HAPPY 90TH BIRTHDAY, DEAR DAD! JULY 1ST, 2019
5 years ago
Saturday, December 31, 2011
And the last of Sun Peaks - Dec 17th
On the 17th, more carolers came through - this time it was a group of ladies - the Desert Sounds Harmony choir from Kamloops. They were awesome!
In the lobby of the Delta, from 3-4pm, there was a lovely "bells" concert. Here are some pictures of the group. They were lovely to listen to!
Just before 7pm, we packed up and left for Barriere, where Sylvia stayed one more night before heading home to Merritt. The whole trip was fun and exciting and we plan to do it again next year!
December 17 - Sun Peaks - SURPRISE!
Well - I have found out I yelp when I'm surprised! There we were, Sylvia and I, up at Sun Peaks on December 17th, waiting for customers to come when who should suddenly appear outside behind Sylvia in the window - Antoon! I jumped up and yelped out - TONY! - Sylvia gave me a funny look and said - no way - turned around and saw him and said - holy crap on a cracker!
They had decided to drive up to visit for the day. They phoned when they were in Chilliwack, to make sure we'd be home, and that's when Wim and dad told them that Sylvia and I would be up at Sun Peaks - so they made a detour and dropped in on us first, before heading on to Barriere to visit with dad and Wim. We got Deb from the office to take our picture.
Pictured l-r are Antoon's friend Karl, Sylvia, Merina (who came up with Antoon), myself, and Antoon.
They had decided to drive up to visit for the day. They phoned when they were in Chilliwack, to make sure we'd be home, and that's when Wim and dad told them that Sylvia and I would be up at Sun Peaks - so they made a detour and dropped in on us first, before heading on to Barriere to visit with dad and Wim. We got Deb from the office to take our picture.
Pictured l-r are Antoon's friend Karl, Sylvia, Merina (who came up with Antoon), myself, and Antoon.
Dec 16th - last few for this day of the Market
Here are a few more pictures of Sylvia at her booth.
In the evening, they had a children's choir come through all the different areas of the Market. Maria Cannon lead, and the kids were from the Discovery Centre for Balanced Education, Sun Peaks. They were cute - and the kids knew the songs better than the adults!
Each evening, a horse and buggy made the rounds offering rides to the visitors - but were too expensive for us (around $75 per ride!). Very lovely horse though.
By this time I had sold a few cards and Sylvia had sold a hat. We ate dinner at the Globe - Sylvia had jambalaya and some wine, and I had the cheese lovers plate and creme brule for dessert.
Dec 16th ... more Sun Peaks
As our booths weren't to open until 2pm, we had a bit of time to stroll around the village and have lunch.
This is our hotel where we stayed overnight - the Nancy Green Cahilty Lodge - our room faced the back... this is a picture of the front.
This is a picture of the building that the Re/Max office is in - the office is in the part directly behind the stop sign in the picture.
December 16th at Sun Peaks
We had our booths together, both in the Re/Max Alpine Resort Office. Sylvia on one side of the door, and I on the other. The owners of the office had a lovely Christmas tree set up, and all sorts of other Christmas decorations. They also had cookies, mandarins and eggnog! (Thank you Lark and Deb!)
December 16 & 17 - Sun Peaks Christmas Market
On December 15th, Sylvia came up to Barriere from Merritt to join me for a trip up to Sun Peaks for their Christmas Market. Luckily the weather cooperated and it didn't snow, and wasn't horribly icy, although it had snowed a day or two before.
Sylvia stayed overnight, then on the 16th, we took off around 9:30ish for Sun Peaks. On the way, we had to pause briefly, as workers were replacing a telephone pole.
Sylvia stayed overnight, then on the 16th, we took off around 9:30ish for Sun Peaks. On the way, we had to pause briefly, as workers were replacing a telephone pole.
The drive up had some nice scenery... so here are a few pictures:
And then we entered the resort town itself.....
