Home is where your story begins

 Tomorrow the new owners take possession of Hunter House. As I lock the doors for one final time, twenty eight years of wonderful memory's while living in the house on Hunter ave. comes with me.

 Tear down committee 

And now add water

Dad's sidewalk builders

 We had 2 boys, and twin girls, and another baby due. The little house we were living in was feeling very tiny and so the hunt for a bigger house was on! I gave our real estate agent/friend

Old deck gone!

at the time the list of what we required...mostly just more square footage and near Heritage Elem. School.
 When we found Hunter House, it didn't really have everything I wanted...like a back entry so the kids could take off their wet and muddy shoes .... it had a backyard that we could gate. We thought that this house would be a stepping stone to a larger bigger dream Pedde home. But life happens and you live life and carry on. 

Tracey, "wanna play"

Hunter House was just not a house, it became a home as soon as we started to unpack and then getting ready for the baby. We ( my friend Joan and I) {Don and kids were at a family reunion in Chilliwack BC} brought Tracey 'home' from the hospital.

Dog pile on Dad

The neighborhood was filled with kids riding bikes up and down the street (all before the street became part of the bus route). There were giant neighborhood water fights that even the children's Aunt Kathy, who flew in especially for a family summer turkey dinner, had participated in the epic battle ! Out of all the water fighters she was the only one with road rash!  Over the years, I did had have fun

bike riding on Hunter

picking out the sand,grit out of gums, knees,

Soaking

elbows, ...and the constant supply of band aides and trips to the e.r.
 It was nice to enjoy those many
lazy summer evenings sitting on Mrs.Coppins front steps drinking coolers while our kids played street hockey or joined a giant neighborhood hide and go seek! 

GG Toop

The kids loved Halloween and sometimes they would find items around the house and try and decorate the front yard...like the huge black garbage bag spider that they put on the roof. The trick or treaters liked that we would blare music from Tracey's bedroom window..songs like Thriller, Monster Mash and the theme from Ghost busters! 

Trick or Treat

Come winter, I don't think the kids cared much for shoveling the snow..especially our drive way that goes all the way to the back fence.They wanted me to buy a snow blower..instead I bought 5 snow shovels! So we all could go out and so do major snow removal..and have hot chocolate when we were done.
  We were always thrilled and pleased when we would come home from Judo or other events and find our drive way was done! Thank you to Ed, Nick, & Mel?!? 

Merry Christmas

 Almost every weekend there seemed to be a sleep over!  There would be wall to wall bodies....watching movies, or playing Nintendo or Xbox, and many trips to the fridge. If the kids were not at home, they were nearby, across the street, down the street or just around the corner, it was a safe place to hang out.

Judo

I think that is what I really wanted,was to have a safe place for my children to come home, with their friends. I always say, that my coffee pot is on, there is a bottle of wine ready...my door is always open.
 We were thrilled to have family, friends come and stay with us, or just doing a  Pit Stop At Peddes! The visitors came from Fort St.John, Greenwood, Grand Forks, Beaverdell, Chilliwack, Vancouver, Chetwyn, Sundrie, Airdrie, New Zealand, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Munich, Whitehorse,Johannesburg S.Africa & Prince George. We always try to be hospitable, with a BBQ, large family dinners, home made pizza feast, or a simple cup of coffee!

living the life

I think one the best dinner parties was my mom's 79th birthday turkey dinner in the back yard..no paper plates..all good dishes...linen's.
 We celebrated Tracey's baptism in the front yard, and we had Nathan and Grace's wedding in the back yard. Each child had a gradation BBQ complete with family and friends! 

Caitlin & Kim

Grandpa Arno at the Grad. BBQ

4 Generations of Pedde's

Nathan & Grace's wedding

Tracey Grad

Aunty Karen with Nathan and Grace

 One winter, as a treat we rented a hot tub!

I think we lived in there, making sure we got our monies worth. The kids invited friends, and so did I, from Lisanne, Karen, Mary...oh my friend Mary! (I smile and chuckle even today!) she arrived at the house with water wings, life saver, life jacket, over her bathing suit complete with red lipstick..she had the whole Pedde Fleet in stitches..(yes I did take a photo!) I think we all sat in the hot tub talking, laughing,

One of Ashton's visits

until Lisanne yelled from across the street that we will look permanently like prunes!
There was also that time at Andrews grad.BBQ sitting in the hot tub with my sister in laws Kathy, Karen &  Lynn when the RCMP arrived...another story for another time!!!!

