Proud Godmother (that would be me!)

MONDAY, AUGUST 6, 2012

Drove to Gwen's home near Oakbank - she is my goddaughter, my best friend, Olga's daughter. Olga passed away in 1988. Gwen and Brian have 5 acres, a beautiful home and a large garden. How do I know she's Olga's daughter? Duh! Just the yard and garden would tell me that.- checked out the garden, picked some beans and then watched most of the BC/Toronto game - After a lovely dinner of chicken, ribs, fresh potatoes, zucchini, onions, dill, beans and cucumbers from her garden, Gwen & I drove to Belair and surprised her aunt and uncle, Jean & Monte. Had tea and a very nice visit with them. On the way home we had a heart to heart conversation about her Mom and other things. What a great day and evening! Thanks Gwen & Brian for a great afternoon and evening!.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2012

Invited to Darren & Michaela's for dinner - Darren is also my godson - the son of Dan's sister Dorothy. Darren, Michaels and their family, Steven, Nicholas and Jessica are big football (Bombers, of course) fans as well as hockey fans (Boston), so we had a lot in common. Cheryl joined us for a great dinner of roast beef, yorkshire pudding, potatoes with carrots and bacon, salads and buns. Terry came from Yorkshire and loved yorkshire pudding, so we enjoyed them in honor of him. After dinner we watched DVD's of Dan, Evelyn & Leonard - shed a few tears, but mostly laughter. Thanks Darren, Michaela, Cheryl, Steven & Jessica for a lovely evening! Thanks to Cheryl for guiding me back to Fermor Ave.

I feel so blessed to be Gwen and Darren's godmother - they make me so proud!

Transcona MB

MONDAY, AUGUST 6, 2012

Marg, Terry & I visited nephew Tim and his daughter Victoria, as well as his girlfriend Jody in the early afternoon. Len & Karen were there as well  - Tim has restored a 1936 Chev truck that used to be my brother Tom's truck many years ago - nice day and a nice visit - didn't stay too long as Jody is still suffering the after affects of her chemo last week, so didn't want to tire her out too much.

Winnipeg MB

Hello everyone

Will try to catch up on my blog today - have a bit of free time

SATURDAY, AUG. 4, 2012

After the big day we had yesterday, we slept in a bit - weather was much cooler - Len & Karen came over for a short visit - after supper Margaret & I took a drive to her son Ken's place - for those of you who know Wpg, we took Henderson Hwy to Hespeler (Dan's aunt and uncle used to live on Hespeler years ago) and then over the 'old' Redwood Bridge - I think they must he refurbished it some as it still is a good bridge, narrow as heck, but was fun. Had a nice visit - they were babysitting their 13 month old grandson, Grayden, oh my, I had forgotton how busy those boys can be - I felt tired just watching him. LOL!

SUNDAY, AUGUST 5, 2012

9 am Mass at St. Bernadette's on Cottonwood in Windsor Park - Fr. is a big football fan, and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have only won one game so far - I don't think he is a happy camper.

Margaret & I were invited to her daughter Dorothy's for a BBQ - Steak, baked potatoes, mushrooms, salad, corn and dessert - a great time was had by all. Seen a great niece whom I hadn't seen in quite a few years and her growing family. Also a great nephew's wife for the first time. They played a new lawn game - looks like fun. Thanks, Dorothy & Craig for a delicious dinner and a lovely visit - Loved meeting your parents as well. Happy birthday to Cindy tomorrow, the 6th of August.

Back in Winnipeg again!

THURSDAY, AUG 2, 2012
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When I walked in the door at Margaret's she was busy making bread & butter pickles - felt just a bit guilty because I should be at home doing some canning myself - oh well - my guilt didn't last long! Made some calls, did some texting and caught up on some of my e-mails - much cooler, still pretty hot, but bearable - I knew what Manitoba summers were like before I left but I told myself to just suck it up, Babe!

