It is made entirely (except the hat) of discarded men’s ties.  I won first prize for the best ladies outfit!

October wasn't a great month for us at home though - too many things going expensively wrong. Four times, virtually in a row, the furnace broke down and the last of those times they said it wasn't worth repairing & would have to be replaced. That was the same day they were in replacing our hot water tank which had sprung a leak about 5 days earlier. Unfortunately, in order to turn off water to the hot water tank (so that we wouldn't get a basement full of water), we had to turn off the water to the whole house, except for the outside taps. What a pain! For 5 days we had to bring in buckets of water to flush the toilets! Needless to say, we ate out a lot.
It's amazing what we Canadians take for granted.

For the furnace, replacing it was going to cost over $5000, which, after all the repairs we had just paid for, we didn't have! Dad applied for a grant from the Home Owners Association, and on December 8th we received the reply that it was approved! Hooray! They are coming on December 13th to put it in for us.

Luckily, so far this winter has been fairly mild, and our space heaters have been able to keep the house warm enough. (Not counting 2 days in November when it was about -20, the house did get a little cool then.)

In November, Dad, Wim and I drove up to Merritt where the rest of the family (except for Robert & Loretta who couldn't make it) were waiting to have a lovely Thanksgiving dinner.

Dad is doing great for the most part. Every once in a while his stump develops a sore and then heals, and the one toe on his left foot is still slowly healing (from the original amputation), but as we check it every night we are able to make sure it doesn't get infected.

The doctor has lowered his insulin again, as his count periodically dips into the 2's and 3's. He doesn't mind too much having a low count once in a while, as it means he can indulge in some treats - like chocolate!

So, how are YOU doing? Anything exciting happening in your neck-of-the-woods?

For those of you with internet connections, feel free to check out my site - houtep.blogspot.com - I try to write in there when interesting things happen... and will try to write even more often in 2011!

Best wishes to all for a lovely Christmas, and a healthy and happy 2011.

Love,
Margaret

Dress Like a Scarecrow Day, Aug 26, 2010

Thursday was Dress Like a Scarecrow Day in Barriere, BC. The Labour Day weekend brings the 61st Annual North Thompson Fall Fair & Rodeo and the whole town is gearing up for this big event. The Fair brings around 10,000 people into Barriere for the weekend and is the single biggest event every year for the municipality... and a whole lot of fun!

Thursday was a perfect chance for me to wear my tie outfit. I made the skirt years ago, and Sylvia just recently finished off the top. (I had sewn the ties together into panels and then gotten stuck on how to turn it into a top.)

Until further notice, this will be the picture for my blog.

Loretta, you may recognize the crow scarecrow on my hat... it's the one you gave me attached to a present a year or two ago.

An Interview With Dad (for Jack)

Here are all of Dad's answers to Jack's list of questions.

Name: Antoon Houben
Born: March 26, 1928

In 1928, in the Netherlands where I was born, the ruler was Queen Wilhelmina. In Canada, there was King George V, Governor General Viscount Willingdon, and Prime Minister William Lyon MacKenzie King.

Pets? No, not really. My dad had some hunting dogs, but I didn’t have any. Unless you count the rabbits. During the war years (WWII) I raised rabbits for food.

The only nickname I had was Toon or Toontje, which are just a shortened versions of Antoon.

Oh, there were lots of inventions over the years! TV’s were just starting (the first TV program was aired in 1925) and my family’s bike shop was one of the first places in town to get one. The bicycle dynamo, arc-welding, refrigeration (both fridges and freezers), and while we had electricity – there were no electronic gadgets or computers.

The only real advise I would give is “learn a trade”. Having a trade is such an important thing.

The building my family lived in was partly our home and partly the family business. It was built in a square with an open courtyard in the middle and had three floors, not counting the cellar.
On the front wing, facing the main street, the bottom floor on the right was the electrical shop, on the left was the bicycle shop, with a narrow hallway between them leading to the courtyard. On the left hand wing , the bottom two floors were for the family. The top floor was rented out.
On the right hand wing, the bottom floor was for family, and the top two floors were rented out.
On the back wing, the bottom floor was a repair shop and space for customers to park their bikes. The train station was across the street (from the front of our place) and many people would park their bikes with us. The second floor was a warehouse. The top floor was storage.
The family area included about 8 rooms including the kitchen and an office.
While we had electricity, there were no indoor toilets, just 2 outhouses in the courtyard. Once a week I carried a 3 gallon pail of warm water up to my room for a sponge bath.

