Wednesday, January 7, 2015

A delivery

As I have mentioned here before, I purchase most of my clothing from Gudrun Sjoden in Sweden, online.  I don't like shopping per se and I like her designwork and the quality of her clothing.  Thus, when a sale came up after Xmas, I found reduced a woolen jumper (not the English term of jumper, it's a dress that comes to the knees), it is almost boiled wool, a little more tightly woven not quite felt.  It arrived this morning.  Our delivery person for several years has been a Tamal, originally from Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon.  Governed by the British from 1815 to 1948 when Ceylon achieved independence, this young man was one of three children, sent to Canada when he was thirteen years old.  His father died when he was two years old; his mother sent him to Canada for safety reasons.  He said that you cannot go out at night, it is not safe there.  He said that you can be taken from your home and shot in the street for no reason.  For those of us who are not immigrants, who have lived in our countries all our lives, in North American, we have little concept of what it is like to be an immigrant.  Myron, as he calls himself, a derivation of his Tamal name, has connected with my husband, who flew to India often as a pilot with Air Canada and has spent considerable time there so Myron and he have made a more familiar connection than I have.  A cheerful young man, now I would say in his late thirties, he is married, lives up here north of Toronto although he has to drive into Toronto to pick up his load and return his truck at night, then drive back up here, another hour or more to get back to his home.  He is married, has children.  He came to Canada not knowing anyone.  I asked, if at thirteen, he was frightened.  He said no, it was more frightening back home in Sri Lanka.  He was cared for by a family in Newfoundland for a period of months while the Canadian govt. made familial connections for him and he was flown into Toronto to live with a friendly uncle and aunt who raised him.  He graduated from high school, college, worked and eventually ended up a UPS driver.  How little we, as people who have never had to make a transition in our lives, from one country to another, are so complacent in our lives.  We never think of how it is for immigrants coming to our country.  Living in the country, in winter particularly, our lives are very quiet.  Myron allows us a few extra moments to learn about his life and gain an understanding I would never have had had I not ordered from Gudrun Sjoden, had the parcel delivered by UPS and by Myron, a Tamal, who now says Canada is his home, it has been very good to him and no matter how much he pays in taxes, he's grateful to be here.  I sometimes feel I've led a very sheltered life...not sometimes, I know, I have led a very sheltered life.  Myron's mother is still back in Sri Lanka.  He hopes to bring her to Canada, but in the summertime, he said.  We smiled.  Introduced to snow first off is not an experience many would want having lived their lives in a warm country.
Rosey

The "polar plunge" . . .

Our low temp tonight is to go down to 4°F (!!!)   I know those of you who are north of me are suffering even colder temps.   The good news is that tonight is the low point.  Thursday and Friday lows will be 14°F and will feel like summer, right?   LOL

MaryJo --- I hope the meds will not be damaged from the winter weather temps and living in your mailbox for 24 hours!     So many are temperature-sensitive...

We have a permanent ink/laminated note on the inside of our mailbox, asking that any packages that won't fit to be left at the front door.   Ever since then, we've had good cooperation but we have a nice mail carrier, too.  That helps.   Perhaps a note explaining about arthritic hands and asking that things not be jammed into the box would help? Summer's heat can damage some meds, so you wouldn't want this problem in August.

Marion in NZ - In your photo,I would call that a patio because of the paver bricks on the ground.   
Bill Bryson wrote a book The Mother Tongue  ages ago, which is a delightful read on the quirks of the English language.  Your posts reminded me of the book and now I want to read it again.   Unfortunately I gave it away and it is not available in Kindle format.   Waaah...

Rosey P --- what a beautiful quilt!!!   I love the colors and the graceful  design.   All your original designs have a graceful look to them.

Hugs to everyone!

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

from MaryJo G

What a beautiful quilt, Rosey.  Love the blue borders.  They bring out the applique.  You look quite elegant in your long skirt.  Have two but have not worn them yet.  Feel like I will trip and not be elegant at all.  On that line, am thinking of taking a balance class.  For 20 years, I swam and now have a chemical allergy to the pools.  No saline ones nearby.  We worked on balance in the pool.  Have had vertigo twice and am aware that my balance is a bit off sometimes.  This may help.
Two catalogs from the rec centers came today.  As a former teacher, the catalogs for classes are as tempting as candy.  Would love to be a student again.  Hope to be a lifetime learner, a good goal.  Will start slow, one class at a time.
 
Our snow turned to ice, an inch of it when I went out for the mail. Could not get a box from my mailbox, jammed in tightly.  Will call the PO tomorrow.  The carrier who put it in can get it out.  Darn, need the meds in it.  Also need those boot chains or spikes and will get some when next out.  But, will stay in until the roads are safe.  There's nothing I need enough to risk other drivers who take chances.  
 
Am finding it very hard to live up to my resolutions.  Only made two and the second is difficult.  Am eliminating foods that cause inflammation which should help my pain levels.  Important too for cancer patients.  The nightshade family is hard to let go off:  tomatoes, peppers and potatoes are staples in my diet.  Need to find some substitutes.  And, to see a rhumatologist to learn how important diet is, or rather what is important to let go of.  Some reading says red meat is the worst.  Others say gluten or sugar.  Nightshades are lower on the list. Sugar and  nightshades are the hard ones for me.  The dietitian I saw was no help at all; she said to eat mostly veggies but  had no data to back up her theory and admitted she'd not looked into inflammation.  Irritating when I made the appointment specifically for that information.
MaryJo

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Clothes Lines


It's so much fun seeing how others live in our differing climates of the world here on the quilt chat board.  If anyone else wants to post pictures and can't, let me know...I'll post my email address again.  I have a long clothesline attached to the back of the house but not round like Marion's.   Himself installed my clothesline with a very sturdy post 26 years ago and it serves not only to hang out my B&B sheets, our laundry but quilts that need photographing as well.  This is one of my designs called the Eastern Songbird quilt, me in the top photo with two Aussiebottoms showing and three friends, two of whom I have quilted with over the years, who assisted in this commission of the design.  The one and only time I have ever taken a commission and the last time...we were paid well, but not of course what it is worth...And that is my clothes line in my back yard, back lawn, back field but not back garden...Loved the quote by Winston Churchill, Marion...I have a book of his quotes, I don't think I've seen that one before.
Rosey

Sara..... This is what we call a yard !

I think it was Winston Churchill who once remarked that America and England were divided by a common language ..... It seems that applies to NZ too..   The word garden , refers to the total package...lawns and flower gardens, trees etc.. Yard usually refers to the back of the house ,where the washing line is, rubbish bins, flower pots , etc 

I have just taken this photo.   It is so hot out there that the first of the washing was dry before I had finished hanging the full load out.. There's quite a wind out there too. It's like living under a hair dryer !

I was up early and have done the chores so will now settle down to watch the Cricket on TV. in a cool room !!  My sort of day !