Canada Day flowers

A Canada Day bouquet from a friend's garden!

A big night!

It was a big night! Brandon's graduation celebration started with the traditional photo op at McGuire Lake. We joined crowds of grads, siblings, parents, grandparents, friends and teachers to view the display of lavish gowns, tuxedos, corsages and upswept hairdos.

A very handsome Brandon, winner of three scholarships, posed with his proud Mum.

Later, we joined another crowd at the Art Gallery for the final performance of a beloved local musician. Sandy Cameron has been teaching and performing music in Salmon Arm for over 30 years. Tonight he performed Cuban style jazz with Jim Johnston, Jordan Dyck, Jeremy Tymkiu and Arianna Chara. The gallery was overflowing. Windows and doors were left open so that people sitting outside could enjoy the music. It was a wonderful farewell. Sandy and his wife are moving to Victoria.

During the break we met the beautiful new addition to Arianna's family!

Initially attracted to John, later she had this look of uncertainty!

shapes and shadows

tastes of tuscany

in shapes and shadows

Hmmmh!

During dinner last night

a strange circle of light beamed 

on one of the seven sisters

from three mothers.

Hmmmh!

OMG!

OMG!!

I discovered an old punchcard from 2003 in my mouldy gym bag and decided to revisit the local swimming pool this morning for some much needed exercise! There is every possibility that I will not be able to get out of bed tomorrow morning!

My only exercise for the past two years has been walking(carrying groceries into the house from the car does not qualify as exercise). As a result I had not considered that swimming involves cooperation from the upper body. After one length of the pool I had to rest for five minutes. The only other swimmer in the pool, a woman around my age, smiled sympathetically and said that on her first visit to the pool she only managed 10 lengths. "How many do you do now" I foolishly asked. Her response was "80"!

Sixteen lengths later, with long rests at both ends, I sank gratefully into the hot tub beside her. My shoulders screamed, my neck felt as though something was dislocated and I couldn't lift my arms.
"You did great!" she said. "See you on Wednesday?"

Dragon Boat Festival

Despite the heavy rain and the cancellation of competitors from Calgary, nine teams of Dragon boaters challenged each other in races at the annual Shuswap Dragon Boat Festival.

I am always impressed by those who participate. There was not a paddler under the age of 45 and most were on the other side of 60 years. While there are men and women on the teams, my applause goes to the survivors of breast cancer. When my mother was recovering from breast cancer surgery she was advised not to "overuse" the arm where the lymph glands had been removed. As a result she suffered from edema for years. It wasn't until a few years later that the first dragon boat team of survivors was formed.

Don McKenzie, a Canadian sports medicine specialist at the University of British Columbia, professor in the School of Kinesiology and Director of the Allan McGavin Sports Medicine Centre started a dragon boat team for women with a history of breast cancer in 1996. He believed that the dragon boating experience would help to change attitudes toward “life after breast cancer” .The original team continues in Vancouver, paddling twice a week from March to July.

He was right, attitudes and lives have been changed!

Summer solstice

Summer solstice

low clouds

disappearing hills

field of mustard

Back to blogging

I have received several queries during the past week about the lack of activity on my blog. Garden work, paperwork and taxes have sidetracked me! Life is slowly resuming its regular routine.

In a world of chaos and conflict

sits a small town

gifted with small displays

of handmade beauty.

Thank you to the yarn bomber

who brightened my day!

Local exhibition

The current exhibition at our local Art Gallery features three forms of weaving...native basket weaving, Guatemalan backstrap weaving and traditional loom weaving. Last week we watched demonstrations by three local weavers.

Ruth Brighouse, a local Doctor, makes regular trips to Guatemala to teach midwifery. She is learning to weave with local artisans, women who have mastered the ancient craft of backstrap weaving. While one end is attached to an upright support, the weaver uses a belt and her body weight to apply tension is to the weaving.

Gudrun Weisinger is a master weaver who completed her masters degree in Germany 50 years ago. She showed us how to create a sample pattern in linen thread on this multi-faceted loom. The detail in her works is amazing.

Patricia, the daughter of Delores Purdaby, a well known native basket weaver, explained the process of harvesting and preparing cedar roots. The outer layer is removed from the root before it is sliced into thin strips. Before weaving the strips are soaked for several hours to ensure that they are pliable.

Home after 7 months

We returned to Salmon Arm on June 3rd, after almost seven months away. Each evening we enjoy a walk at the wharf, checking water levels(high) and fledgling progress in the osprey nest. The beaver and otters have not visited during our walks but the grebes, ducks, geese and swallows are very busy.

There was a mountain of paperwork to sort. Our neighbour had organized it into monthly bundles but the amount of recycling from her bundles was enormous...envelopes and junk mail! Then there was the quest to find income tax return packages. The Federal government sent out a notice that we were now expected to file returns online. If this was not possible, then we were to pick up a package at the local post office. Unfortunately the post office recycles the packages after May 1st. Fortunately a government office downtown had a supply.

The next challenge was the gardens and lawns. Of course the entire landscape had happily accepted every form of weed that arrived by air or been dropped from winged bottoms. After five days the lawns were finally trimmed but the gardens will take weeks of daily attention. The question now is whether to plant any veggies, herbs or flowering plants.

And finally, the new back deck looks wonderful but is unusable without railings around the perimeter to secure our safety. So, we begin the quest to find a tradesperson to install new railings...preferably before winter!

Minoru Track

I have been trying to nurse my sore back into a healthy state for about a week now. This morning I decided to walk over to the Minoru Track for a walkabout. We are staying nearby in Richmond while John attends a hospice conference. I joined 50-60 aging Asians as they circled the track in various displays of combined walk/tai-chi routines. They swayed, hopped, lunged,stretched and loped around the track while I attempted to keep an easy stride during two rounds of the 400 metre route.

Some interesting Wikipedia history: Minoru started out as a horse-racing track on August 21, 1909. 

Almost one year later, on March 25, 1910, the first-ever Canadian airplane flight west of Winnipeg took off from Minoru Racetrack, with 3,500 witnesses on hand. The plane was manned by Charles K. Hamilton; he flew it from Minoru to New Westminster and back.

Another year later, on April 28, 1911, William Templeton flew a homemade biplane at Minoru. This was the first plane to be both built in and flown over Metro Vancouver. Templeton would later become the first manager of Vancouver International Airport.

American Alys Bryant became the first woman in Canada to make a solo flight, taking off from Minoru Park on July 31, 1913.

In early August 1919, the first-ever flight in Canada to cross the Rocky Mountains took off from Minoru Park. It was manned by Vancouver's Ernest Charles Hoy, who flew the plane from Richmond to Calgary. The trip took 16 hours and 42 minutes. It was also the first airmail delivery across the Rocky Mountains.

Homeward bound tomorrow!