Jack and Mel's Adventures: June 2012

Dear All

Look down below about our latest visitor from Our Lady of Peace church - a surprise for us, a real good one indeed.

So what have you all been up to since my last News 21 at Easter time. Hope you all have been keeping well. So far by the Grace of God we have been in good health except of course for my left knee which is still very painful but I carry on till I see the Specialist which is at the end of July!
We had a spell of 'Trying to Snow' weather sometime end of April here in Canada but I heard England is cold and wet so we cannot complain. There was snow in Alberta last week and heavy downpours here in Oakville, Canada. It is a real Global change.

This spring being our first in Canada, Jack and I witnessed such a change in the nature front. Trees were coming alive with new leaves of different shares of green and red - it was such a beautiful sight which changed every day when we walked and drove around from area to area, we thanked God for His creation and also took a lot of pictures which I will include. It was a complete new experience for us. I love the area we live in with so much nature and wild life even raccoons in day light on top of a very high tree. It was amusing to watch them. Then the size of Robins in this country twice the ones we have in UK, again more pictures but it was lovely to watch a mother feeding her chick in my back yard. Did you notice I said Back Yard (Canadian for back garden).

Jack treated me Cirque du Soleil (Circus) in Hamilton. Gone are the days when we saw animals but now it is highly skilled circus acrobats performing to a theme like a stage play. This one was called 'Dralion' which depicted in brilliant colour schemes of green, blue, red and ochre the harmonious relationship between the natural elements of air, water, fir and earth. It was a very well done show.

We had our church gardener come and do the hard digging and shaping in our garden. Now all that Jack and I do is maintain it but things grow really fast so it is a tough job to keep up.  Unlike UK oof! plants are very expensive and you certainly do not get the choices. Never mind.

I volunteer in St Matthew's school for The Rosary Apostolate. Being May the month devoted to Mary and also the School year coming to an end, on the 9th of May the children acted a play on the Mexican farmer that Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to. It was done beautifully and also I will try and send you the link if I can manage it for you to watch. So the Crowning of Mary took place in our church with all the children saying the Rosary with flags of the world put up for the countries that were prayed for. I was happy to be part of it.

I had my interview for a small job. Visiting a Senior (OAP) and warming her food as she is blind and giving her company. We liked each other and hence I started my work on the 22nd May just for an hour 1 to 2pm. I am so blessed by God that there is my friend Marzena who insists to come and take me to work, she is God sent Angel to me then there is Christina whose mum I work for who has come to rescue by giving me a ride home. She too is sent by God. What a wonderful Angel she is too. On all those days I needed help, God has provided so my job is to say Thank you and Praise you Oh Lord My God my Mighty Loving Father.

I recently managed to lock myself out of the house one morning when I walked out of the house without my keys. This would not have been significant except that in the evening we were having 11 guests for dinner. I rang Jack and hearing my tone he said 'you have locked yourself out, haven't you? Jack carpools so could not leave early so I had all day with shopping and friends to work out a precise strategy to have dinner ready between 4.30 and 7.30 pm. By the time the guests arrived at 7.30pm it was all ready. We had a fantastic evening. Got to know more people from the Parish and Fr Mark and Fr Duey was great.
We attend a spiritual day called 'Road to Emmaus - A Day of Discovery' held in St Joseph's Parish in Guelph on Saturday the 12th May from 9am to 4pm. Then Bishop Douglas Crosby gave a talk on 'Mary, the Mother of God, the True Prophet'. Another was from Father Ken Miskiewicz on 'Laying On of Hands' A workshop on praying with people as outlined in Scripture and ‘Why do some people feel that their prayer is not answered?’ There was Fr Eric Jensen - 'Every Day Evangelization' - Catholic people don't know how to evangelize or do they? What would you say to that friend who is seeking? The last speaker was Miriam Wright and she is from our Charismatic Prayer Group at St Andrew's. She is such a wonderful person and we are so happy to know her. She spoke on 'Unbound Freedom for All' - Learn about the prayerful process to assist you, or those you care about, in claiming the freedom that Christ has already won for us, even in the midst of trials.

