2017 DRURY - HARRISON NEWSLETTER
It is the end of a very warm October and my
plan is to work on roots and stories in November thus I am starting to put
together the Drury 2017 newsletter early.
Earlier in the year I promised myself that my Canada 150 project would
be to finally published some of our family history and the genealogy I have
been doing on and off for several years.
Need it be said that project, although it got off to a good start, was
in a traffic jam and stalled when life and other interests overtook it. So what
have we all been up to?
The highlight of the year was when Mike
took a leave and came to spend a week with us. We simply enjoyed having him
here and his company. At the end of his time with us we went with him to
Cornwall to pick up his two youngest so they could come spend some time with us
for a couple of days - they had been visiting one of their aunts with their
mother. When Mike and/or his children
are here we have a family meal and take group photos. They left
for home very earlier one morning and took part of our hearts with them.
Update December 6 2017 - I did it! Three of THE
HARRISON - DRURY FAMILY book, (for the
boys and one for us), will be ready
to be picked up today. I was so elated and spent after they were left to be
printed yesterday that my mind and body wouldn’t settle to anything concrete –
so I started making an Izzy Doll – more about this later. Now that I have
started to print our genealogy information the goal is to continue in smaller
bites than the mouthful this first print was – not today though.
The summer was disappointing, weather wise,
as we had no summer so to speak, during the months we expect to have it. It
arrived in September when the kids were back in school and many summer
attractions have closed. The warm fall weather has delayed the fall foliage and
we are still waiting for a good frost to kill off the plants that will need to
be cut back before winter moves in.
Well the weather has changed since I
started this and we are ending October it a windy, jackets needed day. Dec. 6th
update – weather has been up and down through the fall and the weather reports
say the temperature will drop down by the weekend and stay there for a while.
However, because of the silly weather, many of the leaves on bushes and plants
never dried up but froze. Now they stay
attached limp and sad looking.
However let's go back to January of this
year. During the 2016 holidays I was
concerned about
Brandy's eye sight and was pretty sure it was cathartics. Her vet confirmed her right eye had a full blown cathartic and
the other was well on the way. We decided to leave them be and prepare the yard
and house for a blind dog. We didn't have long before her left eye was almost
as bad. By the spring she pretty well
knew the set-up in the house as long as we didn't move furniture or put
anything in her path ways. As we prepare
for the holidays Brandy is once again learning to navigate the house again.
Outside has been a changing learning for her as snow melted and we figured out
how to keep our pooch from falling off the deck yet allowed snow to be shoved off.
It took a bit of thinking to come up with something for summer and then winter that
would stop her from falling off the edge. The summer method wasn’t permanent or
that work in the winter. It took a tea break while sitting out with nature
surround me, the sound of bird song especially. Posts were put up on the corner and near the
stairs, cup hooks were added at a height Brandy would walk into the rope
barrier on the hooks and she has already adjusted to
the newest safety
barrier. The ropes can be removed if
need be and snow can be plowed underneath them.
During the late spring we were planning to go to Southern Ontario for a
few days on a dog-friendly vacation. Brandy was coming with us because her
sitter is no longer taking care of dogs and I didn't want to put her with a
stranger in a strange home as she was still fairly new to blindness. The plan got scraped when it was not clear
when the procedure would be to remove the skin cancer on my face. We then planned to go in September when school was back for the year but
that was scraped too by the weather and other nonsense. In the end it would have
been too hot for Brandy. Another try this time to leaf peep Thanksgiving Weekend
but again the weather interfered - thus we didn't go anywhere during Canada's
150, not even on a day trip.
A patch of skin cancer on my face was
removed July 4th and my four month follow up was positive so do not
have to go back for a year. However, there is a precancerous area on my face I
will be treating after the holidays January is a great time for me to do that –
it will keep me in, away from slick patches ice and the dead of winter too.
Dick got in a few more rounds of golf in during
the summer than he did in 2016, his partner though was laid up for a good part
of the season so Dick never got out weekly as he did before
the club he
belonged to closed. As I write that he is curling, yesterday too and came home
saying, “I’m old.” When asked what he meant he said he heard some of the guys
talking and mentioning their age, he is older that they are, at one point he
was one of the youngest in both sports. Wine, two lots of it he made early in
the year so I’d have my summer wine - seems I will get two summers out of this
lot, not sure about the wine he made for us but he drinks. Very proud of my husband as he continues to get steps in and now despite his Fitbit giving up. He has tallied up enough steps to walk across Canada and then some in the last 18 months !
