Crazyheart - I thought that was a given - of course I enjoyed meeting you and Crazyman.  Putting a face on someone I've known for six years - meeting the person who almost always seems to be on the same wave-length - sharing news, hugs, ideas and food.  Yes! 

And those of you who I missed seeing - it was not because I didn't want to.  It's just that one can only work so much into a trip.  But if any of you are ever in NB, I'll be home in a few days and the door is always open, the coffee pot on, the spare bed available, and a beautiful city to visit.

I knew that seeler. I was just yanking your chain. hahahahaha

Seeler - one day I hope to make it to New Brunswick and visit you there!

Carolla - like you I always appreciate unique playgrounds. Whenever I see a new playground, I always evaluate - is it a destination playground, a stopover one, or one I simply wouldn't bother with. A destination playground is one that is fairly large and combined with other potential activities in the park (eg. playing fields, a beach and/or trails) - and it must contain a washroom facility. In other words, it's one that I could see bringing a large group to for the day. A stopover playground is usually smaller and may or may not have other amenities - in other words I wouldn't want to spend more than an hour there. I don't usually bother with ones that are clearly designed for pre-school children or families. The one that I posted a picture of is definitely a destination playground - the playground is large, there's a beach right next to it, there's a large green area which perfect for games like soccer - and it has a decent washroom facility.

Anyone who gets to meet Tabitha on her upcoming journey will definitely be glad they did - I speak from personal experience on this subject.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend! Church today was well-attended - which was at least partly due to the fact that there was Council/ M&P/ Children, Youth and Families Team/ other invited guests meeting after the service. I can't say too much about the meeting, but I was pleased with the results and with our congregations' commitment to our children and youth ministries. 

aw thanks somegal!

Happy weekend everyone!

somegal - I like your designations for the various playgrounds.  We discovered a big oversight in our accessible playground was washroom facilities - however, it is in the city centre, and as that area develops, new public washrooms are planned, for which I am thankful! 

I went to a 'day lily garden open house' today - WOW!  I will have to see if I can post a photo or two - these folks whole yard is devoted to their day lily collection!!  Extraordinary!!

Just a regular back yard scene, right? 

very nice!!!!!

Beautiful.  I planted some lilly bulbs from Breck's last fall (we had already had snow and it was freezing!) and they all came up and the colours are beautiful.

Wow Carolla - is that your backyard??? 

Today was an odd day. I ended up spending the day working with our oldest kids - specifically working one on one with a child in that group with special needs. Some of you will remember me taIking about her in the past - referring to her as A. It was good to hang out with her again. We spent the morning making edible playdough - which she loved a little too much (let's just say she didn't eat as much of her lunch as she usually does)! In the afternoon we went on a tour of the Navy base - which is always an interesting experience. That said, I've now done it enough times that I could probably lead the tour - lol! It was a little different this time around, however, as several of the big ships are here.

This is my weekend. We drove down to Burn's Lake/Dekker Lake to visit my husband's godmother. It was a great visit. Hubby brought some of his dad's pictures from the area when he live there in the 50's. Godmother and her daughter were having a great time looking at the pictures and naming faces. It was great to see them having so much fun. We are now in a campground in Prince George and are enjoying sunny, warm weather. 

And you are still taking some time out for Wondercafe from the quietness and nature around you, Northwind?

LOl somegal - no, definitely not my yard - although I do have lots of lovely garden!  I have about 10 - 12 types of daylilies, but these folks are said to have collected 1,000!!  Day lily hoarders!  

Wow! If I had a garden like that, I'd call it the land of Lily-put.   

Work started off tough today. Two of our children arrived and explained their absence yesterday - they told me they had suddenly been put into foster care. I always feel so sad when I hear of that happening. I don't know why that happened, but it sounds like it was a sudden, surprising and long-term move (one of the girls spoke about painting her new room on the weekend). The girls are two of the sweetest girls that you will ever meet, and luckily they have been placed with a wonderful foster family. I know that the family is wonderful because this is not the first time a child in our program has been placed with this family. One of the children is in my small group, so I made sure to give her lots of extra TLC. This morning we did some painting and made popsicles, which was messy and lots of fun! This afternoon was spent walking up a local hill and playing some games at the summit.

