• here we are in the midst of spring -today was a beautiful day - yesterday too- and we got no snow at our house on thursday but a whole bunch of the rest of Alberta did--10 inches at the farm place which is about 20 minutes from here if you are taking the way of the crow and 25 if you take the roads -
• we are living pretty quiet here unless the grand daughter and her boy who is a friend are hanging around-
• Papa David is weak and only able to walk short distances and stand for short times- the distance beyond 100 feet is now too much, standing shaving is too long- he seldom ventures any where in the house alone-
• he did have chemo again this week which is now a choice as either way does not change things - I think the chemo is now doing  more bad than good and the doctor said he will let papa decide if or if not........right now- papa is still hanging on to the chemo.
• we did want to go away some where some time where cancer did not follow but papa is now too weak to go very far.........his brother and wife with us may go for an over night somewhere close to home= it is hard because everything now is about cancer and health and papa- all our thoughts of what he can do or eat need to be considered -
• I am hanging on by the threads of my tears.....I feel so helpless to know what to do to make him comfort and joy.....sometimes I just sit and look at him - and he looks at me-- and that is our joy.
• Dogman has been running in and out all day looking for spring and a walk but he will have to chase the wind this spring
• we decided not to do any plants or gardening other than rocks this year- just too much for me to be outside too so we have some nice big rocks that I will rearrange and stick some potted plants out-
• things are different and adapting and accepting are the hard parts,,,,,but we  carry on forward with the Lord- trusting Him
• teddy bears reminds you and me that we need to have fun and yes. papa and I do still have some good laughs--mostly at his expense- he can still tease the grand kids and snitch some of their fries-
• huggles me, Meme and Papa too
• 'LITTLE THINGS'
  Dear God, please give to me
  A thankful heart for little things-
  For sunshine on my kitchen floor
  For news the postman brings;
  For memories in the making,
  Things the children say and do,
  That I will smile about, perhaps
  Some future quiet day.
  Grant me appreciation
  Of the small joys that are mine-
  The special birthday parties,
  My honeysuckle vine;
  The clean, fresh smell
  Of clothes just washed;
  The ivy on my wall,
  The children's thrilled delight
  To wake and find the first snowfall.
  For robins in the springtime,
  And autumn's crispy weather-
  For leaves that crunch,
  Friends in for lunch
  And laughter shared together.
  Give me enthusiasm
  To greet each brand new day
  With honest joy in living
  As I go my simple way;
  Let me love the little things
  and thank our Father for them when I pray.(authorunknown)
  

• we are snowed in.......with lots of snow and wind and drifts
• papa cannot get any shoes or slippers on-- feet are too swelled-sigh
• I found a pair of my socks that stretch and managed to pull his feet into them-this is not a good thing
• he is not feeling well at all
• Miss Ashley's dad brought her up at 4 to help me- she is crying a lot about papa-sigh-this is so hard on her too
• Dogman wants his winter coat back on due to the deep snow-
• not a lot of news as we cannot get out..maybe tomorrow.. my friend made this ribbon for us- you are welcome to use it
• good night and huggles from cold Canada--Meme.  (papa's wife)
•  "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens,
  and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me;
  for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your
  souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." ~Matthew 11:28-30
  
  

• we got back home
• after 13 hours in hospital while papa got his blood transfusions
• we are tired
• it is snowing here and cold
• Dogman missed us and now is following us around
• in hopes that something will fall to the floor
• but we are too tired to eat
• so we found him a cracker- he loves crackers and generally
• manages to bribe one or two out of us per day
• no g'kids tonight
• no new news at house which is a good thing

• For by the grace (unmerited favor of God) given to me I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought [not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance], but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him. For as in one physical body we have many parts (organs, members) and all of these parts do not have the same function or use, So we, numerous as we are, are one body in Christ (the Messiah) and individually we are parts one of another [mutually dependent on one another].

