My Condensed Story Of The Past 12 Plus Months

So yeah, where do I begin?  I am really not sure, so I will start somewhere.  A lot has happened since my last blog post and I really do want to write more for the rest of this year.  I will start here and reflect more over the past 12 months plus in other blog posts.

The past 12 months plus has had some highs but a lot of lows and challenges, too and the stresses continue, but I am pressing on with God's help each day; sometimes I take it one hour at a time and sometimes I take it one moment at a time.

Timeline to give you some perspective of my story. My Dad passed away very suddenly Aug 2011; my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer early 2012 and her Mom (my Grandma Mason) passed away May 2012.  Mom underwent horrific chemo and radiation treatment and mastectomy of one breast and the chemo left her heart damaged.  Mom maintained an amazing attitude as always and recovered from her surgery and treatment and we thought she had beat the horrible disease.  My family and I (husband Peter and step-daughter Chasely) travelled to Canada in December 2013/January 2014 to visit Mom and family and friends and later in 2014 Mom learned that the cancer had metastasized to her liver, kidney and blood.  Not the news Mom or our family wanted to hear.  Mom had a couple of chemo treatments but these were to go on for many weeks and the odds of remission very low and had made her very sick in a very short time frame, so Mom opted for quality of life.  What an incredibly brave woman our Mom was and to her dying day.

I flew to Canada early Feb 2015 which enabled me to spend some quality time with Mom and those memories will always be so precious to me.  I am so grateful for the time I was able to spend with Mom and the opportunity to be able to help her in the days leading up to her passing.  A friend gave me some great advice and that was to journal about my visit with Mom - precious writings, indeed.  Many special moments shared.  Another friend encouraged me to video Mom, too along with the photos I took and one of my projects is to create a movie of Mom (but I think I will need to invest in a new computer to do that - my faithful notebook/laptop that still uses XP is close to calling it quits I think).

My beautiful Mom and I - we had lunch with her Red Hat Mama's.

Happy Father's Day in Australia - 2 Sept 2012

One of my friends on facebook posted a great comment on his wall today, "To all the men who may not technically be a dad, but who are an active father figure to a child - this is your day too." (Robby Stuart)  So true.

We were reflecting this week at work about the various Father's Day Art Work and Crafts that we have made for our Dad's through the years and Hand-Made Cards, too.  Precious memories.  I know that I have seen some of the gorgeous notes and pictures that Peter has received over the years, too.  No price tag can be placed on these items as they are priceless, like our memories.

Today Peter and I remember both our Dads.  Peter's Dad was taken from him too early - similar to how it was for my Dad.  While I do not know exactly how old my Dad was when Papa passed away, I know that I was seven (7) years old and unfortunately, I do not remember Papa.  I never got to meet Mom's Dad Clarence as he passed away well and truly before his time, too.

Similar to Papa (Art, Brenda's Grandpa on Dad's side), Clarence (Brenda's Grandpa on Mom's side), Eric (Peter's Dad) and John (My Dad), all four men were great men to whom we remember and honour today.  We love you and miss you.

I met a man yesterday who knew Peter's Dad Eric and spoke of the wonderful business man that he was and how he faithfully served in the church.  I would have loved to have met him.  Peter was a very young man when his Dad went to be with the Lord and Chasely never had the opportunity to meet her Grandfather neither.

We reckon that there is a huge Father's BBQ being held in Heaven today for them and all of the other Dads and Dad figures that have been Mentors through the ages.  Whilst we very much miss their being with us here today, we are thankful for the promise of being reunited with them one day.

Left to right - Eric Grimes (top and bottom), Chasely and Peter, and Papa and John (top) and John (bottom).

I must find a picture of Grandpa Clarence Culp.  I know who to contact - Aunt Barb!

Happy Australian Father's Day to Men all over the world.  God needs you!