FRIDAY, AUG 3, 2012

Margaret & I left quite early on our big adventure to Morden and Winkler to visit 5 more relatives. Our first stop was in Morden at Margaret's sister-in-law (Bill's sister) Eva who is 93. She lives in a senior housing development, fairly independent, gets a meals on wheels a few days a week. Her memory and hearing were amazing! She & Margaret had a great visit. After lunch we dropped in on our Aunt Agatha who will be 90 in a few weeks - lives in a Legion apartment - still quite independent as well. Next was cousin, Dorothy who was out playing cards and just arrived home as we were pulling up - she was thrilled that we had stopped by and the visit was great - she is just a few years older than I. She had two great grandchildren born on July 12 - not twins, both girls. July has been the month for babies in my family & friends. First of all, my friend Lorraine became a great grandma for the second time on July 5, a baby girl;  On July 11, Margaret became a great grandmother for the sixth time - this time a first baby girl for Deanna who lives in Victoria,  a third grandchild for Linda & Gary; then on the 12th, these two great grandbabies for Dorothy, and then Michael Lucas on the 13 of July, a first son for Shane & Caylee, a third grandchild for Marilyn, a fifth great grandchild for Leona - what a month! We stopped at a deli and bought some buns, meat and cheese, picked up Timmy's and had our dinner in the parking lot - Margaret doesn't much care for restaurants, so one that day was enough for her which was fine with me. Next we drove to Winkler where we visited cousin Luella who is just a few months younger than Margaret - I had visited her a few weeks ago, but this time it was Margaret's visit. She has a collection of dolls and Margaret also has a collection so that was the topic of the visit for the most part. Last visit of the day was to one of Bill's older brothers who is 95 - just so happened that their oldest daughter was visiting as well, so Margaret had a real good visit with her in-laws. We didn't call anyone (except Aunt Agatha) - we didn't have most of their phone #'s or even their addresses, so we took a chance and were flying by the seat of our pants so to speak, but it worked out so well, it couldn't have been better if we had planned it. On the way back to Wpg  we ran into more rain and weather systems, one of which I will include below. I should have taken pictures sooner, it looked just like a whale. It rained quite a bit, but was not bad for driving. Margaret was very happy as her garden really needed it. What a day, arrived home about 10 pm - a little tired but very happy that the day turned out so well! Margaret had not seen her in-laws for some time and was very pleased that they were doing so well! Enough for now.

Storm storm clouds near Winnipeg on Hwy 75 going north - the pictures do not do it justice! Spectacular!


Goodnight and God Bless  ~D~

Back in Gimli with no cell or Internet!

SUNDAY, JULY 29, 2012

Whatever did we do without technology? We are so fortunate to live in an age where our ancestors were great inventors!!!

Attended a baby shower for sister-in-law, Leona's fifth great grandchild, Michael Lucas born on July 13, 2012. It was nice to be able to see the new baby as well as many other nieces, great nieces, etc. The maternal grandmother was out from Peachland where they have a winery - Colette, when I get back, we will have to go and check that one out! After the shower I went home to Dorothy's - last time I stayed with Leona - have to spread the goodness around! LOL! Cheryl, Darlene & Haley were out and after dinner (Gramma Marks' fried chicken) we all watched quite a show of lightning with thunder, rain and a bit of hail. Southern MB and the southwest part of Wpg got a real 'good' one doing a fair bit of damage before it went east to Kenora, VB and Dryden - haven't heard if there was a lot of damage there, but looked pretty bad on the news

Michael Lucas 

Darlene, Cheryl, Dorothy & Haley

MONDAY, JULY 30, 2012

We pretty much spent the day looking at pictures and talking about old times. Dan & Dorothy were close in age so we spent a lot of time together before and after we were married - The anniversary of Terry's death is coming up in a few days, so memories were first and foremost in our minds. Went to bingo at the legion in the evening; Dorothy won a small amount, enough to cover her admission, but Leona and I just donated a few dollars! Chalk it up to entertainment!


TUESDAY, JULY 31, 2012

Dorothy, Leona, Lorraine, Tyra and
her little friend

Mike, Dorothy & Leona

Leona made a picnic lunch and we went down to the beach - actually more like a feast - beet borscht, salad, sandwiches and trifle for dessert! Lorraine, her granddaughter, Tyra and her little friend joined us and then they went swimming in Lake Winnipeg. After a late dinner of pickerel Mike and Leona came over for a game of 31 - that was Gramma Marks' favorite game and the game that we played all the time when Dan was in Pine Acres.


WEDNESDAY, AUG 1, 2012

A little cooler so did some ironing and straightening out - Dorothy and I both napped in the afternoon. For dinner we joined Mike & Leona at the Viking for Chinese food, after which we went back to Leona's for more 31. We had more stormy weather, but that seems to be the norm - it's so hot during the day that something has to give at night - I have always enjoyed a good thunderstorm so I was quite thrilled!

THURSDAY, AUG 2, 2012

Remembered Terry at 9.30 am - 11 years since his passing. We had just visited them a few weeks before when we got the sad news. That was the year that we took Amber with us to MB and Ontario. Got my hair cut - I asked her to cut it quite short and she did. Wow, every time I look in the mirror now I scare myself, but fortunately it will grow. Packed up and motored back to Wpg in early afternoon. Thanks Dorothy for a great few days of remembering and laughing and crying and eating.

Winkler & Carman MB

THURSDAY, JULY 26, 2012

Arrived at my cousin Viola's place just after 4 pm - she had made a lovely dinner of perogies, ham, etc. etc. After the dishes were done we drove into town (Winkler) to visit her sister, Luella - we had a lovely visit and then we went to the Winkler Heritage Museum and spoke with the curator - my mother's 90 year old white broadcloth and lace breadspread ( which she made herself for her trousseau) will eventually be donated to this museum - both my parents were born and raised just a few miles outside of Winkler on farms - although they moved to a few other places, they moved back to Winkler in their later years and are buried there - this is a much more appropriate place for it. Then we went back to Vi's house and reminisced over a glass of wine.

FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

Drove into town again to pick up a watermelon and then drove to Carman to visit Vi's sister, Kathleen - Kath and Vi immediately got busy making Roll Kuchen and so we had Roll kuchen and watermelon for lunch     what a delightful treat! Then we traipsed through three cemeteries, before going back to Kathleen for Vi's home made 'bean' soup' for dinner. After we got back to Vi's, we looked at pictures etc. over another glass of wine - Does it get any better? Thank you, Kathleen and Vi for a wonderful day.

SATURDAY, JULY 28, 2012

Back to Winnipeg - met my long time friend, Gladys at the Salisbury House - how Dan & I used to love those Salisbury nips! Did I have one? You bet! Spent the afternoon at her house with our feet up and yakked and yakked! For dinner we went to the Olive Garden - my birthday is in May and hers in June, exactly one month apart, so we slid the check across the table and treated each other for our birthdays!
Another great day!  Thanks Gladys.

SUNDAY, JULY 29, 2012

Was just going to get ready to go to St. Bernadette's for Mass when Linda & Gary came for coffee - I had picked up some Roll Kuchen in Winkler so we had them with our coffee. Off to Gimli.

So long and God Bless!  ~D~

RCMP musical ride at Morris Stampede

Hello everyone!

JULY 20, 2012 - I did get to the Morris Stampede - my sister-in-law, Tena and I went for the evening grandstand show on Friday night, walked the midway, and went for a ride on the Ferris wheel, just for old times sake. There were a few more 'wilder' rides, but I couldn't get anyone to go with me. Saturday I watched the parade from a friends' house (Tena was on a float) and then we went back to the Stampede again for the afternoon and evening grandstand shows. It was HOT, but bearable in the grandstand. The RCMP musical ride were on both afternoon and evening shows on Saturday - see picture - The Morris Stampede will be celebrating its 50th anniversary next year, so realized that the year in the mid 50's when I worked there that one summer, it was still called the 'Morris Fair' - what's in a name? LOL! Just thought I should set the record straight!

JULY 22, 2012 - Sunday morning Mass at St. Maurice Church in Morris was so late, so we decided to go to Lowe Farm to Tena's church, as we were invited to a friends home for lunch. Met some lovely people. Relaxed back in Morris for a few hours and then Tena, her granddaughter, Kimberley, her little boy, Logan and I drove back to Lowe Farm (about 20km) to Tena's sisters' home for faspa - for those who do not know what 'faspa' is - I will explain. Because Sunday is a day of worship and rest the Mennonite tradition was to cook most of the meals on Saturday, so as to only have to do minimal work on Sunday - also traditionally 'Mennonites' have a larger meal at noon and the a smaller meal at about 5'ish which is called faspa - amazing how many people in southern Manitoba still hold to that tradition - we had home made brown bread - home made buns - cold meat - jams & jellies - dessert and coffee. Yummy! Thanks Margaret & Jake!

JULY 23, 2012 - Tena & I went to Rosenort (my birthplace)to visit a couple whose family was our closest neighbor for over 20 years - again we had faspa of sorts - a little different menu - menu's vary from home to home and whatever is on hand. We started reminiscing about his parents, who were like grandparents to me, and then he invited me to go to the 'home farm' - what wonderful memories - no one is living there any more - the house is no longer there, but the barn, granary and other outbuildings are still there - in disrepair, but after all the barn was built in 1936 or there abouts - a long time ago - One winter, one of their single daughters went to Mexico to do some missionary work and I was 'hired' to help "Grandma Rempel" to help with the housework on Saturdays - her granddaughter has her diary and she wrote 'Doreen was here' every Saturday  for quite a few months - at least I must have been reliable if I showed up every Saturday! LOL! We even walked down the 'Morris River' which is not much more than a stream - Tom, my brother used to catch muskrats to sell the fur and I skated on that river once the water froze! Things change, but memories last forever. Thanks, Nick, Mathilda, Joanne, Bertha & Norma for a great afternoon and evening.

JULY 24, 2012 - Picked up my niece,Bev in Rosenort, drove to Winkler (my parents' birthplace) for lunch - more traditional food - varenaki (perogies) and farmers sausage. The we went to the Winkler cemetery and tried to walk off all those calories - I think we almost succeeded as we went to my parents' gravesite, my paternal grandparents' my two spinster aunts, and my maternal grandparents. Bev is the third grandchild, so she knew my parents much better than the younger grandchildren did - many of which remember them when they were quite elderly and sickly - sad, but true. Time for a Timmy's break, after which we went to another cemetery in Roland on our way back to the Rosenort cemetery where Bev's son is buried. He died in August 1994 at the age of 17 as a result of a combine accident - May you rest in peace, Mike! A great day! Thanks Bev! I should get a bumper sticker that reads: My car stops at all cemeteries! LOL

JULY 25, 2012 - Tena and I spent the whole day looking at pictures, scanning, photocopying and going through tons of albums (she scrapbooks) & various other documents - you name it - at one point we had two printers going at the same time. We had a great day!