Dec 9, 2011 Senior's Christmas Dinner
There was turkey, stuffing, lots of gravy (my favourite part!), a variety of veggies - both cooked or raw, cranberry sauce and all sorts of desserts... which I didn't take a picture of.
I took a picture of myself, just for fun...
... and then one of Dad and myself.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Christmas Greetings, Dec. 2011
December 10,2011
Christmas Greetings to One and All,
The year 2011 started out with Dad having to replace the furnace. Luckily, we were able to get a grant to pay for this, as otherwise it would have been financially very difficult. About two months after it was installed, the workers had to return to finish the flashing around the chimney, as they couldn’t do it when it was installed due to the snow on the roof. They had to wait for it to melt.
The Spring wasn’t bad once it got going, but it was rather wet. Actually, 2011 was one of the wettest on record for B.C. – and summer was very late in coming! It wasn’t until August that it really got warm, and even then, it wasn’t hot, just warm. Then by September it was back to cool and wet again.
The garden seemed to like it though! Our pear tree bore fruit for the first time – and was so loaded that I had to pinch off close to 100. I ended up leaving 17 on the tree to ripen. They cooked up wonderfully and were very delicious!
I also planted some grape vines and some blueberries. We’ll see how they survive this winter. Hopefully they will do well – I do know of others who have grapes in our area , so they should be okay. We had lots of tomatoes, a zucchini, one spaghetti squash and several cucumbers too.
My sister Sylvia and I had several outings together, selling our wares – I was selling my handmade cards, and she her hats, aprons, quilts and other sewn items. We did pretty well at most of the sales. On December 16-17 (next weekend) we’ll be going to Sun Peaks for their Christmas Market. This is a big art/craft sale that the whole community of Sun Peaks takes part in – every store has at least a few tables set up. I’ll take lots of pictures and post them on my blog – houtep.blogspot.com – for anyone interested to read about it, or if you want to see pictures of any of the thing's I've written about in this letter.
On Father’s Day in June, everyone came to Sylvia’s for the day. It was a lot of fun, and one of Sylvia’s friends came and took a picture of all of us. It was a beautiful sunny, but very windy day.
In October, I took the bus down to Vancouver for a few days to visit with Loretta and to make Christmas Cards.
Dad’s car died in November – the head gasket blew and would cost more to repair than the car was worth. We found a car through a friend, that cost about what repairing the other car would have cost. I raided my RRSP to help pay for the “new” car. It is a 2002 model which is 10 years newer than the one that died.
* s * I * g * h *
Every time you think you’re finally catching up and may be able to start saving some money up., something happens – if not to the house, then to the car or…. Ah, well. Easy come-easy go, as they say.
Dad’s prosthesis developed a crack in it and was pinching his leg, so he had to get a new one. Luckily his health care covers the prosthesis and they don’t charge him anything for it. They ended up making him a new one. He’ll have to go in sometime in the next week or so to get it adjusted, as it is currently rubbing in a few spots and making sores. Otherwise, we are all in good health.
Today we watched the Santa Parade here in Barriere, and last night was the lighting of the town’s Christmas tree. So, I guess we’re all set for Christmas now.
Merry Christmas to all and a very happy and healthy New Year!
Fröhliche Weihnachten und Ein Glückliches Neues Jahr!
Prettige Kerstdagen en een gelukkig Nieuwe Jaar!
Christmas Greetings to One and All,
The year 2011 started out with Dad having to replace the furnace. Luckily, we were able to get a grant to pay for this, as otherwise it would have been financially very difficult. About two months after it was installed, the workers had to return to finish the flashing around the chimney, as they couldn’t do it when it was installed due to the snow on the roof. They had to wait for it to melt.
The Spring wasn’t bad once it got going, but it was rather wet. Actually, 2011 was one of the wettest on record for B.C. – and summer was very late in coming! It wasn’t until August that it really got warm, and even then, it wasn’t hot, just warm. Then by September it was back to cool and wet again.
