The Dilemma of Christmas Baking

 Here are some of my thoughts about Christmas baking.

For years I agonized about the impossibility of duplicating our mum's wonderful Czech baking. It seemed so difficult to my mind. How could I translate those recipes which were in dekagrams to cups and teaspoons? In fact, there were no measurements for the smaller ingredients, like baking powder, various spices and lemon peel. In the European baking world, baking powder, vanilla sugar, and even the spices came in convenient packages, already formulated for one recipe. And what in the world was a dekagram? The recipe might read 7 dkg flour, whatever that was. My mother tried to convert the recipe to cups, but I felt that was only an approximation.

 The first scale I had was a heavy, clunky thing, taking up room in my cupboard, and needing me to carefully balance ingredients, waiting till the weight on the end of the bar was perfectly still. The whole operation seemed very difficult.

One year my brother, Ed, gave me a Christmas present that made baking so much simpler. It was a small metric scale, compact, with a measuring container conveniently sitting upside down on the scale when being stored. Despite the cracks this lid has developed from being dropped, measuring became a breeze. I learned to multiply the mysterious dekagrams by 10 to see how many grams of flour, etc., I needed. Even fruit is easily weighed, when a recipe calls for so many pounds of apples, for instance. My smartphone conveniently converts pounds to kilograms, which are easily converted back to grams.

In the old days, our family depended on Grandma to provide the wonderful baking. Even when I started to bake on my own, there came a point when I was reluctant to do so. Why bake, when butter and sugar was so bad for me? I imagined my arteries clogging with saturated fat. Sugar and chocolate simply gives me a headache, keeping me awake at night, and resulting in depressed thoughts and fuzzy thinking. 

My aha! moment came when I realized I was baking, not merely for myself, but for my family. With my mother gone, I became the baking Grandma. The boys now count on perník, pracny, and rohličky in their Christmas tins. That is when baking Christmas cookies became a way to serve them and bring them happiness.

These rohličky still need a dusting of icing sugar to make them complete, and to hide their freckles, because I used unblanched almonds for the first time. The other types of cookies are yet to be baked.

With all the extra time this pandemic brings, I may even bake Terry's favourites--butter tarts, Susan's Toffee Bar, and carrot pudding accompanied with his mother's special sauce. I don't have to eat any if I don't want to. That's the freeing part. 

It's all about others, not about myself.

Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. Philippians 2:4

Grandchildren Gallery 2020

Ellis with Stripey, the racoon

                                                                    Grandma and Nelly

  Stepping stones, 2020. From left: Matteo, 9, Elliston, 7, Alivienne, 5, Nellwyn, 3

                                                                                                     Someone has a birthday-Ellis is 7

Caleb, 18, and Emma, 16, with dad Christopher. Caleb has graduated from high school, and is taking a degree in video game design at La Salle College in Vancouver. So far, though, he is working online from home. Emma is working hard on her Grade 11 courses, from home also at the moment. 

The three cousins meet at Caleb's graduation party:

Caleb, Zachary, Emma. Zachary will be graduating in June 2021.

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 Matteo poses with red foliage on our October hike.

Actually, the children were more interested in throwing rocks into a pond, than in walking around it.

Food always tastes so much better outdoors.

            

                                 "The hills are alive, with the sound of music..."

                                  A bed skirt turns into a girl skirt.

Grandma has been sewing, with some special fabric from Suzanne's childhood.

Livi is showing us the geocache their family had discovered.

 Zachary's school pic, almost 17!

My apologies about the formatting. The pictures are in random order; someday I'll learn how to make the presentation more interesting. Enjoy!

She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain

 This was our choice for a Thanksgiving weekend hike, about an hour south-east of Red Deer. 

On the top of the cliff the temperature was about 13 degrees Celsius when we started, so at first we wore all our layers. 

The road to the bottom of the river bed (our same Red Deer River) was blocked off, so instead of driving down it, we took the "short cut", wending our way down amongst the hoodoos.

 That took 40 minutes. There were plenty of trails, in between the hoodoos, but you had to watch your step. We could've walked down the road, but this was more interesting.

I always pray that God would make me "as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights." Psalm 18: 33.  

 

Deer tracks imbedded in the soft sandstone.

 

 

We didn't stay at the river very long, as Terry was sure he had found the direction to go on his All Trails app.

The sun didn't shine all day, but it was much warmer at the bottom. I shed my sweater. Terry keeps his down jacket on.

The trail winds through low Wolf Willow bushes onto a grassy meadow.

This chicory flower looks a little misplaced.

Cacti even in the badlands of Alberta!

                                                                    Lichen on a rock.

The trail seemed clear here, and so much easier to walk on, but at some point, we made a wrong turn, and ended up making a complete circle. Not the one we were supposed to make on the All Trails map. We opted not to climb to the top of the buffalo jump. It was much higher than the bluff ahead of Terry, and stands as a dry island overlooking the river.

Some of the irregular terrain we hopped over on the way down.

