Chattin'

The past couple of days have been a bit of a blur.  My younger son has taken a job as chef on a private yacht.  For the next few months  he will be forced to sail about the Caribbean, cook great food, swim and enjoy the sun.  But he's had to work very hard the past few days to get his apartment cleared and our garage is the mini-storage unit.  Lots of details when you cut off all the landlines and take to the sea.

But now it's time to relax and have a little natter on the front porch.  I'm looking forward to a nice cup of tea when I get there.  Knitting in bag, check; carrots, check...now what's the first question?

Tell me a fond memory of an elderly person?  I didn't have many elderly people in my own life since we were a nuclear family which moved across Canada when I was about two, leaving all the relatives behind in Nova Scotia.  But, over the years I  met many.  A stand-out was Ivy.  She was one of the older  'church ladies' when I was a younger(er) Sunday School teacher.  Ivy was a bit cantankerous and seemed to wear a perpetual scowl.  I was actually a bit afraid of her.  She was short and stout and spoke her mind.  
But the story is that she hated doing crafts.  She didn't knit or sew or join in when her group were making things for the church sales.  Until someone brought in a pom-pom maker.  She took to that in a flash and churned out hundreds of pom poms.  I'm sure it was for everyone's use but it soon became clear that the gadget was Ivy's.  She made many little bears of pom-poms.  I had a little brown bear that she had made - named Ivy Bear because it scowled like she did.  It sat on the dashboard of my car and I treasured it for many years after she died. 

What's your favorite flavor of jam or jelly?  Apple jelly, hands down.  I don't eat jelly at all any more and that's a good thing.  Because the very best apple jelly was made from the apples which grew on a tree in the back yard of the house my kids grew up in.  It was an old tree then - it's still there - and the apples were perfect for pies, applesauce and jelly.  I can't tell you how many jars I made over the years.  The house was sold and, hopefully, another family is enjoying the apples. 

What goes through your mind when you drive by one of those whopping, huge houses that look like something in a magazine?  We have a lot of those big houses in the suburbs of Vancouver.  Mostly, I wonder where the kids play and where they plant their veggies.  The houses plus car garages usually  take up all the available land.  

What's your favorite way to relax?  That seemed like an easy question at first.  Duh!  Knitting, of course.  But I like to read, too. And listen to music.  And walk   Sometimes, the only way to relax is to do some tai chi.  I think any activity where I can let my mind drift and let the busy thoughts float away is relaxing.   So even cleaning the bathroom could fit - in the right circumstances.

What's your favorite kind of pasta?  Another food I hardly ever eat any more.  But if I were to have the pasta menu in front of me and I could choose anything it would be spaghetti with clam sauce.  Oh, yum! 

Time for me to be running along.  Thanks, Patrice, I've had a good time this morning.  If you'd like to join in, just visit Everyday Rurality - you can sign in and everything.  We'll visit you, too.