The garden seemed to like it though! Our pear tree bore fruit for the first time – and was so loaded that I had to pinch off close to 100. I ended up leaving 17 on the tree to ripen. They cooked up wonderfully and were very delicious!
I also planted some grape vines and some blueberries. We’ll see how they survive this winter. Hopefully they will do well – I do know of others who have grapes in our area , so they should be okay. We had lots of tomatoes, a zucchini, one spaghetti squash and several cucumbers too.
My sister Sylvia and I had several outings together, selling our wares – I was selling my handmade cards, and she her hats, aprons, quilts and other sewn items. We did pretty well at most of the sales. On December 16-17 (next weekend) we’ll be going to Sun Peaks for their Christmas Market. This is a big art/craft sale that the whole community of Sun Peaks takes part in – every store has at least a few tables set up. I’ll take lots of pictures and post them on my blog – houtep.blogspot.com – for anyone interested to read about it, or if you want to see pictures of any of the thing's I've written about in this letter.
On Father’s Day in June, everyone came to Sylvia’s for the day. It was a lot of fun, and one of Sylvia’s friends came and took a picture of all of us. It was a beautiful sunny, but very windy day.
In October, I took the bus down to Vancouver for a few days to visit with Loretta and to make Christmas Cards.
Dad’s car died in November – the head gasket blew and would cost more to repair than the car was worth. We found a car through a friend, that cost about what repairing the other car would have cost. I raided my RRSP to help pay for the “new” car. It is a 2002 model which is 10 years newer than the one that died.
* s * I * g * h *
Every time you think you’re finally catching up and may be able to start saving some money up., something happens – if not to the house, then to the car or…. Ah, well. Easy come-easy go, as they say.
Dad’s prosthesis developed a crack in it and was pinching his leg, so he had to get a new one. Luckily his health care covers the prosthesis and they don’t charge him anything for it. They ended up making him a new one. He’ll have to go in sometime in the next week or so to get it adjusted, as it is currently rubbing in a few spots and making sores. Otherwise, we are all in good health.
Today we watched the Santa Parade here in Barriere, and last night was the lighting of the town’s Christmas tree. So, I guess we’re all set for Christmas now.
Merry Christmas to all and a very happy and healthy New Year!
Fröhliche Weihnachten und Ein Glückliches Neues Jahr!
Prettige Kerstdagen en een gelukkig Nieuwe Jaar!
Thursday, November 10, 2011
A further interview with Dad:
... in his own words...
When my dad opened the store in Rotterdam, it was just before the war started. Hitler was saying he would never invade Holland, and with the river between Germany and the Netherlands, and all the bunkers along them, the Dutch were fairly sure they could keep them out. The store in Rotterdam was my dad’s 5th store, and the first one outside of the Province of Limburg. The other 4 were in Hoensbroek, run by my brother Scra; Lutrade am Geleen, run by my brother Sjef, Heerlen, run by my brother Jan, and 1 near the German border near Kerkrade, run by a family friend. My dad expected Rotterdam to be safer, and just he and my sister Mia went there.
The car that he had while in Rotterdam was a Buick. When it wasn’t in use, it was hidden in various garages and farms. I don’t remember exactly which ones. The Germans would confiscate any vehicles they found and use them for themselves, and actually took many with them as they withdrew. After the war, the Dutch government confiscated the Buick for the use of the Mayor of Bussum. They only gave a little compensation, and only after a lot of arguing by my family.
Every 2 or so years, dad would get a new car – he liked having the newest and best.
