On being a Grandma- A Series - July 31, 2011

 Being a grandma is a fun job!!! You can visit with little ones, play with them, and then leave them to their own parents. But it is most often, simply a privilege that you are lucky enough to get to be called “Grandma, Grammie, Nanny, Nan or whatever she may be called in any other language!

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Blake & me on the deck at Lily's Cafe, on the banks of Lily Lake.

I recently had that privilege with our second eldest grandson, Blake. He had just completed eighth grade and middle school. His final year before heading into high school in September.

Blake and I went to lunch at a ‘fancy’ lunch spot in our city. We chose Lily’s Cafe, located on the banks of Lily Lake, smack dab in the center of our city, within the 870 hectares or 2,200 acres of beautiful Rockwood Park.

I could tell Blake felt so grown-up, placing his own order and assisting me, in making a special request for our meal, to the waiter. 

Blake in front of the iron union statue in memory of the fallen and injured workers of the city, called "Day of Mourning", by artists Darren Byers and Fred Harrison of the town of Sussex, near Saint John.

After lunch we took a tour of a part of the uptown area and then finished off our time with a visit to our local museum.

Blake on  the dock beside the Enchantment of the Seas in port for the day in Saint John.

Blake by the water fountain in Market Square.

We weren't really supposed to take pictures, but this  one is without a flash.

At fourteen, he may soon, no longer want to spend his time with his Grandma, as friends and young ladies hold more of his interests. So, I was very grateful for our few hours, of special time together!!

I just entered Claudia's  new giveaway for an Amazon gift card. This is a great gift anyone can use,

You can enter too, by checking out her blog at:
http://cnovac.blogspot.com/2011/07/giveaway-giveaway.html

On Being a Grandma - A Series - July 25, 2011

When people think of a Grandma, they think of someone who is rather oldish, greying, slow moving, and doting on sweet little grandchildren. But, Grandmas are first and foremost women. Many of whom are still in the working field, have grown children, elderly parents as well as spouses, still living. Grandmas love their Grandma job, their mother job, their spouse job and their income job, but they too, need a break from all that, from time to time.

Cooling our feet in the ocean surf.

That’s just what my two sisters and I did recently!!


We took a few days of girl/sister time away from everything and did some cabin camping at a nearby ocean beach.

Toasting our first few hours at our rustic, camping cabin.

The following group of photographs are just a few to illustrate the fun 'Grandmas' can have when they get away for some peace and quiet time.

Walking on a fog shrouded, quiet beach, with nothing to do but listen to the distant, gentle surf and call of the gulls.

Standing on the ocean floor!!  At high tide the water will be at the level of the black, seaweed covered rocks, far above our heads.

Some of the spectacular and rugged scenery we encountered on our 5 km hike, over rough and wet terrain.

The full moon shining through the trees, as seen from our camping cabin.

A glimpse of the shadowed, wooded terrain in our campground.

Even doing the dishes, by hand, was a fun and peaceful thing for us.

Waiting for our campfire to burn and produce embers. Notice the full moon behind the fire and the lights of the passing truck illuminating the bushes nearby.

Enjoying yummy s'mores with our 'special' hot chocolate.

On Being A Grandma, A Series- July 17, 2011

 Back in 1911, if a daughter or son moved to the other side of the country, then you may have expected to never actually see her or him or their children again. It must have been a very sad day for a Grandma then.

My grandmother with my uncle as a baby. He moved to the other side of the country. So, she didn't get to see those grandchildren often.

Then came 1991! You have a daughter or son that move to the other side of the country.  You might be able to keep in touch with phone calls, if you had the right long distance plan and lots of money to pay for it. Then there were always letters. If you were lucky enough to have a son or daughter to take lots of photos and send them back home, you got to track the growth of your grandchildren. They rarely actually met you. 

My mother-in-law, with all her grandchildren, who lived within driving distance, at the time.

Then, if you were really well off, one or the other would fly to visit or might be able to drive across country when the weather permitted. This usually didn’t happen very often, and involved a lot of arranging and cost to the one who travelled. But as a Grandma, you were grateful for each and every contact with your grandchildren.

Visiting with our daughter, Krista and baby Bella in Alberta in December.

Then came 2011!! We have a daughter who lives in Northern, Alberta who has a 10 month old daughter. I’ve been lucky enough to have actually seen her twice so far, in person. Once when she was only 2 months old and when they flew home for Easter in April.

Now we get to see her in photographs, posted on facebook and live on Skype. And through the grace of ‘air miles’, we actually get to visit back and forth.

Krista & Bella at a local play park's splash pond in Alberta (via facebook)

Gotta love, facebook, Skype and air miles in 2011!!!

Kathy

On Being A Grandma - A Series, July 10, 2011

Logan helping to add soil to the beet roots.

When my daughters were young, I always welcomed a chance to do a little teaching with them or their friends. Now that they’re grown, I have grandchildren for that.

I’m not a teacher by profession, but just love to teach. But even teachers have to obtain their knowledge somewhere. When we were selling at our local craft and produce market, the Hampton Market, I had the occasion to speak with a ‘real’ teacher. She told me about how she’d bought some beet greens, cut the greens off to use, planted the small beet roots back into the ground and they’d begun to sprout new leaves.

Blake helping to add soapy water to keep the bugs off.

So, I bought some, brought them home and did the same.

We were having two of our grandsons over for the night, so I took this as an opportunity to do some teaching with them.

If the beets get too big, I may need to re-plant them into the ground, but for now we’ll see how it goes.

My grandsons, Blake and Logan helped me plant and water the beets into a planter. It gave me the chance to teach about growing things and give them the opportunity to see something they’d planted, grow.

Kathy

Wordless Wednesday - All my grandchildren!!

Taking a picture of me, taking a picture of her. Little brother checking things out.

Striking a pose for Grandma!

My serious teen grandson.!

Pushing through the deep grass!

Waiting for her daddy!

Proud new grad!!

On Being a Grandma - A Series

On Being a Grandma  

   

This is the first of series thoughts, on being a grandmother of seven beautiful children. This will be a weekly feature for the next little while any, to be published each Sunday. I do hope you enjoy these weekly features and I appreciate any feedback you have on each subject discussed.

Brandon & his proud Mom & Dad

July 3, 2011

Yesterday, as I was having a short nap, I was awakened by my eighteen year old grandson, who came to say goodbye to us, before leaving for the summer. 

Brandon had just graduated from High School the previous week, and having been with the Canadian Militia for the past few years, decided to spend the summer away at a training camp in Ontario.

I was proud of him, but a little saddened, not just seeing him leave, because grandsons aren’t always around that much once they hit their teens anyway, but because he seemed so grown up when he hugged us good-bye! It made me stop and wonder where that little boy went, who used to follow his grandfather all around the yard as he did chores?  And, where was the little boy who used to cuddle up with me under a blanket on the couch to watch the latest Disney movie?

Brandon & me

But then I realized, he WAS that little boy, who thought enough of us, to drive out to our house and give us such a fond farewell.

Good Luck Brandon with your military training and we’ll see you in September!!

Kathy