The Hope of Spring and Black Flies

Spring in Nova Scotia is spectacular. Is it because the winter has been long and harsh? In any case, there is alot of bursting forth of things. Today as I was digging about in the dirt and was wondering what these beautiful flowers were, I was attacked by the crazy black flies that are really the most pesky little insects. They bite! Last year I had many bites on my neck, face and ankles. They seem to only be around for about three weeks or so. This is our second spring now in Nova Scotia, so we realize that we needn't become too discouraged about them, but dress with that in mind. (no shorts for gardening for a few weeks yet). As I was weeding in the garden today, I was thinking about life. That there are often black flies, some unpleasant incidences, that make us realize our vulnerability, imperfections. I am thinking that there is some grander hope beyond those things, though--like spring, new life, new beginnings, God, our rock.

The other day I took a picture of my neighbour's laundry hanging on the line. This is a very common sight in the Maritimes. It is something I love to see, but find harder to do. Our clothesline broke the other day when I actually tried to hang the clothes outside. Lou is in the process of repairing the line. This summer I plan to dry our clothes in this fashion alot more. In any case, I was intrigued at the methodical way in which Sandy had hung out her clothes--totally colour coded. She says she organizes them in that way when she removes them from the washer. There you go. A lesson in washing/drying clothes in the lifetime of learning.

Walking at Lawrencetown Beach

Enjoying a walk with Lisa and Stella--note that Lawrencetown beach is in the background. This was a typical spring day with a good amount of sunshine and abit of a nippy wind.

Beautiful patterns are sculpted on the sand. One thing that we enjoy about our almost daily observations on the beach is that each day the beach changes depending on the wave and wind action.

glorious spring

Each day we are checking for signs of spring. The day we came home from our weekend in D.C. we received about 7-8 cm of snow. The snow has now disappeared. Today was +13 degrees C. at one point in the day. We see the tulips coming up through the ground, rhubarb is up, and we heard a loon today. All very wonderful and hopeful. The above picture was taken on our walk yesterday--close to Cow Bay in Cole Harbour. Part of the Trans Canada trail joins into this park. Some people said that they spotted pussy willlows here yesterday.

Today we enjoyed a nice long walk at Conrad Beach.(about 15 minute drive from our house). It was at low tide so there was alot of sand. Fog was trying to descend upon us from time to time. The birds were sounding cheerful.

Weekend in D.C.

Last week we had a wonderful weekend in D.C. with our children. Besides enjoying a few days of spring like weather--the cherry trees and magnolias were blooming, we had a few inspiring and challenging days of prayer. The purpose of our trip was to attend the Global Prayer Gathering for International Justice Mission, the organization for whom Andrey works. It was wonderful to experience together as a family the messages of justice, hope and joy. "Joy is the priceless treasure found in a field of suffering or sorrow." Gary Haugen,
CEO.

The weekend's program comprised of concerts by some very good musicians--Sara Groves and Ten Shekel Shirt, worship times, praying for specific IJM operations--prayer rooms were designated for each country served by IJM. Updates are given at those times in regards to issues which the IJM staff is working on in their country and what is happening. Countless stories were told of success and some which were not successful and where evil continues. Those are the difficult ones. In any case you may check for more information if you wish on the following website: http://www.ijm.org/

By the way, the picture was taken in a mall--you will notice that a fifth person appears in the picture in between Andrey and Mike--she was someone just standing randomly--not part of our group. Funny how that happened.

Beaches

This is what the waves at Lawrencetown Beach looked like just a few hours ago. It was a beautiful day as you can see, sunny and about plus 2 degrees. Some nice looking swells!

This would be the new to us and the east coast version of White Rock. The white stuff is hard rock and is found at Martinique Beach where we enjoyed walking for a few hours yesterday.

Beautiful wind swept sand also at Martinique. We have also been loving the blue skies. I think it was George MacDonald who was quoted as saying, "What idea of God could we have without the sky?"

Saskatoon

Driving down Spadina Crescent along the river in Saskatoon. (A picture taken out of our rented car.). We just returned from a trip to visit Marilyn's mom and family who all live in Saskatoon. Temperatures were record breaking. It seems that it had not been this cold in March for 125 years. Yikes! Being of fairly tough stock, we still were able to walk outside daily. And, of course, we had a great time visiting with everyone.

Marilyn with brother, Allen and sister, Brenda. We met at the Mendel Art Gallery for coffee one afternoon.

Mom, at the art gallery conservatory, checking to see if this is a real tree.

These three young women hosted the whole family for a dinner. The person in the back is my niece, Katya, middle one is Mairin, my niece also and Allison is in the front. She is a friend of both these gals. They are housemates.

Comforts

A few days ago Lou was enjoying a good book with the comfort of Stella on his lap...come to think of it, Stella looks quite comfortable as well.

Today we had planned to visit with friends in Halifax. However, as we were travelling along the highway we thought it would be wise to turn back towards home as the freezing rain was intensifying. I decided to make some "comfort" food. One of my favorite granola recipes from "More with Less Cookbook"--Koinonia Granola. Smells wonderful!