Family

The miracle of adoption

/ edebock / 4 Comments

Eight years ago, a beautiful discussion took place between our daughter and our then 5-year-old grandson:

Drew: Mommy, what is adoption?
Melaina: Adoption is when a baby grows in one mommy’s tummy but she can’t take care of him so another mommy and daddy adopt the baby and become his new mommy and daddy. Uncle Nate is adopted. He grew in a different mommy’s tummy but then we adopted him.
Drew: So Gram and Grandpa still got to be his mommy and daddy?
Melaina: Yes!
Drew: Wow! That is like a miracle!

Yes, Drew, yes it is! And now, many years later, Uncle Nate is himself the father of two adopted children!

When this conversation showed up as one of my Facebook memories recently, I was reminded of the many “miracles” in our extended family, but my mind also went to Romans 8:14-15a

“So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.” (NLT)

and Ephesians 1:5

“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” (NLT)

Wow! Nate’s adoption story is an amazing one, but is there anything more amazing than being adopted into the eternal family of the Creator of heaven and earth? How can that be?

When we brought Nate home at three days old, it wasn’t a temporary or part time commitment. We weren’t just babysitting. It was for life. He was 100% ours! That’s how it is with God too. He wants 100% of your life for all time. That’s why He sent His Son to die to take the punishment for our sins, so that by accepting that amazing gift and surrendering our lives to Him, we would receive His Spirit and be adopted as His children.

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With Christmas time fast approaching, that’s really something to think about, isn’t it?

A cozy shrug for winter

/ edebock / 4 Comments

LogoWith winter just around the corner, it will soon be time to snuggle up in cozy, warm sweaters again and I have a brand new one that is very special!

My daughter is very creative. She didn’t learn to knit and crochet from me, but she can make almost anything from yarn. Last spring she posted photos of herself wearing a shrug/sweater that she’d just finished making for herself.

When I commented on how much I liked it, she asked me what colour I wanted mine to be! I suggested a dark blue and she chose a colour called Sapphire. I absolutely love it!

Though Melaina often knits and crochets items of her own creation, she used a pattern for this one. You can find it here. The ribbed cuffs are knitted and the remainder of the sweater is crocheted. It feels like I’m wearing a hug and I know that this is one item that will get lots of use as the days get shorter and colder!

To see more of Melaina’s creations, visit her Hooked on Crochet Facebook page.

Two rainforest hikes

/ edebock / 2 Comments

I’ve been living out of a suitcase for the past two and a half weeks which hasn’t inspired a fashion post for today. Instead, I’m going to begin sharing some highlights from our trip.

Two full years had passed since our last real visit with our son and his family and my brother at Vancouver. I’m not counting the four days that we spent at the coast at the beginning of December 2019 helping my father settle into long term care and dealing with the contents of the assisted living suite that had been his home for several years or the return trip three months later when he passed away. Those trips were all about doing what needed to be done and left little time for anything else.

Though Covid still made traveling somewhat of a concern and we were extra cautious due to the clinical vulnerability of some of the family members that we’d be visiting, we felt that we couldn’t wait any longer. Grandchildren change so much in two years! 

One of the things that we had hoped to do while we were at the coast was hike. In spite of several days of heavy rain (6 inches in one 48 hour period!) we managed to enjoy two wonderful hikes in the coastal rainforest; so different from our prairie hikes close to home. 

Cypress Falls, West Vancouver

We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday, October 11. While our daughter-in-law was preparing a delicious turkey dinner, hubby and I joined our son and his youngest for a hike to Cypress Falls in West Vancouver. 

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Just a short distance from the highway, Cypress Hills Park is easy to access. Though we were never far from civilization, this was definitely a wilderness park. The first part of the 2.7 km out and back trail was easy, as shown in the photo above, but it became somewhat steeper and more rugged further on.

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Mist from the water thundering over the lower falls hung in the trees above and provided a perfect environment for lush ferns and mosses. 

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Many varieties of mushrooms grew on the forest floor. I particularly liked these little splashes of colour. 

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Continuing on through stands of old growth Red Cedar and Douglas Fir, we reached the impressive upper falls at the end of the trail.

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Lynn Canyon, North Vancouver

The following Sunday, after days of rain, the weather cleared enough for us to enjoy a second hike, this time with the entire family.  Lynn Canyon Park, which is home to several beautiful trails, is located within walking distance of our son’s house as well as my teenage home. We hiked from the north entrance of the park, across Pipe Bridge and down to the very popular 30-Foot pool. Leaves from the park’s many maple trees formed a wet, but beautiful carpet.

