So it's another gorgeous fall day! We're living on borrowed fall weather, for sure. But we're enjoying it immensely. Excuse me, I'M enjoying it immensely. My boys can't WAIT until the snow flies... I understand. Sort of.

Wanna come join me for some earl grey tea and mixed nuts? I know.. where are my pumpkin muffins and chocolate cupcakes?! Hiding! :) I'm being so so careful! Ha.

So... two weeks ago we rented a tree spade and moved 47 of our six to nine foot Colorado blue spruce to their respective spots on the yard. It only took us eight years! Not bad, eh? We're quick people, ha! It seriously feels so good! We have approximately 350 trees left to move and at the rate we're going we should have the whole thing accomplished in 56 years! Pat is hoping to build his own tree spade this winter and I'm looking forward to next spring!

And I've been sewing madly, mowing sadly. :) Pat's folks are planning on going to Window Rock as house parents for a year, leaving the beginning of January. This past week and a half I sewed dresses #4, 5 and 6 and cut dresses #7, 8 and 9. For mom, that would be. I quick did a dress for Bren in between but she cuts her own and I don't generally spend as much time on them.

So ya, folks are going to Window Rock! Isn't that exciting?! I think they'll do a fabulous job and we can hardly wait to go visit them! It's so much fun looking forward to things!

Last Sunday our Ukrainian friends came to visit us, bearing gifts of food as per their custom. Sergiy & Aryna Gryshchenko brought pomegranates, pickled peppers in a fancy oval jar, purple cabbage salad and devilled eggs on a devilled eggs platter with sprigs of parsley laid fancily on top. Oleksandr Karpenko (his wife was working, so she didn't come) brought black forest cake and black grapes. We love these dear people. Aryna told me all about their daughter Yulia, who just married a man 15 years older than her and had a baby. She's concerned for her...

Yesterday Pat went to help Merle on their new basement after we got home from town, so Melanie invited us for supper; Delisle pizza, Ceasar salad and fresh cinnamon rolls. Her girls printed off some mandalas after supper and we sat and coloured and visited.

Talk again soon.

What are you up to?

Writing Class Article - A Trip To Dinsmore

A Trip to Dinsmore

By Jo Oct 8/15

We rushed out the door after a hurried supper. Pat needed to go pick up oil from the Dinsmore Hutterite Colony for our used oil boiler. Winter is nearing and we go through a tote a month so part of our fall preparations is going to get oil.

I don’t always go along on these trips, but this time Pat asked if I would and I was happy for the little outing. It’s only a half hour drive south of our place and the drive went quickly.

Upon arrival we noticed the quiet yard and houses. We drove around a bit while Pat tried again to get Eddie, the preacher, on the phone. Pat has gone there lots of times before but I had never been to this particular colony and I was very interested in it all.

This colony was very neat and well taken care of. The houses were arranged in two long rows of plain apartment-style buildings. The shops were another row right in front of the houses, door after door, plain white with black trim. There was one small pot of flowers beside a full glass door that looked like it led to the kitchens.

After a while we noticed some commotion by one house door. Two little girls were peering out, their full skirts swinging in the evening breeze and their black polka dot caps flapping behind them when they ran back inside. A stout short man in plain black dress pants and jacket stepped out under the little yard light by their door. The swinging screen door slammed shut behind him as he stepped out and Pat jumped out of the pickup to talk to him.

Very shortly Pat jumped back in and we backed across the yard to the first shop. “Eddie, himself!” he said. I nodded as he jumped back out. Colby and Zach grabbed their jackets and jumped out too. I unbuckled Wyatt and told him to sit by me and pretend he was driving.

“I hate your house!” a rounded bearded face said at Pat’s open door. I recognised Eddie.

I looked at him, surprised and then laughed. I didn’t know what to think but maybe he had seen our place sometime, though I was sure I’d never met Eddie before today.

I talked with Wyatt and read my emails and talked with my mom and sisters on Whatsapp. Wyatt kept opening the windows so I put on my jacket. Soon Pat was ready to drive around to the back of the shop for the last tote of oil. Eddie opened the furthest shop door and we drove right inside the clean, neat shop. The last three bays were covered with what looked like gravel to me but soon Eddie came and leaned in Pat’s window.

“Wanna try some sunflower seeds?” he asked.

“Sure!”

Three little girls crowded close to Eddie at the window.

“I have six girls,” he informed me. “No boys. The girls do a lot of work. See those sunflower seeds? That’s their job! They do that in the evenings. Right now we’re harvesting carrots. We provide carrots to all the Co-ops in Saskatchewan!”

“Wow!” I said, impressed. “That’s a lot of carrots!”

“Do you help?” I asked the girls.

“We babysit,” the oldest one answered.

“We use a carrot digger that came all the way from Prince Edward Island!” Eddie said. “My other girls are learning their German.” It came out sounding like ch-erman.  I watched him as he grabbed a paper plate from the middle sized girl. “Here, for you,” he said and handed me a plate of cookies stacked four high all around.

“Whatever! Thank you very much!” I laughed. “This is so nice of you! Did you girls bake them?” I knew instantly that they hadn’t. Of course, they have cooks that provide for everyone but it’s such a natural thing to ask.

