A tribute to my Wonderful Dad

Had he still been alive today, my Dad would be turning 82.  I have so many fond memories that evoke such feelings of thankfulness to the Lord for having given him to us.  Having been born a twin and the youngest of 12, I doubt he got much of his parents attention and yet he was such a great Dad himself. 

He was a faithful servant of the Lord and one who displayed great humility. 
Here he is at Kent Falls in CT, a place where we have taken many of you. 

The Brookfield Town Hall property has a petanque court which is pictured here.  Dad used it several times when he would visit us in CT.  Because he didn't do things by halves, he became rather competent at petanque after much practice and tournaments.  Most days, providing the weather cooperated you would find him fitting in a game or two.

Tammy the dog was Dad's firm friend since he frequently took her for walks.  By the way that bulging bag is full of petanque balls.  You have no idea how heavy they are!

I have so many wonderful reminders of my Dad, even some of his sayings and corny jokes that we continue to use in our family.  Here are some that come to mind.

In reply to "How are we going to get there?"  Dad:  " Shank's Pony", a.k.a walking

'Worse things happen at sea'

In reply to "Is it Friday today?"   Dad:  "Yes, all day". 

Thanksgiving 2011

Americans associate Thanksgiving with the cooperation between the Native Americans and European settlers back in the 1600s but it was finally declared a national holiday in 1941.  Today it is characterized by turkey dinners, football games and parades. 

We participated in the former (turkey) along with many other superb dishes - ham, candied carrots, mashed potato, salad, stuffing, cranberry sauce, followed by pumpkin and apple pie with whipped cream - pictured above, with good friends.  Bear in mind all that food was for two families - 9 people - one of which was a baby.  Below is a picture of the bird - the preferred choice of Benjamin Franklin for America's national symbol - after we had eaten from it.

I forgot to ask how many pounds this turkey was; at any rate a large one. 

Eliot came home from college/university this morning so he was able to join us as well.  He brought two pies with him that he had baked this week as part of a Sigma Chi activity, the fraternity that he is a member of.  Their organization spent all day baking  around 100 Thanksgiving pies - pumpkin, strawberry/rhubarb, apple, cherry, apple crumb, peach, blueberry - as a fundraiser at a bakery.  If Eliot isn't successful in obtaining his undergraduate degree next year then there is definite hope for him as a pastry chef.

A new pot and a new pad; a sad tale and a happy one

Here I am way behind on my blogging again.  However, as we approach the end of the year I have every confidence that a New Year's resolution to post more frequently will come to fruition. 

With regards to the new pot I refer back to my protracted journey home from NZ compliments of Qantas who were the cause of several days delay.  In addition to the strike that delayed my departure,  the flight left Auckland 90 minutes late while 'technical experts' tried to get the entertainment system working to no avail.  I was already hard pressed to make my connection in LAX but alas, the digits of my right hand did not match the fingerprints on record.  The customs agent who walked me over to secondary processing had the gall to ask me how my day was going.  By the time I got to check-in I had well and truly missed the flight and had to wait another couple of hours for the next one.  In the interim, of course, my fingerprints had matched up with my other documentation and I eventually arrived in NYC greeted by Ron and Troy - who looked like the son of a cave man - and proceeded home to the dark northeast.  More about that shortly because no doubt you are wondering about the new pot. 

I left America with 2 large suitcases full of strange things - a huge stuffed horse (someone's soft toy from way back), 2 large rolls of  freezer paper (for a quilter), a kitchen rug, gift books, etc.  When Ron saw me stuffing things in he said "I am washing my hands of this".  On my return trip bar a few small souvenirs for the 3 lads, my one mission was to bring back a teapot - hard to find here - since our current Briscoes teapot which has done us proud for many years is starting to leak at the spout.   Alas, what you see above is probably the result of a few tosses of my suitcase.  However the lesson for next time is to stick to a metal teapot when travelling long distances.

Back to the dark northeast.  Brookfield was without power for about 6 days and we were without phone and internet for about 11 or 12 days total since the wires had been yanked from the house and pole.  The CEO of the power company has recently resigned because of the enormous criticism he has received after the last three major power outages.  We had far more criticism for the phone company who were virtually useless in responding to calls requesting repairs.  It's the typical situation where the call gets routed to a global call centre in the Phillippines for eg and they have no idea what the local situation is.  They have been trained to answer in a certain way but don't know anything beyond that. 

The new pad is the Ipad which without being melodramatic could almost say I have embraced.  I like many of its features and find it very easy to use.  It downloads email instantaneously, is very portable, has great storage, and holds its charge very well.  Just recently I was browsing for sheet music and was able to sit it on the piano to preview some music before deciding if I wanted to buy it.  I could never have done that with a laptop.  When Ron first purchased it for me, I had a sneaking suspicion it was really for him.  That turned out not to be the case although we do share a very addictive word game that he loaded onto it called W.E.L.D.E.R which I highly recommend with a warning that might result in some late nights.   

This is Troy when it dawned on him that the fun was over now that Mum was home again.  Sorry Troy; it's a tough life. 

Wedding and World Cup

There were two important events in October (three if you count my birthday, ha ha) in New Zealand: the final of the World Cup and the wedding of Nicola and Steve.  I was privileged to be in the country for both.

Two weeks literally flew by; part of that time was spent with Laura and Mikey in Hamilton and their menagerie and the remainder was in Hastings.  I got a true taste of the amount of work it takes to get married in the 21st century.    

Speaking of taste, to my surprise, I found myself making the wedding cakes; quite an honour when one thinks of some very 'unique' dishes that came from my kitchen as a newly married woman.  Thankfully I have progressed from those days.  I do not have a photo on my camera of the finished product.  Suffice to say that in spite of making an incredible mess during the process the cakes turned out alright with some help decorating from the bridesmaids. 

Thank you dear family for hosting me, meeting up with me and visiting me - some from afar - and for making my trip so enjoyable.   Unfortunately we are not always able to catch up with everyone, which makes it that much more compelling to visit again.