Hi folks, just saying hi.

Setting out some snacks for you.

Thinking of those who are travelling home, relaxing at home remembering photos, or prepping to travel....lots of movement of many friends, and hoping all enjoy their trips

Thunderstorm but no hail yet.

I did only take a minute on WC. I did get to enjoy some quiet and nature this morning when hubby was at a meeting in Prince George. Dog and I went for a walk in a very peaceful neighbourhood. I spent some time reading with a cup of oolong tea and just enjoyed the quiet of the campground. My dog had a friend come over to visit, and the two dogs were fierce squirrel hunters....they didn't get any since the squirrel was smarter than they were.  Hubby came back from his meeting, and we had a beautiful drive through the Pine Pass in BC. I am always appreciative of the absolute gorgeous scenery around us in this province.

It sounds like it was a good couple of days away Northwind!

I'm just back from watching some surprisingly good fireworks. There was a baseball all-star game down the street from us, and at the end they let off fireworks that were easily visible from the road, so my roommate and I decided to go down there to see them. 

It is great when you can travel with someone else for work. You get the holiday, work gets the bills, worker/husband gets company.  Nice and so gald you can go Northwind.

Somegal, the joys of living in a large city.

Hope all is well.  Have a great day

somegal - it's great that you're a continued loving presence in the lives of those children - it must be such a challenge for them - and their numbers are larger than we'd like to think.  Hopefully they will find stability in their foster home & it won't be a quick turnover. 

sounds like a great escape northwind!  

thanks for the snacks pinga - you always provide food for the mind, body and soul with your gift of hospitality and caring. 

no hail yet crazyheart - that's good!  I hear you have quite legendary storms in the prairies - we see them on weather network.  One day I hope to travel there - to see those wide expanses of sky and land. But hopefully have my car in shelter if hail storms arrive!  A friend had the misfortune to be driving her convertible in the US prairielands during a terrible hailstorm & had lots of damage - but there was nowhere to hide - so they just had to drive through & pray! 

The sky is black - the clouds are low.  I can hear crackling.  I think we are in for a whopper of a summer thunder/lightning storm.  It just started raining and the drops are heavy.

Hello everyone!

I am out at my cottage . . . if we lose power when it storms we lose power for a while  . . . it seems to take them awhile to fix it.  So . . . if I lose my power I lose my internet, and if I lose my internet I lose Wondercafe :(.  Just heard a huge crack.

carolla, some don't like the prairies - they find them boring - the scenery the same.  I love the prairies!  Coming from rock and lakes I love the flatness, I love it that you can see for a long ways.  I love the grain fields, the cows in the fields, the farm houses, and barns, and silos along the way.  I love the little towns despite the now disappearance of the traditional grain elevators.  Perhaps it is because my mom and my mom's people are from the prairies and we used to visit as children, and I have such happy memories of those visits.

My farm cousins would be amazed when they visited us on the edge of the Canadian shield . . . with the rocks, the hills, the bush, the lakes, the windy roads.

Pinga, thinking of you - and your Dad today . . .

Northwind, there is nothing like watching a pup or two trying to catch a squirrel.  I had a cat that was very successful in squirrel catching and came home on occasion to find the "prize".

somegal, my fireworks this afternoon aren't going to be as colourful as the ones you saw last night, but it is getting darker and nosier.  I think I'd better shut down.

Have a great day everyone!

Beloved, I love each part of Canada....the prairies amazed me, nothing like what i thought, each area with their own characteristcs.  lovely.

Hope everyone stays safe with storms, Southern Ontario is now cold! Yes, after the sweltering heat of last week it is now like a lovely fall day.  sure, i should go shopping for light shirts more often in a heat wave!