  Romans 12:3-5  (Amplified Bible)

  good night and have a wonder weekend

after some research and talking to the cancer clinic

we have found that papa's color for cancer is purple

like pink is for breast cancer--- so now the grandkids

and Meme too are finding purple ribbons or socks

just to show our love for papa David-

we also feed him purple popsicles--LOL

so if you see a purple ribbon remember that

this cancer also needs a cure--donate what you can -

for pancreatic cancer. We hope to find a cure for future

generations -

We are thinking  and praying for  tomorrow for david's blood transfusion- thank you to someone for donating blood to give david energy and better health--

it will take 8 hours as he needs 3 units so also remember

to donate blood if you can-

today Dogman had his hair cut and polished and nails too- he looks like

a top dog and certainly knows how to put on the dog--

we had a quiet day with some company- and just did a lot of nothing- the g'kids

popped in to see papa and have a popsicle with him-

we are off to bed early as papa david has to be at the hospital

at 7:15 - I will go with him and take some books-

"O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love
endures forever."  ~Psalm 106:1

This is the old barn that I used to play --up in the loft with brother bill-- the barn is older than me- and now pretty ,much standing alone but still holds odds and ends - no more cows though as farm is just a grain farm now- what fun we had climbing that ladder to hide from mom and dad-- at least till supper time

huggles me, Meme

we had a busy week since hubby's fall and so no time to blog

here is a verse to bless your journey:

sighing

I am almost too tired to write a blog tonight

so will list my 10 top blessings for today

1. I did not hear the alarm go off

2. grand daughter slept beside Meme all night on a mat-

3. papa hubby was ok this morning although very tired today

4. some sun shine among the clouds

5. a friend came and took papa for a drive just to get some fresh air

6. no bills in the mail

7. laundry is done for another day or two

8. some one is praying for us

9. had some coconut cream pie :-)

10. Dogman smiles with his tail

One of the scribes asked Jesus, 'Which commandment is the first of all?'
Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord
is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all
your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second
is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other
commandment greater than these."  ~Mark 12:28-31

huggles me. Meme

• here it is   ''Friday '' and also into the month of April but you already knew that already--LOL
• chemo week so David had his chemo on Wednesday- this one has hit him a little harder but he had 3 weeks off-----so was stronger this time too
• yesterday we had to go to the city for him to have  CT SCAN  so next week we should find out the results
• today was quiet- made some apple tarts for David and then he and I made a sort of rocky road squares- we had fun and Papa licked the bowl-
• Dogman has a new habit- he sleeps on a couch watching papa for the first two hours of our bedtime and then crashes to the floor and jumps into bed with me- he gets very sad if he can not lay there keeping his eye on papa so now I have an automatic one o'clock in the morning alarm-  
• this is a picture of how he watches Papa with one eye open and one eye shut-
• well, friends- this is short but need to spend some time with Papa helping him do this and that ---------
• huggles me, Meme------Papa's wife.....
• "This is God, our God forever and ever. He will be our guide forever."
  ~Psalm 48:14

• grand daughter slept over and shut off the alarm-
• woke up to a white world- about an inch of snow
• sun shining
• papa up and said he had a good night
• the boy who is a friend came to see his girl
• half of the snow melted
• friend came and took papa out for a while and they went shopping
• for a razor for papa- he likes the small ones because he says "" it is one thing to have cancer but it is another thing to have hair growing out of your ears''--LOL
• papa had a good day except for some stumbles
• brother Bill phoned and they got more snow than we did
• the kids went home
• the boy who is a friend found his wallet which he lost last week and now knows who he is when he is not here- (smile)
• not a lot of news in our corner of the world but that is ok too
• have a wonderful sunday evening
•  
• this is one of my house plants today
• "This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in
  it." ~Psalm 118:24
• HUGGLES ME-- MEME (PAPA'S WIFE)
• 
  

it has been a long time for me not to be here but

life took a turn -

dear hubby was very sick and on Dec. 18 was admitted to city hospital through the enmergency

On Dec. 19 the doctors told us he has pancreas cancer that is terminal

he spent the next 50 days in the hospital with me coming and going to see him

the last week I was able to spend with him and I then brought him home

he is quite well but there is not more for them to do

I have been doing some journals of our journey and I am sorry I did not get them here