JULY 26, 2012 - Time to move on - spent the morning doing more of the same- Thank you, Tena for a wonderful 6 days! Could have stayed another week, and not run out of things to do, but time to move on! Thank you again and God Bless!

More later - did you notice that I figured out how to post pictures?  Wow, if I get any smarter you won't be able to stand me anymore!!!! LOL!!!!!!!

Time to move on to Morris - July 20, 2012

JULY 20, 2012 - I've had a absolutely marvelous week here in VB - but it's time to move on - after coffee I will be heading for Morris - want to go to the Stampede tonight and maybe tomorrow - haven't been to the Morris Stampede since I was a teenager- back in the 50's I worked there one summer, selling tickets to the pony rides - but then I also got free rides on everything else -  Went to Kenora on Wednesday, with Mary and Jen - after some shopping etc. we had dinner with Dan, Sue and Stephanie - lovely dinner and a great visit - didn't get to see Spencer as he was in Winnipeg - it is literally impossible to see everyone, what with work, holidays etc. - yesterday, we went into Dryden again to do a few errands, had french fries from Chip Box downtown, just a little place, but they have got to be the best!!!! Amber would have loved them!! Visited Mary's sister, Clara while we were in Dryden - sure was great to see her again - Last night, sorted and looked at pictures to scan and copy. Thank you, Mary and Jen for a wonderful week!

I may not have Internet connections for the next few days, so this may be my last post for a while - I am just not sure where I will be, but will try and post whenever I can.

Take care and God Bless!  ~D~

Still busy in Vermilion Bay

Hello everyone!

JULY 16 - After coffee at The Fort in VB, we came home, grabbed a quick lunch and headed into Dryden, (about 35 km) - developed some pictures, did some shopping (groceries), stopped to bug Mike at work, and also his daughter, Emily at the library - she is doing some volunteer work this summer - coffee break at Timmy's and then home. Shopping is tiring! LOL, so we just relaxed, watched some TV etc in evening. Weather was much cooler and drizzling rain - cool enough for jeans - a welcome change.
JULY 17 - Coffee at (you guessed it, The Fort) - but then we got BUSY!!!! We made 18 dozen perogies (Mary is catering to a wedding in Sept, so I offered to help make perogies, have to earn my keep somehow! LOL!) - I made a casserole of 'lazy cabbage rolls' and a mandarin orange cake (new recipe from cousin Kathleen last week) Mary made a batch of 'turtles' and a roast - some of this is to take to Kenora tomorrow. What a full day - but fun - somewhere in between all that, we managed to find time to go back to VB, picked up a friend and went to the Fort for hard ice cream! Yummy! Beautiful day, quite warm, but is supposed to get much hotter again in the next few days. Oh well! That's what summer is all about! The train still goes by here quite often - love it! Lori heard it over the phone the other night!

Take care and God Bless!  ~D~

Vermilion Bay, Ontario

JULY 13 - Mary and I went to The Fort for coffee with some friends and lunch at Buster's with another friend - OH! but isn't this the LIFE! I am taking advantage of every opportunity and enjoying every minute - There are three RC churches served by the resident priest in Dryden. One, Our Lady of Fatima in VB, about 45 km west of Dryden, and the other in Ignace, over an hours' drive east of Dryden,  so Masses can't all be held on Saturday night or Sunday morning. As a result here at Vermilion Bay the Mass is celebrated  at 5.30 pm on Friday, so that's where I went - one of Mary's friends attends so I even knew someone. When I got back home Mary had prepared a lovely crab leg dinner - Yummy! after which we watched some videos.
JULY 14 - Went on a pontoon boat ride all around Eagle Lake - and yes, we saw some bald eagles -four adults and three immature ones who don't yet have the white heads - I took pictures but it was very far away     - used the Zoom - hoping I will be able to enlarge further - there were 4 pontoon boats and about 30 seniors and were were on the lake for about two hours - got a bit of sun on my face - back on shore we had a BBQ at the Pavilion - a gazebo like structure that the community has constructed for that type of use - everything around here is mostly made of logs - so rustic - I've been here (VB) many times, but this time I am taking in every sight and sound! On our way home we took the scenic route. I was pretty tired from the water, the wind off the lake so I retired quite early - yes, I know that's not like me - must be the good country air!
JULY 15 - Attended St. Mark Lutheran Church with Mary at 11.30, the pastor also has to come from Dryden which is the reason for the later service - coffee and goodies after service - had a couple of hours to relax and then we were off again - ten ladies carpooled and drove to a German restaurant east of Dryden - lovely dinner and good company - another full day - can it get much better? I do miss you guys in Kelowna, but I am really enjoying this adventure.
JULY 16 - What will we do today? I know we will go to The Fort for coffee, but after that Mary has not let me in on her plans - I'm sure she will think of something.

Take care and God Bless!  