Dad's appt went well.  The inflamation was attributed to his shingles and the medication is helping.  He was approved to go forward with cataract surgery in Aug.  not sure how I will balance it, but, if it gets his vision even partially back, life will be a heck of a lot better!  The drag is there is another issue which is still hanging over...someone commited to doing something, said they did it, but the evidence has not been forthcoming nor have they been responding to followups.  sigh.   it hangs very heavily  on he, and therefore on me.  We will get through it,...my goal is to try and keep him looking forward instead of focussing in the past.  it is the only way to make it thorugh the day.

A delight is taking him out to eat.  I have stopped at a few places over the last week and gosh the man can still eat.  good to see him chow down.

Pinga, it has been very cool here the last few days - definitely not like a July summer.  It is only 16 here right now.  The storm passed quickly, only a tiny bit of rain, no lightning.  My friend who came out from town for tea said she saw hail along the way, but no hail at my place.

Oh my . . . sorry your dad has shingles.  I hear that can be quite painful!  I also heard that getting on the medication early is better for it too.  I hope he will not experience a lot of pain.

"Relinquish the past, Live in the present, and Welcome the future and all it will hold for you."  Easier said than done . . . I greatly admire those who are able to relinquish the past - that is something I am learning to do.  My challenges these last months have taught me much about living in the present.  I am trying not to rush into the future when "things will be better" - but I am welcoming whatever the future holds.  Thinking about you Pinga as you go through this time of relinquishing whatever is difficult from the past.  Thinking of you as you put one foot in front of the other . . . and carry and move on.  I admire that too.

I'm home.  Great trip!  Good weather all the way - how lucky can I get.  I heard of storms ahead of me and behind - but my guardian angel flew over our car and cleared the way.  (just kidding of course)    So much to do!    Will check in and write more in a few days.

welcome back and no bad weather. can't believe it

Pinga - it made me smile to see you calling Victoria a large city. I always think of it as being a large small town - it's big enough to have a semi-pro baseball team, but small enough that you can drive from one end to the other in less than 30 minutes. I'm glad to hear that your Dad had a good appointment. I hope the surgery will be successful and also that his shingles will disappear quickly without too much pain.

Carolla - I've just been doing my best to be there for the girls. Today I noticed the one in my group was looking sad, so I sat with her and put my arm around her shoulders. She snuggled in and when I looked down, I noticed that silent tears were falling. That almost got me going. When the older child said "I don't want my younger siblings to see my emotions - I have to be strong for them," my heart broke again. I told her that it was totally okay for her let them see her emotions - and that it would be okay for her to let them take care of her too.

Beloved - enjoy the "show." There is nothing quite like a natural fireworks show!

Seeler - welcome home! There may be much to be done, but I bet you'll enjoy that first night in your own bed!

Victoria has an international buskers festival going on and as part of their commitment to the community, they have the performers go and visit various community groups - including our own. We get to play host to three performances - on Monday there was a Swedish musician (unfortunately I missed this one, but apparently he was incredible). Today we had a visit from some identical twin sisters/clowns from Quebec who were very entertaining.

Pinga, didn't he have shingles quite some time ago?  Is this just a flareup of the eye issue, or does he have full-blown shingles again?

Seeler, I should have you plan my trips!  There's been quite a bit of severe weather, congrats on avoiding all of it!

Chemgal, I was going to respond, thanks for noticing. 

You are correct, this is a flareup of the shingles virus which has caused his eye to be inflamed.  Shingles seem to just stay, with minor flareups.  It is nothing compared to what he had before.

Seeler, so glad you made it home safe, so far all of our travellers have done a great job of having a good time.  Glad to read it.

SomeGal, your story of that little one, reminds me of a young lad who is living with another family now, and well, I hope he has someone like you in his life.  He has good family caring for him now, but, it is important that they have a good circle of people.  Thanks for your gift to that child.

Chemgal? how is the house going

Beloved -- good lesson to live in the moment.

