TODAY WE HAD A REALLY UNIQUE EXPERIENCE :  WE WENT TO THE KONA OCTOPUS FARM. 

ANOTHER GREAT DAY IN KONA ! EVEN THOUGH WE EXPERIENCED ANOTHER RAINY DAY ( I CAN’T REMEMBER EVER HAVING RAIN HERE IN ALL THE YEARS WE’VE BEEN COMING ….. CLIMATE CHANGE ?) IT WAS WARM AND A PRETTY GENTLE RAIN.

SOMETIMES RAIN GIVES ONE AN EXCUSE TO REST.  NO EXCURSIONS. NO BUSY-NESS.  JUST A CHANCE TO READ AND REST AND THIS WAS MY DAY TODAY. 

TODAY TERRY AND I DECIDED TO DO SOME EXPLORING.  WE HEADED OUT TO A PARK WE HAVE NEVER BEEN TO CALLED KALOKO- HONOKŌHAU, THE OLDEST HISTORIC NATIONAL PARK IN THE AREA.  WE HEARD THERE WERE PETROGLYPHS THERE ( ANCIENT ROCK CARVINGS ) SO WE DECIDED TO CHECK THEM OUT.

ONE DIES. ANOTHER IS BORN.

YESTERDAY , MY BELOVED UNCLE PETER IN ENGLAND DIED IN HIS SLEEP. I THINK HE WAS 94…

THIS IS OUR FIRST DAY OF RELAXING ON A HOT HOLIDAY AFTER OUR MONTHS OF DRIVING ON TOUR AND THEN THE BUSY BUT WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS WE JUST EXPERIENCED WITH ( MOST ) OF OUR FAMILY. ( WE ARE SO EXCITED TO WELCOME A NEW GRANDSON TOMORROW …. the reason one of our beloved families couldn’t fly home !)

I NOTICED IN OUR PAPER THAT THIS LARGE HOME WAS USED AS AN EXAMPLE OF THE GREAT DEALS YOU CAN GET IN NOVA SCOTIA FOR HOMES IN THE AREA. 

IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I HAVE RECEIVED OR DONE A PUZZLE.  ( MY MOTHER CANNOT SAY THE SAME THING AS SHE HAS TAKEN A HAITUS FROM HER PAINTING TO DO A PUZZLE A DAY I THINK…HA HA) 

2020 !  IF ONLY WE HAD ‘2020’ VISION TO KNOW WHAT THE YEAR AHEAD HOLDS FOR US . 

I TOOK A BIT OF TIME TO DRIVE AROUND AND PHOTOGRAPH SOME COOL MURALS IN OUR CITY OF EDMONTON TODAY.

TODAY WE SAID GOOD-BYE TO OUR FRIEND, LEN…

TODAY WE WERE ASKED TO BABYSIT 2 OF OUR GRANDSONS AS THEIR MOM’S GIFT TO THEIR DAD THIS CHRISTMAS WAS A FULL DAY OUT …WITHOUT CHILDREN.

LAST NIGHT WE HAD OUR SECOND ANNUAL CANDY CANE LANE CARRIAGE RIDE. OUR 4 YEAR OLD, O, AFFECTIONATELY REMEMBERED THIS FROM LAST YEAR SO THIS YEAR WE INVITED HIS WHOLE FAMILY TO JOIN US ON THE JOURNEY .

SO HERE WE ARE : THE 4TH WEEK OF ADVENT ALREADY  !   THE FAMILIES WHO ARE ABLE TO JOIN US HAVE ARRIVED AND EXCITEMENT IS RAMPING UP FOR TOGETHER TIME,  GOOD FOOD,  GOOD WINE AND GIVING GIFTS TO THOSE WE LOVE.  WE ARE WATCHING 2 OF OUR GRANDSONS HAVE FUN TOO AS THEY RUN AROUND, PLAY INSTRUMENTS, GIGGLE, LOOK AT THE TREE AND THE CRÈCHE. 

YESTERDAY I COMPLETED MY PAINTING OF THE SHIP . I AM HAPPY WITH THE RESULTS BUT I ALWAYS FEEL SLIGHTLY GUILTY ABOUT TAKING TIME FOR MYSELF AT THIS BUSY TIME OF YEAR. 

TERRY AND I ARE RAMPING UP THE REHEARSALS FOR MIDNIGHT MASS. WE HAVE SO MUCH BEAUTIFUL MUSIC THAT IT IS ACTUALLY DIFFICULT TO CHOOSE WHICH SONGS WE WILL DO THAT EVENING. 

SEVERAL YEARS BACK I PERFORMED AT ARTSPACE, A HOME FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING , WITH MY SISTER, PAULA.  A FEW DAYS LATER I RECEIVED AN EMAIL FROM  A JASON HOMYSHIN WHO TOLD ME THAT HE HAD HEARD ABOUT THE CONCERT AND THAT HE WAS A QUADRIPLEGIC SONGWRITER WHO NEEDED HELP PUTTING MUSIC TO HIS WORDS. 

” PREPARE YE THE WAY OF THE LORD ” .  THESE ARE WORDS HEARD OFTEN IN ADVENT, THE WORD ADVENT ORIGINATING FROM THE LATIN WORD ” ADVENIO ” WHICH MEANS ‘COMING TO’

I THOUGHT THIS WAS A GREAT VERSION OF THIS OLD SONG…. ENJOY !

IT WAS A NON-STOP ‘KINDA’ DAY TODAY BUT LOVELY ALL THE SAME :