The Grimes' Special Merry Christmas Wish to you

Hello to our friends & family (on every side of the globe), 14 December 2011


It is with mixed emotions that I write this year's Christmas Letter.  Most of you will have heard that Peter and I were planning on visiting Canada this Christmas and had booked our trip in July and had arranged to see the Miracle of Christmas with Mom and Dad in Pennsylvania and we were all very excited.  But alas, Dear Dad went home to be with the Lord at the end of August and we moved our trip up for obvious reasons.


Whilst it was a very bitter sweet trip, we were also able to catch-up with a lot of family and friends and at times the trip seems so surreal, but we captured some great pictures and below are a few collages I have created.  There were so many highlights of the trip; for Peter – the Blue Jays Baseball Game and for me – the lovely afternoon at Niagara-On-The-Lake with Mom and Peter, not to mention all of the wonderful visits with family and friends.  I have also included an awesome picture that was taken of Mom and Dad just the week before he took his final flight home.

So, we will be spending Christmas at home in Springfield Lakes this year but a lovely bonus will be seeing Chase on Christmas Day.

Our year started with the devastating floods in January and Peter and I had the opportunity of helping a couple John and Gael from the Centenary Suburbs and we have since caught up with them over a lovely dinner and heard the story of their house being rebuilt.  Even now as I have started writing our letter, I am sitting along Brisbane Terrace in Goodna that was completely under water and it seems so surreal to imagine that it even happened, but I only have to look across the street and I can see the evidence as some houses are still bare, waiting for reconstruction of their walls and residents waiting for insurance settlements.  They are predicting another wet summer again but they are keeping a close eye on the levels of the dam this year.  I still remember our drive back to Brisbane from Gladstone after spending Christmas with Beth (Peter's mum) and how the road was closed because it was flooded, and even when it was finally clear for us to pass, the level of water was so high to the bridge, it was incredible and scary all at the same time.  I have included a picture which might help you appreciate it a tiny bit.

It Is All In A Word

So last weekend I asked Peter to pick up some buns at the store so I could make sandwiches.
Ooops, wrong word - I should have said rolls; e.g. sandwich rolls.
Now, I know that you might think this is silly, but alas, I knew in my mind what I meant when I said buns, but alas, the Aussie bloke, he did not! I am still Canadian afterall!
I should have taken a photo of the flat, sad looking buns that Brumby's sold as buns; e.g. hamburger buns.
Alas, I have seen much better representations of hamburger buns in my day!
And then, of course, I could have meant a kaiser bun - yeah, bakeries in Canada made lovely kaiser buns.  And what of bagels?  Yes, I was lucky enough to find a place that sells bagels, but forget a selection - one kind fits all and pretty pricey, too!
Nope, not complaining, just saying.
Australia and Canada are both Commonwealth Countries but it is really funny when you start to make a list of all the different lingo we have for things.
For example:

In Canada: I'm toast = In Australian: I'm stuffed (tired)
In Canada: Can I hold your baby? = In Australian: Can I nurse your baby? (simply hold, no feeding involved!)
In Canada: Bench = In Australia: Countertop of kitchen (totally different - yep, bench is something you sit on in Canada!)
I could go on and on, but yeah, I think it is funny and from time to time, Peter's and my ability to communicate with each other can get complicated! Yikes - it is hard enough sometimes for women and men to understand each other without adding the challenge of a mixed language! lol
Well, just thought I'd share this funny thought today!
Au revoir! (French for good-bye).

Earthquakes - Geographical and Political - Canada and Australia

Well, it has been an eventful 24 hours - both geographically and politically - and both earthquakes - shaking up the countries of Canada and Australia.
Canada is not known as a common place to experience earthquakes.  There have been some in the past but are so small that they are not felt; but on Wednesday, 23 June 2010 shortly before 1:45 pm ET, they experienced a moderate one - 5.0 on the Richter scale.  The earthquake's location was the Ontario-Quebec Border Region and its epicenter was about 56 kilometres north-northeast of Ottawa.
The primary location it was felt was Ottawa - the heart of Canadian Politics and in fact, a live news conference on Parliament Hill was shaken up quite a bit and and another politician being interviewed, Environment Minister Jim Prentice, was moved by the impact, but managed to keep his composure.