Winnipeg in the hot summer of 2012

Hello everyone!  Well, now I am playing catch-up - I was so hot and humid in Wpg - not too bad when I went outside or in my car, but then I didn't have access to the Internet - so here's a summary of my activities in the last week or so.
JULY 4 - Went to see a lady who had contacted me when she saw Dan's obituary in the Winnipeg Free Press, she was into genealogy and knew that her husband was related to mine - she invited me over to her house in St. Vital - we had a wonderful time - she has the Family Tree Maker program as well and said that if I brought her a flash drive she would download all her information for me. It was so nice to talk to someone who loves genealogy as much as I do. She said she felt the same - Different strokes for different folks, as they say!
JULY 5 - Arose at 6.15 am - sat in Margaret's cabana - so much cooler in there - Margaret made soup (summer borscht) and rhubarb sauce in her cabana - made a bunch of calls while in the cabana trying to stay cool - or rather cooler! Congratulations to my friend, Lorraine on becoming a great grandmother for the second time this year - a great granddaughter this time! Enjoy them both, my friend!
JULY 6 - Visited Dan's last living Aunty Frances who is 95 - she is having trouble remembering, but I do believe that she remembered me - at least for the moment.- When I said that I was Doreen, Danny;s wife, she said, "Oh Danny was such a good boy, Danny was such a funny boy!" LOL She is living with her daughter who lent me three albums of pictures to scan onto my computer - She had some old wedding pictures of aunts and uncles. Lunch (hot dogs) at Lawrence Auto Repair ( where they fixed my car) - every Friday they have hot dogs or hamburgers - Thank you Dorothy - Margaret and Dorothy went shopping so I decided to go to St.Vital cemetery to see Lorne, but on my way, I stopped at 37 Fermor Ave - our first home that we purchased in October of 1964 when Debbie was just a 5 months old. A guy was doing something at the back of the truck in front of the house, so I stopped and asked him if he lived at # 37. He said yes so I told him that I had lived there from 1964 to 1967 (Kim was born while we lived there). He said it was okay to take some pictures and we kept on chatting - he told me that they had renovated the whole house, opened up the veranda to make the living room larger, and the basement. They raised three children there - told him I was happy to hear that a happy family was still living there - one thing led to another and he invited me in to see the inside - he had done a great job, but it still felt like home - what a flood of memories - Wow! I have had so many sentimental moments on this trip! He said he like to see what the house looked like in the sixties, so I'll be e-mailing him pictures. After that I did go to the cemetery and paid brother Lorne (and Bette) a little visit. Then I went to London Drugs and bought an external hard drive (instead of a flash-drive), stopped in at my new friend's home and she transferred all the information on the Marks' family that she had on her computer to mine.Watched part of the Wpg/Mtl game and all of the BC/Hamilton game - with the time change, Margaret went to bed to read and so I could watch it till midnight - Lori, Kim & I texted back & forth throughout the game - was fun, not a very pretty game but we will take the W none the less. 
JULY 7 - Linda & Gary came for coffee, as did Judy and Leonard - we waited all day for Marg's new frig to arrive - finally arrived at 7 pm -
JULY 8 - Slept in - felt a bit out of sorts, but started feeling better after a while, so decided to go to the 11am Mass at Saint Bernadette's in Windsor Park - not far from where Leonard & Evelyn and Margaret & Bill lived in the 70s. At the introduction before Mass Fr. said that he was a bit unsure about the future - after a pause, he added, " I guess you're all wondering whether I am talking about the weather or the Bombers". Everyone chuckled and then he welcomed all visitors and asked us to stand and say where we were from. I couldn't pass up that opportunity so I stood up straight and said, "Kelowna BC - Go BC Lions!" That brought an even bigger chuckle - he must be quite a football fan because later on at the baptism of a little boy, the boy's father dropped a 'yet unlit' candle to which Fr. remarked, "Maybe you should play for the Bombers - Oops - Sorry!" I'm not sure if everyone 'got' that remark. Sunday night we were invited to Leonard & Karen's for a lovely roasted chicken dinner complete with all the trimmings! Thank you, Len & Karen - it was a lovely evening.
JULY 9 - Spent most of the day scanning pictures from the 3 albums and printing some pictures for Margaret that she wanted from our trip and various other occasions.
JULY 10 - Took a drive to return the albums and say Hi to Aunty - she wasn't as alert as she was on Friday. Later in the afternoon I took a drive over to Len & Karen's again - we looked at some old pictures - many of Len as a young boy which he hadn't seen or didn't remember seeing, so I have to send him copies of some of them when I get home. Karen made BLT's for dinner - just too hot for big meals - even with A/C.
JULY 11 - Five years since brother Marvin passed away - RIP Bro! Hottest day so far! Even after a cool shower it was difficult to get dressed! Wonderful to get into the car and drive to Carman - we ( Dyck cousins) met at Kathleen's home and then went to Harry & Anne's to surprise them - Harry was 90 on July 10 and Anne's was 80 on the 12th. The common room had A/C so had a real nice visit - lemonade, iced tea etc - then we all went out to dinner and back to the common room for dessert - lots of laughts - pictures - a good time was had by all - their were seven cousins and three spouses, plus Len & Karen. Back at Marg's it was sweltering once again.
JULY 12 - Packed up early before it got too hot and left Wpg shortly after 9 am - stopped at Richer to see an old RC church that has was closed in 1995 but the community has made a lot of beautiful upgrades and are turning it into a heritage site with a lot artifacts from the turn of the century - it's called Enfant Jesus. I stopped and was just going to take a few pictures of the outside when a couple pulled up and invited me to come into the church and she gave me a royal tour - what a nice little break. I continued east arriving in Vermilion Bay just after 2 pm - went to the cemetery to visit Marvin, and then waited till Mary arrived home,

Take care and God Bless!