“No,” they said shyly, looking at me.

Soon Pat was done pumping oil and we backed out of the shop and said our goodbyes.

“Well,” Pat said, “Eddie says he heats our house.”

I laughed. I had misunderstood.

Best Fall Things (Oct 4)

• pumpkin spice muffins at Tim Horton's
• pumpkin chai from David's Tea
• sweaters
• scarves
• leggings
• pumpkins and gourds
• harvest moon
• tomato relish, veggie juice and salsa in neat rows in the pantry
• chilly evenings curled up by the fire
• fresh BC apples
• boxes of tomatoes 
• yellow leaves scattered on green grass
• lunch-kits and ball-gloves
• sunflowers
• square bales
• geese honking
• dusty fields
• dreaming about making a quiet book
• quilts

In Which Mrs. Brown Drinks Joy - Week 1 Writing Class

In Which Mrs. Brown Drinks Joy

By Jo Sept 10/15

Mrs. Brown swings her arms, pulls her skirt up to her knees and faces the sun. It’s a magnificently gorgeous day on the vast plains of Saskatchewan, blue-blue harvest bowl sky, golden fields of stubble, crickets chirping and birds flying. The grass is lush and green from the fall rains and there’s a nip in the air that can only mean frost in the near future.

Mrs. Brown is alone on the country gravel road. Her closest neighbours are a mile and a half away and the birds and crickets are her company. Every breath she breaths is thanksgiving… today. Some days are not so. So many things fill Mrs. Brown’s mind; the lunch she had yesterday with Mrs. Hildebrand, the liver test a close family member is waiting for anxiously, her oldest child’s school needs…

But today. Today is joy, joy, joy. Every blade of grass is dancing with joy to be alive. Every leaf on the trees around her sings and twirls, so happy to do what God has bid them. The birds flit and fly, alive; so happy. Mrs. Brown wants to dance but she runs instead, every breath a prayer, a praise, a song.

If there were not so much pain and heartache in this world, the joy would not be so… there, so precious, so close to Him.

Mrs. Brown slows to a walk, savouring the warmth. Instinctively she looks up as a cloud crosses paths with the sun. How real to life. Each day must have its little troubles to make the sunshine special. Each life must have its trials to make the person whole, complete and capable of grasping joy.

Mrs. Brown heads inside. She opens more windows and gulps down a glass of water. Her work is waiting; dishes to do, toys to pick up, laundry to put away. Her heart is full, full of joy gulped in thankful breaths on a fall walk.

Monday

Hi, you all. It's a lovely Monday here, mind you, rather cold. When I got up this morning it was +2C and it's warmed up considerably to +8C. But the sun is shining and the geese are honking and gathering in crowds on nearby sloughs and it really does feel delightfully fall-ish. I think Mondays are one of my favourite days. Just good ol' stay-at-home days.

It feels rather boring to write about laundry and baking every Monday but it's so normal and enjoyable. Today I added salsa to my list. I even threw a jalapeno roast in the crock-pot for supper and collected the garbage from upstairs. Things are looking up, no doubt.

Last week I had a bit of a 'Grandma Dora' week. We had such a lovely quick trip through the mountains last weekend to Creston for Jerry & Karen's 25th anniversary and we hit the ground running at home. It was my busing week, Pat was gone late three nights, Wyatt & I had colds, I had a 'Cobra books' day, I babysat Robin & Alex one day and went to town with Pat on Friday. Saturday we had an Dean Esau party at Jeffs for Alison's birthday and Sunday we had a Wilbert Esau party at Arlen's for his (Arlen's) birthday... Oh, my. Don't I feel better just saying it?! LOL.

Anyway, I think I'm going to stay home from church cleaning tomorrow. And I'll try to get to Bertha tea on Wednesday and the singing will be fun at youth meeting on Thursday.... I'm into writing poetry (like, more than usual, ha) and here's my latest just thrown out there:

Rugged Rockies

Snowy Peaks
Foggy Caps
Forest Spruce
Mossy Floor

Shaggy Bear
Massive Moose
Jumpy Rabbit
Lightning Squirrel

Blue-Green Water
Splashing Stream
Rocky Edge
Peaceful Lake

God's Grandeur

~~~~~~~
Just
Go ahead
Say those
Words
Even though
They aren't true
And
You don't feel that way
Just say
Those
Kind
Words
~~~~~~~

Do you agree with this last one? Is it right to say kind words if they aren't true? Is it better to just be quiet?

And some Wyatt (or Quiet, like Reyna calls him) thoughts:

Last week on the bus when Austin (grade nine) jumped in, "Oh, HI!! You are sweet!"

"Do-So... TOOT-TOOT! That's my favourite song!"

On the way home from Jeff's, "Mom, are you tired, too?"

And in Sunday school when Pat was leading songs he became a dog, "Bow-wow-wow!!!"

The time before that Pat asked if anyone had a number and Wyatt said, "Seven!" and then was so surprised and embarrassed he wept on my shoulder for a good while.

Anyway, there are no dull moments. And we have much work to do...

Have a splendiferous day!!