tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85430197547515955242012-02-27T08:56:44.104-07:00Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.comBlogger2391100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-361029702579804552012-02-26T08:05:00.000-07:002012-02-26T08:05:09.492-07:00

I arrived back in Alberta from Arizona on Thursday night. It was snowing. It hasn't stopped snowing ever since. I've shovelled a foot of it off the driveway already. This is the color of my days now. I remember Arizona fondly. I want to be there now! And to top it all off, I suddenly have a nasty head cold.  Aaaachooo! I'm going back to bed and staying there till the snow stops or I get

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-57859973077309632962012-02-21T22:02:00.000-07:002012-02-21T22:02:04.056-07:00

What happens when a scrapbooker/blogger goes to a quilting supplies store with her sister? PHOTO OP!!! I love colors...all kinds of colors, and the fabric store was a goldmine of color.  Here's a sampling: Pretty Florals Bright yellows and reds Soft Prints I love this bright orange sign Two toned sateen Hundreds of spools of brightly colored threads Even the quilting

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-574097202817144192012-02-19T19:00:00.001-07:002012-02-19T19:41:05.876-07:00

I almost forgot to go back to Valentine's Day and blog about our visit to the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix.  Since we had already 'done' Scottsdale, we didn't have time enough to explore the whole site, but we did do two of the trails.  It's full of amazing scenery whichever trail you follow. It was a cool overcast day, not what we're used to when we come to Arizona, but it made for very

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-64547993836148593642012-02-18T22:08:00.000-07:002012-02-18T22:08:02.527-07:00

So on Wendy and Randy's last day here with us, the guys went golfing big surprise) while Wendy and I.... ...went shopping at the outlet mall in Anthem.  We were gone for six hours and came home with blouses, jackets, earrings, rings, chocolate, purses, tote bags, kitchen implements, socks, and sore feet!  It was a fine and fitting ending to their visit to Surprise, AZ. I'll be here till

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-68345047950590655022012-02-16T22:40:00.001-07:002012-02-16T22:47:35.087-07:00

Today's adventure took us to such western frontier sounding places as Apache Junction, Goldfield, Canyon Lake and Tortilla Flats.  Just see the fun we had and the sights we saw. Apache Junction was our destination but just as a stopping off point to other sights.  Just outside of Apache Junction there's a reconstructed gold mining town from the late 1800s.  You can take a tour of an old gold

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-77753688933280066652012-02-15T19:00:00.002-07:002012-02-15T19:11:21.620-07:00

Our adventures in Wonderland, aka Arizona, continue. Yesterday, Lloyd and I took Wendy and Randy to do the tourist thing in old town Scottsdale.  We were disappointed to find the museum there was closed, but there were lots of other things for us to see.  I really liked this doorway to a shop selling western items.  The metal saguaro cactus and sunflower help the string of dried peppers guard

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-18945641549492843232012-02-13T18:04:00.001-07:002012-02-13T18:22:04.619-07:00

My sister and her husband, Wendy and Randy, arrived from Winnipeg yesterday to spend a week with us here in Arizona.  Lloyd's brother's widow, Catherine, is down here as well visiting friends.  Today we sisters went out for lunch and shopping while the men golfed.  I'm sure we had more fun that the golfers!  It's not very often that I get a chance to hang out with these sisters of mine so it was

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-74770591480415705432012-02-09T20:43:00.000-07:002012-02-09T20:43:40.823-07:00

Today I finally found it!  We've been coming to Surprise, Arizona for four years now.  I had heard of Surprise Lake - a blogger friend is always accompanying her husband there when he wants to go fishing - but I didn't know where it was.  I Googled it yesterday - big surprise!  It's five minutes from where we live just a stone's throw away from where Mickey and I parked when we attended the big

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-5007494382071584022012-02-07T19:56:00.000-07:002012-02-07T19:56:45.254-07:00

For awhile tonight I felt like a little girl again...but then I felt really old!  I like the young feeling better, but the old is kind of cool too. Before I left Edmonton I found a book of kid's valentines.  The title said they were flocked, vintage valentines.  Strange, but to me they looked like the ones we used to give and receive when we were in elementary school back in the 1950s.  I had

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-5986572760572972372012-02-05T18:30:00.000-07:002012-02-05T18:30:49.210-07:00

We're finally here...sunny, warm Arizona.  We'll probably just rest and veg for the next couple of days, although already today we've conquered our Kohl's fix.  Lloyd had to refresh his Arizona wardrobe since he's lost so much weight in the past couple of months - deliberately.  We have a huge bag of clothes to take to the donations bin now. I'll just keep this short today.  No pictures taken

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-61268679836864552232012-02-01T07:03:00.002-07:002012-02-01T22:09:05.091-07:00

February!  The shortest month of the year which, here in north-central Alberta, always seems like the longest, and coldest, and most miserable month of the year.  I don't know what to expect this year, since winter has given us a huge respite from what is usual for this time of year.  I'm not complaining - just wondering what's in store. Last February Doesn't matter though.  In four days

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-46067139362037290142012-01-27T18:11:00.000-07:002012-01-27T18:11:28.455-07:00

I took my 4-year old granddaughter, Elly, to her Tai Kwon Do class today for my first time.  It was a fun class to watch.  There were only 5 kids in her class - the Little Tigers.  I told Elly I wanted to take some pictures of her in her Tai Kwon Do costume. Elly in her too-large costume Uniform She looked at me very seriously and said, "It's not a costume Grammie, it's a uniform".   A very

