HouTep Productions

Coffee HAG

2012-01-03T21:30:00.000-08:00

Aha! - found out what Coffee HAG is - wikipeadia had it -
Café HAG is a worldwide brand of decaffeinated coffee owned by U.S. multinational Kraft Foods.
The brand originated in Bremen in Germany in 1906 and took its name from the company title Kaffee Handels-Aktien-Gesellschaft, or Kaffee HAG for short.

Ship's final menu for June 21, 1952

2012-01-03T21:06:00.000-08:00

This is the last one, the "farewell" dinner menu. There are 4 pictures, the front and back cover first, and then the inside two pages - it was too big to scan the outsides and insides as one shot each.

Ship's menu from June 20, 1952

2012-01-03T20:54:00.000-08:00

Here is the breakfast menu for the 20th.

And the lunch menu for the same day. No dinner menu though.

Ship's menu from June 19, 1952

2012-01-03T20:43:00.000-08:00

Here's the breakfast menu for June 19, 1952... there aren't any saved from the 18th.

And the lunch menu.

And the dinner menu, both outside and inside.

Ship's menu for June 16 and 17, 1952

2012-01-03T20:19:00.000-08:00

Here is the breakfast menu from June 16, 1952. These are so cool... I wonder what "coffee hag" is - lol - it sounds interesting!

This is the lunch menu.

And here are the outside and inside of the dinner menu for June 17.

Ship's menu from June 15, 1952

2012-01-03T20:04:00.000-08:00

This is the lunch menu from June 15, 1952.

And the next two are the outside cover and inside of the dinner menu for the same day.

Ship menu's from June 14, 1952

2012-01-03T19:55:00.000-08:00

In 1952, my parents emigrated to Canada, leaving from Rotterdam on the Ryndam, bound for New York, where they took the train into Canada and to British Columbia on the west coast. Mom, even back then, collected stuff - and here are the menu cards she saved from the ship. I'll post each day's worth individually.

This one is from lunch on June 14, 1952.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T16:49:00.000-08:00

Yay! A whole brand new year to play with!
First off, I treated myself to a brand new camera (a fuji) for Christmas - here are the first few pictures I took with it:

Christmas dinner - turkey, brussel sprouts, yams, turnip, and mushrooms (after starting with turkey soup), and a bowl of jicama root and mini sugar mandarins - yum! The yams and mushrooms were baked with the turkey, the sprouts and the turnip were steamed and then buttered (and a little nutmeg on the turnip). The turkey was baked, covered in bacon.
We tried the jicama root, just to see what it was like - not bad! Sort of like a really crunchy pear.

And the last of Sun Peaks - Dec 17th

2011-12-31T18:38:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-12-31T18:30:00.000-08:00

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.

Dec 16th - last few for this day of the Market

2011-12-31T18:18:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-31T18:10:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-31T18:03:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-31T17:57:00.000-08:00

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.

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

2011-12-31T17:48:00.000-08:00

On Friday, December 9th, Dad, Wim and I went to the Barriere Senior's Christmas Dinner, which was excellent. Loretta - you'll be so proud of me - I remembered to take a picture of my plate before I dug in!

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.

Christmas Greetings, Dec. 2011

2011-12-10T15:13:00.001-08:00

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!

A further interview with Dad:

2011-11-10T18:32:00.001-08:00

... 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.

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.

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.

October 13-16 Visiting with Loretta

2011-10-30T21:38:00.000-07:00

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.

Kelsey (the dog) was very excited to see me. Here Robert holds her on his lap at the table.

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!

Then Friday evening, we went over to Matthew's home (Robert & Loretta's son) and had a yummy cheese fondu, and Antoon (my eldest brother) and Leona (one of Loretta's sisters) joined us.

Loretta took her usual pictures of the food (she likes taking photos of special dinners)...

... so I thought I'd take one, too.

Here are the cards I made on Friday (a total of 18).

On Saturday, we took a break around noon to go and see a concert and the different displays at the Burnaby Village Museum. There was a farmers market, a live choir (boys choir) and lots of interesting displays. The first picture is of a really interesting house that is supposedly haunted.

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...

Saturday was the last day we made cards. I ended up with a total of 39, and Loretta finished with 34. If it hadn't been for her migraine on Friday morning, she might have hit 40!.

Antoon and Merina visit on Aug 20

2011-10-08T12:45:00.000-07:00

On August 20, Merina and Antoon came up for a short visit. Antoon helped do some yard stuff, and Merina did some cleaning inside for us. Then we popped outside for a group picture... I used the time delay on my camera and plunked it down on the back of dad's car, so I could be in the picture, too.

How does (did) my garden grow....

2011-10-08T12:40:00.000-07:00

These pictures show what my garden was up to on August 20th. To date, (today being Oct 8th, I've picked nearly 20 pears, 4 cucumbers, 1 spaghetti squash, about 20 ripe tomatoes, and today about 40 or so green tomatoes (we had frost last night!), scads of sweet sugar snap peas, 1/2 a dozen cabbages, several handfuls of broccoli and cauliflower, and 1 zucchini. That doesn't count the berries, cherries and apples of course.

Now I have to look up some recipes for using green tomatoes....

The View from Chapters Viewpoint Restaurant

2011-10-06T19:35:00.000-07:00

The view from the Chapters Viewpoint Restaurant in Kamloops is awesome. Dad, Wim and I had lunch there on August 13th, which is when I took these pictures.

A Naturally Decorated Christmas Tree

2011-10-06T19:29:00.000-07:00

There's this tree in Fadear Park, right next to the Community Garden, that has a vine growing through it, making it look like a Christmas Tree! Very neat... the rest of the trees in the park don't have it.

Barriere's Community Garden in Full Bloom

2011-10-06T19:21:00.000-07:00

On August 9th I strolled through the Community Garden in Barriere, and took a bunch of pictures of all the lovely flowers growing there. They are gorgeous! I haven't a clue what most of them are called - but who cares when they are so pretty.

The Lynn's drop by for a visit.

2011-10-06T18:58:00.000-07:00

Leah and Kevin dropped by for a visit on August 8th with their three boys: Jack, Daniel and Peter. Jack is the eldest, Daniel in the middle and Peter the youngest. Leah is Sylvia's oldest daughter and lives in Surrey, B.C.

A new ceiling fan for Dad's bedroom.

2011-10-06T18:49:00.000-07:00

On August 7th, Sylvia and Gary came over to install a new ceiling light and fan for Dad's room. First the old one had to be taken down, then the pieces for the new one sorted out, and then installed.

Interview with Dad - take 2 - map and floor plan

2011-08-11T23:40:00.000-07:00

This is the layout of the street. (click to see large view)
The line going between A&C down to the Synagog is a lane. Stationstraat splits to go around the Cinema/Theatre.

These are the floor plan of Dad's house - as he remembers it. The bicycle and electric shops faced the train station.

Interview with Dad - take 2

2011-08-11T20:04:00.000-07:00

My niece Tammy read my earlier post - Interview with Dad (for Jack) - and wanted more info on some of the stories and info on some other stories. Here are his answers to her questions....

The rabbits were raised on the roof. Our house was made up of five buildings that formed a square, with a courtyard in the middle. If you were facing it from the main street, the rabbits were on the roof on the right hand side of the square. (The next post will have a map showing what the house looked like, and where the other shops were on the street.) They were raised just for the family, I didn't sell them.

A bicycle dynamo is attached so that when the wheels turn it generates electricity, which turns on the head/tail lights. There is a switch you flip when you want the lights on, which brings it in contact with the wheel. The dynamo was invented by my family under the HouVest brand name.

After the Germans had invaded the Netherlands, the British, in an effort to drive them back out, dropped bombs. These were phosphorus bombs, and when they exploded, they left goop all over the place that would burn. If it didn't immediately catch fire, then when anyone walked over it, especially if they wore wooden shoes - it would cause sparks. One such bomb hit our house, going straight through the first floor past one of the girl's beds and down into my dad's office, demolishing a heavy duty swivel chair where it exploded. Some of the goop caught fire. I and my brother Leo each ran down into the cellar where we had wooden boxes about 3 feet long by 2 feet wide and about a foot deep, filled with sand. These boxes were used to store carrots and other veggies during the winter. We each grabbed one box and ran back upstairs to throw the sand onto the fire (sand is best for putting out a phosphorus fire - water just spreads it). We only needed one box of sand to put the fire out. When the excitement had ended, it took BOTH of us to carry the one unused sand box back to the cellar - it was too heavy for one of us by ourselves. Amazing what adrenalin can do!

Before the war, yes there were Jews living in our area. In fact, there was a synagog just down the lane from our house. True Jews won't even light a candle on the Sabbath, so when they had their service, I would go over to the synagog and light their candles for them. One the Germans had invaded, all were picked up and sent to the concentration camps.

