The Circle of Friends is a place to have fun, to join hands, to share a 'bond of affection', forged by common life experiences and to express 'genuine enthusiasm for wherever life takes us next'. It is a place to come together and support each other. We would love to have you join our group. Our qualifications for membership are simple and in order to join, you must agree with them:
- You hereby agree to be prepared to meet new friends and to have lots of fun!
- You join the Circle of Friends to make friends and become a friend.
- You promise to always be sensitive to the feelings of others and to be a caring, sharing and active member.
In order to update our records please take a moment to complete our Membership FormWe are happy to say hello and welcome back to Joanne Boyse from Woodstock, Ontario. Joanne is a busy senior who enjoys many things in life. She shares her home with Ben, her best friend cat. Her outings are shared most of the time with her sisters. They get together at least once a week; sometimes more. Her creativity covers Bunka, crochet and writing. She used to sew/quilt and knit although not for a long while now. She takes each day as it comes, in whatever direction it may lead her.
Can not wait to hear what her and her sisters get up to on their outings!
My apologies for being a little late with this newsletter this week. It has been a disruptive week. My brother had a Balloon Angioplasty on Tuesday at Vancouver General Hospital and "just in case" he needed me to be with him. I went over to the big city on Monday and thought I would be returning on Tuesday but that was delayed until Wednesday. While I was there I stopped in at a School of Hairdressing on Broadway and had my hair cut -- now I really mean cut -- for some reason my hair has been growing out of control these past couple of years and it was down to my waist and it was proving to be quite a threat to my well being as the burners on my gas stove seemed attracted to it and every time I got near them they really liked to scorch my mousey brown locks. I really like my gas stove top and I love to cook so the hair had to go! It is now barely touching my shoulders so I should be good for another couple of years. The lovely gal who transformed me was a First Nations girl named Savanah .... and we named the cut "The Savanah", lol! She loved my long hair and was going to keep it at the shop for practicing various things like hair dyes etc. and her instructor was thrilled with the idea. Apparently it is not often they get a customer like me with what they called "virgin" hair (never dyed or treated in any way).
Something else that I found to be amazing and a restoration of faith in human nature was when I was walking from one bus stop to another enroute to the sky train station. My cigarettes had unbeknown to me fallen out of my pocket. When I stopped at the bus stop I was approached by a little Chinese lady who had them in her hand .... she said I had dropped them and she was returning them to me. WOW -- I was so impressed. This was during early morning rush hour in Vancouver on one of the very busy streets and yet she took the time to do that. It was not the cigarettes I would of been concerned about but I always use the leather case I purchased when visiting Daphne & Leo in Argentina and to have lost that would of of broken my heart.
Thank you Vancouver and all the people of Vancouver -- you really are beautiful in so many ways! The pictures in my article are photos were taken when the boat was docking in Nanaimo. Sorry they are not as clear as they should be but it was a stormy and rainy day. Hopefully you are still able to get a sense of my beautiful Paradise Island.
Do you have any questions, or concerns or would you like to leave me, Sharon, a message .... perhaps something you would like me to publish .... Please complete and submit our comment form.
Nice week as usual, not much news, a concert tomorrow.
The DVD I mentioned last week arrived from Canada, and very pleased with it. The
interesting thing is I did see it on Amazon at a very good price, but it had a
Region 1 warning, meaning it is for USA and Canada, so I sent to Canada as I
knew if he was selling them here on his tour, that they would work here, and
.... no prizes for guessing.... the one I got is Region 1 and works
brilliantly.
Does Easter mean a pleasant time to get away in your area?
It is also the school holidays here, and usually a lovely time of year, after
the heat of summer.
We have been trying to figure out is we will go away for a
few days over Easter. We have ruled out Hartwood which is a Campfires and
Country Music week that we have been to a couple of times.
We are tossing up between the Maclean Highland Gathering,
which would mean seeing other friends in that area as well, in a very
picturesque area.
or the Rathdowney Heritage Festival
I am certain that whichever one Jan & Barry chooses it will be wonderful and I look forward to getting all the details for one of upcoming issues of Global Express!
Our resident Cookbook Queen, Daphne from Argentina would like us all to know that the place to find the recipes and kitchen/home hints can still be found by clicking here. Unfortunately it is not set up for members to add their own, they have to be sent to her and she will be happy to add them. A reminder, it does have its own search engine, that is, you can look for things within the site, eg. Easter.