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-46852505602168646312012-01-25T17:59:00.000-07:002012-01-25T17:59:12.100-07:00

I looked up from my computer a few minutes ago (at 4:55 pm)and saw this out of the window. When I was out earlier it was a bright sunny day.  By the time I finished lunch with two of my daughters, it was snowing.  When I got home in the early afternoon it was brightening up again.  Then, as you will see, in the last 20 minutes or so, the sky changed again. The wind was picking up and the

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-15144924289216246612012-01-22T00:36:00.000-07:002012-01-22T00:36:45.857-07:00

I've just sat in front of the television for two hours watching and listening to a PBS show called "My Music - 60's Pop, Rock and Soul".  I was 11 when 1959 turned into 1960, and 21 when 1969 became 1970 so the music of the 60s was the first music I was aware of in a major way.  I still feel that the music of the 60s was the best ever and I listen to 'oldies' radio stations whenever I can...

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-43760370195018134842012-01-20T21:16:00.000-07:002012-01-20T21:16:59.088-07:00

I told myself I wouldn't complain about the weather here in Alberta.  I'll just state the unembellished facts.  It's cold.  One day last week it was -43C.  Keeping in mind that for some reason -40C is the same as -40F, those of you on the farenheit scale can appreciate how cold it has been.  Today wasn't as bad. I think it was about -23 when I was out.  Thank goodness for furnaces, car heaters,

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-63018122976533165442012-01-18T10:32:00.000-07:002012-01-18T10:32:13.664-07:00

I have often seen sun dogs - those pairs of rainbow-colored sprays on opposite sides of the sun.  Yesterday I saw something new - sun dogs joined by a faint rainbow over the sun.  It must be a phenomenon of cold weather.  It was hovering around -30C at 3:00 yesterday afternoon, bright, clear and cold.  I went to the playground across the street to get an unobstructed view of the rainbow - the '

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-9123904308966463772012-01-15T16:40:00.000-07:002012-01-15T16:40:23.817-07:00

For six months back in 1985 I used slide film in my camera.  It didn't take me long to realize that I prefer photographs and the slides, after being looked at once or twice, were stored away in some forgotten corner of the house.  We've moved a lot since then and somehow they always managed to be included in the moves.  I found them again last fall.  Then, for Christmas, Lloyd gave me a little

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-30713259338463725192012-01-10T09:52:00.000-07:002012-01-10T09:52:50.757-07:00

I made soup yesterday.  I don't usually make soup - fussy eaters - but Lloyd's out of town and I didn't have to feed anyone but myself so I decided to use leftovers from the fridge and see what I could come up with. I started out with a bowl of leftover seasoned ground beef which we had used in burritos a couple days ago.  Into the pot it went...followed by some chopped onions, salt and pepper.

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-43960954954438711372012-01-08T08:57:00.000-07:002012-01-08T08:57:18.740-07:00

My grandkids received a kitten for Christmas.  I've been kittensitting for her for the past week while they're on holidays.  She's a sweet little thing - part blue point and part ragdoll - very playful.  She follows the two adult cats (Mickey and Percey) around jumping at their tails and getting swatted for her efforts.  They've accepted her into the family now and I'm sure Mickey will be

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-86989892571136059422012-01-02T20:55:00.000-07:002012-01-02T20:55:16.100-07:00

While Mary and Greg were visiting us over the holidays, they were wearing the strangest shoes e.v.e.r.! Maybe some of you more athletic types are familiar with these 'finger shoes', but I had never seen anything like them.  Greg and Mary are runners, having completed a couple of half marathons, they're training now for a full marathon in the spring.  They were told that these shoes, with

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-42694299248490224162012-01-01T12:55:00.000-07:002012-01-01T12:55:35.598-07:00

Happy New Year's Everyone! I hope that January 1, 2012 finds you all well, happy and healthy - or at least on your way to becoming that way. We didn't sit around last night and discuss new years goals, resolutions and hopes as we've done in past years, instead we had a lovely time partying with family and friends in our home.  But first, I want to tell you about one of the traditions we had at

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-33481043209195135342011-12-29T21:36:00.000-07:002011-12-29T21:36:38.305-07:00

Today our oldest granddaughter turned 9 years old.  Her name is Mackenzie but we've always called her Kenzie.  Although she's the oldest granddaughter, she's not the oldest grandchild, as we have several grandsons who are older than her and who she loves to get together with. However, for this birthday, she and her family travelled from Edmonton to Lethbridge to celebrate it (and New Year's Eve)

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-68503455915277965342011-12-27T15:43:00.000-07:002011-12-27T15:43:37.270-07:00

I've decided a white Christmas is much over-rated. For the first time in a long, long time, we haven't had any snow for Christmas this year. With family travelling through the mountains, we did not miss having snow to deal with. Now, as Christmas is wrapping up and New Year's festivities are being planned, here's some images from our Christmas 2011.  I was very slack at taking pictures this

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-87735510070864905542011-12-16T09:54:00.000-07:002011-12-16T09:54:41.659-07:00

These few ingredients make Sara's favorite Christmas treat - Cherry Balls. Every year she asks me to make her a batch of them. So this is what I'll do today. This recipe is easy enough for the kids to help with, as you'll see.  This is a repeat post from two years ago when I only had a couple of followers. I hope you won't mind seeing it again. The first step is to drain the cherries on a

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-29430991608363539792011-12-15T07:30:00.001-07:002011-12-15T07:37:44.985-07:00