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Never have we seen the creek and the pool so full!

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Toward the end of our hike, we crossed the 40 metre (130 foot) long suspension bridge that hangs 50 metres (160 feet) above the canyon. For much of my life, an extreme fear of heights kept me from crossing the bridge and enjoying the trails on the far side of the creek. Several years ago, however, I conquered that fear and this time I was able to stop and take photos from the middle of the bridge! 

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These are just two of the many beautiful places to hike on Vancouver’s beautiful north shore. In my next post I’ll share another one of our adventures, but this time in the heart of the city. 

Happy 100th Birthday, Iris Apfel!

/ edebock / 2 Comments

American fashion icon, Iris Apfel, famous for her colourful eclectic style and her oversized glasses, will celebrate her 100th birthday on Sunday!

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On August 19th, her Instagram post read..

10 days left of 99… Then comes 100, it feels divine!!!

In 2005, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City said this about Apfel and it still holds true today, “An American original in the truest sense, Iris Apfel is one of the most vivacious personalities in the worlds of fashion, textiles, and interior design, and over the past 40 years, she has cultivated a personal style that is both witty and exuberantly idiosyncratic. Her originality is typically revealed in her mixing of high and low fashions – Dior haute couture with flea market finds, 19th-century ecclesiastical vestments with Dolce & Gabbana lizard trousers.”

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On the eve of her 100th birthday, Apfel continues to work because she wants to. “I want to stay alive,” she said in a recent interview. “If I stopped working, I’d be gone.” This year alone, she curated a line of home products for Lowe’s (long before she became a fashion icon, she was an interior designer), teamed up with Etsy to offer “Iris Apfel’s Fashion Favorites” on the online marketplace, and is designing eyewear collections for Zenni Optical as part of a four-year-deal with the company.

While I don’t aspire to dress like Iris Apfel, I do like how she thinks. Here are a few of my favourite Iris quotes… 

“You have to look in the mirror and see yourself. If it feels good, then I know it’s for me. I don’t dress to be stared at, I dress for myself.”

“When you don’t dress like everybody else, you don’t have to think like everybody else.” 

“Fashion you can buy, but style you possess. The key to style is learning who you are, which takes years. There’s no how-to road map to style. It’s about self expression and, above all, attitude.”

I also like what she says about age…

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Sunday is also my beautiful daughter’s birthday, so Happy Birthday, Iris Apfel and Happy Birthday, Melaina!

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At Gram and Grandpa’s house

/ edebock / 2 Comments

After more than a year of Covid restrictions, spending time with family was our highest priority for this summer. We’ve been blessed with seven beautiful grandchildren (and one more on the way), so it was a delight to be able to spend the past two weeks enjoying five of them. First, our daughter and her three children spent a weekend with us at Camp Harmattan and then the kids came home with us. The day after they left, we went to Edmonton for a medical appointment and stayed a couple of days with our youngest son’s family. We spent an entire day at Fort Edmonton Park with his two children, and then brought them home for a visit with us.

Our days with the grandkids were filled with afternoons at the beach, fun times on the golf course (driving the golf cart is a highlight), wiener roasts in the backyard, picking raspberries and eating them with ice cream, playing games, and reading stories. We also took both sets of grandchildren to one of our favourite hiking spots, Big Knife Provincial Park. On the way, we stopped at the Diplomat Mine Interpretive Site.

Some enjoyed checking out the enormous machinery…

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Can you find our oldest grandson in the photo?

while others had fun on the smaller equipment!

On both occasions, we enjoyed a picnic lunch before hitting the trail. While most of us hiked, this one did cartwheels!

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The best part of the hike for all five children was climbing around the hoodoo area.

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Now they’ve all gone home. The laundry is done and the beds remade. Gram and Grandpa are getting back into routine, but the house is very quiet and I’m missing the other two more than ever. We haven’t seen them since before Covid and with case numbers increasing in their province and ours, I don’t know when we’ll be able to. 😦

Family and fun in Jasper National Park

/ edebock / 7 Comments

After more than 15 months of life limited by Covid-19, Alberta lifted all restrictions on July 1 and declared the province “open for summer”. With barely over 50% of the eligible population (those age 12 and over) fully vaccinated, we’re skeptical that this will last, but in the meantime we’ve made spending time with family our first priority this summer. Since the beginning of July, we’ve enjoyed visits with both our Alberta kids and their families and last week we headed off to Jasper to spend some time with the oldest member of the family. My aunt, the last remaining member of my parents’ generation, is 97 years old and is very special to me. After spending much of the last year alone in her own home, she recently moved into a seniors lodge and is absolutely loving it!