Vermilion Bay, Ontario

Arrived in Vermilion Bay this afternoon - testing to see if this works here, or not

July 6,2012 - Back in Winnipeg

Hello everyone!

Arrived back in Winnipeg Tuesday afternoon - OMG - it is soooo hottt! It's been just too hot to even think of blogging - just the heat from my laptop on my lap is even making it worse! LOL!  Oh well! Better today, although the humidity is pretty high and it is drizzling this morning.

TUESDAY ( JULY 3),  I took a fabulous sentimental journey from Gimli to Winnipeg - Back in the late 50's and early 60's (when Dan & I were dating and first married), we used to leave his parents' home to come back to Winnipeg on Sunday nights - we would stop at Great Aunty Demchuk's for a while, then go to the 'Falcon Cafe' in Gimli for french fries with gravy, ketchup, vinegar and salt, and a Coke - then we would drive on Hwy 9 (most people now use Hwy 8 as it is faster, Hwy 9 goes through a bunch of small towns) to Winnipeg Beach, go on the 'Boardwalk' - a roller coaster ride (big one), and have a hard ice cream cone! What a life! We would then continue on towards Winnipeg, stopping at a place in Lockport, called the 'Half moon' for a foot long hot dog, and then finally into Wpg. Well, Aunty Demchuk is long gone, so is the roller coaster,and the Falcon Cafe, but I  had the 'maple walnut' ice cream and the foot long dog ( I could only eat half of the foot long), and was reminiscing about 'those good old days' all the way - even a few tears!! but they were good tears! I took pictures of the Boardwalk entrance sign, the Half Moon sign and even the footlong - now if I could only figure out how to get those pictures on this blog! Back in Wpg, I visited Olga's (my best friend and matron of honor, who died in 1988) sister, Ann & her husband, stayed for dinner (perogies, yummy), and then we all went to Iris (another good friend and bridesmaid) & Henry's for a short visit - I've  already seen her twice before - she is battling cancer and just finished chemo, so our visits are often, but short so as not to tire her out too much!

Gimli - June 24 - July 3 - Wow! where to start - SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY, (JUNE 24 & 25) was mostly spent visiting and catching up with the news - went to bingo with Leona Monday night - won $40.00 - paid my way + a little. TUESDAY (JUNE 26), we went to the Berlo cemetery (Dan's Mom & Dad are buried there, and the original Matthias Marks' farm since 1903 is just across the road), stopped in to see a long time neighbor/relative, and a cousin who still lives on his ancestors' original farm, which was Dan's other grandfather, Matthias Gottfried. WEDNESDAY, (JUNE 27), spent most of the afternoon at the library, trying to get on-line, but no luck - I could read my e-mails, so at least I caught up on all the news - I could also get on Castanet, wrote on the blog, but then it wouldn't send, or save - no cell connectivity either - Telus only serves certain areas, and I really don't know what happened with the Internet - here at Margaret's I have no problem getting on wireless and she only has Dial up - so go figure!!! LOL!! We were at Dorothy's for a lovely roast beef dinner that night! THURSDAY, (JUNE 28) I helped Leona with her SD card on her Photo Screen and also helped her get pictures developed at the local drug store on the machine - had to earn my keep somehow! Was glad to help her - they treated me like royalty - barely out of bed and the coffee, juice and even breakfast was right there!! I managed to help her clean up and load/unload the dishwasher a few times, but I had to really be on my toes, or it would be done!  And she's 6 months older than I!!!! Then I went to the Municipal office to get a map of the Gimli cemetery, and off I went to that one. After dinner we went over to Cathy and Carl's home and spent a lovely evening with them. FRIDAY, (JUNE 29), I went to St. Benedict's cemetery, took more pictures of family and friends' headstones. There is a little replica of a church that was built in the early 1900's - the cross on the original church was made by Dan's grandfather, Matthias Marks who was a blacksmith for the whole village - I actually have a few of the nails and hinges that he made - Dan remembered him well. After that I went to get the pictures developed and then to the library to sit in the cool, sorted and recorded all the names from the three cemeteries in my book.Watched the BC Lions/Winnipeg Blue Bomber game till midnight - Mike & Leona went to bed! SATURDAY (JUNE 30), we went to Heritage Days at the Pavillion - Gimli is celebrating their 125th birthday on Canada Day, only 20 years behind the country - they had a lot of old pictures and had quite a few of the Berlo area as well as a book on the Berlo pioneers for $10.00 - I bought it and already have gleaned quite a bit of information from it. There were a few errors and omissions, and so everyone is saying that its up to me now to amend and write the whole story - quite a challenge - went to Larry & Natasha's cabin for a visit in the afternoon, back to the Pavillion to watch some Ukranian dancing, home for dinner, and back to Gimli for Mass at 5.30. At Mass we met another friend/relative who gave me more books to look at and copy. SUNDAY (JULY 1) HAPPY CANADA DAY! Watched a great parade with Larry, Natasha, Daniel & Dylan, and then. Mike took Leona & I out for Chinese Food. MONDAY (JULY 2), back to Berlo to see if another friend/relative could identify some old pictures that I had received from a cousin in Toronto 2 years ago. She identified some, so was happy about that, and her daughter-in-law scanned some for themselves so I was glad that I could give something back in return. Marilyn, Lorraine & Cathy (Leona's daughters) invited Leona & I out for lunch - we had a real nice 'girl' time! Finished off the day with bingo with Leona & Dorothy - no luck, but another 'girl' evening. And that brings me to Tuesday, July 3. I was up at 6.15, took another trip to the Berlo cemetery, packed up, went to the library to copy some more stuff, and another visit with Lucy (who had given me the books to copy). She was able to identify some more of those pictures, and invited me to stay for lunch, after which I left for Wpg, and that is where I started my blog!   What a wonderful 10 days - Thank you, Leona & Mike and everyone else who made my stay so great! I will be going back before I leave for home, and Dorothy has invited me to stay at her home at that time. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful bunch of family and friends! (and I haven't even been to southern Manitoba or Ontario yet). That is all for now, my next blog will be about my adventures here in Wpg this week! so stay tuned! So Long and God Bless.   Doreen