Late in the Spring of 1943, after school, which let out around 4pm, I would ride just over 2 hours to the farm of my Tante (aunt) Marie in Haele, she had coupons from the bakers that she had received in exchange for flour. The coupons were good for loaves of bread. After getting the coupons, I would ride my bike to the bakery and pick up 5 long loaves, 2 whole wheat and 3 white. From there I would bike over to my cousin Harry Vestjens in Neer, to scrounge whatever I could. Harry had a big farm, and I would usually get between 100 and 200 eggs, some bacon, and various other goodies. From there I would head home, going first to Roermond, and from there following the highway home to Heerlen. The Highway had on both sides, a bicycle path. One day, with a full load, I could see the NSB’ers and the Germany sympathizers at a road-block they had set up along the highway and the bicycle paths. They had old guns and riffles. An old man was in front of me on a bike, who looked very nervous. He had a small package. They stopped him, took the package and opened it and confiscated whatever it was. They then took his bike and chased him away on foot. There was no way for me to get around them, so I went up to them as nonchalantly as I could. One of them asked “what have you got?”. I told them the truth – “200 eggs, 5 loaves of bread…” They didn’t believe me and chased me away, letting me keep my bike and all the food!
My brother Jan was an electrician by trade, besides working the store. Around the corner from our house (see the map in a previous post) was a Wholesale Grocery, and the building it was in had the only elevator in town. The Germans took over the store because they wanted to confiscate all the food. This was near the end of the war in 1944. The owner of the store had sabotaged the elevator to make things harder for the Germans. The Germans came to our electrical store and asked Jan to come and fix the elevator. Jan warned them that he didn’t know much about elevators, but they told him to come and try anyways, so he did. He went from floor to floor and ripped out the wiring from the elevator at each floor, pretending to try to figure things out, and ended up on the roof. While up on the roof, some British bombers flew overhead, and the Germans yelled up at him to come back down – his reply was “why? They aren’t my enemies!” Finally he did come down and told them he just couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the elevators, so they told him to go home. In order to take all the food from the grocery, the Germans had to carry all the boxes out by hand, up and down the stairs, since the elevator didn’t work. Every time they were inside getting the next batch of boxes, the neighbours who were watching would run over to the truck – take out whatever boxes there were and run home with them.
One day my scout patrol (there were 5 of us including me) were looking at deer tracks near the Dutch/German border. A border guard came up to us and asked what we were doing. We told him and he looked at the tracks and made some comments, but his Dutch was very poor and we made fun of him. This mad him angry and he started chasing us. We split up, and he decided to chase me, maybe because I was the smallest and he might have thought he’d be able to catch me. However, I was a pretty fast runner and got quite a bit ahead of him. Then I ran into a sand pit, a sort of sand quarry, that had 8-10 foot high sides at the far end. I was trying to figure out how to get out, when he came to the pit, knelt down and took his riffle to shoot at me! The next thing I knew I was at the top of the pit! A few weeks later, my patrol went back to the sand pit – none of us, myself included, could make it to the top no matter how hard we tried!
Several members of my family were involved in the war in various ways. My brothers Jan and Leo were in the Dutch army. After the Germans invaded, they said that anyone who had been in the army, who could prove they were indispensable, could get documents stating they were allowed to stay. Everyone else would be taken away. Jan got forged documents from the underground. Leo went underground. Now, the Netherlands is a very Catholic country – Sundays, everyone goes to church. The Germans quickly figured this out and would surround the churches on Sundays and capture the men as they came out. Leo got caught twice this way, but both times he managed to escape by jumping off the trains they were transporting the prisoners on. My brother Sjef was a fencing instructor for the Dutch federal police. The Germans took him to the SS Headquarters where they asked him to train the SS officers. He refused, saying he would not train his enemies. The SS officer said he could understand that, and sent him home! Later, during the General Strike (where the Dutch workers went on strike to protest the German’s treatment of the Jews), he was taken hostage along with all the other prominent citizens. The Germans took 10 hostages and shot them, threatening to keep killing more if the workers refused to return to work. They went back to work. The Germans kept the hostages though. After about a year of being a hostage, Sjef complained to them that he had very bad stomach pains. They took him to the hospital in Heerlen. When he was on the gurney, in a hospital gown, and while the guard was standing at one door, he jumped up and ran out another door to the outside and disappeared, staying underground until the war was over. Near the end of the war, my brother Piet finished technical school and went to work in the coal mines as an electrician. The Germans let him stay, because they wanted the coal that was coming out of the mines.