Yesterday I attended the Christmas concert interactive sharing time at the pre-school that two of my 4-year old grandkids attend.  Their teacher, Mrs. Peters, a lovely Irish lady, kept the event informal so as not to put pressure on the kids to perform.  She told the parents to feel free to walk around the room with our cameras and join in the fun. For some reason my a lot of my pictures ended

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-68767559377227562892011-12-13T16:21:00.000-07:002011-12-13T16:21:24.666-07:00

You may have noticed in my header picture our baby Emily, who is now 25 years old, is holding in her hand an egg.  And there are a couple more hanging on the tree around her.  Our Christmas egg tradition started in 1978 when our last two kids hadn't been born yet.  I saw an article in a woman's craft magazine on making decorations out of real eggs.  That really appealed to me so I spent a lot of

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-24267716172791966382011-12-11T11:36:00.000-07:002011-12-11T11:36:11.860-07:00

As families evolve, so do their traditions.  We've carried on traditions from years ago when the kids were small, but with the changing family dynamics, not to mention all the added people our children married and brought into the fold, we've had to add new traditions to the mix.  This makes for a rich and varied Christmas season. One of our newest traditions started four or five years ago when

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-49879276119563403882011-12-10T07:45:00.000-07:002011-12-10T07:45:28.957-07:00

I got up in time this morning to watch the total lunar eclipse happening in full view of us in the northern hemisphere.  Were you able to see it where you were?  I started watching at 6:45 from our upstairs bedroom window and took pictures until 7:15 when the moon completely disappeared from view.  I waited for it to reappear but it never did - the sky had lightened during that half hour and the

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-36045294935260680692011-12-06T07:09:00.000-07:002011-12-06T07:09:39.261-07:00

It's good to be back home, in time to get ready for Christmas....among other things.  First order of the day yesterday was to go with Sara at 6 am for Quinn's appointment for surgery. Ever since she was born 16 months ago Quinn has had a blocked and/or infected tear duct.  At times it was hardly noticeable and other times her eye was red and gummy and runny.  Her doctor told her that it usually

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-74389685998896299872011-12-04T22:09:00.000-07:002011-12-04T22:09:33.248-07:00

I got home from Arizona just after midnight this morning and  have had a busy day today.  It's always good to come home, even with the cold and the snow. Yesterday afternoon Mickey and I went back to the Surprise Party - what a great way to finish up our stay in Arizona.  This little city sure knows how to plan community events. As promised, there were elephants and camels and ponies and much,

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-58774189761717654222011-12-02T22:18:00.001-07:002011-12-02T22:22:47.155-07:00

Since the party had been advertised for at least the two weeks we've been here, I'm sure noone was surprised when they attended the event.  Our city of Surprise put on an amazing 2.5 day Christmas party in the beautiful recreational compound not far from where we live when we're in town.  Mickey and I went tonight and mingled with hundreds of happy families, seniors, babies, dogs, and everyone

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-43367446752135835582011-12-01T23:53:00.000-07:002011-12-01T23:53:37.674-07:00

Yesterday's post was about cotton fields, todays is about fields of roses. Literally! Acres and acres of them just a mile or so from yesterday's cotton fields. They came in all colors...red, pink, white, orange (?)   We couldn't get as close to the roses as we wanted to - I had to zoom in as far as my camera would let me in order to get the above pictures.  We were separated from the

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-11994711975099636012011-11-30T15:22:00.001-07:002011-11-30T15:24:01.721-07:00

On our way to a scrapbook store in Peoria today, Mickey and I passed this field. Field of Cotton Cotton as far as the eye could see.  To northerners like us, seeing cotton growing is cause for excitement, and picture taking. Each plant had dozens of flower-shaped cotton balls and they were as soft and fluffy as the ones you buy in the drugstores So pretty and soft On the left

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-81223748045373810412011-11-28T21:57:00.000-07:002011-11-28T21:57:54.112-07:00

Mickey and I rambled over to the Outlet Stores in Anthem today.  Five hours later we headed back to Surprise to sort our loot.  I was disappointed to find that my favorite store there, Harry and Davids, was no longer there.  I'm just about finished their little nine-jar sampler of jams and was going to purchase another.  Now I never will. *sigh* The first thing we saw when we got out of the car

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-34749312830836516442011-11-27T21:17:00.001-07:002011-11-27T21:23:01.204-07:00

Mickey and I have made great forays into the 4 esses in the two days she's been here in Arizona with me. 1.  Shopping - check.   The deal of the day goes to Mickey at Kohl's yesterday.  Thanks to sales, coupons, Kohl's bucks and rebates she ended up paying only $70 for a $299 item for her husband for Christmas.  Way to go Mickey!  It was fun doing our Christmas shopping without being burdened

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-73978219489858736682011-11-25T20:12:00.000-07:002011-11-25T20:12:07.814-07:00

Look at what I got in the mail today! I won this darling little sweater in the November draw on  Delena's Blog, Serenity Now.  If you haven't already, you should check it out.  She's a Canadian, like me, who divides her time between Canada and Arizona.  She crocheted this lovely little baby sweater.  It's really cute.  She also included in her package a couple pieces of scrapbooking paper for

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-82429852236901563772011-11-24T13:19:00.001-07:002011-11-24T14:58:28.065-07:00

NHL hockey is huge in Canada!  It's where ice hockey started.  Hockey is to Canada what football is to the US and soccer is to Europe.  Our favorite team, of course, is the Edmonton Oilers, and they're doing wonderfully well this year - first in their division so far. Down here we have the desert outpost of the National Hockey League team - the Phoenix Coyotes.  They have a beautiful big arena

