So it’s my third day home from a visit to Alberta.
It seems that every day since I arrived home has presented a challenge or two.
Nothing devastating mind you, but each has caused my heart to beat faster and my head to feel a bit “full”. There is also the shoulder issue. You know, that spot between the blades where you carry stress. That’s where I carry mine.
Let’s be very clear!
These stresses are not worthy of mention in a world where there is such deep sadness and struggle.
They are bumps along the road. Not serious, but I feel them, like in a car where the “shocks” are wearing down.
I have worked through the details and today, went for a walk.
Took a deep breath of cold air.
Listened to the few brave birds singing and thought how, even though struggles come and stresses need to be worked out, I am loved and I know what joy is.
There is much to be thankful for.

Having clarified, I want to tell you about my own
“Little shop around the corner.”
There are no books here, as there were in Meg Ryan’s in “You’ve got mail”.

Just pastries and coffee and yummy salads and
three French ladies.
The mother, the daughter and the daughter’s daughter.
They are lovely.
You can tell when the maitre d’ of an establishment is actually the owner.
There is a special kind of attention to detail and they look you in the eye when you walk through the door.
These ladies smile
greet you graciously as though you were entering their home.
I sometimes wonder, picture what their homes might be like.
Perhaps not posh or sophisticated although I couldn’t say, but I think, welcoming. Calm.
This place is.
It is uncommon in this century.
I often stop there when I am out and about.

I am funny that way. To stop for a relaxing cup of something and a pastry is a favorite activity of mine.
It has been only recently that I began to develop a taste for coffee.
Not the strong, black, a spoon can stand on end in it, kind of coffee.
No, I like the gentle, one shot, or even half(Smile) with some milk and then that pretty foam on the top. Add cinnamon or better still, chocolate, to that foam and you’ve got me. Give me a ceramic bowl or cup, even better.
Call me extravagant but I really do adore pastries. Put the word French in front of the word pastry and I am a happy gal.

It doesn’t get much better than a little corner cafe (although it doesn’t have to be on a corner)a croissant or danish and now, in my old age, a cappuccino. A year ago I struggled with the spelling of the word cappuccino.
For me it isn’t just the flavors of the food and drink. It’s the experience. My husband will tell you I don’t care for noisy restaurants and places where people are sitting shoulder to shoulder, needing to lean over the table and YELL in order to be heard.
Nope, not my favorite.
Quiet, intimate, friendly, tasty, get a nod from me.
So
I have just learned that this special place
(down the street and on a corner)
is about to close it’s doors. In just two months.
Well, as I spoke to one of the ladies today (I think it was the daughter and not the daughter’s daughter) I might have teared up. Just a bit. For a second.
I am sad about the closing.
What will happen in that little corner cafe? Will someone move in and rip it apart and put in an oyster bar? (or any kind of a bar for that matter)
There is a place for those things but not here, not this corner.
Life will continue
But I will miss this rare gem and it’s marble tabletops when I am at the end of a long walk.
Life changes
People change and move
It’s going to be ok
This little haven will have disappeared but the pleasant memories of sweet creations, gourmet delicacies, will last. That’s how it is with memories. They live.
If you can’t find me and you want to in the next two months, try looking for me at
Patachou!

So, I am pretty good at anxiety! Some of you are nodding your heads!

I am now back in beeutifulll Ontariooo! Nice to go and nice to come back. I miss Nano and she misses me. Special times and memorable.
I arrived yesterday. Left Toronto two weeks ago with one carry on. Yes! When your uniform consists of black leggings and one of three shirts and one of four cardigans, it isn’t hard to travel “abroad” for two weeks with a small suitcase.
However, the journey home, with the addition of numerous meters of fabric (There was a sale and I couldn’t resist. For someone used to traveling with a roast of beef and frozen blueberries, a few meters of fabric is not much of a complication) and quite a number of freshly produced aprons, required a “good sturdy box”.
I could elaborate and tell the whole story, but I will say only this.
When I arrived at Lester B. Pearson airport and after standing for quite some time next to the fragile carousel, I discovered that only one of my pieces had arrived. (Not the box) Now, in this instance I must tell you it would have suited me better if the one that had arrived was actually the good sturdy box. I could have managed without the leggings and sweaters in the suitcase.
The contents of the missing box were much more precious. They represent two weeks of work and memories, three trips to the local fabric store and lots of fireside chats with Nano.
So you can, I am sure, understand my dismay at walking through the front door to my home with only one and not two articles of luggage.
Lots of phone calls, a number of emails and a few less hours of sleep than I would have liked and I am happy to report, it has arrived. The box! The aprons! The fabric!
I am relieved and thankful that God decided to answer my many prayers on behalf of the missing box and my already sparce and quickly fleeting sanity.
This time I got what I prayed for! Sometimes I don’t and it works out just fine too. As I prayed about this, less than life threatening issue, I thought about the possibility that I may not ever see the box again and would of course get over it and life would go on.
Such is life.
The good with the difficult.
The trials of this affluent society.
We don’t need most of what we ask for.
I know I certainly don’t.
Nevertheless, God watches and sometimes he says its okay. He decides to let us experience the good of getting something we don’t need but would so appreciate.
I am thankful tonight to be on the receiving end of this good gift.
The return of the missing box.