Crazy & Pilgrims Progress were being unusually behaved on a thread / comment in my facebook re StephenJudd and some roofers...I tell you, they must be off their game.

Carolla, the garden shot was  lovely. glad you got to visit it and dream.

****************************************************************8

I am home from a lovely evening, sitting on a patio, laughing and enjoying the company of friends.  It was what my soul needed. thankful for cool breezes, laughter and conversation

Pinga, glad to hear that it's not the full out thing again.  I have a friend with shingles that affected her eye though, and it was really horrible for her, so I know a flare up still isn't fun.  I worry about shingles, as I think the chickenpox vaccine is going to be a rare exception to herd immunity - those who had chicken pox in the past are at a higher risk of shingles without the virus circulating.

Things are falling into place with the house, but we're behind on packing.  I've had other things going on and Chemguy promised me he would do all of our packing, I just needed to worry about stuff I would need right away.  I did do some packing though, and looking around I think I either needed to do much more or some more nagging.  We still have a bit of time, along with family who will help, and overlap between the 2 places though.  I was just hoping things would be more organized at this point.

I spent the afternoon at a very highs ropes course-with zip lines. Wildplay-with my 3. All 3 moved with ease and were able to complete all 4 increasingly higher and harder sections. I did the first 2 and had tyo dig deep to do that. Oh to be 50 lbs lighter AND 32 years younger!   It was lots of fun tho and special watching the 3 of them-with one living away it is rare to get the 3 together for an activity. Lovely day

In case you haven't figured it out-I don't like heights but I do like adventure!

Just popping in, taking some medication before bed.  I can not believe what some of my new pills are like - very bright in colour and very sweet with almost a fruity flavour.  I know the coating of many pills is a bit sweet, but these are excessive.  If it weren't for the number on them and one was just sitting around, I would have thought it was candy.  Oh well, no little ones to watch out for here.

Just some of Chemgal's late night musings :)

Tabitha, I remember doing ropes courses at school camps.  It never occurred to me that I could go on my own.  I'll have to look into it sometime!  I'm not a huge fan of heights either, but I did enjoy the ropes course.

Tabitha - I'm glad that you are having fun with your kids.  Yes, it must be great to have them together again, like when they were young.    I, too, am not good with heights.  It looks like so much fun, flying through the air - like Tarzan.  I used to force myself to do a few things that I was uncomfortable with (not a zip line, but a swimging footbridge across a river).  And I dreamed of doing more.   Since I turned 70, those dreams have been put aside for the afterlife when we will soar with wings like eagles.  Now I watch others and rejoice at their skill and enjoyment.    Little grandson did a treetop thing at a birthday party recently.  Probably only started because all his friends were - but soon gained confidence and loved it. 

Good morning all!

Glad to see you are safely home seeler.  It is nice to go, but it is also nice to get back home :).  I'm sure you and Mr. seeler had a wonderful time.

Tabitha - I'm not for heights either.  But yes, I agree, what a special time to spend with your children.

chemgal - thinking of you as you prepare for moving - a big job!

The sun is almost shining - a few clouds scattered in the air.  Cool here - only 13 C.  But it should warm up to 20 C.  That is not very warm for July :(

I am trying to spend as much time in the early morning and early evening in the sun to soak up as much Vitamin D as I can . . . so I need the clouds to go away LOL.

Went for my morning walk - 30 minutes - had to wear a jacket.

Have a great day everyone!

My soon to be 5 year old grandson was outside just before supper and he decided he would jump ramps with the big guys. 5  stitches in his chin later- and sad face, he was off to DayCare this morning to show off his bandage. One of the walking wounded'

I have been contending with a sore sciatica in my hip. That would put anyone off their game, Pinga. Except, Pilgrims sopping wet in a pink towel can do it too. lol

Picturing Pilgrim in a wet pink towel     Sciatica - I've had a touch.  I've watched Seelerman suffer.  And a friend is sometimes crippled for days - and always on guard.  It's not fun to be in pain, or anticipating pain on your every move.     Stitches, bandaids, bruises are badges of honor in childhood (unless they've been inflicted by out-of-control adults).   I remember my daughter hobbling around with a crutch.  Her brother asked "Can't you manage without it?'  and she replied 'Then how would people know that I'm hurt?'   Children!!!!!    My sister, always aware of her looks, recently let her hair go grey (actually she had been covering snowy white hair for years).  She told me that people are much more helpful holding doors, helping her reach for things in the supermarket, lifting heavy bags, etc. 