We had several renters. Above the bicycle shop, on the 3rd floor, was an elderly lady. Above the electrical shop, on the 2nd floor, was a lady who played piano for the silent movies that were shown across the street at the theatre. Her husband was with the Nazi party, so after the war started we didn't dare have much to do with them - we had to be too careful of anything we said. On the 3rd floor was a quiet family. I don't remember what they did for a living.

When Ruth and I emigrated to Canada we were only allowed to take $250 guilden (dollars) for the whole family. A coin collection counted as money - so there was no point trying to take it. Furniture counted separately and had no limit. My stamp collection would also have counted as money so I didn't take it either.

During the war, after we'd been invaded, the scouts met a school under the guise of being a school club, which the Germans did allow. We didn't wear uniforms though, as scouting was specifically forbidden.

As far as I remember, it was around May of 1940 that the Germans invaded our area. Their army came across the boarder. In the north of Holland they came by paratroupers and dropped a lot of bombs on Rotterdam. We new something was coming, so dad opened a store in Rotterdam where he stored a buick (car). When the Germans bombed Rotterdam, the buildings on either side of his store were hit, but not his store. Dad drove around Rotterdam, picking up the wounded and transporting them to the hospital. A few months later, he moved everything back to Heerlen. Shortly after he left Rotterdam, the British flew over and dropped bombs on occupied Rotterdam and flattened the building dad had stored the car in.

Heksenberg is a village in Limburg (a suburb) and the dance where I met Ruth was held at the village community hall.

In the electrical shop, we sold and fixed lights, washers and dryers, radios, irons, electric razors and other such things.

A sling ball is basically a medicine ball with a 15 inch long leather strap attached. There were 2 ways to play. #1 - 2 teams face off. First person with the ball twirls it around with the strap and flings it at the other team. They try to catch it, and if they do, they get to take 3 jumps forward and then twirl it and fling it at the first team. There is a goal line on each side and the aim is to get the ball over the line. #2 - 2 teams again and same basic rules, except the person flinging the ball has his back to where he is flinging it - so he isn't able to aim it as well as in the 1st version. I would have stripes on my arms from the leather strap, and when catching the ball - if you didn't clamp on tight, it could knock the stuffing out of you!

When I was a Rover Scout, (Rovers are 17+) our group, along with other groups, acted as brankaderes (not sure of the spelling) - stretcher carriers. There was a whole trainload of people, many of whom were bedridden, all going to Lourdes in hopes of being cured there. We carried them from the train station to the grotto and back. This was in 1948, so I would have been 20.

The bicycle race that I won was in 1947 (I was 19), on the Queen's birthday. A week before the race, I'd gone on holiday with my bike and came home the Saturday before the race. When I came in, dad told me he'd entered me in the race, which was the following day - Sunday!

Update on my garden

2011-08-08T21:35:00.000-07:00

How does my garden grow? Well, I have some squash growing (I've already picked one zucchini).

Top photo is a spaghetti squash, and the second photo is acorn squash.

The third photo is my tomatoes, and the fourth is cucumber.

These last two are of my pear tree...

Oh Deer...

2011-08-08T21:25:00.000-07:00

On July 22, I spotted a deer stolling down the street past the office. I managed to get it in a photo... if you zoom in and look just to the right of the museum sign, you can see the back end of the deer - it had just put it's head down so all you really see is the rump (I wasn't fast enough to get a good shot).

Canada Day

2011-08-08T21:21:00.000-07:00

Sylvia and I spent part of Canada Day up in Clearwater at an event where we sold some of our stuff. I made $48 selling my cards... and spend $35 on a dark chocolate box filled with chocolates!! YUM! (I have only part of the box left... Wim is helping me eat it.)

It was clear in Barriere when we left in the morning for Clearwater, but overcast in Clearwater and a little chilly. By the time we left it was finally starting to clear up and warm up. Oh well, as least we sold enough to make the trip worth while... and it was fun.

June 29 - Kamloops Area Meeting (Scouts)

2011-08-08T21:14:00.000-07:00

All sorts of awards were handed out... here are some of the pictures:

Father's Day in Merritt (#6)

2011-08-08T21:04:00.000-07:00

Then, after everyone had a brief cat-nap... the day was over, and it was time to head home!

Father's Day in Merritt (#5)

2011-08-08T20:51:00.000-07:00

It was beautiful day for a walk... a little windy perhaps, but otherwise fairly sunny and warm.

As you can see, we had the wind at our backs part of the way... our hair sure got messy, but it sure blew the cobwebs away! When we got back, Sylvia took out some of the hats she's made recently, which we tried on. Sylvia is a sweetie - she gave us each one! (She makes beautiful hats!)

These were our favourites... (and we got a little silly, too, lol).

Father's Day in Merritt (#4)

2011-08-08T20:40:00.000-07:00

After the first lot came back from their walk...

... those of us (myself included) who hadn't gone on the walk, decided we needed a walk too, so off we went! One of the things we spotted was this GIANT motorbike. It was just on the other side of a chain link fence, but was plenty close enough for the pictures to show how big it is!! Immense!

Father's Day in Merritt (#3)

2011-08-08T20:22:00.000-07:00

Then we visited for a while, chatting about this and that,

... Robert got out his guitar and harmonica, and Sylvia brought out a recorder for me, and we played a bit of music...

... and a few strolled off for a walk....

Father's Day in Merritt (#2)

2011-08-08T20:04:00.000-07:00

Then we all got ready for lunch. Sylvia got the grill turned on and heating up, and dessert arrived - yummy fancy cupcakes (see pics below), brought over by one of Sylvia's friends. Her friend took some pictures of all of us - here they are:

Lunch was hamburgers or hot dogs grilled outside. Then inside onto buns with all the usual fixings including onions. Two salads, a mixed green salad or bean salad.

And the dessert... I should have taken a picture of dad's face as he was eating his... lol - he had chocolate icing all over!

Father's Day in Merritt (#1)

2011-08-08T19:54:00.000-07:00

Well, better late than never... here are the pictures of our father's day celebration. Wim, Dad and I drove down to Merritt, and Antoon, Merina, and Robert and Loretta drove up from Vancouver. Sylvia and Gary were generous hosts, feeding us with lots of yummy goodies. Dad's count was very low at lunch, so he indulged in one of the fancy cupcakes for dessert (he had the one that looks like an ice cream cone.

Here are the first few photos - Loretta arrives and gives dad a present and Sylvia some lovely flowers.

We all watched dad open the present.

My Garden... in pics

2011-06-16T21:32:00.000-07:00

My backyard jungle... it's hard to keep up with the mowing!

My grapes...

... and blueberry bushes from the front yard.

And my lovely lilac's also from the front yard.

Our one and only plum.

The cherry tree.

The large raised garden - with cauliflower, broccoli, white and red cabbage, sweet peas, and tomatoes.

My little pear tree.

The red anjou's on the pear tree.

The raspberries.

The black currants.

The red currants.

l-r - black currants, sasktoons, and gooseberries.

Red currents.

The smaller raised planter with cucumber, acorn/spaghetti/zucchini squashes, peppers, watermelon and cantaloupe.

White cabbage.

The apple tree.

l-r - the plum and cherry trees.

The apple trees.

Spring is Broken I Think

2011-06-01T18:04:00.000-07:00

I'm not quite sure what happened to Spring this year. It has been unusually cold, and the experts are saying that it will probably end up the coldest on record. Not for the coldest - but for the most consistently below the normal average for the entire season. I don't think we had a single day where we were actually above the average in temperature.

However... the garden seems to have liked it. All indications are that we're going to have a bumper crop on nearly all our fruit bushes and trees. The cherry tree is loaded - on one branch alone, I counted over a dozen cherries - and it was a short branch - just about an arms length. My little pear tree is overloaded on pears - 9 of one variety and a gazillion (nearly) of the other. I've had to pinch off a lot of the smaller buds to give the rest a chance. In a week or two, I'll pinch off all the smaller ones and only keep some of the bigger pears. If I don't, I'd run the risk of breaking the slim branches. (It is only 4 years old and too skinny to support that many fruit.)

Our gooseberry, red and black currants, raspberries, and saskatoon berries are loaded as well, as are both of the apple trees. Our plum tree - well the original tree has completely died, and we've just finished chopping down the last of the dead branches and trunks. There are lots of new shoots busily growing, and there is one plum, so it looks like we'll have plums again in the next few years.

In my raised gardens, I've planted snow peas, broccoli, cauliflower, white and red cabbage and 3 varieties of tomatoes in the larger one; and watermelon, cantaloupe, zucchini, peppers, cucumber, and acorn and spaghetti squash in the smaller one.