Well good Morning Sunshine!
Another gorgeous day here in this town. We are doing well and are ahead of the game. For the past 14 days it has not been often that breakfast is eaten and plates in the dishwasher by 10:30.

Another of Nano’s requests was to have some fresh muffins made for her to take back to her own little freezer.

Apple Sauce Muffins: Check!

Nano has made and eaten a wide variety of muffins in her day but her very favorite to have on hand for coffee time at “the place where I live”. (Still not quite able, after two years, to say “home”)
is
Apple Sauce!

A few walnuts and a few raisins and a couple of drops of oil in the batter make these moist, delicious and I must say, no fail!

Two weeks since I arrived on this scene.  
Two weeks since the flight landed at YEG and I landed shortly afterwards at Nano’s door.  It seemed at first that the days may be long and the weeks may seem more like, well, longer than weeks.
But here we are and the days have disappeared. Life tends to go this way. Long, ends up being a whole lot less than we would like it to be.
But I have a life far away and busyness awaits. It won’t be many days before these 336 hours (approximately) are long gone.
But we have memories.
This mother of mine is sharp.
“I hope, when I get old I don’t lose my mind” she said a few months ago.
“It’s too late for that dearest mother” I replied.
Truth

So today we covered some ground, literally (it was “get your hair done” day and coffee at the local greenhouse) and nostalgically. People do that when they get past a certain age. Both Nano and I are past that age I suppose, since we like to remember.

One of the remembrances was when we spoke of “water under the bridge”. Things past. Words spoken, deeds done.
Her comment was “Well as dad used to say, ‘you can remove the nails but the holes will still be there'”.
Truth
This same man, my father, also believed, preached and shared the truth that God makes new His mercies every morning.
His love is from everlasting to everlasting and He makes all things new. He can redeem anything and make it beautiful.
Yes, since He is a miracle worker He can even get rid of the holes where the nails used to be.
I say hallelujah and thank you Jesus.

She asked a few days ago if we could perhaps have pork chops one night for dinner. Well, when this tiny girl of ours requests something in the way of edibles, I jump on it. You bet I do.

I purchased a package of beautiful looking chops from Costco.
Earlier today she said
“you are going to laugh but you know what I would love to have with my dinner?
Some boiled cabbage.
Now I expect most of you, living this side of the maritimes by a distance, may not have an appreciation for this delicious veg option. (The folks living on our eastern shores know their cabbage. My dad loved it.)
Let me say, you are missing out. This is not a regular part of Nano’s diet but every once in a while…
So I worked some magic
Got those loins all sauced and cooked up along with our cabbage and mashed carrots and turnip and we had ourselves a feast.
Yes and of course we were clad in protective gear. Aprons all the way. I wasn’t kidding when I said I wear an apron around the house. So does she and so does my sister. We love aprons.

Later, we took ourselves back to our special place where the knitting and sewing happens. I had a nice sturdy box ready for packing up my fabric and aprons and of course, I knew it was coming but she said
“That’s a nice sturdy box”.
I smiled knowingly (I truly did know and expected the comment) and said “yes mom, it surely is a nice sturdy box”.

You see, I don’t believe I mentioned it to you but Nano has quite an eye for good sturdy boxes. Not only that but she has passed the ability to intuitively choose excellent and sturdy boxes, on to me. Believe me, I can choose just the right box within which to pack important items for travel by plane.
Yes, the House ladies have been known to wrap the likes of frozen berries and roast beef, to be flown from the very west side of this country to the middle of the country. We are good at it and have had great success.

A little over two hours ago now I tucked her in for the last time of this “session” and her words, as I was closing the door were,
“Now don’t stay up too late”.
“I’ll try not to mom”!
That was that and here I am.