Above are the Houben's - back row (l-r) Jan Hundscheidt (married Mia), Jan, Sjef, Mia, Piet, Scra, Leo, Lieske, Tonny van Deijl (married Sophie),Nelly, and me (Antoon or Toon for short) - front row (l-r) Jo, Dientje (with her eldest child), Opa, Oma, Sophie (with her eldest child). The only one not in the picture is our brother Harry, who died when he was 5 (hit by a car).
You asked about sling-ball. If the opposing team caught the ball, they could take 3 huge steps forward toward the goal line before they had to “sling” the ball back at their opponents. If they didn’t catch the ball, they had to “sling” it from wherever it landed, and were not allowed any steps forward, which meant they’d be farther from the goal line.
You also asked about Lourdes… that will be in the next post.
When my dad opened the store in Rotterdam, it was just before the war started. Hitler was saying he would never invade Holland, and with the river between Germany and the Netherlands, and all the bunkers along them, the Dutch were fairly sure they could keep them out. The store in Rotterdam was my dad’s 5th store, and the first one outside of the Province of Limburg. The other 4 were in Hoensbroek, run by my brother Scra; Lutrade am Geleen, run by my brother Sjef, Heerlen, run by my brother Jan, and 1 near the German border near Kerkrade, run by a family friend. My dad expected Rotterdam to be safer, and just he and my sister Mia went there.
The car that he had while in Rotterdam was a Buick. When it wasn’t in use, it was hidden in various garages and farms. I don’t remember exactly which ones. The Germans would confiscate any vehicles they found and use them for themselves, and actually took many with them as they withdrew. After the war, the Dutch government confiscated the Buick for the use of the Mayor of Bussum. They only gave a little compensation, and only after a lot of arguing by my family.
This is a picture of that car:
Every 2 or so years, dad would get a new car – he liked having the newest and best.
Late in the Spring of 1943, after school, which let out around 4pm, I would ride just over 2 hours to the farm of my Tante (aunt) Marie in Haele, she had coupons from the bakers that she had received in exchange for flour. The coupons were good for loaves of bread. After getting the coupons, I would ride my bike to the bakery and pick up 5 long loaves, 2 whole wheat and 3 white. From there I would bike over to my cousin Harry Vestjens in Neer, to scrounge whatever I could. Harry had a big farm, and I would usually get between 100 and 200 eggs, some bacon, and various other goodies. From there I would head home, going first to Roermond, and from there following the highway home to Heerlen. The Highway had on both sides, a bicycle path. One day, with a full load, I could see the NSB’ers and the Germany sympathizers at a road-block they had set up along the highway and the bicycle paths. They had old guns and riffles. An old man was in front of me on a bike, who looked very nervous. He had a small package. They stopped him, took the package and opened it and confiscated whatever it was. They then took his bike and chased him away on foot. There was no way for me to get around them, so I went up to them as nonchalantly as I could. One of them asked “what have you got?”. I told them the truth – “200 eggs, 5 loaves of bread…” They didn’t believe me and chased me away, letting me keep my bike and all the food!
My brother Jan was an electrician by trade, besides working the store. Around the corner from our house (see the map in a previous post) was a Wholesale Grocery, and the building it was in had the only elevator in town. The Germans took over the store because they wanted to confiscate all the food. This was near the end of the war in 1944. The owner of the store had sabotaged the elevator to make things harder for the Germans. The Germans came to our electrical store and asked Jan to come and fix the elevator. Jan warned them that he didn’t know much about elevators, but they told him to come and try anyways, so he did. He went from floor to floor and ripped out the wiring from the elevator at each floor, pretending to try to figure things out, and ended up on the roof. While up on the roof, some British bombers flew overhead, and the Germans yelled up at him to come back down – his reply was “why? They aren’t my enemies!” Finally he did come down and told them he just couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the elevators, so they told him to go home. In order to take all the food from the grocery, the Germans had to carry all the boxes out by hand, up and down the stairs, since the elevator didn’t work. Every time they were inside getting the next batch of boxes, the neighbours who were watching would run over to the truck – take out whatever boxes there were and run home with them.