In the front yard, the lilac is in full bloom right now... it smells heavenly! I've also planted 2 green grapes (they haven't shown any signs of life yet), 2 purple grapes, 2 blueberry bushes, 1 pink grape, and 1 blue grape bushes. Except for the green grapes, all are happily growing and leafing out nicely. They likely won't bear any fruit this year as they are quite small right now, but in a few years.... YUM!

Rockwood Gardens finally sent me my order of Honey Berries - these are supposedly something like a cross between a blueberry and a plum, both in general appearance and taste. It will be interesting to see what the fruit is like when it gets big enough to bear some. (Again, that may take a year or two.)

This weekend I'll try to take pictures of the garden (assuming the weather cooperates!) and will post them to show my garden off.

5 Words Poetry

2011-06-01T17:40:00.001-07:00

Liz gave me the words light, sun, earth, water, source. Here is my poem:

light touches water
sun rises, warming the earth
source of life for all

A shower was NOT what I had in mind...

2011-05-14T00:13:00.000-07:00

Boy, am I glad Wim doesn't carry a camera around!

On Monday I had done quite a bit of puttering in the garden. I hooked up the timer for the sprinkler, planted a bunch of things in my raised gardens, and planted one tomato plant in one of those fancy, upside-down tomato planters.

One of the hoses had a leak, so I hooked it up separately, intending to use it to water that fancy planter, as it was hung up by the corner of the garage, and nowhere near the raised planters that everything else had been planted in.

I even used the hose once, to make sure it would reach the planter okay. The leak, at that point, was spraying mostly into the ground and easily avoidable.

Wednesday it rained, so I didn't have to water the plant... it got plenty of rain where it was hanging. Thursday it rained a little, enough so that I figured I didn't need to water it.

Today (Friday the 13th of May - I'm writing this just after midnight), I decided I had better give it a good drink. I took the nozzle (which only sprayed if you squeezed it) in one hand, and stepped over to the tap to turn on the water - - - - - AAGH!!!

One leg was right over the leak, and between Monday and Friday it had managed to move around so that it was pointed pretty much straight up! Cold water shot up my pant leg - in my excitement I jumped away from the tap, squeezing and waving my hands around (for balance) and consequently (as the water was still running) spraying every-which-way with the hose. Wim had to run to avoid getting wet.

When I'd calmed down enough to stop spraying everything in sight, I sent Wim to get one of the spare (good) hoses to swap them. While he was downstairs getting the replacement hose, I watered the tomato plant.

LOL - such excitement. Of course, I had to change into dry pants when I went back inside.

Poetry Challenge April 2011

2011-04-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

Well, when Merina dropped by for a visit two weekends ago, she gave me the following 5 words to work up into a poem: chocolate, purple, igloo, turban, and snatch.

Here's what I came up with. (You try it!)

Winter Cloak

The sky turns pink, then purple

as the sun slowly dips.

Thick clouds wrap their misty arms

like a turban around the mountain tips.

The earthy bank of the river

is a deep rich chocolate brown;

slowly turning white as snowflakes collect

building little igloos over stones and sticks - a tiny town -

until a breeze begins to blow.

The wind hums merrily; to poke

and snatch at everything is fun.

Slowly all is covered in a winter cloak.

Eagle eating fish, April 2nd 2011

2011-04-03T15:48:00.000-07:00

On April 2nd, Dad, Wim and I went to the Sagebrush Theatre in Kamloops to take in the play "Mambo Italiano". It was pretty good. Afterwards, we went out for dinner at the Storms Restaurant in Kamloops which is right on the Thompson River. (This was an event put on by the IOF.)

While we were at the restaurant, Wim spotted an eagle fishing... we watched it dive-bomb the water several times and finally it landed in the water and caught a fish. As soon as it got to the bank of the river, the crows started pestering it and after a minute it flew across to our side of the river and landed on the post you see in the pictures.

It was now close enough for me to get some pictures.... these are all taken at full zoom.

Getting Our Furnace Replaced

2011-02-19T15:33:00.000-08:00

Well, it is really nice to have proper heat again. In early January the guys came to finish replacing the furnace. Here's a shot of one of the fellows on the roof....

This whole business with the furnace really showed me how much I hate having cold feet! You know, it is almost impossible to go to sleep when your feet are cold!

Winter weather... I am sooooo ready for Spring!

2011-02-19T15:27:00.000-08:00

Here are a bunch of winter scenes, taken between January 29th and February 15th. You'll probably notice some that look kinda blue... I forgot to change the camera setting to automatic on those.... (I had it set to incandescent....)

Christmas Dinner ... on Boxing Day

2011-01-03T18:21:00.000-08:00

On December 26, 2010, Sylvia and Gary came out from Merritt, and Antoon came with Merina from Vancouver to join us for some Christmas turkey.

I'd actually made the turkey on Christmas day, so we had the leftovers, and there was lots. Besides the turkey, there was gravy, potatoes, yams, beets, and a mixed salad, as well as some cranberry sauce. Yum! And for dessert, there were dark chocolate cups filled with milk chocolate pudding and topped with a maraschino cherry. At the bottom of this post are pictures of our dinner.

Dad opening up his presents from Sylvia and Robert (Robert and Loretta sent presents for all of us with Antoon).

Sylvia and Gary watching dad...

Dad sampling a shortbread cookie ... and thoroughly enjoying it!

Man, it's hard to catch Merina with a straight face! LOL

Sylvia and Gary helping themselves to dinner. And here is what my plate looked like:

We used paper plates so we wouldn't have so many dishes to do later.

My, don't these look scrumptious!

2010-12-23T19:09:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-23T18:33:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-23T18:29:00.000-08:00

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...

2010-12-23T18:12:00.000-08:00

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!)

2010-12-23T17:50:00.000-08:00

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

Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!

2010-12-11T16:23:00.000-08:00

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

2010-08-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

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)

2010-08-17T22:14:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-23T23:20:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-23T22:57:00.000-07:00

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

yet more Father's Day

2010-06-23T22:52:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-23T22:46:00.001-07:00

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

2010-06-23T22:32:00.001-07:00

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

2010-06-16T23:54:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-16T23:46:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-05-21T21:43:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

Yay!

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

Hummingbirds

2010-05-21T17:46:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-19T20:24:00.000-07:00

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....

2010-05-19T20:16:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-19T20:11:00.000-07:00

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

Edible Flowers part 2

2010-04-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

Desserts From Edible Flowers

Overview
Flowers have been used in cooking and to decorate food serving dishes since Roman times. They have been brewed in teas, offered as aphrodisiacs and used for flavoring in both sweet and savory dishes. Most people think first of using herbs in savory dishes when selecting plants from their gardens for cooking. A visit to the perennial flower garden can also add color and flavor to desserts and salads.
Step 1
Rose petals add fragrance add beauty to any cake. Place rose petals on an iced cake for decoration that is safe to eat. Make candied rose petals by dipping them in egg whites beaten with a little water. Then dip the petal in sugar and allow it to dry before placing it on any dessert.
Step 2
For a very elegant dessert, hollow out a rose leaving only the external petals and fill the center with ice cream, flavored whipped cream or any other soft dessert. Serve with crisp cookies and watch the delight on your guests faces.
Step 3
Lavender is popular for baking and serving with desserts. Dried or fresh flowers are added to cake and cookie batter. They can also be used as a decoration on an iced cake, but they lack the showy appeal of flower petals. Try lavender in a chocolate cake, chocolate icing or brownies.
Step 4
When using lavender, be sure to wash the flowers thoroughly. Use them while they are freshly picked. Dried lavender added to sugar makes a flavorful sweetener for teas and in baked goods. Lavender compliments lemon flavor so using both lemon and lavender in a recipe is a good choice.
Step 5
Carnations and nasturtiums make beautiful cake decorations. Their spicy flavor is more suited to salads and vegetable dishes; but as a garnish on a dessert, they are bright and inviting. The petals can be candied the same way as rose petals before using them.
Step 6
Pansies and violets may be used much like roses. They have a sweet, spearmint flavor that complements most desserts. Serve on cakes, ice cream or any dessert.
Tips and Warnings
Never eat flowers purchased at a flower store; the grower may have used pesticides. Some flowers are poisonous and should never be used with food. Be sure not to use both edible and non-edible flowers when decorating food items. The link below has a comprehensive list of flowering plants that are poisonous.

http://homecooking.about.com/library/weekly/blflowersnot.htm

Cooking with Flowers Tips and Hints
Asthmatics should avoid some flowers
By Peggy Trowbridge Filippone, About.com Guide

Yes, those flowers look beautiful as garnishes, but what do they taste like?
Bean blossoms have a sweet, beany flavor. Nasturtiums have a wonderfully peppery flavor similar to watercress and their pickled buds can be substituted for more expensive capers. Borage tastes like cucumber, and miniature pansies (Johny-Jump-Ups) have a mild wintergreen taste.
Violets, roses and lavender lend a sweet flavor to salads or desserts. Bright yellow calendulas are an economic alternative to expensive saffron, though not quite as pungent. Other flowers may have a spicy or peppermint flavor.
When in doubt, taste, but first be sure it's not poisonous.

