Snow in My Back Yard...

and...

 lovely flowers inside.

 Fresh bread by the proud cook. See the cookbook that I put together for Peter? 

We had snow last weekend. This is what it looked like in our 

back yard:

The sun, that's what we are waiting for...

                               

                       Snowdrops waiting for the snow to melt.

I had 3 hours of chemo today, Thursday, 6 hour of chemo tomorrow, Friday, and a 5 hour blood transfusion on Saturday. Sounds awful does it not!? But, maybe I will feel stronger.

"May God give you...For every storm a rainbow, for every tear a smile, for every care a promise and a blessing in each trial. For every problem life sends, a faithful friend to share, for every sigh a sweet song and an answer for each prayer.”

 An Irish Blessing

Love,

Hilda

Happy Valentine's Day!

Looking Back a Few Years Ago...

It’s the middle of February (2011), and it’s been cold and rainy far too long! We are in our music room–keeping warm beside the fireplace–sitting in our most comfortable chairs, wrapped in our knitted, off white, cozy blankets. It’s still winter and so we have books to read, movies to watch, games to play and journeys to plan. But...Peter is fast asleep, and so...

I dream of...

Flowers growing in my garden, window boxes, beds and borders--Sunshine on their lovely faces, always makes me smile...

I dream of...

Flowers singing love songs, dressed in gorgeous velvet gowns in hues of pinks and yellows, blues and purples, reds and whites--Gentle brush strokes orchestrated, add a touch of blush...

                                                      

I dream of...

Flowers dancing in the moonlight, casting shadows of delight, swaying to the sound of music as their symphony unfolds. And in our day to day activity--rhythm curves and shapes our lives...    

I dream of...

Flowers joining hands in friendship, and...

wishing you a 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Take good care...

Hilda

And...Looking Back Some More

This morning (2009), I went down to our crawl space, and found the Valentine box that Peter gave me forty-two years ago. I took it out of the plastic bag and automatically blew off the dust. It wasn’t really dusty, but perhaps the plastic flowers made it look a little dusty and old. The chocolate bonbons are long gone and the lovely box now holds the love letters that Peter wrote to me the summer of 1967.

I had been attending grade 10 at the MEI (Mennonite Educational Institute) that year, and room and boarded in Clearbrook (now Abbotsford), at the home of Lesley and Lydia Friesen on Clearbrook Rd. They were a  caring family, welcomed me into their home, and to top it off, Lydia was a fantastic cook. Finally I didn’t have someone (my stepfather) checking to see how much I was eating, and soon I began to gain a few of the much needed pounds. You see, I was ninety-five pounds when I got married, so I guess I must have been less than that when I moved in at the Friesen's. When my parents found out that I had a room in the basement, they arranged for me to stay at the Dick’s home, across from the school--So much for the good cooking! My parents may have heard that a thief had found his way in through my window while I was away one weekend, at my Uncle Peter Spenst’s place, in Chilliwack.

At the end of the school year, I took the Greyhound bus home to Wembley, Alberta, where my parents were grain farming. That summer, Peter...I should really say Pete, since that is how each letter that I received was signed, and that is how he is still called by some siblings and old friends. For some reason I never really liked to call him that, so after we got married, July 12, 1969, and had moved to CMBC (Canadian Mennonite Bible Collage) in Winnipeg, Manitoba, now CMU (Canadian Mennonite University), I started to call him Peter--somehow it suited him better. Anyways...that summer we exchanged letters. 

I wonder what happened to the letters that I wrote him...? I found them!

The lovely box had been full of delicious looking chocolate bonbons on that Valentine's Day long ago, but unfortunately...or fortunately, I couldn’t eat chocolate, and so, the next day, I gave the filled box to my mother, who returned the empty box a week or so later and thanked me for the 5 unwanted pounds that she had gained! Too funny...

But, today is Feb. 14, 2014, and I have an eye scan and an one hour of chemo. Not much of a Valentine's Day, but that is how it has to go.

Once more,

"Happy Valentine's Day!" 

I hope you have a good one.

Love,

Hilda

Shingles, Chemo, Audio Books and Books

Oh, hello again. 

I thought I'd let you know, since some of you are asking, that I still have shingles, and for your information, it takes a long time for it to go away. I am under a lot of heavy medication in order not to feel the pain in my head and eye, since that is where my shingles are.

 Slowly, very slowly I take one less pill at a time.

This is the white paper that Peter prints out for me every morning to make sure I don't miss a pill or a drop.  

Our neighbour, Martha, had it three years ago around her waist, and once in a while she still feel pain.

Yes, you can get it twice.

Just for your interest, we have already spent over $2,000 for the shingles medication!

My cousin, Lena, from Germany sent me this picture, and oh, if only I could...How it sucks to be sick.

But I'd better not get on this bike since it would make me lose weight, and orders from the doctors is that I should gain weight! 
And so...I will put some weight on my four cheeks!

My immune system is so low that I feel very weak most of the time due to my third year of chemo--I guess my blood count is low and so I try to find foods that are high in iron.

For lunch today it's lentils--I used to love them as a kid, and I still do--and for supper, Peter will stop at Fraser Valley Meats to pick up some liver after his tuning. Did I say liver! We haven't had liver in a very long time, ever since the kids cried over their liver plates, 
"I hate liver!"
 But really, I think I am the only one in our family who actually likes liver. Liver that is fried and smothered in fried onions, and then...awaaaay we/I go. 

Audio Books

Also, before I forget, let me mention the free audio books (Books Should Be Free) that Peter found for me on my laptop while I was recuperating in the dark. All are unabridged, and I needed to listen to something that was familiar to me:

•The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Duma) over 40 hours.
•Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen)
•Emma (Jane Austen)
•Max und Moriz (Wilhelm Busch) in German.

•Heidi (Johanna Spyri) in German.

I may have forgotten a book or two...

Oh, yes, before we go to bed, Peter has been reading to me:

Books

•Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother and Daughter Journey to the Sacred Places of Greece, Turkey, and France

by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor (Sep. 7, 2010) 

Remember, Sue Monk Kidd also wrote,

•The Secret Life of Bees (2008), which I have not read, but saw as a movie, and...

 •The Invention of Wings (2014) I started on my Reader but will have to wait until I am able to read again.

And, for something more serious, Peter has also been reading to me, now and then, from

 Karen Armstrong's book,

•In the Beginning 

A New Interpretation of Genesis

and

Nigel Warburton's

•A Little History of Philosophy 

This last book was recommended by Michael.

With a tissue folded over my right eyeglass--what a sight!--I will say adieu for now.

Til next time, 

and missing you like crazy...

Hilda

PS. And now, back to the television for a little bit, or more, of Sochi.