One day my scout patrol (there were 5 of us including me) were looking at deer tracks near the Dutch/German border. A border guard came up to us and asked what we were doing. We told him and he looked at the tracks and made some comments, but his Dutch was very poor and we made fun of him. This mad him angry and he started chasing us. We split up, and he decided to chase me, maybe because I was the smallest and he might have thought he’d be able to catch me. However, I was a pretty fast runner and got quite a bit ahead of him. Then I ran into a sand pit, a sort of sand quarry, that had 8-10 foot high sides at the far end. I was trying to figure out how to get out, when he came to the pit, knelt down and took his riffle to shoot at me! The next thing I knew I was at the top of the pit! A few weeks later, my patrol went back to the sand pit – none of us, myself included, could make it to the top no matter how hard we tried!
Several members of my family were involved in the war in various ways. My brothers Jan and Leo were in the Dutch army. After the Germans invaded, they said that anyone who had been in the army, who could prove they were indispensable, could get documents stating they were allowed to stay. Everyone else would be taken away. Jan got forged documents from the underground. Leo went underground. Now, the Netherlands is a very Catholic country – Sundays, everyone goes to church. The Germans quickly figured this out and would surround the churches on Sundays and capture the men as they came out. Leo got caught twice this way, but both times he managed to escape by jumping off the trains they were transporting the prisoners on. My brother Sjef was a fencing instructor for the Dutch federal police. The Germans took him to the SS Headquarters where they asked him to train the SS officers. He refused, saying he would not train his enemies. The SS officer said he could understand that, and sent him home! Later, during the General Strike (where the Dutch workers went on strike to protest the German’s treatment of the Jews), he was taken hostage along with all the other prominent citizens. The Germans took 10 hostages and shot them, threatening to keep killing more if the workers refused to return to work. They went back to work. The Germans kept the hostages though. After about a year of being a hostage, Sjef complained to them that he had very bad stomach pains. They took him to the hospital in Heerlen. When he was on the gurney, in a hospital gown, and while the guard was standing at one door, he jumped up and ran out another door to the outside and disappeared, staying underground until the war was over. Near the end of the war, my brother Piet finished technical school and went to work in the coal mines as an electrician. The Germans let him stay, because they wanted the coal that was coming out of the mines.
You asked about sling-ball. If the opposing team caught the ball, they could take 3 huge steps forward toward the goal line before they had to “sling” the ball back at their opponents. If they didn’t catch the ball, they had to “sling” it from wherever it landed, and were not allowed any steps forward, which meant they’d be farther from the goal line.
You also asked about Lourdes… that will be in the next post.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
October 13-16 Visiting with Loretta
I caught the bus in Kamloops on October 23th, and traveled down to Vancouver to visit with my Brother Robert and his wife Loretta. Every October, when I am able to, I visit them and make Christmas cards with Loretta. We always have a lot of fun chatting and crafting.
Loretta has a lovely house and always decorates it for each holiday. This is her Halloween display in her kitchen.
Thursday night we got an early start on making cards, each of us making five.
Here are my five...
And here are Loretta's (they are Halloween cards)...
Friday, we took a short break from making cards to walk Kelsey around the block... one house had decorated a tree next to the sidewalk... very cute!
... so I thought I'd take one, too.
Here are the cards I made on Friday (a total of 18).
There was a quaint little chapel that had a gorgeous stained glass window.
Then we waited for the concert to begin....
And there are some of the boys in the gazebo....
On our way back to the car, we passed another interesting old home...
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