Edible flowers tips and hints

Edible flowers as a garnish make any dish look special on your table, but be sure the flavor of the flower compliments the dish. Here are a few ideas to beautify your recipes and perk up your taste buds:
• Place a colorful gladiolus or hibiscus flower (remove the stamen and pistil) in a clear glass bowl and fill with your favorite dip.
• Sprinkle edible flowers in your green salads for a splash of color and taste.
• Freeze whole small flowers into ice rings or cubes for a pretty addition to punches and other beverages.
• Use in flavored oils, vinaigrettes, jellies, and marinades.
• One of the most popular uses is candied or crystalized flowers, used to decorate cakes and fine candies.
• Asthmatics or others who suffer allergic reactions to composite-type flowers (calendula, chicory, chrysanthemum, daisy, English daisy, and marigold) should be on alert for possible allergic reaction.
• Never use non-edible flowers as a garnish. You must assume that if guests find a flower on a plate of food, they will think it edible.
• Use flowers sparingly in your recipes, particularly if you are not accustomed to eating them. Too much of a pretty thing can lead to digestive problems.
• If you are prone to allergies, introduce flowers in small amounts so you can judge their effect. Some have a much more pronounced flavor than others, so you'll need to judge accordingly.

Fried Squash Blossoms Recipe

Use squash, pumpkin or zucchini flowers for this favorite recipe that is popular in Italy as well as Mexico. If you are lucky enough to have a garden and plant any type of squash, you will know how prolific they are. Nipping off the blossoms will help tame the harvest and help the remainders that grow into fruit.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

* 12 squash (pumpkin or zucchini) blossoms
* 1 egg, beaten
* 5 Tablespoons fine breadcrumbs
* 4 Tablespoons vegetable oil
* Parsley for garnish, optional

Preparation:
Clean the pumpkin or zucchini squash blossoms, removing the stems, if desired, and the small green spikes at the base. Press the hard bulbs to flatten, then separate and extend the petals until the flower shape is visible.
Dip the flowers in the egg, then in the breadcrumbs. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and fry 6 flowers at a time until crisp and golden; change the oil if necessary between batches. Drain on paper towels.
Serve, garnished with chopped parsley, if desired.
Yield: 6 servings

Strawberry Mousse in Tulip Cups Recipe

Fresh tulip flowers make a stunning container for a light strawberry mousse, perfect for a party. Be sure to read up on edible flowers before you buy your tulips for this dessert.
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1/4 cup boiling water
* 1/4 cup cold water
* 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
* 6 cups (three 1-pint baskets) fresh strawberries
* 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
* 1/3 cup orange juice
* 8 large pesticide-free tulips, rinsed and drained
* 2 Tablespoons meringue powder
* 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup heavy cream

Preparation:
In medium-size heatproof bowl, combine 1/4 cup sugar and the boiling water until sugar dissolves; set sugar syrup aside to cool.
In cup, combine cold water and gelatin. Set aside 5 minutes to soften gelatin. Meanwhile, hull and finely dice enough strawberries to measure 4 cups. Refrigerate remaining strawberries.
In 2-quart saucepan, heat diced strawberries and remaining 1/2 cup sugar to boiling over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low and simmer berries until very soft -- about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice.
Prepare orange-berry sauce: In food processor fitted with chopping blade or blender, process or blend cooked berries until smooth puree forms. Pour 1-1/3 cups strawberry puree into 2-cup measuring cup and stir in orange juice; cover and refrigerate until cold.
Pour remaining strawberry puree into same 2-quart saucepan and stir in softened gelatin; heat over low heat just until gelatin dissolves. Refrigerate strawberry gelatin, stirring often, until mixture mounds slightly when dropped from spoon -- about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare tulip cups: Cut off stems and remove the pistils and stamens from the tulips. Place each tulip cup in a custard cup or muffin-pan cup to keep them upright; set aside.
Add meringue powder to syrup in bowl. With electric mixer on high speed, beat until soft peaks form. Add vanilla and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold cooled strawberry gelatin mixture into meringue until well mixed. In small bowl, with electric mixer on high speed and same (no need to wash) beaters, beat cream until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream into strawberry gelatin mixture. Gently spoon strawberry mixture, or mousse, into tulip cups, dividing evenly. Refrigerate until set -- 2 hours or overnight.
Just before serving, sort remaining strawberries and reserve 16 small ones for garnish. Hull and slice remaining berries; divide equally and place in center of each of 8 serving plates. With large spoon, transfer tulip cups onto bed of sliced berries, moving slices around tulip to support cup upright. Pour a thin layer of orange-berry sauce around tulip cup on each plate. Garnish each with 2 berries. Pass remaining sauce. Serve immediately.
Yields: 8 servings

Curried Daylilies Recipe

The daylilies are enhanced not only by the spicy curry sauce but also make good use of carrots, celery, TVP, and nuts. Serve over brown rice or with Indian bread.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
Sauté:
* 1/4 cup sesame oil
* 8 cups daylilies, sliced
* 2 medium-size carrots, sliced
* 4 celery stalks, sliced
* 1 cup texturized vegetable protein (TVP), soaked for 10 minutes in 3/4 cup hot water, drained, soaking water reserved
* 1/2 cup raw cashews or peanuts
Sauce:
* 3/4 cup drained silken tofu
* 1/4 cup dark-colored miso
* 2 tablespoons curry paste
* Juice of 1 lime
* 1 tablespoon kudzu or arrowroot

Preparation:
To make the sauté:
Heat the sesame oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add daylilies, carrots, celery, TVP, and cashews or peanuts. Cook, stirring, for 10 minutes.
To make the sauce:
In a blender, combine tofu, miso, curry paste, lime, and kudzu or arrowroot. Process until smooth.
Pour the sauce into the skillet and bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring often. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and simmer the mixture for another 10 minutes.
Serve over brown rice or with Indian bread.
Yield: 6 servings

(This one also had charts for poisonous and edible plants - 1 chart for each - but again, the darn thing wouldn't import properly.)

And now for the Edible Flowers portion ...

2010-04-16T19:32:00.000-07:00

The 10 Rules of Edible Flowers

1. Eat flowers only when you are positive they are edible.
2. Just Because it is served with food does not mean a flower is edible (see rule #1).
3. Eat only flowers that have been grown organically.
4. Do not eat flowers from florists, nurseries or garden centres (see rule #3).
5. If you have hay fever, asthma or allergies, do not eat flowers.
6. Do not eat flowers picked from the side of the road. They are contaminated from car emissions (see rule #1).
7. Remove pistils and stamens from flowers before eating. Eat only the petals.
8. Not all flowers are edible. Some are poisonous.
9. There are many varieties of any one flower. Flowers taste different when grown in different locations.
10. Introduce flowers into your diet the way you would new foods to a baby – one at a time in small quantities.

The Big 10

* Calendula * Chives * Daylily
* Mint * Nasturtium * Pansy
* Rose * Sage * Signet Marigold
* Squash Blossoms

* Walk around your property and your vegetable garden, to see which ones you have (from the above list).
* Once you have determined which flowering “delicacies” you have, consider adding a few choice perennials, bulbs, shrubs or trees. Because they grow for years, perennial plants need a permanent site; consider carefully where to locate them.