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Good Morning, everyone!

Took my newly serviced (and washed) car to Steinbach for a test drive yesterday - temp gauge is behaving itself. LOL and TG.

When we visited my niece in Swift Current, she informed me that she had donated my mother's bedspread and sham to the Mennonite Heritage Museum in Steinbach, so Margaret and I went to see it yesterday. It was very emotional to see it after so many years. Mom made the bedspread, complete with pillow shams as part of her trousseau, before her wedding on June 11, 1922, so it's at least 90 years old. It is made of white broadcloth, and has lace edges which she crocheted with very fine crochet cotton. Because it was white, this spread was only on Mom & Dad's bed on Sundays and special occasions. It is still pretty much in pristine condition except for a few little tears in the lace. I believe Margaret and I could fix that if given the opportunity. Their was another pillow case with lace edges that she made for our oldest brother, Jack, same fabric, but different lace pattern. It was a very emotional moment for me - the curator was wearing white gloves, but I touched it with my bare hands and they understood why I had to do it. They couldn't have stopped me!! I took a bunch of pictures, but have not yet figured out how to post them on the blog. LOL.
If, and when, I figure it out I will post a few pics.

This morning I am going to visit my friend, Iris (my bridesmaid), who is fighting cancer. After that I think I will go to Gimli, neither sisters-in-law have Internet and Linda said she had trouble with cell phone reception in Gimli, so don't  worry if you don't hear from me for a few days. I will try to get to a niece or nephew's place while there, or maybe a Timmy's (if Gimli has one).

God bless your day!

Day 18 - Winnipeg MB

Hello everyone

What a difference a few days make - Wow, I'm not sure just where to begin- we had a nice drive to Swift Current, drizzling and raining for a good portion of the time, but the sun came out just as we were taking a break at Maple Creek Info Centre. We had a real nice visit and dinner at our nephew's home, and then we went to our niece's for dessert. We left about 8.30 and arrived in Caronport about 10 pm. Tuesday, June 19,  we left Caronport about 8.30 am arriving at Shoal Lake, MB about 3 pm. Cousin Mary had made fresh rhubarb crisp (Yummy) for tea, and then later we went out for dinner with her and her husband of 63 yrs. He  is 94 and looks 84. We left for Winnipeg about 6.30 pm, and as we were nearing Minnedosa, the temperature gauge light came on so I pulled over, opened the hood - nothing was steaming or hot, so wasn't too worried, but a bit ticked as my cell wasn't getting a signal. An elderly couple stopped and invited us to follow them to their son's place just a very short distance (maybe 1/4 km). They filled up the overflow and the gauge went down. We started driving again but in a short while it went up again.  By that time we were just getting into Minnedosa, so pulled into the nearest place which was an Agri business, but luckily there was still someone there working. He let me call CAA. They said I would have to pay extra to get towed to Wpg, but we decided that would still be better than spending another night in a hotel and having a stranger fix my car. Margaret's son-in-law is a mechanic and owns his own shop - I had planned to have him check out my car anyway, but now it was getting done a bit sooner (and differently) than planned. We waited over an hour for the truck and then had to sit in a rickety old tow truck for at least 2 1/2 hrs. arriving at Margaret's 12.30 am. According to the driver, cell phone connectivity had been poor on Hwy 16 the last few days (just my luck,lol). The next day, Wednesday, I drove it to the shop, about 4 kms, and the light came on again. It was the fuel pump, so Craig and his son Dave fixed it, as well as a tune-up, oil change - the works, parts at cost and no labour charge. - Thank you, Craig & Dave. I owe you! but I will certainly pay it forward when I can. Terry moved back to Wpg from Calgary last fall and is living with Margaret for the time being - had not seen him in over 20 years, so has been nice to hang out with him in the evenings. Judy came over one night, we had some lovely cherry wine (which she made); Linda & Gary came over for coffee and soup; Len & Karen came over tonight, so I've seen all Margaret's children that live here in Wpg, except for Ken.