I’m the second youngest of 12 children! From oldest to youngest this is the list of all of us kids:
Johannes Josephus Gerardus (Jan) b. 1910
Gerardus Johannes Josephus (Sjra) b. 1912
Josephus Gerardus Johannes (Sef) b. 1913
Maria Hubertina (Mia) b. 1915
Arnoldina Petronella (Dientje) b. 1917
Leonard (Leo) b. 1919
Piet b. 1921
Hendrik (Harry) b. 1923
Elisabeth Petronella (Liske) b. 1924
Petronella (Nelly) b. 1926
Me – Antoon (Toon) b. 1928
Josephine (Jo) 1931
My parents were Hubert Mathijs Houben (1885-1959) and Theodora Vestjens (1888-1945).
My dad started a bicycle shop under the name "Houvest". The Houvest brand was registered April 5, 1946 and the Mijnwerker (mineworker) brand was registered April 17, 1946. Both brands of bike were registered for Stationstraat 27, Heerlen, and under the business name Houvest, H. M. Houben-Vestjens.
Stationstraat means Station Street – named this because of the train station.

I was born at home, #27 Stationstraat, Heerlen, Limberg, the Netherlands. The midwife came about 8am to check on mom, then left again telling them it would be half a day at least before I showed up. Well, not long after she left, dad had to go looking for her because I was coming out!
The only things I collected were stamps and coins. Unfortunately, I had to leave the collections behind when we emigrated to Canada as we were not allowed to take more than a certain dollar value of things with us.

Some of my best memories are of when I joined the Scouts in 1939 at age 11. It was great to have other kids to do things with – as my family were always busy with the company business.

My best friend was Adrianne van de Kar. We met in high school and did lots of biking together all around the country. He was also best man at my wedding. My other friends were my Scout Patrol. During the war years we met “underground” and out of uniform as the invading Germans forbade such groups to meet.

My farvourite foods? Smoked eel! Mmmmmm! Mom was such a good cook, and made so many things, it’s hard to pick anything else specific, except maybe wartlestomp (mashed carrots, potatoes & onions with chunks of ham or beef).

In the Netherlands, I didn’t own my own car, but used our “company” cars. One was either a Ford or Chevy, one was a Wolsley (which is a British car), and one was a Ford with a rebuilt engine that had the gear shift put in backwards!
After coming to Canada, I finally bought my own car, a 2nd hand Chrystler.

I met Ruth in 1945 in the Patronade (church hall), square dancing. After the dance I lost track of her and finally found her again at another square dance at the Hexeberg (witch mountain).
This time I convinced her to let me ride her home on the back of my bicycle!
I was 17 at the time. We got married on May 17, 1950, when I was 22 and Ruth was two weeks short of 29.

During my school years, I received 50 cent allowance every week, which eventually grew to 2 guilders (about 2 dollars).
As a teenager, I also worked for the family business, parking customers bikes – and made money on tips.

I’ve never been interested in politics.

Ruth and I had six children, not counting our very first that was stillborn or two miscarriages.
They are:
Antoon Mathais b. 1952
Wim b. 1953
Dora b. 1955 (she legally changed her name to Merina Theodora)
Sibyl b. 1956 (she legally changed her name to Sylvia) - your grandmother
Robert b. 1959
and Margaret b. 1962
I remember the many Foresters events we went to, like the picnics at Locarno beach in Kitsilano, and all the exploring car rides all around the province (sometimes on logging roads!).

I went to grade school, of course, but only had one and a half years of high school. I dropped out of high school because of Hitler and the war. The Germans, when they had invaded, went to the schools regularly to take out any strong looking boys and girls to ship them off to work camps in Germany. Many of us older boys and girls dropped out to prevent the Germans from catching us.
When I did go to school, I walked.
My grades were okay, but I didn’t have any particular favourite subject. I did enjoy the sports, though.. Twice a week we would play soccer, rugby, or slingball.
I remember slingballs being very solid (the size of a soccer ball) and it could knock the wind out of you, if you caught it wrong! (Imagine a medicine ball with a strap attached.)

With my Scout Patrol, we went on bike trips to Lourdes France, Germany (with British Rover Scouts), and all through the Netherlands. Some were day trips, others were week long trips.
After emigrating to Canada, I went back to the Netherlands with Ruth for our 40th Wedding Anniversary. During the ‘70’s we went on several road trips - once to Michigan and back, and once to California and back. For a while we owned a small plot at Lake Tyee, a camping resort in Washington.
But the most exciting was my trip to Australia the year after my heart operation.

For holidays like Easter and Christmas – all of the family would come home – all 12 kids and their families. It was quite something to have everyone at home!

Most Sundays we’d go to Pancratiuskerk (Pancratius church) in Heerlen, but on special occasions we would go to the Abbey in Valse.