How to Grow Edible Flowers

Overview
Edible flowers include garden variety flowers such as violas, pansies, roses, calendula, chrysanthemum, day lilies, hibiscus, and snap dragons. Edible flowers have a number of uses for the home gardener. Use edible flowers such as nasturiums to add a peppery flavor to your salad. Add marigolds to a vegetable dish for color, or a hint of sweetness to a fruit dish by adding pansies. Many edible flowers can be sugared by painting with whipped egg whites then sprinkled with sugar and used for decoration on desserts. Freeze flowers in ice cube trays, one per cube, to add elegance to drinks. Grow edible flowers in pots.
Location
Step 1
Determine where you will be growing your edible flowers. Most flowers need at least six hours of direct sunlight to blossom and eight is better. Pots can be heavy when filled with soil and water. Decide where you want the pots before planting. Consider how you will get water to the pots if natural rainfall isn't enough to keep them growing. During summer months many pots will need to be watered once a day.
Step 2
Group flowers that have the same watering requirements together in the same area, pot or groups of pots. Some flowers, like roses, need to be kept moist but don't tolerate wet soil.
Step 3
Plant varieties together. It is acceptable to plant more than one variety in a single pot if the pot is large enough so the flowers won't be crowded when mature.
Step 4
Grow your own plants from seed. Edible flowers are best grown from seed unless you're willing to discard blossoms from nursery plants for at least several weeks. Nurseries and commercial plant farms use pesticides which can be harmful if ingested by humans. There are organic plants available but they aren't easy to find.
Step 5
Prepare the pots. Place a coffee filter in the bottom of the pot so the excess water drains out but the soil stays inside. You may have to use more than one. Fill the pot half way with potting soil. Water to settle the soil. Add a measure of fertilizer per package directions. Fill the pot to the about an inch below the top. Mix the fertilizer and soil well.
Step 6
Place the seedlings a little below the soil's surface. Plant seeds at the depth specified on the package. Plant seeds too deep and they won't sprout. Plant too shallow and they dry out.
Step 7
Water well. Do not let the pots dry out until the seeds have sprouted and are well established. Taper off watering to the point you only water when the soil feels dry at a depth of two inches. The easiest way to tell is to stick your finger in the soil. If it's moist you don't need to water.
Tips and Warnings
Do not use insecticides or pesticides unless clearly labeled that they can be used on the day of harvesting. If at all possible don't use them at all. Remove bugs by hand or spray off with a stream of water.

How to Pick Edible Flowers

Overview
It's shocking how many flowers you can eat. You'll never look at a bouquet the same way again. Consuming flowers can be traced back to medieval Europe and to Native American times. Nowadays, eating a mixed salad with pansies and chrysanthemums is considered fun, taboo, exotic and a culinary indulgence. Important note: All flowers should be organic, meaning no chemicals, pesticides or sprays have been used on them.
Flower Research
Step 1
Picking an edible flower versus a poisonous one is serious business. Print out a list of both edible and poisonous flowers from Rosalind Creasy's "The Edible Flower Garden." She provides an extensive, well researched list.
Step 2
Decide whether you'd like to grow a small edible flower garden or head to a greenhouse or farmers' market to choose your flowers. Either way, you'll narrow down your selections to a few flowers that pique your interest.
Step 3
Each flower has specific directions for preparation. For example: With roses, you'll remove the bitter white part off the base of the petal. With squash blossoms, you'll need to remove stems, stamens and stigmas. Lilacs? Pick the heads off the flower soon after they open. Following Creasy's advice will save you from eating and cooking the wrong part of the flower.
Step 4
Flavor: Obviously each flower offers distinct flavors. Doing your research ahead of time can save your taste buds disappointment. Lavender, the rock star of edible flowers, has a strong lemony taste. It can be used in many ways, most notably in syrup, flavoring sugar, jelly, custards and in many desserts. In comparison, tulip petals offer a sweetness like a pea. "Mustard flowers add a bite to a mixed salad," Creasy says.
Step 5
If the idea of eating and cooking with flowers intimidates you, try an easy recipe like Nasturtium Butter (only four ingredients: butter, nasturtium flower and leaves, chive leaves). Other recipes that can be found in Creasy's book: Rose Petal Sorbet, Lavender Shortbread cookies, Ricotta Stuffed Zucchini Flowers and more.
Tips and Warnings
According to Rosalind Creasy, you should never risk eating any flowering plant unless it's on a edible list. Never make assumptions. Remember heating and cooking remove some toxins, not all. So don't think you can turn a "bad" flower into a "good" one. "Never use a flower as a garnish if it's not edible," Creasy says. Animals can eat plants and flowers that are fatal to humans. Here is a partial list of poisonous plants: amaryllis, autumn crocus, azalea, belladonna lily, bird of paradise, buttercup, clematis, daffodil, delphinium, foxglove, hydrangea, iris, lily of the valley, lupine, monkshood, narcissus, oleander, poinsettia, rhododendron, star of Bethlehem, sweet pea, wisteria.

How to Choose Edible Flowers

Overview
Would you be surprised to find out that many vegetables are really edible flowers? That's exactly what broccoli, artichokes, and cauliflower are--immature flower heads. Of course that's not what is usually meant by the term edible flowers. Edible flowers--like roses, pansies, and nasturtiums--can be used as seasoning, garnishes, or as ingredients in their own right. Before growing your own edible flowers, find out which ones you like and don't like.
Step 1
Select flowers at the grocery store that are clearly marked edible. Find them in the produce aisles. Flowers from the florist department of the store may in fact be edible but have been sprayed with insecticides during the growing season, rendering them poisonous. In the produce department most edible flowers are sold with just the blossoms. Look for flowers that are fresh and that don't have any signs of wilting, decay or mold. You will most likely find edible flowers in gourmet grocery stores.
Step 2
Order edible flowers online through specialty markets. Sometimes your regular grocer will special order as well. You can order edible flowers as dried flowers. They're not as pretty as fresh but for some recipes work just as well. Dried flowers are similar to dried herbs.
Step 3
Decide how you're going to use the flowers. Flowers, like vegetables and fruits, have different tastes. A flower with a strong herbaceous flavor, such as marigolds, won't work in a dessert but would work in a salad. Some flowers are best eaten raw and don't work in a cooked dish. You can use flowers as garnishes for cocktails, adding both a bright splash of color and taste. Freeze small flowers like pansies or miniature roses in individual ice cubes. Freeze large flowers in a bowl of water. Use the ice to chill a punch served in a punch bowl.
Step 4
Experiment with different flowers if you're unfamiliar with them. Of course that means that you may waste a few blossoms here and there. Nibble a petal or two to get the flavor and texture of the flower. Blanch it in boiling water to see if it retains its shape or turns into a slimy mess. Knowing which flowers you like makes it easier to select the flowers you want to grow.
Step 5
Grow your own edible flowers. Select a variety of easy-to-grow edible flowers, such as those already mentioned, plus geraniums, snapdragons, sunflowers and carnations. Start the flowers yourself from seed, or buy organically grown plants. If you buy the plants from a nursery, remove all flowers and buds and wait for the flowers to re-bloom before eating.
Tips and Warnings
Do not use flowers from your garden or florist thinking you can rinse them off to get rid of any pesticides.

... to be continued

Presentation continued

2010-04-16T19:26:00.000-07:00

Some Other Common Weeds

Cattails have many food uses throughout the year. The young roots and stalks can be prepared like asparagus for a pleasant cooked vegetable. Even the immature flower spikes can be eaten as a vegetable. As with acorns, cattail pollen can be collected, dried, and used as a flour. Flour can also be made from mature rootstock gathered in the fall. Crush and pull fibers from the root core in a pan of cold water. The rootstock’s starch will settle to the bottom. Rinse and dry the flour before using.

Chicory, like dandelion, has similar uses. A coffee-like drink can be made from the roasted root of either plant. The drink is a pleasant, non-caffeinated beverage. The sky blue flowers are also edible and make a terrific addition to salads.

Day lilies are another versatile edible wild plant. The young flower buds can be eaten as a cooked green, not unlike green beans. The flowers are also edible. As will dandelion buds, batter and fry them as fritters. However, exercise caution when collecting day lilies. While most parts are edible, the roots are toxic.

Oaks have long been revered by ancient people and believed to be the first tree created. Acorns when shelled and boiled with several water changes, make a pleasant snacking nut or candy when dipped in sugar syrup. Acorns can also be ground and roasted to make flour. The flour has a delicate, nutty flavor. Because it is a heavy flour, it should be mixed with lighter flours before baking.

Cultivated Greens:

* Arugula * Asparagus * Beet greens (tops)
* Bok choy * Broccoli * Carrot tops
* Celery * Chard * Collard greens
* Endive * Escarole * Fresee
* Grape leaves * Kale (3 types) * Mitsuna
* Mustard greens * Pumpkin leaves * Radicchio
* Radish tops * Rhubarb * Spinach
* Romaine lettuce green and red leaf (no Iceberg or light colored leaf)

Do plants “want” us to eat their trunk and roots? Nope. Without roots, plants would instantly die. That is why the roots are hidden in the ground. The sweetness in roots is meant for specific beneficial microorganisms in the soil that are fed off of tiny rootlets. The trunk is also vital for the life of the plant and is purposely covered with hard and bitter bark. And what about the greens? Here, plants demonstrate their perfect ability to develop symbiosis with different creatures. Plants “allow” humans and animals to eat ALL of their fruits, but only PART of their leaves, because plants need to have leaves for their own use - which is manufacturing chlorophyll. However, plants depend on moving creatures for many different reasons, like pollination, fertilizing the soil, and hanging around to help eat the ripe fruit. For this reason, plants accumulate a lot of highly nutritious elements in their leaves, but mix these nourishing ingredients with either bitterness or very small amounts of alkaloids (poisons). That is how animals are forced to rotate their menu and that is why all wild animals are browsers. They eat a small amount of one thing, then move on to many other plants during the course of the day. The body is capable of easily detoxifying small amounts of a great many things, but it is much more difficult for the human system to get rid of a large amount of one type of poison. This is why it is crucial for us to learn to rotate the greens in our diet. Chimpanzees also rotate the green plants they eat. They go through approximately 117 different plants in one year.[2] We humans need to learn to alternate our variety of greens as much as possible instead of eating only iceberg lettuce, spinach and romaine.
Despite their names and appearances, cultivated greens have similar nutritional content. To meet our nutritional needs, it is essential that we learn to include greens from a number of totally different plant families into our daily diets.

