Community church potluck

Earlier this week, our church hosted another potluck dinner.  I thought it would be a nice way to start the new year at church after all the holiday festivities, plus we had the opportunity to meet our new pastoral care minister.  Everyone was feeling okay after bouts of illness over the holidays, so we loaded …

Campfire Chili and Cornbread

Happy New Year to everyone! We had planned our annual winter camping trip to a heated cabin in a provincial park during the first week of the new year.  Two days before we were set to go, we got a call from the park saying they had to cancel our reservation, as the cabin was …

Strawberry Picking

The strawberries started earlier this year – and now we’re trying to squeeze in a family trip to the berry patch before they’re done for the season.  I love to eat the sun-warmed berries fresh from the patch that are too ripe to go into the basket, and I love to hear the snap the …

Country Breakfasts

We live in the country, but we don’t have a farm yet.  However, our rural roots show up every weekend when we share a hot, homemade breakfast together.  We worry about our culture and families who don’t eat together, or only have takeout.  One tradition I’m happy to share with my family is a good …

Natural family planning

This afternoon we took a walk out in the sunshine and crossed the highway to pick up a local Saturday paper.  It included a section from The New York Times.  One of the headline articles talked about the struggles of Venezuelan women to access family planning, set against a backdrop of struggling to feed the …

Turn the other cheek

I hope that being locked away in a psychiatric ward in isolation is the closest I will ever come to being in hell.  I would not wish that kind of treatment on anyone even for a few days, let alone all eternity.  So when I felt angry at the Canadian Senate for appearing to not …

Soup making

On a bright sunny morning with a good thirty centimetres of snow on the ground, we went outside to play in the snow.  We went cross-country skiing, built snow castles with a little sand pail, played on the swings and tobogganed down the small mountain we built off the edge of our back porch.  While …

Successful parenting

There have been good things that happened this year.  I suppose it’s beneficial to consider the highlights of the year – they stand out even more against the darkness.  This year I have been impressed by my children, and I am thankful for them.  I think they have weathered the storm better than me. The …

Thou Shalt Not Kill

Sometimes I wish people would stop being so difficult.  It is wrong to take a human life.  People die, yes, and it’s a natural part of life.  Being somewhat of a naturalist and also pro-life, I feel compelled to state, again, that I am opposed to suicide, abortion and euthanasia.  I hope that the Canadian …

Mexico

When Covid is over, we can live again.  Lately we’ve just been surviving.  They say that by the fall most Canadians who want to be vaccinated should be, and life can begin again.  It will be nice for everyone when school groups can go on field trips again, and my husband can return to work.  …