A CANADIAN EASTER STORY

I hope you have all had a wonder Easter Weekend! I'm one of the lucky ones who happens to have Easter Monday off which gives me time to write up this blog for you. In fact, I want to tell you an Easter story, Canadian style.

There is a great sermon called "It's Friday, but Sunday's Comin!" by Tony Compolo. Most church folks will know it but if you have never heard it check it out on You-Tube. Basically, Tony tells the story of how he preached up a storm during what he calls a "preach-off" and the congregation was high fiving and yelling amens all over.  He smugly sat down beside his pastor and basically said "see if you can beat that!". The pastor nonplussed, started slow with "It's Friday, but Sunday's Comin!" and in no time the whole church was eating out of his hand.

But this is Canada. We folks are not nearly as demonstrative eh. So here's my Easter story, Canadian style. 

In Ontario, we woke on Good Friday to a cold, ice covered landscape.

My deck chairs were nothing more than icicle holders

My crocuses were bravely trying to stay alive encased in ice

IT'S FRIDAY.....BUT SUNDAY'S COMIN!

The Easter story is one of remembering that on Good Friday Christ sacrificed everything for us. He bore all our sins, past, present and anything you care to screw up in the future. ALL of em. He paid the price and we are now free. 

Our Good Friday was imprisoned in ice, unable to grow or thrive, much like you and me.

IT'S FRIDAY.....BUT SUNDAY'S COMIN!!

And indeed, on Easter Sunday, we Canadians (at least where I live) now had a completely different landscape to behold.

My deck was now warm and inviting! 

The crocuses are alive and blooming!

So, if you are feeling frozen and numb, take heart. There is new life and warm sun waiting on Sunday. In no time at all a miracle can happen and life is suddenly worth living. 

Remember - IT'S FRIDAY....BUT SUNDAY'S COMIN!

Happy Easter everyone!

HAVEN'T A CLUE

It's always a good idea to try something new when the opportunity arises. So when friends of mine, Tom and Tara, were throwing a Curling Bonspiel on Saturday I thought...hey, what the heck! Never Curled or Bonspieled before!

The night before my daughter Randi and her husband Dan wanted to play a game. Much to my surprise, they scrounged up the game "Clue". 

Do you remember this game? I think the last time I played was about 20 years ago. I'm not even sure where the kids found it in the basement. I didn't have a "Clue" how to strategize so no, I did not win. And it was Miss Scarlett, my own player, who was the killer! 

But this was some weird foreshadowing, because the next day was the Curling Bonspiel. 

Look - yellow stones! I LOVE yellow

I thought my husband had great form. He kept that stone on the straight and narrow. 

He was not on my team. He also had the Yellow stones...Randi and I played against him and Tara's husband Tom. But even though I did not have a clue, Randi and I held our own! 

At one point the stones were very close so they brought out this crazy contraption to measure which was closest. 

Figures....yellow was closer.

At the end of it all, Randi and I came out the winners. The way one keeps track of scoring in Curling is beyond me. But I took a picture of the score board and since we were the Red team, it's pretty clear who won.

I came home and did something I was much more familiar with - cooking.

Mushroom risotto with peas.

Thanks to Tara and Tom for inviting us to Curl! It was something I've never done before and I had fun! 

But Frodo kinda summed it up for me..

Haven't a Clue

MY SHOPPING/GET SICK/TRAVEL/ EAT BLOG

I think I take this multi-tasking thing too far. I had a couple of days off and wanted to look for a dress for my son Adrian's upcoming wedding. But I did soooo much more. Hence the title of this blog. So, in between coughing fits, I will get this typed up for you!

It was a misty-rainy day when I started off to Picton to check out some dress shops. My throat was cottony feeling, but I felt I was staying on top of it. It was soon pouring. No luck on the dress but I did find my book, "Growing Up Quinte" was still stocked on the shelves at a popular book store! 