Weeds:

* Borage leaves and flowers * Chicory greens and flowers * Chickweed
* Clover * Dandelion (greens and flowers) * Fiddlehead ferns
* Lambsquarters * Malva * Miner’s lettuce
* Plantain * Purslane * Sorrel
* Stinging nettles

Wild edibles often contain more vitamins and minerals than commercially marketed plants. Weeds have not been “spoiled” with farmers’ care in contrast to the “good” plants of the garden. In order to survive in spite of constant weeding, pulling, and spraying, weeds had to develop strong survival properties. For example, in order to stay alive without being watered, most weeds have developed unbelievably long roots. Alfalfa’s roots grow up to 20 feet long reaching for the most fertile layers of the soil. As a result, all wild plants possess more nutrients than commercially grown plants.

Sprouts:

* Alfalfa * Broccoli * Clover
* Fenugreek * Radish * Sunflower

Approximately from the third to the sixth day of their life, sprouts contain higher levels of alkaloids, as a means of protection from animals nipping them off and killing them.[3] That doesn’t mean that sprouts are poisonous or dangerous, but only that we cannot live on sprouts alone. Most sprouts are rich in B-vitamins and have a hundred times more nutrients than a fully developed plant because sprouts need more nutrition for their fast growing period.
(from an article by Victoria Boutenko, she also wrote a book "Green for Life")

Amaranth

One of the more interesting edible plants in North America is Amaranth. This plant’s use dates back to the pre-Columbian Aztecs and has long been used for its grain and medicinal purposes. In Mexico, the seeds are roasted for a traditional drink called “atole”. Peruvians use it to make beer and in other regions to treat toothaches and fevers.
Amaranth is a bush plant that grows 3-10 feet tall. There are vegetable and grain varieties. Plants will produce up to 50,000 seeds each. Amaranth is very hearty and will grow in your garden, or just about anywhere and reseeds itself. The grain is very nutritious, and the leaves are on par with spinach, which it’s related to.
Amaranth is high in protein, lysine and methionine, essential amino acids. It’s higher in fiber than wheat and has calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, vitamins A and E.
There are many varieties, one of which, Spiny Amaranth, is shown to control blood glucose, which could be very useful in a long-term crisis situation.
To harvest the seeds, cover the plant lightly with a non-pourous bag, gently tip the plant to the side and shake. You’ll need to winnow to separate all the debris that may come along. Amaranth grain must be cooked before eating. You can use as a cooked cereal, ground it into flour, pop it like popcorn, sprout it and toast it. You can also add the grain to soups and stews as a thickener. Amaranth flour is useful in pasta and all baked goods, but must be mixed with other flour for yeast breads as it contains no gluten - which makes it perfect for those with gluten allergies.

Boil 1 cup of seeds in 2 1/2 cups liquid for about 18-20 minutes, until they are tender. It has a sticky texture, so shouldn’t be overcooked as it will become gummy. It has a mild, nutty flavor almost like Quinoa, but without any bitterness.

To store the grain long-term, package in an air-tight container with oxygen absorbers. It should store in a dry, cool place for up to two years. Amaranth has a hard outer shell which makes it store longer than buckwheat or Quinoa.

You can cook the young leaves like spinach and you can use the sprouts in sandwiches and salads.

Interesting Links to check out:

- www.northernbushcraft.com/plants/index.htm - Wild Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest - this guide covers wild edible plants of British Columbia, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, and the Rocky Mountains.
- www.herbvideos.com/ewpindex.htm – click on “mountain” for list of plants that grow in our region
- buybcwild.com/buy-bcwild-directory - A free guide to products from the WILDS of BC. It includes lots of recipes, too. Click on the picture of the book to get the download (pdf).
- www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/docs/Lmh/Lmh03.htm – for a free downloadable (pdf) guide to over 300 plant species native to BC.

(There was also a chart about edible weeds - but it wouldn't import properly into the blog....)

Garden Club Presentation

2010-04-16T19:18:00.000-07:00

On April 17th, at the North Thompson Valley Garden Club meeting, I'll be doing a presentation on Edible Weeds and Flowers. - This blog, and the next few, will be most of what I'll be saying (& handing out).

Enjoy!

The Definition of a Weed:

The definition of a weed is "a plant out of place." OK, if that's true, think about this for a second.... If a dandelion is a weed in a home lawn, grass is a weed on a dandelion farm! (Where they grow dandelion greens.)

Weed Harvesting Guidelines

1. Only harvest weeds that you can positively identify and know to be edible. The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants, by the Department of the Army is a good reference, if you aren't sure.

2. Avoid picking weeds close to roadways. They'll have absorbed exhaust fumes and road run off.

3. Avoid harvesting weeds in areas that may have been contaminated by animal feces.

4. Do not pick weeds from yards that have been treated with pesticides or herbicides.

5. Only eat the parts of plants that you know to be edible. Many edible plants have non-edible – and sometimes poisonous – parts.

Edible Weeds: What's in It for You

Not only will you be saving money on herbicides by tolerating edible weeds, but you'll also be saving money that would otherwise be spent on conventional edible plants from the supermarket.

However, the benefits of appreciating edible weeds go beyond saving money. For one thing, you won't have to worry about the potential harm that herbicides can cause children, pets or wildlife. Moreover, you'll develop a closer relationship with nature, one that will encourage you to stop to smell the roses. You'll find that your study of the edible weeds in your lawn will put you in closer touch with seasonal changes, botany and history. For instance, did you know that the dandelion, ubiquitous in North America, is not native to this continent, but introduced from Europe? Settlers brought it across the Atlantic precisely because it is an edible weed (with medicinal properties to boot).

Caveats in Harvesting Edible Weeds:

Of course, not all weeds are edible plants. In fact, some are quite poisonous! Consequently, proper identification is essential. Don't underestimate the complexity and potential danger involved:

* Never ingest a weed without first being certain that it is an edible plant! Books and the Web can help you with identification of edible weeds; but better yet, contact your local wildflower society or similar source for expert guidance.
* Just because a particular plant is an "edible weed," that doesn't mean that every part of it should be eaten. In some instances of "edible weeds," just the root or leaf, e.g., should be eaten.
* Likewise, some "edible weeds" must be cooked first -- never eat them raw!

Nor is that all. Consider the fact that "edible weeds" are only as safe as their growing conditions. For instance, avoid harvesting edible weeds in an area that has been subject to:

* Past or present herbicide use
* Road salt
* Pet waste

Edible Weeds! Local, Free & Nutritious

“Weeds are not the enemy. Rather, they provide solutions to global hunger, rising food costs, escalating malnutrition and other maladies of modern living.”

So says Dr. Peter Gail, Director of Goosefoot Acres Center for Resourceful Living in Cleveland. The ethnobotanist presents Edible Weeds Workshops throughout the United States, providing hands-on culinary sessions which introduce skeptics to the hidden nutritional, medicinal and tasty wonders of 10 common weeds.

Any invasive plant that grows where it’s unwelcome is considered a weed. But nature’s 10 best weeds, according to Gail, were intentionally brought to this country by European settlers who wouldn’t have survived their meager first years in America otherwise.

“Weeds are your real one-a-day-vitamin pills,” Gail says. “Everything you need to survive is growing right between your two feet on any ordinary lawn or vacant lot. There are actually 3,000 edible wild plants I’ve identified which are abundant, nutritious and enjoy a 10-12 month growing season.”

Here are Nature’s 10 Best Weeds, according to Gail:

1) The Dandelion, whose flowers, stems, roots and leaves offer nearly 17 times more vitamin C than citrus fruits. In addition, dandelion ‘bitters’ offer intestinal benefits that calm acid reflux, flatulence and other digestive discomforts.

2) Wild Violets, whose flowers and leaves are nature’s second-most abundant source of Vitamin C, after rose hips. These make attractive and delicately-flavored additions to salad.