Many of us wear several "hats" here within the COF and when she takes off her apron Daphne is in charge of Planet Kryzys.
Please visit these sites when you get the chance and do keep in touch with Daphne regarding information for either from your corner of this lovely globe of ours.
Meanwhile, locally, after an exceptionally hot dry summer, end of February brought some heavy downpours, mixed in with a couple of weeks perfect gardening weather, then it suddenly turned chilly, 5ยบ minimum and about 18 mid afternoon, giving the sensation the autumn has said "Hello I'm here to stay" (like it or not).
It has been announced that Mar del Plata is going to hold a post Formula 1 motor race as of next year, and the 5 Kilometer track will be along the Naval Base avenue and parts of the sea front. - We had Dakar cross country start from here in January and end in Peru. We could name several streets around our way that could do with a "Formula1" type maintainence!!!!
Recently there was a public holiday in memory of the military take-over 36 years ago, which lasted 6 years up to the war they started to try to claim the Falkland Islands, and that is 30 years ago and is being given lots of publicity at this end. 36 years ago, I was still pretty new living here!!
CHEAP 'n EASY PUPPY TOYSDaisy has a basket from a childs shopping cart full of bits and pieces, rubber balls in varying sizes and thickness ( and state of being chewed up,) remains of soft toys and other child's first play things, but what she likes most is the stuff I make her.
RATS: old or odd socks with a ball of newspaper stuffed in the toe, twisted back on itself and the ends tied in knots to represent ears, Optional face drawn on it. Try tying two together, which will give something to grab. Or for two to fight over RUGBY BALL: Four pointed ovals cut from old jeans or tough seating fabric scraps, strongly sewn together and stuffed - I used the filling rescued from assassinated soft toys,- optionally sew in a loop to have something to grab. Daisy loves hers!
She also has a piece of cotton rope, knotted at intervals, which is an excellent tug-of-war element.
Rinsed out plastic pop bottles, make lovely noisy chew toys, which get nicely flattened before being removed to the recycle bin.
Even all that doesn't stop her from chewing the table legs, flowerpots, torches, remote control, or whatever else she takes a fancy to that she manages to get hold of, especially in the moments she is left alone. Stretched out, she now measures 1 meter 50 from the tip of her bushy tail to the tip of her nose, and seated her head is level with the table.
Another member to say hello to please -- Candace, aka Candy Cane, from my corner of the globe, Nanaimo, BC Canada. She loves all kinds of pets, cooking, camping and fishing. Candy also loves to relax in the great
out doors ... and do her needle art, all kinds! She enjoys all kinds of music and
films!
I am happy to tell you that I know Candy and her mother, Dorothy, who is also a member personally. Candy and I used to work together at a local call centre. She is an amazing girl and you will enjoy being her friend.
Bea from the Catskills would like us to say hello to her daughter, Nancy, who lives in Oregon.and she would also like to introduce us to the Hershey's Kitchen's site where they have a delightful selection of recipes just waiting for you.
Nancy is also a member of the WWW Circle of Friends!
Graeme from Australia reports ...............I am often asked from people overseas what is the climate like in
Australia.
Well it all depends on where you want to live as because of its place on the
earth we get a wide range of weather
If you live in Victoria which is in the south of the country you get the
four season ranging from daytime temp of about 6 degrees in winter to anything
up to 45 in summer. However if you decided to go to Darwin which is right up
north you will find that the temp ranges only between 29 and 33 degrees all year
.They really only have two seasons; the wet and the dry. Some places up there
average around 4 metres of rain a year, however down in Victoria where I live we
average about 600 mm a year!
In Queensland you have rain forests and because it is up north warm
temperature are much like Darwin. Also the top end as it is known gets cyclones
.The worst we get down here is thunder storms.
So as you go north from Victoria the temperature warms up. We also have
deserts up north that get very hot during the day but freezing at night .So come
and check us out, you will find somewhere where the temp is just right for
you.
Footnote to story ... I should have mentioned that Victoria is the southern most state on the mainland
,but of course we have Tasmania further south I would not like to upset the
people of tassie!
I would absolutely love to come "and check out Australia", wouldn't you?. It is on my "bucket list", lol.