Phase 1 of  yard reno

 As the children finished high school and left home, I enjoyed the quieter side of life, puttering in my flower beds and garden, having family, friends and grand kids  come to visit. Sometimes I just like to sit by  the fire pit with a glass of wine enjoying life.

Phase 2 of yard reno

 


I know the house was small, it was filled with family, friends, memories, fun, laughter, tears but lots of love. 

4 generations of Hennig's 

Audrey, Ashton, Donnie, Aleah 

Donnie helping to blow out candles
one of the many dinner parties 

Easter Egg Hunt

Last Easter Egg Hunter at Hunter House

I hope you have your home filled with love & laughter, and that you are as lucky as we were to live in a neighborhood like we did. 
 
And this is for The Pedde Fleet! 
  Home is where ever your momma is baking Cinnamon Buns! 

Thank you Hunter Ave….Cheers! 

 So,today starts a new set of adventures!

 Coffee is on, and I have wine!

Until Next time 

Amaryllis

One of the things I like to do around Christmas is to purchase an Amaryllis bulb. They are available in all sorts of colours, and you can find them from the grocery store to Lowe's, Home Depot and Canadian Tire. The bulbs come complete with soil and a flower pot.  I know that when I plant the bulb in about 6 to 8 weeks, I will get to enjoy my first blooms! To see the green leaves emerging from the bulb! It is wonderful and exciting to watch it growing taller. 

Each day I look to see when I would see the first signs of a flower! It is like the promise of spring, when you see the first buds on the trees, when you see something green peeking from the soil. Then you know winter is then over for another year and the world around you comes to life.

 But, when it is January and my world is at a -20c or colder, there is no signs of spring yet. We have had some snow and for a time it looks like a Christmas card outside. But, now the snow is dirty, melting and slushy! 

Inside my house, is this plant that thrives grows and when a bud opens up! I am very pleased with myself!  This Amaryllis flower brightens up a dull grey winter day! 

I have received 8 beautiful red blooms which I have photographed at all angles!

Ready to open 

First flower nearly full open! 

At Christmas time, I was doing some last minute shopping. There  on a clearance shelf at Lowe's, was Amaryllis bulbs! Marked down to  a very good clearance price! These wonderful bulbs were growing out of their packaging with no dirt no water and a some had even started to flower! Such amazing bulbs! I felt sorry for these poor things, these amazing strong willed, determined to grow where ever they were bulbs! 

The Amaryllis is easy  bulb to grow, and you can always google or pinterst instructions on "how to"  grow these wonderful exotic flowers from bulbs! 

Next winter, when the Amaryllis bulbs come out, I will purchase and bring home more bulbs. I will especially check out the clearance shelves when they put these beauties on sale! Then I shall have fun planting, and placing them in each room of the house! 

Full open 

Until next time! 

Jewels 

Before & After

Before & After      Jan 18, 2017

I am not one of those people who records, or remembers the weather conditions from year to year. I am not like those who can recall the winter of 19?? from the top of their heads. I do remember my first few winters in Prince George, that it had been very cold and a lot of snow! 

 Where I grew up we had much milder winter weather. My folks would share with me their winter snow levels how cold it had been. I think they were impressed about the winters I was experiencing! 

Last week we were dressing in layers to keep warm, taking extra time to heat up our vehicles, baking bread or making home made soup all while watching the wind chill factor.

 Any walk would create frozen facial & nasal hairs. The snow sounding like Styrofoam as you walked the paths at the local parks.

 Good news! With such cold weather we get the sunshine and you can wear your sunglasses, that is if your breath doesn't fog and ice them up! 

Before
Jan 10th 2017 in the -20c

Before
Jan 10 2017 Prince George Soccer Field 

Yesterday, it had rained all morning, and rained the night before. The temp. was about 6c. So, it had created bare sidewalks, wet and slippery streets with lots of puddles. While walking I had noticed unzipped coats, hatless and gloveless walkers like me. We were all dodging puddles and hoping that the next vehicle won't splash water on us! 

 After
Jan 17 2017 Prince George Soccer Field.

After
Jan 17 2017   6c 

Today, the temp was 8c, and the sun was shining! I decided on a walk to Wilson Park which is only a few min. from home ! I wanted to see what the park looked like after 2 days of rain and warm weather. Once again, I headed out hatless, gloveless with camera in hand. After I was done my trek through the park, I had thought maybe I needed rubber boots with those ice grippers on the bottom. I had encountered slushy snow and ice on the same path. 