Getting late, so Goodnight, and God Bless

Day 10 Calgary

Good Morning everyone

Well, we had a very nice drive to Calgary and arrived at Bob & Heather's home an hour ahead of schedule without even making one wrong turn - I think I will be alright here - in Lethbridge I kept making a right turn instead of a left, and got lost a few time - I had to text "Help" to Mark a couple of times. LOL. Once again, the hospitality is great, at Mark's I had a bedroom with Internet connection, a private bath and a sitting room, and they treated us like queens. Thank you, Mark & Sharen.   Here I am again all hooked (wireless this time) up so I can 'play' on my computer! Margaret has a sister-in-law who is probably 95 living in a nursing home here, so I will try to find out where she lives, and take Marg over to visit her. Margaret and I had a little holiday in 1986 when we went to Expo 86 in Vancouver. She still talks about that and how much fun we had - it seems the Good Lord is steering us in the same direction - that is, that we should spend some tine together. She (Marg) now would like me to stay here for a few days (Bob & Heather both said I was just as welcome as their mother) and then she would like to ride back to MB with me. There is a hotel (very reasonable, where she stayed at a few years ago) about half way between here and Wpg so we will probably stay there to break up the trip. Everything is working out different, but I believe that it is working out just as it should. The stops that I had planned to make on the way will hopefully then be made on the way back.

Our drive yesterday was great, but it rained most of the way, we could see black clouds all around us, and this morning we heard that there are flight delays at the Calgary airport due to the storm last night - We must have missed the worst of it..

Take care all, and may God bless your day.

Doreen

BTW: Mark's daughter fixed the blog so now you CAN make comments without needing an account,  go under anonymous, and sign your name, so I know who it's from. So feel free  ~D~

Day 9 - Lethbridge AB

Hello everyone

Well, once again, my plans changed. Just minutes after I posted Day 1, I received a message that my brother, Art had taken a bad fall, after having suffered a seizure, and was not expected to live. I left Nelson BC early on June 5, driving straight through to Lethbridge, arriving around 5 p.m. Art was very badly bruised, unresponsive, but otherwise fairly comfortable. I spent the night on a cot in his room, and at noon the next day (Wednesday, June 6) his son-in-law, Richard came to spell me, then I went to my nephew's and spent the afternoon with my nephew Mark and my sister, Margaret. We were just finishing dinner when a text came telling us to come asap (we had planned on going right after dinner anyway), but by the time we got there, Art was gone. The next few days were spent with the family, helping them out in a small way with the arrangements. Saturday Mark & Sharen took Margaret and I to see the Japanese Gardens, and some sightseeing. Sunday morning  I went to church, and in the evening we had the viewing, followed by the burial service Monday morning & the memorial service at the church in the afternoon. May you rest in peace, Art!

Yesterday, we pretty much spent vegging out and this morning Margaret and I are packing. This afternoon Margare and I are driving to Calgary to visit her other son, Bob. Its only a 2 1/2 hr drive; Bob & Heather both work so we are timing it so we get there when they get off work.

Margaret plans to stay for a week or so; I'll probably start heading east again either Saturday or Sunday, but then again, maybe not - As my dear Dan would have said, "One day at a Time"  

Thank you to all who sent condolences, and we all appreciate all your prayers and support. I believe that God had a hand in this plan that Margaret & I (the only two siblings left) were both here at this time. I can only imagine what those five brothers of mine are up to now. They were all very dedicated, caring and helpful men, so God is getting some help up there - A story is still being told in my home town in southern Manitoba, that if the Loewen boys set their mind to something, nothing could stop them!

Take care all, and God Bless

Doreen

Day 1 Nelson BC

Good Evening everyone
Had a very pleasant drive to Nelson, arriving about 12.30 pm. It drizzled most of the way, until just a few miles from Nelson. After lunch my cousin, John and his wife Mary showed me the sights of Nelson. It is a very old town, we went to a couple of parks, a Japanese garden with a huge waterfall, and an art store that features a lot of local artists' very unique work. After a lovely BBQ we played a game of golf, card game that is! Tomorrow I am off to visit another cousin, Gloria in Cardston. Oh, I had another senior moment, I forgot my camera back in my car (duh!).  I will just have to come back another time.
TTYL and God Bless.