3) Purslane, a fleshy-leafed plant found in most vegetable gardens, should not be pulled out and thrown away. The leaves are good fresh in salads or salsas, or dried and used later in soups. They are a prime source of Omega-3 fatty acids (for those who detest fish oil pills, purslane is a nutritional substitute.)

4) Mallows (not marshmallows) are usually found along outbuildings and garages. Used in salads or cooked in soup, the leaves are good for settling upset stomachs and help cure constipation. Hollyhocks, Rose of Sharon, hibiscus and dwarf mallow are all members of the mallow family.

5) Lambs Quarters is a basic wild green that tastes like spinach but offers even more nutritional benefits. The leaves can be used in any spinach recipe, and those eating it won’t recognize the difference. It’s a gourmet survival food.

6) Amaranthus (Red Root Pigweed) seeds can be crushed into flour for nutrient-rich bread. (You can find amaranthus bread in area health food stores and bakeries.) The wild green can also be used as a spinach substitute.

7) Plantain is called “Poor Man’s Bread By the Way” in England because the seeds were gathered by hobos and made into a gruel and flatbread. Its leaves are even more valued as a poultice to combat the effects of poison ivy, skin rashes and wounds. Plantain tea is said to cure the urge to smoke.

8-10) Sheep Sorrel, Curly Dock & Oxalis are all classed as spinach substitutes, but are generally sour, giving dishes a lemony flavor. The stems and leaves offer up a refreshing, lemony taste that’s good in salad, soup or steamed mixed greens.

... to be continued....

2010-04-16T19:08:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken on Easter Sunday (2010). I decided to try out the timer on my camera, so that I could be in it too - worked great!

This one and the following picture were taken the week before Easter.

Scooter!!!!!!!! YeeHaw!

2010-04-04T16:03:00.000-07:00

The Barriere Lions Club received the donation of a scooter, with the stipulation that it be passed on to a local citizen who needed one, but could not afford to buy one.
They chose to give it to DAD!

The last picture

Olympic Torch Relay in Barriere BC

2010-01-28T16:09:00.000-08:00

WOW!

What an event!

This was exciting and exhilarating and... every other good adverb you can think of!

I took 228 pictures plus the above posted 5 minute video clip. My apologies that the clip is a bit jiggly, but it was hard to keep steady in the crowd. There must have been around 500 people just around the stage area itself.

While there was a rumour that there would be protesters there, none showed up that I could see (thank goodness). With it happening right across the street from the Elementary school, all the kids were out to join in the fun. Unfortunately for the Secondary students, this was the day for Provincial Exams and they had to stay in class.

First, at about 8:40, some native drummers did a song for us (very cool!); then a native elder (I missed getting her name) said a prayer in simpc; then the Pastor of St Paul's United Church lead a prayer. There was the usual intro of VIP's. Then the TORCH came and everyone sang O Canada! (Halfway through I got a severe case of WOW and couldn't sing for a bit.)

Afterward lots of games for the kids.

Lunch at the Seniors Hall - excellent food! Thank you Station House Restaurant! YUM!

At 1pm at the Elementary school there was an assembly and the awarding of tons of gold, silver, and bronze medals.

For any family members reading this - I have burnt several CD's with all the pics & the video clip - let me know if you want one.

Little Fort Ferry Slip on January 1st 2010

2010-01-10T14:41:00.000-08:00

On January 1st 2010, I had to cover the Polar Bear Swim for the Star Journal (the newspaper I write for), and while I was there anyways, I took some scenery pictures, too.

This first one is of the Ferry.

These next two are the best of the rest of the scenery pictures. I just love the old dead tree sticking up out over the river, all covered in snow.
The close up is even better, I think.

About the Polar Bear Swim - 25 insane people took the plunge. My photos and write up made front page news, though, so I'm pleased!

(These Canadians are crazy, eh!)

Christmas Visit from Antoon & Merina

2009-12-27T23:54:00.000-08:00

We also had a lovely visit from Antoon and Merina.

Merina didn't intend to go home with anything, but ended up taking 2 bags & a box - lol!

They were only here for a few hours - they arrived at about 12:30 and left at 4:00.
A short visit, but a nice one!

Weird camera - the brighter pictures are where the flash did NOT go off!

Christmas Visit from Sylvia & Gary

2009-12-27T23:47:00.000-08:00

A good visit! We played several games of Ramses Rage - everyone won except for Gary.

Then we played some Aggravation! Gary won 2 games and Wim won 1.

Lots of fun had by all. A most enjoyable visit!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas!

2009-12-22T18:13:00.000-08:00

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the shack
Every creature was stirring, even me – Jack.
Burlap sacks were hung by the chimney with care,
But with small hope that St. Nicholas soon would be there.
The monsters were nestled all snug in their sheds,
While visions of roast reindeer danced in their heads.
And Ma in her face mask and I in my flask
Had just settled our bones for a long winter’s snack.
When out on the lake there arose such a splatter,
I sprang away from the table to see what was the matter.
Away through the window I flew with a crash,
Smack through the shutters (right after the sash).
The moon shining on yesterday’s snow
Gave a luster of slush to objects below.
But what to my bloodshot eyes should appear
But a miniature sleigh and eight small, soaked reindeer
With a bedraggled driver so lively and quick,
I thought for a sec – yes… it must be St. Nick.
So rapid (and noisy) the reindeer they came,
And he whistled and shouted and called them all names:
“Now dash it! Oh darn it! Oh please, oh you Vixen!
Oh come on, don’t be stupid, darn you Blitzen!
Out of the lake and fly to the stall –
But don’t you dare crash into that stony old wall!”
As wet leaves that before the wild hurricane try
To emulate dry leaves in a race for the sky,
So up to the rooftop his reindeer they flew,
With a sleigh full of water – and St. Nicholas, too.
Then (with a snicker) I heard on the roof
A crashing and clawing and a strange sounding “Ooof”!
As I climbed through the window and was turning around,
Through the roof St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in splinters from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all sopping with ashes and soot.
A bundle of toys fell down at his back,
And he looked like a robber who got caught with his sack.
His eyes, how he blinked them! His dimples, how dreary!
His cheeks blushed like roses, his nose like a cherry.
His droll little mouth was drawn down like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as slushed as the snow.
The stump of a pipe was all that was left in his teeth,
And the dust from the roof settled round his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a round sinking belly
That shook as he puffed, like a bowlful of jelly.
He was grubby and plump, a frustrated old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.
He heaved a great sigh and tilted his head
And his rather grim smile said I’d something to dread.
He spoke not a word, but his mouth – did it work! –
Filled all of the sack; then turned with a jerk
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
With a swift nod, through the hole in the roof he rose.
He helped up his sleigh, to his team gave a stern look,
And away they all staggered, on legs that still shook.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he got out of sight:
“What a Christmas! I’ve never had such a night!”

(this was written by me way back in 1985)

Foresters Christmas Dinner & Train Ride

2009-12-16T14:54:00.000-08:00

On December 13th, Wim, dad & I went to the Foresters Christmas Event. It started with a train ride (with Santa, Scrooge, and a bunch of mischievous elves)... here are a few pics of the train and a very short video clip of it.

It was a very cold night - and windy (which of course made it that much colder). We started out all crammed in together inside a lovely large tent. They had a group singing Christmas carols - you can just see them in the far corner in this picture - and they served hot chocolate and tea to keep everyone warm.
We had to wait a bit for a freight train to pass, before we could board.

Getting dad on and off the train went pretty well, just the first step getting on, and the last step getting off was tricky.

When I mentioned above that the elves were mischievous - I meant it! One in particular really liked Wim's beard - said it reminded her of Santa - and advised him to keep himself nice & warm and pulled his toque down over his eyes!

Wim got her back though! When he spotted her coming back down the isle, he pulled the toque back down. When she saw it, she laughed and pulled it back up for him and said - she just wanted him to keep warm and not to look silly!

After the train ride, we went to "Storms" - a restaurant - for a buffet dinner. Very yummy food!
I didn't take many pictures inside the train - the lighting was a bit weird - I'll just post the one....

More cards

2009-12-08T18:18:00.000-08:00

The middle one in this lot, with the Nativity scene, I made using a lovely new stamp I picked up at Michaels (using one of thier 50% off coupons, of course).

Oh Dear.....

2009-12-08T12:43:00.000-08:00

Way back in January, when I started this blog, I said I wanted to post 1 a week (on average) or 52 during the whole year.... I'm only at around 35 or so and there are only a FEW DAYS LEFT!

Aacckkkkk!

I'd better hurry up and post a whole pile!

Making Christmas Cards

2009-12-08T12:37:00.001-08:00

Here are just a few of the Christmas cards I made while visiting with Sylvia in Merritt this fall.
I will post more in the next day or two.