In the Netherlands, I worked at my families bike shop, repair shop, and electrical shop, as well as parking bikes for customers taking the train.
In Canada my jobs were as follows:
1) building bikes for Fred Deeley in Vancouver
2) factory labourer feeding machines
3) labourer for Alcan in Kitimat and eventually as a millwright for them
4) machine operator for Imperial Cannery in Steveston
5) machine operator for a Food Cannery in Haney
6) then joined Industrial Mills as a millwright where we were sent to various mills as needed (almost all of the next jobs were gotten through this company)
7) millwright at the Annasis Island Plywood Plant until it burnt down (for Johnny Douglas)
8) worked in Golden helping to rebuild the sawmill there
9) then worked at Fraser Mills for 12 years
10) and finally at Tyee Timber until I retired

I was never in the Armed Forces, neither in the Netherland, nor in Canada. In the Netherlands, I was exempt from joining because 3 of my older brothers had already joined.

I don’t remember wanting to be anything particular when I was growing up… except perhaps “OLD”!
I was always happy to be working for the family business.

My favourite board games were aggravation and checkers. Otherwise, I was really into sports and loved playing soccer , bike riding and square dancing.

In bike riding, I entered the Queen’s Birthday Race two years running. The route went through a good part of the town of Heerlen and everyone had to go around the route five times. It had one particularly large hill in it, and at the top of the hill was a check point – for each circuit, the first one there got a prize, and then of course there was a prize for finishing the entire race first.
That first year, I won all six prizes!
The other competitors were so annoyed with me, that the next year they ganged up and formed a blockade to keep me from passing.

and finally, the last of Father's Day

And of course, Houben's being what they are, goofing around... (Sylvia in this shot)

(Wim in this one)

(And Liz).

and more Father's Day yet again

We made the most of photo opportunities posing with relatives.....

yet more Father's Day

We checked out the front garden and the lovely cacti...

Snoozed (or at least some of us did) ...

And sat around chatting for most of the early afternoon.

more on Father's Day

Antoon took a picture of Sylvia & Gary's unique Garden display... and I took a picture of him taking the picture.....

We gathered for a group shot - thank you Gary for taking this!

And here Liz shows off her neat tattoo.

Fathers Day 2010

Father's Day we spent at Sylvia's place in Merritt. Here you see dad talking to Robert (see... Robert's the one on the other end of the phone...) with Liz listening in.

Here, Sylvia is getting the last of the burgers off of the grill for lunch - yumm!!!!


And here's Merina, sitting at the table.

Celebration of the Arts

At the Celebration of the Arts, June 5th & 6th, Sylvia and I shared a tent. I sold my cards - and sold $137.00 of them over the 2 days! Sylvia sold aprons, blankets, hats and all sorts of ladies accessories. She sold over $200.00 worth!

Moth

This lovely huge moth was outside by the light above the front door for hours a few days ago, giving me plenty of time to take several photos - click on the pics to see him/her upclose!

Ceanothus Silkmoth ( Hyalophora euryalus )

Identification: This is one of the largest moths found in the area. It can be distinguished by an elongated white eyespot on each wing and a multicolored marginal eyespot on the forewings. It is reddish brown in color with a submarginal white line on all wings and light margins. They have large, feathery antennae and an extremely hairy body with white lines across the abdomen.

Habitat and Range: This saturnid is found west of the Rockies from British Columbia south to Mexico. It inhabits numerous habitats including coastal areas, coniferous forests, and chaparral.

Food: Larvae feed on buckbrush (from which they take their name Ceanothus ), willow, madrone, alder, and a number of other trees and bushes. Adults do not feed.

It tends to rest with its wings held above it.

You know... I do believe I got it right this time!
lol

Yay!



??? Egad! This is just a single clip!!! AAAARGH!

Hummingbirds

Forgive the fuzzy glarish look to this video clip. I took it through the dusty (dirty) kitchen window into a setting sun. Will try again in the morning when the glare should be a bit less.....



Aaaagh!! - how do you rotate a video????? If anyone knows, please post a comment on how!!

stormy weather

The last few nights there have been lightning storms here in Barriere. Monday evening in particular, the storm blew in around 5:30-ish. We were sitting down at the kitchen table finishing dinner, when the trees by the driveway started waving like crazy. Moments later it started pelting down rain and then the thunder started. Just after 6:00 or so there was one particularly loud and rumbly roar of thunder.
...
Then I went to the District Council meeting at 6:45 and heard that a lightning strike took out all the electrical equipment at the pumphouse. The pumphouse is where the water is pumped out of the wells and/or reservoir into the Barriere water system. Until all the damaged electronics get replaced, they will have someone there 24/7 to do everything manually.

And some garden pictures....

Here's a general shot of the backyard... the grass is longer now than when I took this picture. (SIGH) I will have to mow this weekend!

Here's the tree that's in the front yard. It's either a quince or crab apple, or something similar.

And these are the tulips that grow below the kitchen windows. They've finished blooming now and don't look nearly so nice as they did a few weeks ago when I took this picture.

a lovely sky

These are some pics of what the sky was like on Tuesday, May 18, on the way home from Kamloops. Lovely!!!