While in Jasper, we were also able to enjoy two of our favourite summertime activities, kayaking and hiking. With hundreds of wildfires burning across western Canada, smoke hung heavily in the air partially obscuring views of the mountains, but there was still much beauty to be seen. 

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A quiet paddle on Pyramid Lake


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Pyramid Island

While enjoying our peaceful morning paddle, we saw an elk grazing in bushes alongside the shore and had the opportunity to observe a pair of loons feeding their half-grown chick. Unlike the air above, the water was so clear that we were actually able to watch the birds swimming below it’s surface! I wasn’t able to get a clear photo of the youngster, but one of the adults stationed itself between us and its offspring providing me with great opportunity to photograph it at close range.

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There are many, many hiking trails in the Jasper area, but we decided to do the Valley of the Five Lakes again. We first hiked it four years ago with our oldest son and his family. While I remembered the spectacular views of the lakes, I’d forgotten that the trail is quite steep in places. With roots criss-crossing it and many rocky outcrops, good footwear is advised. 


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First Lake

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Second Lake

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Third Lake

We enjoyed the view of Third Lake, my favourite of the five, from a pair of iconic Parks Canada red chairs. Read more about these chairs, found in national parks across the country, here. 

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Fourth Lake

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Fifth Lake

For clearer smoke-free views of the lakes with mountains in the background, take a look at this post from our previous hike. 

There’s also plenty of beauty in Jasper National Park that can be seen from a vehicle. We spent an entire afternoon on a sightseeing drive with my aunt as our guide. She toured us around Lakes Edith and Annette close to town and then decided that we should head up the longer road toward Maligne Lake. The air was a little clearer up that way which was nice. I especially enjoyed the views of Medicine Lake. 

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Medicine Lake

At Maligne Lake, we enjoyed a coffee/tea break on a patio overlooking the lake where we could watch tour boats come and go. 

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Maligne Lake

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Auntie Norma, an avid hiker into her 80s, handled the short trail from the parking lot like a pro! I’m sure no one who saw us would have believed that she’s 97. On our way back to town, she had no sooner expressed her disappointment over not seeing any wildlife when we came upon some Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. IMG_2693

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The icing on the cake, however, was a mama black bear and her very young cub! Unlike many tourists who threw caution to the wind trying to get a perfect photo, I took mine from the window of the vehicle!

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Rocky Mountain getaway

/ edebock / 5 Comments

After being cooped up at home and going almost nowhere except to medical appointments for several months, we desperately needed a change of scenery. First thing Wednesday morning, we packed the vehicle and drove almost five hours to Banff National Park where we enjoyed a couple of days surrounded by the beautiful Rocky Mountains. One of the things we most wanted to do was some snowshoeing. We’d hardly done any this winter as we’ve had much less snow than usual this year.

Snowshoeing on Lake Louise

We woke to an absolutely perfect day on Thursday. The cloudless sky was a brilliant blue and there wasn’t a breath of wind. After several days of thawing and freezing, the snow around Banff itself was very crusty, but we found powder at Lake Louise. Strapping on our snowshoes, we set off across the surface of the lake toward the majestic Victoria Glacier at the other end.

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We made it most of the way to the far end of the lake before turning around, realizing how far we’d come, and deciding that it was time to head back toward the iconic Chateau Lake Louise in the distance.

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The Chateau has a special place in our hearts as we were treated like royalty when we stayed there on our honeymoon over 44 years ago.

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Marble Canyon Hike

After eating a picnic lunch in front of the Chateau and watching the skaters on a cleared section of the lake, we headed off on another adventure. This time, we crossed the BC border into Kootenay National Park to hike the short, but impressive Marble Canyon trail. Multiple bridges span the narrow gorge and the views were spectacular. My photos don’t really do them justice. 