The next day I met a girlfriend for sushi and afterwards we stopped in the Vintage clothing store. This is where I picked up my dress for my daughter's wedding two years ago. Lo and behold, I found not one but 2 dresses! A silvery late 1960's cocktail dress and the other a sea-green elegant number that needs a little nip and tuck for me. The owner gushed about how amazing my backside looked in it. I generally ignore by backside (it's all behind me). By that afternoon, someone was dropping razors down my throat. Talking or swallowing was excruciating! I had succumbed!!

On Saturday, sick or not, we were travelling to Hamilton with my daughter and son-in-law to hang out with Adrian and his fiancé. I was pretty much voiceless! But I can still take pics, so here they come!

We stopped at Bitten, a local bakery that specializes in Cupcakes and whoopee pies. 

If you are on Locke Street, by all means, stop in!

They are worth every bite!

We went to the Botanical Gardens where the upcoming wedding will be and checked out the grounds. It will be a beautiful spot for a wedding!

Adrian, being silly...

Silly, but great taste! He has been trying to get us to a local restaurant called "The Bread Bar" and now I know why. We had made reservations, only available if you have 6 or more people otherwise, I suggest you put you name in for a table a good hour before you want to eat, cause that's how long it will take to get in. 

Carolyn, Adrian's finance and I, shared our meal. We started with an appetizer of roasted brussel sprouts mixed in a hoisin sauce and sprinkled with sesame and shaved apple. 

Blow. My. Mind.

Baby, hit me one more time

I really did not need anything else. 

But, we also ordered a pizza to share. Ours was a squash and mushroom with sage and sweet caramelized onions. 

It was also the size of a small planet!

All ingredients were fresh, and the sourdough crust thick and chewy. 

The rest of the family ordered a meatier pizza, also the size of a small planet!

We have this very silly thing in Ontario where we move our clocks ahead 1 hour in the spring and back 1 hour in the fall. Sorry, we are usually very practical....But in the spring that means you lose an hour's sleep and last night was the allocated time. I spent most of the night coughing and I'm pooped.

So for dinner, I warmed up the rest of the sprouts and a piece of pizza. It was delicious with a glass of red wine. 

Tomorrow it's back to work and I'm hoping the coughing stage I'm now in will soon move on. 

This was a lengthy blog and thanks for hanging in and reading the whole thing! Now excuse me, I need some fresh kleenex! Or, another order of those sprouts. BLOW. MY. MIND.

IT'S JUST A MATTER OF TIME

The other day while I was getting groceries, I could not resist these beautiful tulips!

But soon, such lovelies will be popping up in my own garden, free of charge. Winter is losing it's hold and spring is making aggressive advances forward. The tide has turned, and it is just a matter of time.

Which got me musing about time. How it goes by so quickly. For example, when did I go from this:

to this??

I mean, stop this train already!

On the other hand, time can go by so slowly. I remember being in a accident a few years ago. I was in a boat with a number of other people, just chugging along and I was looking out the back at a sea doo following us. It was a big one carrying 3 people plus a dog. Well, we slowed down, but the sea doo did not. In slow motion I saw it getting closer and the sudden realization on the driver's face that he was not going to stop. Next thing I knew, there was a sea doo on top of me! Can you say concussion?

When we are anxious for things to change; when we are restless. How slowly time goes by. I've broached this argument with God before. 

"God, I know your timing is perfect but please, this situation needs to change. Remember how quickly life flies by for us wee humans down here!" 

But God is never in a hurry. He has perfect timing and has it all in hand.  I look through his Word - in 1 Timothy 2:6 "who gave Himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time." In Galatians 4:4 "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of woman, born under the law."

Ecclesiastes or The Byrds, take your pick: "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven."

I will probably continue to plead my case in matters I'm anxious for change in, cause I know God is gracious and loves to give good gifts to His children. He is more than capable of adjusting my "proper" times.

I'm also going to be patient, trusting in His perfect timing and not wishing my life away in the meantime.

Really, it's just a matter of time.