I am not sure what the weather forecast is for us for the next few weeks? We always say, "Wait 10 min. the weather will change". Well it has..as I write this blog the sun had disappeared and so did the beautiful blue sky, the afternoon turned dull and grey.  Is there more rain or snow in the forecast, well my friends only Mother Nature knows for sure! 

 Before
Wilson Park, Nechako River Jan 15 2017 

 After
Wilson Park, Nechako River Jan 18 2017

Jan 18 2017, Ducks enjoying a winter swim 

Winter is not over yet, far from it! Is Mother Nature just playing & teasing us? Encouraging us to enjoy the local scenery instead of booking flights to warmer climates? We are Canadians, we are tough, we adapt (like the mallards!)  and we do get out to enjoy all the different climates and the beauty that Canada has to offer ….so get out and enjoy the day! 

Until next time… 

Family Tree

Good morning! 
Yes, it's me!  Jewels, from Jewels Journal! I am back! as you may know my last blog I took a photo a day and posted the picture with a blog for 365 days. I have wanted to get back to a challenge, so with Canada turning 150, and I am now in my 60's. I thought I would write and photograph life around me. Here goes...

                                                                 Family Tree
My daughter Kim recently asked for my help gathering information for one of her college courses....genealogy! She requires information about her/our family, 3 to 4 generations of it! Where to start? Where to look?  I guess starting with the basics, mom and dad, siblings, aunts, uncles etc. The next step would be to talk to our grandparents, other senior members of the family.(I look around me and realize I am slowly becoming a senior member of the family! How did that happen!! ).

This will involve a call to my mother in law, and possibly a dinner with my mother.  Yes, there are many stories about the past and names to add with dates and places.

Where else can we search?  In my own treasure boxes. I recently found my baby book tuck away safely.  A wee bit worn, but filled with memories....my parents hand writing, birth cards, clips of my hair, and a family tree! The information contained within was mostly on my mothers side, but I was thrilled!  A good start. I had learned that my grandmother and great-grandmother were both named Frieda...my mother's name is Elfriede and my grand daughter Audrey's  middle name is also Elfriede.  I think this is wonderful! Now on my Father's side of the family, Arno was my grandfather's and my father's first name (Really,  an Arno junior?). My brother Martin, my son Nathan, and my grand son Donald also share the Arno name. 

Where else? Do you keep the birth announcements from family members, or the card you get at funerals? Information is everywhere! Do we still do baby books for our children or brides books? Maybe this is something that we should start or continue with as it is a great source of information for tracing family. This helps all generations discover their heritage. 

We have all seen the ads on TV, with Ancestry.ca. That finding your family, your heritage is a click away... for only a nominal fee... at 3 different fee levels you have access to billions of sites to find your long lost family members... they do offer a free trial,  cool!  

I did start a family tree through this site some time ago, easy clicking on areas to search. Names pop-up, and you check to see if it is the right familiar line,  just a click away to see the information but only with a membership.  Even with free trial  version you must give your credit card information; I am concerned and hesitate giving out my credit card information on line.  A bit old fashion I guess.   Back to more research! 

Karen, my wonderful sister in law, with the help of family members, and doing what I suggested above, (talking to family)  were able to created "The Toop Family Book" a record of Toop members. This is a great help to me as it filled in a lot of the blanks in my records and help for Kim.  Agh, now for the Hennig side of the family. I am now wondering what kind of information is really available to a paid membership....hmm! Kim has sure given me a challenge!!

When I look at my children, and my grand children I see family traits in their appearance, their personality, even their traditions.  I think that one day they will be curious about their heritage as I am taking an interest now.  Who's who in my zoo! 

I know that information is out there, internet sites, family members that recall family history, even stories of their own youth! My parent and Grandparents were entangle in the world war conflicts and recall places that were bombed,  evacuations (all you possessions had to fit in satchels or a baby carriage). I am afraid some of my grandmother Julianna and Grandfather Arno's story may be lost forever. I wonder who were their parents, their siblings. Where did they or their children live? How is my grandmother Julianna connected to the Grimm Brothers? A story all in of itself.

Yes this grandmother (Julia, wonder where that name came from?) will be making up a family tree...placing in a photo album, or a family book. So, the next time someone is taking a college credit course like Kim, or my children's children ask, I will have answers! 

Back to the internet to do more research!

Happy New Year!

Jewels

Donald Arno & Audrey Elfriede