Oh, poor crazyheart grandson!  Jump ramps - as in on a skateboard or a bike?  Are they disolvable or will he have to go back to get them taken out?

crazyheart, take very good care - I don't know what one does for sciatica - perhaps rest?  Take it easy.

Sounds like your sister has learned the art of growing older gracefully, seeler . . . I never thought there would be perks for those with silver locks :)

bike, beloved

he will have to have them looked at in 10 days. ummmmmmm,will have to ask if they are desolvable

I'm glad your grandson is going to be okay Crazyheart! Like Seeler said, injuries are often badges of honour in childhood - ones like your grandson's injury, anyhow. Take care of yourself - I hope your pain goes away soon.

We had a fantastic day with the kids today. Today is the day that we did one of our annual traditions - a trip to Youbou, a town about 100km northwest of Victoria. We drive there each summer because it is situated right on a lake - and they have life guards at their park. In fact, this is the only beach on southern Vancouver Island that has lifeguards. This is something that the kids really look forward to each year - and so do the adults! So far we have been blessed with the perfect summer, weatherwise - and today was no exception as the temperature was in the high 20s and there was nary a cloud to be seen. Everyone had fun splashing around in the lake - especially us leaders! I was especially impressed with the leadership team today - everyone stepped up to help each other out, which enabled us to take turns swimming and splashing with the kids. Examples of this included taking turns encouraging the children with special needs who didn't like the temperature of the water and then sitting with those kids so that their leaders could go for a swim and splash with the kids who did want to be in the water. On the way back, we stopped for treats at Tim Hortons - thankfully nobody else was in the line when we got there!

Ouch foryour grandson, Crazy.   I was sitting today talking to my son, giving him a foot rub, and Imentioned the scar on his calf and said I coudlnt' remember how he had done it.  he started to laugh...and well, as it turned out, in grade 7  he was hit by a car on his bike --- and didn't tell us!  sigh...children.  Anyhow, we had a long laugh about it, but, wow, kids.

Seelerboy had so many scabs, scratches and bruises that our doctor asked him about them.  When I tried to explain them, the doctor spoke sternly  "I'm asking the child."   Fortunately Seelerboy was able to explain them all:  "This is when I ran into the rosebush."  "This is when I tripped on the sidewalk."  "This is when I fell off my bike."  An active boy!    Later this same doctor stitched his toe when he stepped on some glass in the creek, and his head when he ran his bike into the side of a car. 

lol, youngest son was like that seeler.

Things are getting busier.  I enjoy showing up on WC for some down time, but I don't know how much that will happen the next few weeks.  Don't be concerned if you don't see me around!

Just dropping in to see if the person who has been used as the leader of the clique is here. It's good to see that there are many different types of people who are interested in this area of the debate. People caring for all the others. At some time in the past, too many people and their families and friends didn't have any questions about the proposed deletion, but now fish in the morning of the world are asking about the teachings.

Jae, what are you talking about?

Pinga . . . foot rub?  You are a wonderful mother.  But I think it should have been the son giving the mom the foot rub :).

I can't ignore this. Jae , what the hell are you talking about?

me thinks that Jae is tripping

on the other hand, I do not wish to disturb the room, so, folks, how about we just visit.

I'm a little concerned.  Some of his ideas are a little out there, but I can at least make sense of his posts.  He does have a medical condition that could have led to that post.

Good point, Chemgal.  Hope all is well

Chemgal started this thread to talk to Jae; http://www.wondercafe.ca/discussion/social/jae-are-you-ok