(Pictured Above - Parliament Hill)

A different kind of earthquake has been felt here in Australia, but I dare say, based on the interview that I just watched of Prime Minister Rudd, I reckon he has kept his dignity and composure, too - you should hold your head up high I say.

http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/9raw-gillard-to-challenge-rudd-for-leadership/xy62u91

I am by far a political expert, but I have always tried to follow the goings on and vote regularly*.  In fact, I can remember completing an assignment in High School in Geography where we covered a National Election and we interviewed the local candidate that was running for the Liberals (Canadian Liberals would be equivalent to the Australian Labors) at the time that Prime Minister Trudeau was up for re-election.

Politics - it is a topic that is sure to raise eyebrows, even make your blood boil and in our family, it can sure turn a everyday discussion into a heated debate! (We're up for it!)  But at the end of the day, it is sad when people in politics lose their ability to see the need for unity even if everyone doesn't agree - particularly, within your own party!  I believe that now, more than ever, we need stability in this country and bringing about a change in leadership isn't going to create that.

So, even if the players in this game reckon they have improved their chances of winning the next election by endorsing conflict within their own party by challenging their leader, I think they had better give their heads a shake and think again.  If they cannot run their own party, how can they expect the Australian people to have confidence that they can run this country!

*spoken by an Australian Resident without voting privileges....maybe it is high time I became a citizen!

All Flours Are Not Created Equal

I have to admit - one of the things that I have so enjoyed about baking in Australia is the self-rising flour.  Oh sure, you can probably buy it in Canada, but it is not as common - at least I never realised it if it was.
So, the beauty is you just bake with self-rising flour and omit baking soda and baking powder. Well, I haven't encountered any problems thus far.
For example, the recipe that I have recently discovered from Allrecipes for chewy chocolate chips was originally written for regular flour & add baking soda, but an Australian version is self-rising flour minus baking soda and voila - 'beautiful' (compliments of George & Gary from MasterChef) cookies!

A BIT ABOUT ME

 

Yes, I am a Canadian but I call Australia my home in the Sunshine State Queensland in the River City - Brisbane. My husband Peter is an Aussie and our two puppies are true Aussie dogs - Kelpie/Cattle dogs - Jessie and Jake. I love writing and photography, so I thot I would have a go at a blog which enables me to enjoy both. Hopefully this will help me develop my writing skills so that I can put them to use doing something else down the road!


To read how a Canadian and Aussie came to be together, check out our story.

SURPRISE!!!!

Who doesn't like surprises? Well, I have got a good one to share with you.....

My Mom and I were co-conspirators in the plan to surprise my dad and family and friends for a very special occasion. You see, it is Mom's 70th birthday this month, Aug 5 to be exact and Dad and Mom celebrate their Golden Anniversary this month - 50th - on Aug 29.

So Mom's sister Barb was organising a special day for the family to get together on Aug 16 and mom sent me an email on a whim back the middle of July hoping that I may be able to make a special trip to help celebrate this momentous occasion. Well, God blessed me with His favour to allow the plans to work out and yep, the surprise was successful.

We couldn't tell many folks because we did not want to risk any information leaking out and someone writing something up on facebook, and nope, dad nor my brother John could believe it when Mom told them the news of my arrival.

Thursday morning Aug 13, Peter and I headed to the Brisbane, Queensland, Australia airport at 8:30 am and after 24 hours of travelling, I arrived at my parent's apartment at approximately 11:00 pm the same evening in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada (yeah, do that math, eh?).
Stay tuned for tomorrow when I post a follow-up article and more pictures of my trip so far and the big day we had celebrating with family several significant happenings.


Also, more details to follow, but I'm planning an open house at Mom and Dad's for friends and family this coming Saturday to pop in for visit if you are free.

Well, it is late now here in Canada....12:44 am to be exact; so I'll wish you all a good night or good afternoon depending on which time zone you are reading this post in!