We chose to return to the parking lot via the road. Once we found it, that is. One foot in front of the other, but I made it! The health app said we'd climbed 41 stories. 

 Leaves in the deep ruts like a river of gold. The road is supposed to be "under development," so vehicles could access the picnic area and boat launch, as they had in the past.

                                                      The Red Deer River meanders along.

Our meanderings took us 7.1 km (4.4 miles) , and we walked 12,800 steps. That's enough for one day!

By 2:00 pm I was eating my delicious tuna wrap with garden lettuce. Temperature had climbed to 18 degrees Celsius. A satisfying day!

French Camp Revisited

Birthday Dates COVID Style

Birthday dates this year with the grandsons was an opportunity to finally use the Grandparent Paddle-passes we had ordered the children for Christmas. The boys' reactions were so different. Seven-year-old Ellis begged to go closer to the spray of the fountain,

 Ellis' day was sunny

Matteo's day threatened rain

while two days later, nine-year-old Matteo put up his  umbrella just in case a few raindrops landed on him.
















Fortunately, for this second journey around Bower Ponds, the rain held off beyond a few spits. Awesome to see baby fluff balls swimming with their duck parents

Goldeneye babies rest on the dock

 Twenty-one teenaged geese swam with a parent [caregiver?] at each end to keep them in line. A muskrat sat near the bulrushes calmly chewing the fresh green leaves. Grandpa and I couldn't find the nest we had seen the first day, close to the edge of the water.













To avoid sitting in a restaurant, we chose a take-out lunch. It seemed funny to us to eat McDonalds pancakes at home. Grandpa's pancakes are so much better, in my opinion. But these came with their own generous container of pancake syrup, and were eagerly gobbled up by
each boy and Grandpa.

Ellis asked to play at our house with the LEGO, and didn't call it girly LEGO this year. The boys hadn't been over for at least six months, because of our being away, and the isolation situation, so Grandma's LEGO was a novelty again. His imagination took off, and he adapted a cake in the Birthday Party set and set it in front of Teddy, the hero of the latest story for the grandchildren.

Seven tiny animals gaze up at the tall candle on the cake

Ellis knew Teddy would like to ride down the banister.

Matteo took the entire salon set apart (it being the most complicated set) and put it back together lickety-split. My job was to find pieces, but he usually grabbed them faster than I could find them. 







I was impressed that he would run back up three flights of stairs and find our unit by himself, to retrieve his unfinished mango juice.
He knew how to text his parents, on my phone, that he was on his way home. He's growing up fast, and is a tall nine-year old.

Matteo

When the boys got hungry again, they sampled their uncle's birthday cake, and watched a tall sparkler burn down in the dark of the laundry room.

                                                       







That was cool, as we didn't see fireworks this year.

Happy birthday, Matteo and Ellis!

Notes from the Bird Whisperer

I love it when Nature teaches me something about God.

Terry and I were walking along a shaded path at the edge of a golf course one Spring morning. Birds were just beginning to be active in Alberta, and we were hoping to add to the Year List we keep. Since we had recently returned from Arizona, we hoped to list any local birds which were not necessarily seen down south.

“Chick-a-dee-dee!” I heard. We stood still to able to see this energetic little bird as it flitted from branch to branch.

“There it is!” We had heard that Chickadees are friendly birds, and would land on an outstretched hand. We decided to try it. Terry stretched out his arm, and I got my phone into position.

Thrilled is an understatement when a Black-capped Chickadee actually landed.

“Sorry, friend, we don't have any seeds.”

It didn't seem to matter, the Chickadee just sat there, eyeing us curiously before flying off again.

Further along the path we spotted Boreal Chickadees, who are found more commonly in wooded areas.

"Put out your hand. Let's see if they'll land, too," said Terry.

Sure enough, a Boreal Chickadee landed on my hand. I could clearly see its brown head, as opposed to the Black-capped variety. Its round black eye looked my way as if to say, “I trust you. Don't you have any seeds for me?”

Terry was ready with the phone and captured the special moment.

It was only later that I realized that the Chickadees we encountered that day were a perfect picture of trust. Fearlessly they came to perch, to say hello, and potentially to have their needs supplied. That is what God wants us to do, to simply trust Him as the Chickadees trusted us.

Requiem for Baby B

When we bought our 2009 Keystone Outback trailer in March, 2010, our principal put the following notice in the school newsletter:


 Mr. and Mrs. B. have a new baby.
 She is 21 feet long and weighs 4800 lbs.
 She arrived last Friday.

A month later, we were accepted into the SOWER ministry, an organization in which those with RVs can travel in US and Canada helping churches, camps, orphanages, Christian schools and other ministries, with whatever they need. This was for the future, we thought, as I wasn't quite ready to retire just yet. 