I will share tonights and try to get here faithfully when I do write

we covet your prayers

huggs Meme

• had a sleepy morning and missed the alarm but did get up anyway- heard the grand daughter shut it off--gal after my own heart
• David was up quite early but kind of moves about quietly- he or a mouse get up every night and take a dish of something into his room - that is ok as whenever he can eat it is a good thing-
• a tiring day or maybe it was because I was tired but every thing was an effort to do
• company this afternoon
• some one some how snuck a unbaked apple pie into our freezer but I cannot for the life of me guess who but I do know I am baking it tomorrow :-)
• I really missed my man today that I knew before- but I love this new man too but sometimes I just want my old papa David back- sigh- I am praying for strength to look only forward right now and let the past go- I will always love both of my man as I know he loves me but oh, how I wish we had another day of just not knowing about the cancer - it seems that the day the doctor told us which was Dec.19 -2007 was the day he got cancer but of course I know that he had it long before the doctor told us that day but that date will always stand out in our memories
• David vacuumed today although it took him a long time and it is kind of patchy it will be a good memory
• I am blessed that I can have David at home even if he is a stranger at times- he is a good kind stranger-
• the family except for Ashley are slowly drifting away- I guess they do not know what to do for the new papa- sigh
• good friends took us to the city yesterday for Easter dinner- I do not know what we would do if we did not have them to lean on-----or be with
• please do not misunderstand me as I love the new man as much or more than the old man and many parts of the old man are still in the new man but oh, I do miss our gay times together -
• on the other side of the coin I think I have had to grow strong fast and I am much stronger than I ever believed I could be
• The Lord has give each of us much in this situation
• we can still laugh together especially at some of those funny things that dear papa does now and then
• we can still cry together as we talk about the past and the future and how the presence is
• pray for us to continue this journey with much love and time and that our steps together will not falter
• I am learning to :

(

1. walking to grandpa's house 3 miles away with no fear
2. the same teacher for grades one to eight
3. no homework except reading in those eight years
4. listening to the radio for all our news
5. cooking on the wood stove
6. learning to light the wood stove
7. canning our vegetables with mother
8. fresh fruit canned every summer for winter
9. making jam from home grown raspberries
10. daddy telling us the weather for the day by looking out the window:-)
11. playing in the woods
12. finding the first spring flowers which were wild
13. wild lady slippers which are a special flower found in rare places
14. path well worn to our out house
15. chicken hawks which really did try to steal our chickens
16. baby chicks every spring who had their own wee house
17. all our milk cows had names
18. the hay loft where daddy always left a space for brother and I to play in
19. books and books to read for all our adventures
20. no holidays as farmers could not leave the milk cows
21. neighbors coming in to do chores when an emergency came up
22. dry tree hunting with daddy for wood to burn
23. green trees cut down to dry for an year
24. washing eggs to take to town for mother's egg money
25. going to vocation bible school in the summer for a week at our school house- yes, we walked :-)
26. the wood pile and getting chips to start the stove in the summer
27. using ashes on our walking paths in the winter
28. washing the cream separator every day
29. making our pet food from grain and scraps
30. barn cats and one house cat
31. our big red barn which is still standing but has a lean now
32. our first little house in the woods- it was really little :-)
33. watching for chimney fires and helping clean the stove pipes once a month
34. our little wood heater in the living room- we did not have heat in the bed rooms
35. quilts and more quilts for winter
36. putting bricks in the oven to heat for bedtime in the winter
37. walking to the main road in the spring as it was to wet and muddy to bring the truck up to the house
38. baths in the kitchen in the winter - taking turns and mother and I had our own water :-)
39. hanging the wash in the house in the winter-
40. hanging our stockings the night before Christmas and we always found an orange in them
41. candy canes lasting all Christmas week- one lick at a time
42. my 3 calves I trained for our 4H club
43. going to the fair and on the merry-go-round
44. riding in the back of the truck from one field to the next
45. hauling water to the garden in the summer- we filled every available container and daddy drove us out to the garden where we watered by hand
46. funerals as kids always went too
47. no baby sitters- if need be in emergencies we stayed with the neighbors
48. going across the river on the ferry- which was run by human and not machine- it was always so much fun
49. drinking milk straight from the cow and eating eggs right from the chicken
50. going to town at Christmas time and spending the dollar daddy gave me and buying gifts for 5 people with it - :-)  at the 5 and dime store- 
51. the end of the 100 memories but not the end of my memories :-)
52. later I will use some of these and tell the stories that go with them

