Year's End

This has been a year of up and downs. My mother passed away the first week of January. Although she was almost 92 years old, she was in reasonably good health. She passed away very suddenly and it came as a big shock to the whole family. It meant a fast trip over Holland for the funeral. Then in the beginning of June I spend a week in St. John's, Newfoundland for Quilt Canada. This was the second time I was teaching and it is always fun, but very tiring. Next came the wedding of Shawn and Emily. It was a big party with a big tent on the front lawn of her parent's farm. Here is a picture of the couple in front of the canola. The whole farm was put in canola and everybody hoped that the weather would cooperate and it would be a sea of yellow around the farm. And it did work out. Right now the couple is back in a cold Alberta. Then in October we were given the opportunity to buy another farm with a big, almost new house. It did not take us long to decide, and 3 weeks ago we moved in. At first it was very strange, but we are starting to get used to it. As you can see, Laurence has been busy putting his collection of farm toys away. And yes, I'm aware that he is, like most farmers, color blind when it comes to farm equipment, is it big or small. Most farmers favor a certain color and in our place it is green and yellow. We had a lovely time over the holidays. First a day with family, then a day with friends. There was lots to eat and we had a lot of fun. For some, it was just too much and they needed a rest. We have had the strangest weather over the last week, from snow to rain the gale force winds to ice. Christmas Day and Boxing Day were fine, but Saturday it started to rain and with the high temperatures the snow and ice disappeared very fast. There were a lot of wet basements. We were fine, because our house stands on a small rise. Then Sunday more hard winds and at times no hydro. But things have improved. The weather is cold, but clear , the hydro is back on and the Internet is working. I'm still sitting in our farm house. With all the repairs there still was no time to hook us up. And yes, it is still cold in here. We did clean the house and it looks like we have the place rented out too.Time to find a warmer place. Wishing everybody out there a very Happy 2009!