I gave in and joined the Dollard des
Ormeaux Senior’s Club. Surprise, surprise I am old enough to enjoy it ! That
was my excuse before but found that there are members much younger that I am
what a shock LOL. One reason I wanted to be a member was the knitting group so
I’d have a place to donate what I make to give away. Have done that for years
but
thanks to one I donated
when I joined the group. It was held back as the sample. Some of the yarn in the sample had come from
the Art Hive stock. In the New year a friend and I will be heading up a project
for the Art Hive; Izzy Dolls. Look them up on-line and you’ll see what a worthy
cause they go to. The dolls were started by a mother before she lost her
soldier son in Croatia – Mark Isfeld lost his life cleaning up land mines.
much more since the Dollard Art Hive began in 2016. There are containers
full of donated yarn so with that and the odds and ends I have a lot of items
can be made for worthy causes. At the end of October the knitting group gave
away 720 items the ladies, yes we are all women had made over the year. The
storage containers are already starting to fill with items to be given away
next fall. In 2018 we will be making Twiddle Muffs. In September I gave a crochet demo at the Art hive and had two of the people that attended interested in leaning or refreshing their skill . I brought a bunch of samples and a display board with m
The
Elm Park Ramblers CWF Wild Nature Family Club I head up has not done very much
this year due to busy lives and weather. However the highlight for me was
sharing with them the Monarch butterfly egg I found at the end of the summer. It
was found after a disappointing loss of the five caterpillars I bought to share
the experience of seeing them grow and change into a Monarch, with the
children. The egg was named Sommer for where it was found, along the edge of Somerset
Street at the top of the development we live in. Sommer hatched, grew and went
into the chrysalis while I held my breath, fingers crossed all would go well as
the area and patch of milkweed the egg was in was mowed to the ground a week
after I rescued the egg. Monarch
caterpillars only eat milkweed – what a shame but three years ago I had started
planting milkweed so had some fresh clean food for Sommer. What about any other
caterpillars that were depending on that mowed area though? Thus Sommer will
become a Poster Child to help me save the natural area that they and other
wildlife need to survive in 2018. The end result of Sommer a beautiful female
was set free on September with 12, children and adults, were here to say good
bye and wish her well on her voyage down to Mexico for the winter. Hope
possibly her grandchildren will come back this way next year.
When I gave Sommer her freedom I also set
up photos and information about Monarchs to share with the children and their
parents – It turned out that the adults were more interested than the children which
made me realize if adults do not know about the wildlife around us, few
children will care so the aim maybe should be on adults?? The shocking fact that Sommer’s food source
was mowed down a week after I rescued her as an egg grabs the interests of
adults as soon as they heard that – thus I have a little group now interested
in saving the areas where milkweed is found.
That is a goal for me in 2018 with the help of those interested and
Sommer of course.
Some of us have also planted some Common Milkweed
so there are little patches available among us.
I have two areas in our gardens that are becoming concentrated areas for
Monarchs and other pollinators.
Our area of town was a construction
nightmare through the spring and summer and apparently it will be our turn 2018. It shouldn’t be a nightmare to get around as it
was this year as it will only be in concentrated areas or here’s hoping.
Our grandchildren are all growing like
weeds and in school now. Bella our youngest started kindergarten in the fall
and her cousin Christopher is in his third year at Memorial University in St
John’s and working too as part of his education. Jared will graduate high
school in June; Lauren is in mid school while Alex and Katie attend the same elementary
school as their sister. Between their
schooling and their parents schedules we see little of the children let alone
their parents so try to enjoy our time with them when we do.
Well as I finish this it is snowing, Christmas
music is playing and soon I will be getting back to creating gifts for our
gang. Dick has taken on some of the
tasks that I usually and has become the dinner chef allowing me to get on with
my creating, I so appreciate not having to break to get a meal on the table.
Wishing you and yours the best of the holidays
and a healthy, safe 2018.
thanks to one I donated
when I joined the group. It was held back as the sample. Some of the yarn in the sample had come from
the Art Hive stock. In the New year a friend and I will be heading up a project
for the Art Hive; Izzy Dolls. Look them up on-line and you’ll see what a worthy
cause they go to. The dolls were started by a mother before she lost her
soldier son in Croatia – Mark Isfeld lost his life cleaning up land mines.
Well as I finish this it is snowing, Christmas
music is playing and soon I will be getting back to creating gifts for our
gang. Dick has taken on some of the
tasks that I usually and has become the dinner chef allowing me to get on with
my creating, I so appreciate not having to break to get a meal on the table. 