1. getting up on cold mornings and dressing by the stove
2. finding pictures in the clouds..............
3. napping under a hay stack...................
4. my grandpa and his house.................
5. milking cows and herding cows with daddy..
6. my first day of school in a little one room school.............................
7. fresh vegetables from mama's garden......
8. school fair every fall
9. family members who have gone ahead that I will see again someday
10. rice pudding with raisins every Christmas eve
11. hanging my Christmas stocking
12. running out side to get a bucket of water
13. my favorite kitty who was called princess Margret rose
14. getting letters from folks from the old country
15. mail came only 3 days a week and we had to walk.................................... a half mile to the mail box
16. riding the work horses
17. oatmeal home cooked for breakfast
18. Christmas concert that we the school kids put on
19. pink running shoes
20. wearing dresses to school like all the girls did
21. walking to school which was a mile and a half from home........... and walking home again
22. telephone numbers with only 2 numbers
23. party lines with the telephone
24. potatoes for supper every night
25. going for Sunday drives where we drove slow enough to smell the dust
26. my pet Billy goat who thought he was a cow
27. all our dogs named Lassie and
28. all grandpa's dogs named Rover
29. stores where the owners knew you by name
30. planting gardens for a whole year of produce
31. getting my first pair of glasses at age 12
32. long hot summer days where we played outside everyday with no shoes
33. giving birth to my two daughters 5 years apart
34. watching 2 of my grandkids being born and holding our daughters hands
35. meeting Papa David in the cafe where I worked
36. drive in movies
37. making our own bread
38. cleaning a chicken- I loved doing that-
39. cleaning fish too
40. brother and I playing house where he was the farmer and I was the house keeper- seems nothing much as changed --LOL
41. mama staying up all night on the coldest weather and keeping the home fires burning
42. daddy sawing and spitting the wood for the fires
43. my first TV show was the marriage of Princess Margret Rose's wedding
44. second TV show was hockey night in Canada
45. swimming lessons in the river-
46. first day we got power and how bright it seemed after all the years of coaloil lamps...
47. feeding baby lambs a bottle with some whiskey in the milk....and keeping them under the stove to drive off
48. new baby calves and helping dry them off with if they came to early in the spring
49. grass was green and we sat on it rather than smoking it--LOL
50. picking rocks with daddy and the stone boat

• missed writing yesterday as time slipped away
• but still had a thankful Thursday
• fairly nice day here with some sunshine peeking in and out
• caught up on all my emails in my ''read later'' file
• dishes done
• supper late but potatoes are poky
• news all quiet here
• off to read my books that I am holding for ''read later''
• thinking of you all today and what a blessing to meet others even if only in our life for a short time
• sharing this again as winter is coming for a lot of us and soup is a great supper
  Fruit Of The Spirit Soup
  (Galatians 5:22,23)
  
  Pearl Barley - Love
  Split Peas - Joy
  Black Beans - Peace
  Red Beans - Patience
  Pinto Beans - Kindness
  Navy Beans - Goodness
  Lentils - Gentleness
  Black-Eye-Peas - Self-Control
  
   Smoked sausage or diced ham
  
  Directions:
  Rinse beans, Put in Crock-pot & cover with water. "About 3/4 full of
  liquid & beans total", - Add meat, turn on low, cook 8 to 10 hours. (   serve   with fresh bread. )
  
  NOTE: I buy 1 pound of each of these beans, open them and put into a
  large container, then I mix the completely so there always ready when I
  am, I measure out 2 cups and that's enough to feed 4 to 6 folks.
  
  NOTE: This also makes a lovely gift for someone if you layer each kind of bean in a jar, then attach recipe. 
•  "If God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow
  is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you--you of little
  faith!  And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to
  drink, and do not keep worrying.  For it is the nations of the world that
  strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them.
  Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as
  well."  ~Luke 12:28-31
• good night, friends