Continuing on with the "Meet the Members" segment of this issue ... who could forget our very own Big Sis Pat, whom I also know personally; having met during our Tilbury Ontario Reunion. Pat now also lives on Paradise Island and here is a little bit about this outstanding lady. I'm a 70 year old mother, grandmother and soon to be
greatgrandmother. Shortly after moving here to the island I took over as
manager of Twin Gables Motel that now houses long term residents. My roommate
is an 11yesr old black lab named Sammy.
I volunteer at the local food bank a am active I my church.
I volunteer at the local food bank a am active I my church.
After arriving on Vancouver Island at the invitation of my dear friend
Sharon, I realized that I needed a companion.
The Welcome Wagon lady was able to help me fulfill that
role, by intruding me to Max, a 15 year old Jack Russell Terrier.
Max and I were” joined at the hip”, as Sharon would say and God was kind enough to
allow Max to spend 4 wonderful years together.
Early in 2009 I began to realize that at the ripe old age of
19, Max was failing, and realizing that quality not quantity of life was more
important, I made the decision to have Max “put down”.
A couple of day before this big day, Sharon arrived at my home and said she had
someone for me to meet, and took me to her van, where I was introduced to
Sammy, a big black lab.
I asked what his story was; she said he was an orphan. He
had belonged to a friend and co-worker of Yvonne’s, Sharon’s daughter.
So I said, I guess you want me to take him? Sharon
replied, “Only of you want to.”
A couple of days later Max went to heaven where he and Pete
(Sammy’s owner) would look down and watch over Sammy and me.
Sammy, like Max soon became my shadow. People found it hard to believe that Sammy
had only been with me a short time. He
and Max were as different as day and night. Where Max was very conservative,
and kept to himself pretty much Sammy is very outgoing, friendly, lovable,
affectionate and a joy to have around.
There is a little boy here at Twin Gables who absolutely
loves Sammy, and Sammy loves him.
Whenever James comes by my house he says, “Want see Sammy, want see
Sammy”.
Sammy is also a big ham and loves to sing, when prompted he
howls, which pleases everyone. He likes
to visit folks, especially if he thinks there is a treat involved, and in the
good weather makes his rounds, then comes home, all excited. I say to him, “You’ve been visiting haven’t
you?” And he just wags his tale.
Last Christmas Sammy and
I were flattered to have ridden on the Warmland Float for Christmas in Crofton,
where I was a shepherdess and Sammy was a reindeer (lol).
Like his predecessor Sammy loves to go in the car with
me. For the most part he sits up in the
back seat, surveying the world as it passes by.
A couple of summers ago, we went camping with a bunch of
friends from my church. Sammy was in his glory, visiting, singing, playing and
getting spoiled. He even went swimming
in the ocean!
Sammy and I have been together for two years now, and I
can’t imagine my life without him.
Footnote -- It is so nice to see the Global Express back in print. I can remember receiving
my very first newsletter way back in 2001, where has the time gone? It has
undergone many changes, as has the Circle of Friends, but here we are after 11
years still hanging in there. Congrats Sharon for a wonderful job.
Pat (aka Bigsis)
Pat (aka Bigsis)
Chrissie from the UK would like us to visit her blog for an update on her spring garden. If you click on her name above you will be taken to her blog!
(really splendid job Chrissie)
Your friend and mine, Lena from Ontario, Canada, would like to share this recipe for Cheesy Bacon Ranch Bread.adding
Boy does this ever LOOK
GOOD??????????
Just in case you haven't noticed I want to wish each and everyone of you a very Happy Easter. I would love to hear about yours. Yes I know there will be another issue before Easter, but just in case it is late getting off the presses into your inbox I thought I had best extend wishes to you now! Tomorrow Kendra and I are off to a "sale" at a local elementary school. Sort of a communal yard sale. We are sharing a table and I am actually going to try to sell some of my Early Canadian Clutter that I have been holding on to for decades. Also I went to a second interview for the administration job at the chiropractor's office today (down to the final 3 applicants now) and I hope it went well -- I would love to have this job as it appears that it would be absolutely perfect so please keep your fingers and toes crossed for me. Have a spectacular week. Thank you for your stories and please continue to send them in.
"Accept—then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept it
as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it...This will
miraculously transform your whole life."
— Eckhart Tolle