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-14148391055339121952011-11-22T10:48:00.000-07:002011-11-22T10:48:42.301-07:00

Our nephew Mark and his boys Daniel and Austin came over for some promised pool fun yesterday.  And to clarify, and so you don't think we're official members of the Polar Bear Club, yes our pool is heated.  We usually don't go in the water in the winter until the water temp is 85F.  So in spite of the low 70s temps yesterday, the boys were warm in the water.  I'll let you be the judge of how much

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-39578921342339301582011-11-21T10:34:00.000-07:002011-11-21T10:34:10.683-07:00

From this to this in three hours!  We've had a lovely weekend here and I've finally, as of last night, found the Christmas spirit - strange that it took the sun and desert to do for me what the snow and frost couldn't.  Several of our neighbours here have large colorful Christmas displays up - looks so pretty with the lights on at night, but a bit odd to me too without any snow, coats,

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-24771897411714985932011-11-18T15:34:00.000-07:002011-11-18T15:34:14.797-07:00

Why, Jack Frost of course.  Here's some of his handiwork on my bedroom windows. Very pretty stuff.  My next entry will be from the Valley of the Sun where there's no such thing as frost.  I don't think I'll miss it.

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-89908058162229014102011-11-17T14:58:00.001-07:002011-11-17T15:20:03.885-07:00

The bears have the right idea.  As soon as it gets cold, they go to sleep and stay that way till spring thaw.  That's what I feel like doing today.  It's our first real snow of the year (winter weather warning issued last night).  Today is a grey, windy, snowy, blustering day.  Not a day to venture outside unless you really have to.  Not one of our pretty sunny snowy days, but just cold and ugly.

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-56188959806555958792011-11-15T18:22:00.000-07:002011-11-15T18:22:03.965-07:00

I've been digging through stacks of old photos these past couple days looking for specific ones my sister needs for a project she's working on. It took me longer than I anticipated because there are hundreds of pictures, and some I forgot I had and they brought back memories that I had to sit and think about.  Some were just good for a laugh.  Here's a few I found of me taken 'back in the day'

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-61573386642060336722011-11-13T11:16:00.000-07:002011-11-13T11:16:02.039-07:00

Since last Sunday I've been staying at my son Rob's home taking care of his 10-year old son, Anson, while Rob, Cindy and their 8 year old daughter, Brooklyn, went to Arizona for a week. I've written about Anson before here.  He's profoundly autistic and presents his own set of challenges.  It was originally Rob and Cindy's plan to take Anson with them, but they realized that with his behaviours

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-2810373417942738002011-11-07T14:43:00.001-07:002011-11-07T14:43:41.013-07:00

Do you like the name your parents gave you way back when you didn't have a say in such things?  Have your learned to like it over the years?  Or have you grown into it?  Or changed it?  Or do you have a middle name that you can fall back on? I was ambivalent about my name for many years...mostly not liking it.  Luckily, my mother didn't like it either so she searched the baby name books for a

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-67541265281041856522011-10-30T11:59:00.000-06:002011-10-30T11:59:23.785-06:00

I was searching for a needle this morning and spied a box on the top shelf of my bedroom closet here in Lethbridge that I thought might contain one.  It did.  But it also contained some UFOs ....some from as long ago as 2000 and others only four or five years ago.  No, they were not little alien space ships...although that would have been fun.  They were projects from my cross-stitching and

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-63510834202337047322011-10-28T16:04:00.000-06:002011-10-28T16:04:40.361-06:00

I was totally without Internet yesterday - don't you hate when that happens - so I spent almost two hours on the phone today (a large portion of it on hold) getting the problem fixed.  My router had malfunctioned so the tech services guy walked me through downloading a new version of it while I still had no access to Internet.  Those guys are magicians.  The upshot is I now have a fully

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-80328288368484895182011-10-25T12:00:00.001-06:002011-10-31T09:49:14.776-06:00

It feels like its been a long time since my last post, but I guess it was only 5 days ago.  It's been very busy here since I got home from Lacombe and my boys.  Here's a self-portrait their parents took while on vacation last week. SIL Anders and daughter Jenny They really enjoyed their brief time away so I'm glad I was able to stay with the boys for them. It's been a busy weekend.  Lloyd's

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-90699235445857321182011-10-20T11:40:00.000-06:002011-10-20T11:40:52.402-06:00

Today is my last day here in Lacombe with the boys. The last two days while the four older ones have been at school James and I have gone out exploring and, as James puts it, having an adventure.  We won't be doing that today though because it's been raining all morning and James came down with a stomach virus last night that laid him low for quite awhile - he still has a slight fever today,

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-91202685813196621202011-10-18T14:03:00.001-06:002011-10-19T05:56:11.205-06:00

I headed down the highway bright and early this morning to spend three days with five of my grandsons while their parents go to Banff for a couple of days.  It's a glorious fall day, bright and sunny and perfect for being out and about.  I'm usually with Lloyd or a friend when I do any highway driving but today I was on my own, feeling free and happy and ready to face the care and feeding of five

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-6887168122523877952011-10-16T11:33:00.000-06:002011-10-16T11:33:13.207-06:00

The ground this morning was covered in a fine sheen of frost, a sure sign that winter can't be far behind.  Already the trees have shed most of their leaves and what delicate plants left in the garden by careless gardeners have blackened with the touch of frost.  Before the colors are all gone for the winter months, I thought I'd post some pictures of my favorite fall (or anytime) color -

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-83947142111588715012011-10-13T23:18:00.000-06:002011-10-13T23:18:58.908-06:00