Baby B's maiden "voyage" was  couple of weeks after this, as we camped with some fellow teachers at Gull Lake, during a highway clean-up weekend. Terry wondered what on earth we had gotten ourselves into as the snowflakes whirled around us. 
"It's May, after all!" he thought.
 It's a good thing we experienced this practice run, though, as the trailer battery died (this was before Terry used two batteries for the trailer) and the furnace stopped in the middle of the night. The weekend told us we didn't like camping in the cold.

Our first SOWER experience with Baby B. took place at Stillwood Camp and Conference Centre near Cultus Lake, B.C., in July, 2010. On the whole it was a positive experience, and we enjoyed living in our cute little trailer for three weeks.

Fall 2011-setting off for Arizona

Our first fall-winter SOWER stint began in the fall of 2011, at Gospel Rescue Mission, in Tucson, AZ.
After Christmas, we travelled to Texas, Alabama, and all the way to the Florida Keys. Baby B did well. That season was the first of nine seasons of SOWER projects, mostly in California and Arizona.
Baby B also accompanied us to five two-week sessions at Gleaners in the Okanagan, as well as a few summer camping trips.

After we cleaned up the mess in Baby B. after the accident [see previous post], and had to leave her for the last time, I threw my arms around Terry, and cried. 

Here's our last view of Baby B. looking back in our rear view mirror, where we left her to her fate, one dull, grey day in March, 2020.





Later, we found out that indeed, Baby B. had died. She had sustained too much damage, and the trailer was written off.

All that's left are wonderful memories. 
Thank you, Lord, for the ten years we had together. 

We're awaiting the next part of God's plan.
I wonder what the future holds. 
We don't know the future, but we know the One who holds the future. 

We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. Proverbs 16:19 (NLT)

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Here we are, from this...

 

to this.

Our mandatory self-isolation began the other day, after we crossed the US-Canada border and the guard read aloud the conditions of self-isolation.

“Do you understand?” he solemnly intoned.

“Yes,” we replied, not daring to ask any questions. Basically, we knew what to do. Don't stop anywhere to get groceries, go straight home. We did have to gas up once, to get home, and prove to the insurance company the exact date of our entry back into Canada. Since we were coming home a month early, we needed a receipt to get a refund on our travellers' insurance. A month early means it is not spring here in Alberta.

Except for the geese flying overhead, not quite sure where to land. And the robin pair we saw as we walked down the deserted country road. Tiny pussy willows were trying to burst out. Those are the real signs of spring, right?

It's snowing lightly right now. What else can you expect for March, in Alberta?

We're warm and cozy, though, in a rural farmhouse that's not our own. We're mostly set for food, having brought all of our fridge, freezer, and pantry contents from poor Baby B (the trailer). We're eating well,just like at home.

Our children promised to bring whatever we need.

Nick's visit was the highlight of Day #3. He brought our winter boots, and an exciting cardboard carton.

We knew what was in it, but he didn't.

“OK, Terry get your phone ready,” I said, as we visited with our son, leaning out of his van from a safe distance.

Terry snapped a picture of me holding up a book from the box of ten books.

It's a book from the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. So what is the significance?

A story of mine is published in it!

Actually, it has Terry's name attached to it. Since the story had to be told from his point of view, his name appears as the author.

Laughter is the Best Medicine is for sale through Amazon, and in stores, as of April 14, 2020.

Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land. Proverbs 25:25

Quinoa, Paprika, and Soup Stock

Have you ever seen quinoa, paprika and soup stock stuck to a screened window?  Wish I had taken a picture. But let me start at the beginning.

Our trip back to Canada proceeded without incident for the first two, long 12-hour days.

On the third morning, what a surprise to see fresh snow outside our spot at Walmart in Helena, MT! Oh, I forgot, we're no longer Down South.
We set out anyway, at 6:00 am, driving very carefully over the mountains, northward bound. On a couple of occasions, Terry used 4 wheel drive for the slushy road. Finally, we were on a straight stretch. Daylight, and the road looked bare.

 Note skid marks!

Terry was keeping up to the traffic. All of a sudden the trailer began fish-tailing behind us. Terry calmly kept his foot off the accelerator and brakes as we swung back and forth across both lanes of the I-15, ten miles north of Great Falls. Alas, his efforts were in vain as the car finally came to a halt on the other side of the grassy median. No other vehicles were in immediate sight, and none in the oncoming lane.









      It took me a few seconds to realize the trailer was on its side!

The recovery driver detached the hitch and lowered the car.















Long story short, the next two days were filled with wading through the rubble to retrieve our possessions and packing them into the Ford Expedition, which sustained no damage whatsoever.

Praise God, we are all right as well.

The fridge hangs out of its socket in the wall by one electrical wire, visible at the top. The next day the freezer contents were still rock solid, and transferred to the fridge freezer in our motel room, along with the food supplies we had bought for our self-isolation in Canada.

The slide which holds our bed has detached from its track.
I hope that means it's a write-off!

Like the COVID-19 pandemic, how things can change in a moment.

God is the same, though, and never changes. We're just waiting to see what the future holds.
Leaving soon for Canada, hopefully crossing the border Thursday morning.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  Romans 8:28