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To celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary in 2017, Parks Canada placed pairs of bright red Adirondack chairs in select National Parks and Historic Sites across the country. “Connect with nature in the country’s most unique and treasured places. Whether it’s a place to rest after a leisurely stroll or to cheer your successful completion of a strenuous hike, our red chairs offer a place to slow down, to relax and to truly discover the best that Parks Canada has to offer,” reads a statement on their website. It’s always a delight to come across these chairs in unexpected places. This set were half buried in snow, but I couldn’t resist sitting in one anyway!

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After a wonderful day in the great outdoors, we welcomed a soak in the outdoor hot tub back at the Banff Rocky Mountain Resort where we were staying! Due to Covid restrictions, we were able to book 25 minutes each evening and have the 16 person tub all to ourselves! There are definitely a few perks to travel during Covid. Banff, which is usually overrun with tourists, was fairly quiet during the week and affordable accommodations could be booked just a few days in advance. We had a cozy little one bedroom condo with a full kitchen and a living room with a wood burning fireplace for approximately $115/night, much less than it would normally cost. 

Hoodoos Trail Hike

Yesterday morning we enjoyed a second hike. This time we accessed the Hoodoos Trail just across the road from the Tunnel Mountain campground. According to the map, it’s a short 10 to 12 minute walk from there to the end of the trail overlooking the pinnacles of weathered sandstone known as hoodoos. 

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We soon discovered, however, that the trail continued much further along the ridge overlooking the Bow River below. We followed the trail to it’s very end. Out and back took us over an hour.

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Again, we were surrounded by beauty in every direction!

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And again, we found red chairs!

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On the way home today, we stopped in Calgary to help this little cowboy, our youngest grandson, Simon, celebrate a Covid compliant front porch birthday complete with an amazing Minecraft cake from Crumbs Artisinal Bakeshop.

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What is a shacket?

/ edebock / 5 Comments

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I’m a self-professed word nerd. I love words and I’m always delighted when I learn a new one. My latest new word is shacket. 

Shirt + Jacket = Shacket

Maybe I’m the last one to the party because now that I’m looking, I’m seeing the word all over the place in advertising. In simple terms, a shacket is a cross between a shirt and a jacket. Usually slightly oversized, it’s heavier than a regular shirt, but lighter than a winter coat. Some retailers refer to them as shirt-jackets or overshirts. Whatever we choose to call it, a shacket is a perfect layering piece for fall, winter, spring or even a cool summer evening. It can also be worn under an overcoat in winter. 

While the word is new enough that it doesn’t appear in most dictionaries, the garment is not. In fact, the one I’m wearing here is more than 40 years old!

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Shackets are worn by both men and women and this one originally belonged to my Grandpa who passed away early in 1980. It was handed down to my older brother and ended up hanging in the cabin that my parents built overlooking a little lake northeast of Yellowknife. My brother may have worn it some, but whenever I visited the cabin it was I who wore it. When my parents left the north, my mother, knowing how much I loved wearing Grandpa’s old shirt-jacket, brought it to me and it’s been my campfire jacket ever since. It usually stays in the trailer year round. With a hole in one elbow and a slightly tattered cuff, it’s a little worse for wear, but I still love it. 

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In keeping with our pandemic desire for casual comfortable clothing, shackets have been very popular this fall and winter and they’re a trend that isn’t likely to disappear anytime soon. Though my shacket is 100% wool, most of the ones sold today are made of a cozy wool blend. Since I only wear Grandpa’s for camping, I may just have to add another one to my wardrobe! I especially like the colour and length of this BB Dakota Eldridge version. It also has side pockets.

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A quick online search will result in many others like these two. 

 

A Covid Thanksgiving

/ edebock / 7 Comments

If you use social media at all, I’m sure you’ve seen a myriad of memes and posts bemoaning the somewhat bizarre year that 2020 has turned out to be.

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Then there are the “If 2020…” memes. At least some of them add a bit of humour to our current predicament. 

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But has it really been that bad? I see posts from people claiming that 2020 has been the worst year of their life. If that’s the case, I’m thinking that perhaps they’re very young or maybe they’ve just lived a charmed life. I can think of at least three years in my life that have been worse than this one, but that’s not what I want to write about today.

Thanksgiving

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving, traditionally a time for families to gather and enjoy a festive meal together. For many of us, it’s a very different and much quieter celebration this year. Here in Canada, we’re experiencing a second wave and many of the new Covid-19 cases have been the result of large family gatherings. Though we live in a rural area where the numbers have remained relatively low, all of our children and grandchildren live in urban settings where that is not the case. As a result, we’ve chosen not to get together to celebrate Thanksgiving this year. In spite of the fact that hubby and I are alone this holiday weekend, I cooked a tiny (8.5 pound) turkey with all the trimmings yesterday. It may be far from an ordinary year, but that’s no reason to completely forgo those things that bring us joy!