We lost a special family member over the thanksgiving weekend.  We knew the end was inevitable and soon, but it was still a very sad passing. This was taken in May, the last time Lloyd and I saw Chester. Chester was an eight or nine year old bull mastiff.  Mary and Greg got him from a breeder when he was a couple of months old, before they had any children.  When Mary got pregnant we were all

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-81120638943897098472011-10-13T06:54:00.000-06:002011-10-13T06:54:10.615-06:00

Is that not pathetic! Don't you just want to tell that person to crawl back into bed and hide for the next couple of days!   Don't you feel sooo sorry for me! Actually, I'm feeling better.  Day three of a head cold - and it's never a pretty sight.  Especially when the picture is taken at 5:30 am just minutes after being coughed awake.  I managed to stagger to the computer - I have my

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-87755886664947245052011-10-09T10:07:00.000-06:002011-10-09T10:07:05.590-06:00

Yesterday Lloyd and I and two of our daughters and their families went to a corn maze out in the farm country around Edmonton.  It was a beautiful fall day - sunny and cool and bright - perfect for our outing. It was more than just a maze - there was a haunted house, and conscession stands, pumpkin patches, scarecrow making areas, petting zoo, and much, much more.  We took in as much as we could

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-25955599161898998902011-10-07T15:31:00.000-06:002011-10-07T15:31:43.703-06:00

Lloyd and I went out for Chinese food today to a little place I hadn't been to in years.  The food was good, as usual, but when the fortune cookies were presented and opened, this is what we found. We each got the same fortune!  What are the odds of that happening?  Never, in all my years of eating Chinese food and opening cookies, have I ever got the same fortune as someone else. The fortune,

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-7834095755886301892011-10-05T16:35:00.002-06:002011-10-05T16:41:08.251-06:00

This will be my last Winnipeg post.  I figure that since I didn't have anything nice to say about it before my trip I should try to redeem myself now, since my sister did such a good job of showing me the beauty of her city.  Thank you Wendy. Puzzles Doing jig-saw puzzles is a tradition in our family.  We always had stacks of them and used to do them over and over again.  When we were young Dad

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-5146309200689566642011-10-03T16:10:00.000-06:002011-10-03T16:10:02.834-06:00

The main reason for my visit to Winnipeg last week was to spend time with Mum.  My last visit with her was discouraging and depressing.  Although she's being well taken care of in the long-term facility it's sad to go see her and have her be so unresponsive. This visit was better - it was cheerful and fun.  Mum was having a good day and although she still didn't recognize (and never will again)

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-85882937958414059372011-10-01T21:53:00.000-06:002011-10-01T21:53:01.401-06:00

Canada Geese!  Hundreds of thousands of them! All over the place!  I was unaware of this phenomenon until earlier this week when I witnessed it firsthand Because it's on three migration paths, Winnipeg has become a staging area for the geese as they prepare for their flight south.  Hundreds of thousands of the beautiful birds congregate in and around Winnipeg in late summer/early fall to

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-82541035518113690012011-09-27T07:23:00.000-06:002011-09-27T07:23:33.784-06:00

I'm flying out to Winnipeg this morning to visit Wendy and Mum for a few days. Not sure I'll be able to blog from there so just wanted to let everyone know why I'm not blogging for a few days. For those of you who don't know, Winnipeg is in the flat prairies on a river that floods every spring.  It's miserably cold in the winter and ridiculously hot in the summer - no one's version of a fun

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-11140273130859439032011-09-26T14:43:00.000-06:002011-09-26T14:43:55.260-06:00

Well, not quite.  It was a bright sunny hot morning.  I went to watch 6-year old grandson Max's first hockey practice of the season.  I must say I was impressed at how much his skating has improved since I last watched him early last season.  And he looked like he was having fun.  Hockey will fill his family's weekends from now till March or April when the season ends.  He'll have practices every

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-22634517685838728582011-09-24T17:22:00.000-06:002011-09-24T17:22:27.570-06:00

Sometimes I hit a wall when it comes to thinking about things to blog about.  When that happens, I just stay quiet and wait for something worth boring entertaining you with.  Such has been the case the past couple of days.  Hopefully some of you are still with me. Yesterday, for the first time in several weeks, my friend Mickey and I had a whole day and into the night to spend together

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-27409497228903766782011-09-20T15:57:00.000-06:002011-09-20T15:57:28.783-06:00

How many times can you travel by air without having an 'incident'?  I asked myself that question having just booked two more trips by air between now and December. I usually don't worry too much about the safety of flying - the worse part for me is actually getting up into the air without having the plane shake all apart, but once that's accomplished, I'm fine. Our last trip, from Mesa, AZ to

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-28307726219982973322011-09-15T15:28:00.000-06:002011-09-15T15:28:18.195-06:00

I've spent the past three days immersed in the past - my past.  My sister, Wendy, is working on a project and needs pictures.  I've become the unofficial keeper of the pictorial history of our family so she naturally turned to me.  I have hundreds, even thousands, of pictures - all of Mum's photo albums were given to me when she went into long term care.  So when Wendy asked me to make her  disk

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-63583727499925545022011-09-13T16:10:00.000-06:002011-09-13T16:10:34.638-06:00

I feel so much better now.  I'm such a wimp about going to the dentist.  A year and a half ago I missed an appointment for a regular cleaning...a grandbaby was born and I had to wanted to go to Lethbridge to meet her and deliberately totally forgot about the appointment.  Hannah Rose - March 2010 So when I got home I booked another one for two months later.  When it came time for that