It was a wonderful day filled with the Holy Spirit and we gained so much. On the way back I spotted a huge truck selling plants. So Jack and I stopped by and bought some perennials. Hope they will add more colour to our garden. 13th May was Mother's Day in Canada and I missed our children but Jack made it up by taking me to a yummy Breakfast and the day ended with my niece Denise dropping by with her lovely Mother in Law to deliver the cake to be decorated for the First Holy Communion and for the first time I cooked on Mother's Day. I wonder what my children will have to say to that?? It was a very hot day and Jack and I managed to do quite a bit on our garden.

We took 3 lessons on Lawn Bowling and we enjoyed the game and the company but decided not to go full time this year due to my bad left knee. We are also hosting a Spanish student for the whole of July and may be on holiday in August so for 100 dollars each did not think we would be getting much bowling in the short season. It It would be such a waste of our money - perhaps next year.

I belong to a group called YOUNG AT HEART in the Parish and they organized an outing to Niagara Falls view Casino. I lost 10 dollars at the gaming machines, had a wonderful buffet lunch and yet the trip only cost 12 dollars - How's that for value. During the week, the casinos run empty so they attract the non working groups on cheap outings in the hope that many of them will succumb to the gambling urge and many do.   It was another experience for me. Seeing a beaver near the Falls made my day.  Another hot day was the 20th May and being Sunday Jack and I visited Black Creek - Pioneer Village which helps people apply the history of life in the Toronto region to build a better future in their own communities. They have programs and exhibits focusing on experiential learning and encourage people to draw connections between the mid - 1800s pioneer days and contemporary life. Life was really touch and communitis had to support each other using their own individual skills and look after each other. It is real lesson for today's self centered society. I really enjoyed the experience even though Jack thought he was taking me to see how the indigenous Indians lived.

As summer is here we hope to get the Garden furniture and BBQ assembled which we had bought in the last year's sale in October. My first day of work was 22nd May and I thoroughly enjoyed the company of Sigrid. She is German and very intelligent and knowledgeable person. I thank God for this opportunity to work for her. When I can walk I walk and I have to pass my friend Laura's home. On this particular day I went to Laura's home and we were in her back yard when 2 Canadian geese flew down into her swimming pool. It was fascinating to watch them i.e. 2 males chasing after one female and she did make a lot of fuss and in the end one male flew and the other two got out and made their way to another place, don't ask me now where, more private perhaps!

At our Charismatic Prayer Group at St Andrew's Jack gave a testimony talk and it was very touching. My friend Zelia from Bombay came and stayed with me for two days. My neighbour Mary Ellen was very kind to take us for sight seeing at the local Harbour front and then we went for coffee. That same evening Jack drove us all the way to The Niagara Falls to see it by night. It was a lovely experience for Zelia. We tried to cheer her up as her husband recently passed away in Bombay so she has come here to spend some time with her daughter.

Like India, I washed all my woolly clothes at the end of May and have kept it ready for the coming winter, oh oh hope it won't be too cold. On the 26th May evening we went to a Korean church called St Andrew Kim for a Pentecostal Vigil. Let us all gather together and be blessed in Christ, with Christ and for Christ. Come and be empowered 'BLOW THE TRUMPET AND CALL THE TROOPS'. It was from 5pm to 1am. I gained a lot from it. We had an inspiring speaker Lalith Pereira from Sri Lanka. Wow he was fantastic and so was Cardinal Thomas Collins who celebrated mass and is a great supporter of the Charismatic Renewal. A couple of weeks ago we went to see the remains of St Maria Goretti which are travelling Canada. It was quite different from St Theresa of Little Flower that came two years in UK.
Now this brings us into the month of June and so Friday, 1st of June our Parish organized a trip to Downtown Toronto to watch a Baseball game between the Canadian Blue Jays (which is the best) against Boston Red Socks of USA. Being our first game Jack and I sat next to Fr Mark on one side and my neighbor Mary Ellen on the other who explained the game as it was being played. I enjoyed it and also had the experience of eating a foot long hot dog.

Finally we have got our garage cleaned and organized. It looks so nice now. It was a whole day affair on a Saturday but the treat was a yummy steak at the end of the day. I cannot complain!!

