the slow melt continues

We have been experiencing perfect temperatures which has allowed the snow to melt very slowly. The water is slowly seeping into the very saturated ground, but it is seeping and disappearing. This is very good news.

However, having said that, the authorities are still on full alert and the distribution of sand and sand bags has begun. They are getting prepared for the possibility of a flood, even with these excellent melting conditions.
Earlier in the week I took a few pictures of the crazy snow formations that have been left behind.
Today all this snow is now gone and the brown grass (that we are hoping will turn green) has been left high and somewhat dry.
The fields are showing themselves, although we have seen several that are still well hidden by water.
But it's nice to see in many farmyards that the cows are happy.

the shape of things

We have had a lot of very slow melting days lately. This is a good thing, giving the ground more time to absorb all this moisture. I wonder if the slow melt has something to do with the way these icicles were shaped. Or maybe it had something to do with the wind. There's a bit of that happening in this part of the world - almost every day.

the bestie

Mallory has been Katy's best friend since grade 3. When Mallory arrived from Scotland the year Katy was going into grade 3 there was much rejoicing in our home! I will never forget the day that Katy came home from school with the news that she had met a new girl in grade 2 at recess that she really liked and that she would likely be put into grade 3. She was and the friendship was formed. Mallory spent many, many hours in our home over the years and we were delighted that she could come last week to be with our family (and Katy!) again.

the view from here

I was walking past our bedroom window the other day when I happened to glance out and see this man kneeling in the snowbank. We've had some lovely warm days in the last week but I thought it was a bit ridiculous to be kneeling in the snowbank fixing something. On the other hand, these construction types can be pretty proud of how they can handle the cold.

Of course I looked a bit more carefully and saw that it was actually a heating truck that was parked at the house being built across the street. The sub-contractors are still coming and going from there at a pretty steady rate.
It's been another busy week of subbing. After tomorrow I will have subbed the last nine consecutive days of school. Fortunately, Monday was a holiday. One more week and then it's Spring break. I have to say that I'm looking forward to the break, even though I really do enjoy the teaching.

It's been tough to find stuff to take pictures of lately so hopefully the days off will give me some time to seek out some new material. But for now you'll have to settle for what I see across the street.

a crazy busy good week

My mom came to visit last week. It was wonderful to have her here with us and show her a bit of our world out here. Before she came she told me that I wasn't supposed to stay home with her if the phone rang for sub jobs. It's a good thing she told me that because I subbed every day last week! It was full and crazy but I was so thankful for all the work. Another brutal storm blew in on Friday night which shut down all the highways until the next morning, but things opened up in time for us to get my mom to the airport in lots of time and on her flight back to the north!

flyin' high

The girls have some great friends who are studying aviation at Prov. Today was their first time to go flying with one of the "students" and another friend. They've flown dozens of times in rather large planes so it was quite a different experience for them today. They loved it!

A bird's eye view of Providence College. It had been a gloriously warm and sunny day until just after lunch. Too bad it clouded over.

Our neighbourhood in lovely little St. Pierre. Our house is on the far street and just around the corner.
There it is up close - the third one over from the left. Unfortunately they didn't get a picture of us waving from the driveway!

beth is 21

It's hard to believe that our first baby is already 21. When did that happen?

This last year has been a year of major decisions for Bethany. It was sometime around her birthday last year that she decided to stay at Providence for another year. This came as a huge surprise to us and was just as thrilling to the president of her college as it was to us. He had written to us earlier in the year about Bethany leaving and was trying to imagine the college next year without Bethany attending. He was not looking forward to it. The decision to stay at Prov for another year meant that Bethany would be living with us in Canada which was another big decision for her but one that we were quite pleased about! She came back to Germany in May last year and went to work for a local tea house which tested both her stamina and patience! It was a challenging job in many ways but she kept her shoulder to the plow and carried on until she had made enough money to buy her first car.

Beth also decided that Music Therapy was not for her after all and decided to stay in the Music Major program and finish her BA in Music. This summer she is going to take the intense and intensive TESOL program at Prov to get her English teaching accreditation. Last night she celebrated her birthday with some of her dear friends from college. What a lovely group of young women they are.
And this morning was the traditional gift opening in our bedroom. It's so nice that in the midst of all the changes we've experienced this last year, and in some ways continue to experience, there are still those things that are still the same. We love you, Bethany Jean, and we are so proud of you and of who you are. You are such a blessing to us and your gift of life and love of music has blessed more people than you can imagine!