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-55596068781743610832011-09-12T16:09:00.001-06:002011-09-12T16:12:11.347-06:00

A few years ago Lloyd and I accompanied our daughter, Jenny, her husband and four sons to Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park in southern Alberta, not far from where we'll be retiring in Lethbridge.  I came across the pictures I took at that time when I was searching through my stack of pictures this morning and thought you might be interested in seeing the hoodoo cliffs that we climbed and explored

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-65993848742459563292011-09-11T10:15:00.000-06:002011-09-11T10:15:21.151-06:00

I've seen this done before on other blogs so thought I'd do it today since I don't have much to blog about. Outside My Window It's a quiet Sunday morning.The air is cool and fresh coming in through the open windowin front of me. It smells fresh and clean.The sky is soft blue with fluffy white clouds.It promises to be a pleasant cool day.I hear traffic in the distance, reminding me that I'm not

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-18055696545293624032011-09-09T12:29:00.000-06:002011-09-09T12:29:16.314-06:00

I've been fading as fast as summer this week.  It's taking me longer than usual to get back ito gear after our Arizona holiday.  It's been unusually hot here in Edmonton this week - 32C yesterday.  I think that translates to somewhere in the 80sF.    Not so bad if you have AC but up here very few homes have AC because it's only useful for two weeks of the year.  But boy do we have great

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-746142645885354432011-09-07T16:39:00.000-06:002011-09-07T16:39:46.779-06:00

We're home from our Arizona travels and as we speak (or write, or read) Lloyd is making his 8-hour drive north to High Level, where he works.  Quite a commute, eh! Ever since we've been married (except for a ten year stretch when we lived in Nova Scotia) Lloyd has worked with and for the First Nations of Canada (Indians), first with the federal government and then for the Bands (tribes)

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-48019814893692068672011-09-03T21:17:00.002-06:002011-09-03T21:31:39.155-06:00

Today Lloyd and I did what he has been wanting to do ever since we started coming down here to the Valley of the Sun almost three years ago - we drove to Phoenix and explored some of it's historic and beautiful downtown.  We found that Saturday morning is a perfect time for exploring downtown.  There was no traffic, very few people, and we were able to stop and take pictures wherever we wanted to

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-79481195686729271222011-09-02T08:07:00.003-06:002011-09-02T10:57:43.950-06:00

We've been home bodies while in Arizona this week - venturing out of our air conditioned comfort only to shop or do chores like taking the car in for servicing, etc. On one such outing we discovered a lovely duck pond in one of the retirement communities nearby so we stopped to take pictures.  Well, that lasted 5 minutes - maybe 7 - until the oppressive heat sent us back to the cool comfort of

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-9145745756011323942011-09-01T09:55:00.000-06:002011-09-01T09:55:16.142-06:00

Lloyd and I have found that the best time of day here in the summer is late afternoon and evening.  We stay in the air conditioned comfort of home, car, stores and restaurants until around 3:00 when the shade hits our swimming pool and we can enjoy it without risk of instant sunburn.  We spend an hour or so in the pool at that time, get out for a few hours, and then when it's dark we go back in.

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-31296564085054250052011-08-30T22:54:00.000-06:002011-08-30T22:54:40.532-06:00

This is a picture of a very happy couple...Kim and Mark.  They got engaged this past weekend.  Mark is our nephew.  You might remember him from a post in my previous blog here Kim lives in Phoenix and Mark lives in northern Alberta.  For the past year or so they've been carrying on a long distance romance.  Kim flies up to Edmonton whenever she can and Mark comes down to Phoenix just as often.

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-56421971235458981552011-08-29T11:48:00.002-06:002011-08-29T17:44:16.880-06:00

Driving around town on a hot summer afternoon I spotted these two doves resting peacefully on their nest in the arms of a giant saguaro. I wonder if there were any eggs in the nest - or if those are a couple of this year's hatchlings. Pat

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-26279756314565515022011-08-27T19:05:00.001-06:002011-08-28T09:56:24.404-06:00

First of all, many thanks to Emily for being a most excellent guest blogger.  I hope you all enjoyed a tour of her balcony garden.  She's a very clever daughter. We've just completed our first whole day of our Arizona vacation - it was a winding down day for Lloyd.  He slept and napped whenever the mood hit, hosed all the desert dust off the back deck and yard and we made a short trip to Kohls

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-11503453993427998662011-08-25T19:56:00.001-06:002011-08-25T19:57:06.093-06:00

Hello! I'm Pat's daughter Emily, and as promised I'm doing a guest entry here while Mum's headed down to Arizona. I'm not sure it's necessarily a "special treat" as she was touting it, but at least it's better than nothing while she's on the road, I hope. I live in a highrise apartment in downtown Edmonton and Mum thought it would be nice if I wrote about the garden I have on my balcony here.