Butterflies in the Garden

2009-08-23T18:37:00.001-07:00

I was in the community garden today taking in a worm composting workshop, when I spotted this little fellow (gal?). It was sunning itself on a flower and fanning it's wings, and generally being gorgeous. I took over a dozen shots of it, but these are the best 4.

Enjoy!!!

If you click on the images you will get a close up view....

Visiting in Merritt

2009-08-02T21:14:00.000-07:00

Last week, on Jul 26th, we (Wim, Dad & I) dropped in on Sylvia in Merritt. She had invited us over to celebrate Wim's birthday, which was on Jul 25th.

She BBQ'd hamburgers for us and had made a cherry pie with cherries she had picked the week before down on the coast - yum!

Here she is at the BBQ.....

And the Last of the Paintings (for now)

2009-07-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

Still More Paintings

2009-07-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

More Paintings

2009-07-30T10:50:00.000-07:00

Pictures I've Painted

2009-07-30T10:49:00.000-07:00

Hre are some of the pictures I've painted over the years.

These are the ones I gave to my mom & dad & brother Wim.

Most of the others are not in this house, so I can't take pictures of them right now.

So sorry for the quality of some of the pics - I know some are a bit fuzzy - my arms where jiggling and it blurred the result.

Ah well, they still give you an idea of my style of painting.

And Still More Community Garden

2009-07-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

More Community Garden

2009-07-30T10:45:00.000-07:00

Community Garden Flowers

2009-07-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

These are photos of flowers growing in Barriere's Community Garden.

I'm a member of the Garden Club and on nice days we have the meetings at the communtiy garden.

These were taken about 2 weeks ago.

Aren't they lovely!

2009-07-20T19:06:00.000-07:00

Eagle in an Osprey nest!

On my drive to work each morning I pass this nest. Coming from Barriere it is just before you get to the McLure Restaurant on the right.

The farmer that owns the field put up the pole years ago to encourage local Ospreys to nest there instead of on top of hydro pole (where they tend to start fires).

Usually Ospreys nest there, but this year it appears an eagle has taken it!

I snapped this photo at just the right time and caught him (her?) in mid flap!

My Garden

2009-06-29T23:04:00.000-07:00

What - you don't think this is a picture of my garden!!!

Well!

You're right of course.... sigh - if only... if only. ;-)

Here's the real garden. Note the nice planter boxes that Merina, Antoon, and Fred (Merina's ex) helped build.

The seats are very handy for sitting and relaxing.

In the smaller one I have some Jerusalem artichokes (the tall plants) and behind them three thornless blackberry bushes. The blackberry bushes are still very small but will hopefully eventually fill the box. Yummmmmmmmm.

In the bigger box I have a row of scraggly tomatoes at the front - you can barely see them in this photo, and in the back a strawberry plant - but the darn crows are picking all the strawberries before they are even ripe! :(

Then there are the raspberry bushes - they are covered in berries and should be ripe in about a month or so. (Possibly less.)

Then there's my red currents - here you can see one of the pesky crows feasting. Luckily there are tons of the berries and I should be able to have at least some of them (have actually already had a few).

I picked a small bowls worth of black and red currents, gooseberries, and saskatoon berries and dad & I had them in pancakes this morning.

Mmmmm mmmmm mmmmm!

Recent Photos

2009-06-14T22:55:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent photos .... this first one was taken on May 30th, at the "Celebration of the Arts" fair where I had a table, selling my hand-made cards.

I sold 15 cards total - which I thought was pretty good.

Dad's sitting at the end of the table in the sunshine. He got a slight sunburn, and overdid it with wearing his prosthesis and got a few blisters.

He's had to wait for the past 2 weeks for the blisters to heal.

And then here's Cleo, my puss. This was taken while she was sitting on my lap!

She is such a sweetie, and sleeps with me at night.

(And loves sitting on the mouse pad so that I have to pet her and stop typing..... like she is trying to do now....)

Yay Cleo!

2009-04-30T23:36:00.000-07:00

Cleo, my cat (aka Mao), was born around Sep 15th 1996. I say "around", because she was found as a young cat, abandoned on the beach in Metchosin BC, and the vet determined her approximate birthday.
For a 13 year old cat she is still very active and spry. So much so, that when I got home from work tonight - I had a surprise from her. She had caught her first chipmunk!!!!!!
Chipmunks are fast little buggers - I know, because I've seen her chase them.
So YAY puss!
(Granted - I am sorry for the little chipmunk.)
Later on I'll find a photo of Cleo & post it.

Time flies when you are having fun......

2009-04-20T21:47:00.000-07:00

*S*I*G*H*

My vacation is over!

Tomorrow I have to go to work again. Ah well... all good things must (unfortunately) come to an end, I guess.

At the beginning of the week I visited with my sister Sylvia in Merritt. She has some interesting 4 legged neighbours.

This cat was drinking from a small puddle in the wheelbarrow .... isn't he cute!

And here is Sylvia giving another 4 legged neighbour a treat.

Then, Thursday to Saturday, I was at the 62nd Diocesan CWL Convention. (CWL = Catholic Women's League)

This is the display they set up for the statue of Our Lady of Good Counsel.

It was a great event and I enjoyed myself immensely!

A lovely full moon...

2009-04-11T01:47:00.000-07:00

The moon was absolutely gorgeous tonight... I just had to take a few shots of it.

and then there is me...

2009-04-10T00:44:00.001-07:00

I was born on November 28th 1962. Mom told me once that when she was pregnant with me she had cravings for those cans of spagghetti and ravioli... I love pasta to this day and it is one of my favourite foods (next to chocolate, of course!).

I inheritted a hip ailment from mom's side of the family. Her mother had the defect (but in her left hip), I have it in my right.

Mom also had a variation of it, but to a much lesser degree, in that she didn't have to have a hip replacement till she fairly old.

I had to have mine when I was 6. I was in the hospital for approximately 6 months while the doctors did what they did.

This is a photo of me playing with some toys in the hospital bed. (Which incidentally was bed #7 - my favourite number!)

I graduated from Mission Secondary School in 1980... here I am in my grad dress with Antoon and dad.

I was easy to spot on the stage - I was the only one wearing a dark colour... but I picked out the material myself and mom made my dress. Later, Sylvia reworked the dress and made it into a long skirt and used the left over material (which had some lovely beadwork mom had done) into a matching purse.

I still have both.

Mom and dad got me interested in the Scouts - here I am with mom & dad at an awards dinner where dad got his Bar to the Medal of Merit.

This is just about my favourite picture of all time (so far at least).

And here is a recent photo of me and my favourite sister-in-law, Loretta. She is like a sister - I am SOOOOO glad Robert married her!

The middle sister

2009-04-06T00:47:00.000-07:00

Sylvia is next, born Sibyl Houben on March 18 1956, at 3:16pm, weighing 8 lbs 3 oz.

Sylvia was into sewing at an early age - here she is busy at work with mom's sewing machine. (I'm in the background & have no idea why I'm clutching my forehead!).

She married young - on October 6th 1973, to Douglas George Monds. They had 4 children in all, starting with twins Leah May and Tammy Lynn, then Donna Lee and finally Jared Allen.

Here's a photo of Sylvia with the twins shortly after their birth, and also in the photo is the twins great-grandmother on their dad's side.

However, Doug and Sylvia had some issues and separated. They get along better now than when they were married.

She lived common-law for several years with James Arthur (Art) Boyd and legally changed her name to Sylvia Boyd during this time. Art passed away due to illness on March 28th, 2000.

A little while later she met Gary Derksen (through the internet!) and currently lives common-law with Gary in Merritt.

Here is a recent photo taken at her son Jared's wedding.
From L to R: Leah, Jared, Tammy, Donna and Sylvia.

Sisters

2009-04-05T11:29:00.001-07:00

And now to the sisters. The eldest is Merina, so I will start with her.

Merina was actually born Dora Houben, on January 14th 1955. Due to a messy divorce, she changed her name to Merina Theadora Matthew.

Here she is with her paternal grandpa.

She has lived all over the place: back east, in Saskatchewan, and multiple places in BC - it seems she is forever moving!

She really loves hand crafts - especially fine needle work like tatting and embroidery (something I don't have the patience to do!) and can make very beautiful things.

Here is a neat picture take a while back, taken at one of those places that specialize in period costumes.

Merina married Frederick Batsa Azu on May 19th 1981. This marriage did not work out well and they ended up divorced.

However, they did produce a very lovely daughter - Ruth Elisabeth Akefa Azu - she will get her own write up later.

This is a fairly recent photo of Merina with her dauther and ex-husband, taken at Ruth's graduation party.

And here is another recent photo of Merina - having fun blowing bubbles!