Sunday, December 07, 2008

Dale's bird eye view...

I think I have said this before... my friend, Dale, is learning to fly and I think that is really neat. One of the airstrips that she can practice landing on, is a small grass strip that is technically behind our farm.... it's a private strip that is kind of "funny", because a gravel pit is on one side. If you drive into the pit, you have to stop at the air strip and look both way "for planes!!!" We see small planes flying in and out a fair amount of the time, especially in good/summer weather.




Now, not only do I think it's neat that Dale flys... but what's really cool (for me anyways) is that she always takes pictures of the farm for us!!!! Yesterday when she went over, the horses were out... and you can see the house really coming along!! (the blue is NOT the house roof... it's the tarps that the guys put up to keep the weather out this weekend)










I love this photo.. it really shows that the farm is in the lake region and on the foothills of the mountains!!!
thanks Dale... I love sharing your photos!!!

bells....



I went to "bell choir" practice yesterday afternoon... it meant skipping out on the York Christmas parade, but sometimes, you just have to decide what you want to do more. I have always loved hearing bell choirs, I wished they didn't just appear at Christmas time.... so, when I heard at church that they were putting one together, I went to see what it was all about.

The bells are beautiful, and the church has a complete set, I don't know exactly how they got them, but it seems that they haven't been used in awhile and some folks thought it would be good to get them out. There were a dozen (or so) of us that came to practice and there is a bell or two for everyone.. so I got to play!!!





There's a bit to it, other than being able to know when to ring your bell.... there's a knack to proper ringing, so your bell will be loud enough to be heard, and not so loud that it takes over the whole choir. There's also a proper way to hold them, and to put them "at rest"... it's great fun, and we will be playing in church on Christmas Sunday (the 21st). It also gave me a chance to meet some more "church folk" and to start to become a real member of the church family. I felt bad missing the parade and spending time with "the family", but I made a good choice!!! and they can come and hear us perform!!!





Off and on all last week, the lake is beginning to freeze over. Usually in the mornings, there is a light coat of ice, that often is gone by mid day if it's warm(ish) or windy. But this morning, with the light snow that we have, not only is there ice, but the coating of snow as well. As Ed said, this is when the lake is dangerous, it looks deceiving seeing this "field of white" and thinking you could walk across, but no way can the ice hold any weight right now!!!


I keep a careful eye on the dogs when they go out, since we have moved here, they really haven't been that interested in the lake, which is surprising to me, because in the summer they are like fish in that lake. Maybe because it's too cold, or the fact that they can run loose everywhere else, they just haven't gone down by the lake. Still though, there's no trusting them right now... I certainly don't want to have to go in after them!!! I figure by February, it will be safe enough to venture out on, but that might not be a good idea... I don't need them to know that they (dogs) can... so we'll see... one thing about being here.. there is plenty of space for walks and runs... they're happy dogs...