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-31820067567837194312011-08-24T07:45:00.000-06:002011-08-24T07:45:00.133-06:00

After the heat of the weekend, these past couple of days and nights have been blessedly cool.  I love sleeping with all the windows open and waking up feeling just a bit cold, knowing I've been breathing in cool fresh air all night. I had two outings yesterday.  My oldest granddaughter, Kenzie (8) called me to ask if we could go out for lunch together...just the two of us.  So I let her choose

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-87718435059626164372011-08-22T10:35:00.000-06:002011-08-22T10:35:22.101-06:00

The Edmonton Marathon event was on this weekend and some of our kids were involved in the races for the first time.  Mary and Greg have been running for a couple years and were registered for the half marathon (21k) and encouraged the siblings and cousins to train for the 5k run as a starting off point.  Their 7-year old daughter, Layla, is a very good runner too and was registered in the 1k age

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-57165363702686344642011-08-21T08:37:00.001-06:002011-08-23T07:40:32.169-06:00

Yesterday - one of those great days that will linger in our memories for a long, long time.  Here's why.   The Lloyd and Pat MacKenzie family - all 36 of us Oops, there's only 35 here.  3-year old Baron decided he didn't want to participate and hid behind the crowd These are my people - the joy of my life.  To have them all together in one place posing for pictures and having fun together

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-58336135726620539702011-08-19T20:45:00.001-06:002011-08-19T20:47:46.425-06:00

Lucky me!  I've received my first bloggy award from Fiona over at Rainbows and Daisies.  Fiona lives in Ireland and has a lovely blog with beautiful pictures.  Stop by and visit her.  You'll be glad you did. Thanks Fiona. The Liebster Award is meant to connect us even more and spotlight new bloggers who have less than 200 followers. Every blogging award usually is accompanied by a set of

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-56574743848254291552011-08-18T07:56:00.000-06:002011-08-18T07:56:34.697-06:00

..the gang's all here.  Almost.  We're gearing up for a busy weekend - gotta make sure my camera battery is charged. We're having an informal family reunion this weekend.  With me and Lloyd, our seven children, their spouses and children, there'll be 36 people involved as well as a couple of nieces and nephews and their spouses and kids who got wind of it and want to participate.  It all

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-12372938583045098142011-08-16T22:33:00.000-06:002011-08-16T22:33:51.462-06:00

One of my bloggy friends was talking about retro recipes found in old community cookbooks and how gross some of them seem now,  but she makes them anyway.  That got me thinking of a family recipe that Lloyd's father used to make.  SIL Cheryl, Me, FIL Ralph, SIL Joyce, MIL Thelma - 1970 They all enjoyed it and so did I once I joined the family and was served it and then learned to make it

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-8607585506377569972011-08-16T07:24:00.001-06:002011-08-16T07:25:28.885-06:00

It's been fun having Eadie with me these past couple of days.  She's a very social bird and only goes in her cage to eat.  I've become used to her perching on my shoulder as I move about the house.  She even ate my pizza crust for me. I have a radio beside her cage which I kept on low while scrapbooking.  I kept hearing the theme from Bridge On The River Kwai in the music.  Finally,

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-75834639866486416462011-08-14T23:08:00.000-06:002011-08-14T23:08:49.077-06:00

When I went over to Amy's house today to feed and spend time with Bernie, I noticed that she had a large patch of rhubarb in the garden that looked like it hadn't been picked in awhile.  Probably not ever, since Amy doesn't like the stuff.  I, on the other hand, love rhubarb and haven't had any yet this summer, in spite of Amy telling me several times to come and help myself.  So today I picked a

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-6228034279685508982011-08-14T01:07:00.000-06:002011-08-14T01:07:05.658-06:00

It's too hot to sleep tonight so here I am at 12:33 am.    Up here we only need AC for one or two weeks a year, but during those weeks, I sure wish we had it.  We're more furnace people than AC. Anyway,  weather aside, I'm doing extended Grammie duty these days.  Two of my daughters and their families have gone out of town for a brief vacation and left me in charge of their pets. Here's Amy's

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-58139789145926556782011-08-12T23:31:00.001-06:002011-08-12T23:32:46.212-06:00

I opened my blog tonight to check the comments and immediately noticed that all of my followers - 29 of them/you - have disappeared.  Has that happened to anyone else?  Is there an easy way to restore them/you? Or are they/you lost forever? I hope you'll sign up as followers again.  Please.  I'm going to bed now.  Maybe the follower fairy will put them/you back in while I sleep. Pat

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-71717956068763433982011-08-12T14:54:00.000-06:002011-08-12T14:54:00.851-06:00

Remember the Staples TV commercials showing a father gleefully dancing through the aisles of a store with a cart load of school supplies  with dour-faced children following him...and the background music proclaiming this to be 'the most wonderful time of the year'?  That's how I feel about back-to-school shopping time.  I love it! And although I no longer have seven kids to buy school supplies

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-25180621008460980642011-08-10T21:51:00.000-06:002011-08-10T21:51:23.463-06:00

SAND AND  STONE  A good friend, Mickey,  sent this to me today so I thought I'd pass it along in case you haven't seen it yet. Mickey and me in Sedona, AZ    TWO  FRIENDS WERE WALKING  THROUGH  THE DESERT .  DURING  SOME POINT OF THE JOURNEY, THEY HAD AN ARGUMENT; AND  ONE FRIEND SLAPPED THE OTHER ONE IN THE  FACE THE  ONE WHO GOT SLAPPED WAS  HURT, BUT WITHOUT SAYING ANYTHING, WROTE IN

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-35327072491841052922011-08-09T20:01:00.000-06:002011-08-09T20:01:25.477-06:00

It seems we've been so busy lately that I welcomed a fairly low key day today.  By 10am  I was headed to Amy's to take care of the two little grandsons while she took the two girls to the dentist.  She brought lunch home for us and then I took her three oldest kids over to Sara's to play with their cousins.  It's nice having these families of 4 grandkids each living so close...within 4 or 5

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-38858333912691497492011-08-08T08:02:00.000-06:002011-08-08T08:02:50.504-06:00