Without the happy sounds of children and no one gathered around a board game on the kitchen table, the house is very quiet, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have much to be thankful for. In the solitude of this unusual Thanksgiving weekend, I’ve had much opportunity to contemplate how very blessed we are. Even in the midst of a pandemic such as we’ve never experienced before, there is so much to give thanks for. I’m reminded of one of my favourite passages of scripture, Philippians 4:6-7.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (emphasis my own)

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Though the list of things that I’m thankful for is very long, this image pretty much sums it up for me. In spite of two cancers and several other diagnoses, I feel great and I’m able to live a full and active life. I have access to excellent, free health care. I have a comfortable home that’s in the process of undergoing a complete facelift. My family may be scattered today, but I’m so proud of the adults that my children have become and the spouses they’ve chosen. Of course, I’m also head over heels in love with the seven grandchildren that they’ve added to the clan. As sad as it was to lose my elderly father earlier this year, I’m grateful that he went before the pandemic struck, that we were able to be with him in his final hours, and that we could celebrate his life together with friends and family. And where would we be without friends? I’m so thankful for the ones that God has blessed me with, both far and near. Finally, there’s food. Along with safe, clean drinking water, food is something that we tend to take for granted, but I’m mindful of the fact that, while I can cook a whole turkey for two people, there are many in this world who don’t know where their next meal is coming from and who may be going to bed hungry tonight. No, for most of us, 2020 has not been that bad! 

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What to wear while working from home

/ edebock / 13 Comments

LogoIt may seem frivolous to be writing or even thinking about fashion in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, but I believe that maintaining some sense of normalcy in these trying times is wise and helps alleviate stress. For many of you, your new normal includes working from home, perhaps for the first time. While it might be tempting to let your appearance go, I’d like to suggest that you’ll probably be more productive and feel better about yourself and your current situation if you don’t.

If your workplace has a strict dress code, this might be a time to enjoy a more relaxed look, but that doesn’t mean lounging around in pyjamas. Instead, perhaps think of every day as casual Friday.

As a retiree, except when I go to a student’s home to tutor, which obviously isn’t happening right now, I “work” from home all the time. Once I retired, I didn’t need a career wardrobe anymore, but I still wanted to look like I mattered; like I cared about myself. Now I try for a classy casual look even on days when I have no plans to leave the house and I’ll continue to do that through these days of sheltering in place.

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This week, my “job” has included doing reams of paperwork related to the settling of my father’s estate and my temporary office has been the kitchen table. The animal print top and cardigan that I’m wearing here have both appeared on the blog before. They’re comfortable workhorses in my day to day wardrobe. Though you can’t see them in the photos, I’m also wearing dark wash jeans.

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I’ve always been a minimalist when it comes to makeup, but even on stay at home days I use mascara and a bit of blush. I also wear accessories. Layering necklaces is a thing right now, so I’ve been experimenting.

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Both these necklaces have special significance to me and lately I’ve been enjoying wearing them together. The string of pearls was a gift from my grandmother when I was just a girl and I was given the pendant necklace by a very close friend who died of breast cancer in 2006.

During my teaching days, I had a small home office in the basement, but when I retired it became a playroom for the grandchildren when they come to visit. Nowadays, when I’m not working at the kitchen table, one end of the living room couch is my “office”. This is where the blog happens and here’s what I was wearing as I finished up this post.

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Again, everything I’m wearing has been seen on the blog before, in this case skinny grey jeans and a favourite sweater both from past seasons of cabi. I could be working in pyjamas or sweats, but it only takes a few minutes to dress for the day and even if no one but hubby sees me, I feel better about myself and I like what I see when I pass by a mirror!

If you have school age children, you’ve probably had a second job thrust upon you in these unusual times; that of teacher or learning coach. As important as maintaining routine and some sense of normalcy is for adults, it’s even more important for children and getting dressed for school is part of that. Here’s what’s happening at my daughter’s house.

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photo: Melaina Graham

These three love to lounge around the house in their pjs, but right now they’re up and dressed for school each day in their new “classroom”. Mom and Dad are both working from home and each has a separate workspace in this same room.

How are you faring in these unusual days and what are you wearing?