Sunday the 3rd of June brings us to our Queen's Jubilee Celebration. I was awake and all ready in front of the TV with my John ringing from UK to ask if I could spot him on the River Bank. Those who were present and those who watched it on the TV, will you agree that it was just FANTASTIC. Write and tell me. Jack treated me royally with a breakfast of smoked salmon on toast and breakfast tea in a God Save The Queen china mug. I am so lucky. Men generally do not fuss but when they do, they do it with style!! (Jack-people were commenting how the Queen and Duke were standing right through the river parade. I can only say, Mel was standing in front of the TV with her GSTQ mug in hand all the time she watched taking photographs (I downloaded 134) of the screen as if she was at the river bank. She is now focused on making a special album) Today the Bishop of Hamilton ordained to the deaconate Allen Varlaki in preparation for the priesthood. Since his family live quite far away we were requested to sit by him. It was a real honour for us. In the afternoon we took him for lunch as a celebration. In the evening we took some food and celebrated the Queen's Jubilee at our English friend's place. Talk about being patriotic - this couple had mail ordered Union Jack bunting from M&S. A very nice end to the day. On Monday the 4th June here in Canada was work as usual but I made the calls to UK where I knew all my friends were having a wonderful time. In the evening my niece Denise called a surprise birthday party for her husband Rohit. Why not? It was nice being with family again. For Tuesday the final day of Queen's celebration I woke up at 4am to watch the church celebration and in the evening the concert. I was being a fully baked BRIT after living 35 years I just cannot forget my friends and England for that matter.

Saturday the 9th of June was the worst day - it rained all day so we went shopping as we were going to do our first BBQ on Sunday. By 4pm it stopped raining so I asked Laura to come with her husband to help Jack to put up the Gazebo. Thank God with their help it was all done. It looks lovely. On Sunday it was very very hot but Jack coped in doing the BBQ and there were 23 guests in all mainly my family, Jack's cousins, Mary Ellen, Nora and Vincent -friends of 31 years. I made my own Burgers and I phoned our friends Julie and Clive in Gloucester to get their recipes for Punch. That came out very well too. On the whole we all had a fantastic time but I did miss my friends in UK. I have now been sitting in the Gazebo and enjoying nature and weather all round me. Jack and I were very privileged to decorate First Holy Communion cakes for my niece Adelle's daughter Kirsten and other niece Denise's son Ethan. I did the design and Jack the decoration. We enjoyed it and the cakes did come out very well.  It was a lovely occasion to be part of their lives and to be at the celebration with families and friends.

Here is an extract of an email Jack wrote to a work colleague in UK after the BBQ.

It is so good to hear from you. We are very well thanks although my wife still keeps missing good old UK. She followed all the Jubilee Celebrations and I did some of it as well as I was not dedicated enough to wake up at some odd hours and loose sleep. What we saw was good. The weather here has also been a bit erratic as well with a lot of rain and the Canadians are complaining that the influx of Brits have brought their flaming weather patterns as well but they should not complain because we have to teach them so much. They really are backward in many things. Don’t you dob on me otherwise I may be on the next boat home.

The BBQ season has started here so we had our inaugural one last Sunday with about 20 mainly family. It was a hot day so we baptized our BBQ with fire, got good use out of our new gazebo complete with mosquito nets (bugs are vicious here they say), patio furniture with umbrella (must have one to keep up with the Joneses) on the typically Canadian backyard deck with Canadian beers (of course – not a touch near our variety and exorbitant), vodka punch, chicken (cooped up ones, as free range ones may get lost in this vast country!) sausages (not as good a variety as the British banger) home made burgers (at least you know what you are eating). It was a good party.

(And for those with a vague inclination of heading for Canada) I am currently working at HO. If you are thinking Canada come down now and have a look around and don’t listen to all they tell you about how cheap it is here. As someone told me recently houses are bigger and gas (petrol) is cheaper (up from 92c/l to 124c/l in one year since we came). (Mel- Here we go again the ‘winging pom’ crowd here says everything is expensive)
This is middle of June and hope we will have many more lovely summery days. All of my albums are complete (even the Jubilee one???) and I am sure I shall find another project to keep me busy like the photo fames for hanging. Will tell you how I did.

And now that summer has come it is the visiting season from far and beyond. We had a surprise call from Blinnie from our Reading parish who is in Canada to visit her sister. She popped in with her sister Ita on Thursday 14 so we had an impromptu BBQ. This is good, get a few pieces of meat, fire the BBQ, toss a salad and you have a meal out on the deck. I managed to get in 6 hours of news from Reading. It was most enjoyable and totally unplanned. We already have news of at least 3 other visitors in the next 2 months which will be great.

Take care, God Bless and keep in touch please.

Lots of love and hugs
Jack and Mel

The below pictures all about beauty in Spring Time in Oakville.