It was a success! Yes, it was raining, but thanks to our enclosed patio Lloyd was able to cook on his new self-built (with navigational help from his patient wife) barbeque last night. No explosions. No fires. No self-inflicted burns. Just delicious grilled salmon served with baked potatoes, fresh green beans and a salad.  With fresh-picked raspberry shortcake for dessert.  (the raspberries

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-58567295771167545322011-08-06T22:35:00.000-06:002011-08-06T22:35:39.641-06:00

Do you want to see something really scary? Really, really scary? Something that almost brought me to tears? Something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy? It even scared my big, brave husband! I hope you haven't been too traumatized!  It's a barbeque in 80 pieces, including 685 screws, pins, washers and bolts.  And the instruction booklet.  Can't forget the instruction booklet with

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-40897235500701215302011-08-05T19:31:00.000-06:002011-08-05T19:31:18.494-06:00

I used to bake pies.Good pies.Fruit pies and cream pies.All kinds of pies.With light flakey crust made fromBetty Crocker's recipe and Crisco shortening. They were good, too.I was famous in my family for my pies.People would travel over the mountains for a piecewhen they knew I'd be baking them.Well, one nephew, once.But he said it was worth it. I only made them at Thanksgiving,but I made a

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-79373268150280904202011-08-04T21:20:00.002-06:002011-08-04T21:39:12.461-06:00

It seems that a lot of my bloggy friends are dog people.  I like dogs, but in my book they come second to cats.  Please don't be offended.  I love cats - we always had one when we were growing up.  I tried to have one since I've been married (40 years) but there was always someone in the house who was allergic. Now that there's just two of us at home now, I realize that our lifestyle is not

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-27327778510186966452011-08-02T19:11:00.001-06:002011-08-02T19:17:06.264-06:00

 We had a lovely drive home from Lethbridge today.  It took us 6 hours instead of the usual 5 because we stopped to take pictures along the way - it was a beautiful summer day in Alberta. The last couple of times we've made the trip, we've gone off the highway to check out some of the little villages along the way.  Today we explored the beautiful little village of Arrowwood, located near

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-74120423330975045582011-07-31T20:12:00.000-06:002011-07-31T20:12:21.226-06:00

We were talking to one of our neighbours a little while ago while out doing yard work.  She told us that she had three tires slashed the same night we had ours done and pointed out all the houses around us and told us how many tires they had slashed.  We were lucky to get just one!  Everyone is reporting it to the police who told our neighbour that pretty well every car that was parked in the

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-10712913956333453362011-07-31T08:46:00.000-06:002011-07-31T08:46:16.351-06:00

Mike and Avril and their three contributions to our grandbaby pool were coming over for a few hours and a barbeque lunch yesterday.  That's always fun.  These three 'away' grandkids are getting more and more comfortable with us and it's fun to visit with them.  Not that there's any competition....but....they live down here surrounded by their mother's family and their 'other' grandparents...and

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-25334841662261330262011-07-30T16:58:00.000-06:002011-07-30T16:58:19.966-06:00

Our son, Rob, who lives near us in Edmonton, called this morning (we're 5 hours away in Lethbridge) to tell us of a fright their family had yesterday. Their 9-year old son, Anson, is profoundly autistic.  He's a sweet boy who goes to school and participates in after-school programs for special needs children.  Like most autistic children, his social awareness and interactions are limited.  His

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-15550747528401692132011-07-29T07:37:00.001-06:002011-07-29T07:38:49.436-06:00

As soon as Lloyd's meeting is over this morning we're heading down to Lethbridge for the long weekend - back on Tuesday.   We've been making this 5-hour drive every couple of weeks this summer in order to keep the lawn mowed down there.  There's been so much rain that the grass has been growing very fast and thick.  Makes for a beautiful lawn though.  And we really don't mind going down there. 

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-56523504273795967922011-07-27T12:53:00.000-06:002011-07-27T12:53:15.452-06:00

What is it about a refrigerator that invites everyone to stick something on it?  the nice broad, shiny empty space?  It's convenient location?  or just because it's there.  Over the years my fridge(s) has had everything from children's art work, reminder notes, pictures, gum, fingerprints, marker scribbles, and who knows what else on it.  I like to think the front of a person's fridge is an

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-77617627490882083932011-07-26T11:27:00.001-06:002011-07-26T11:29:49.279-06:00

It's one of those days...or weeks...in this case.  Why oh why did I ever become so dependent on technology!!! I love using the computer...I spend hours every day checking blogs, emails, facebook, surfing the net, shopping, etc.  and I like doing it effortlessly.  This week, however, my desktop PC with it's large screen, wireless keyboard and mouse and built-in operating system, is in it's final

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-42852084855843579232011-07-24T11:51:00.000-06:002011-07-24T11:51:06.553-06:00

This weekend we celebrated my youngest grandchild's birthday.  Her mom, Sara, arranged a big family party. When I remarked to her that it was a lot of work for someone who doesn't even know it's her birthday, Sara said "It's a party to give us a chance to celebrate Quinn.  She doesn't need to know that its her birthday."   And she's right.  The day before her birthday Sara, who's a professional

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543019754751595524.post-83074615146339691612011-07-23T15:26:00.001-06:002011-07-23T15:52:53.598-06:00

I didn't blog yesterday because I was scrapbooking all day with Mickey - well for 11 hours anyway.  And in that time I completed a grand total of 4 layouts.  A pretty poor showing some might say.  And it is fewer than I've been doing lately, but in my defense I have to say that the four I did are pretty darn good.  I was using black and white photos which were a challenge to me - picking out

Pat MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10497617342638521940noreply@blogger.com5