Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Tuesday 30th November 2010….30 days done and 4 years ago!!!!!

Went to the Tuesday market early today and bought some strawberries for myself and also for my friends Ruth and Kevin who were leaving today and delivered them to their RV and said goodbye!!!

Came back home and did my laps in the park, then a late breakfast and followed this with one hour of sunbathing before I left for Casa Hogar again and more window washing….

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YES!!!! Lots of windows and don’t forget we are talking about outside and inside as well!!!

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It was quite amazing I didn’t take photos because it is not the done thing but when I arrived the younger girls maybe 5 –10 years old each had a broom and were sweeping the whole of the courtyards, they did look so cute….I was there at least two hours and not one cry, scream did I hear.

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The 2 “here” are my blisters!!!!!!!

After the work some of the girl's got their hair done and on the left is Paola doing some writing!!

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I went straight from here to my Spanish lesson, we sit outside here

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in the beautiful garden and I feel that i am really learning and enjoying myself too.

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Just time to get home and changed and I met Linda and Guy at a local Texan restaurant for some good old country fried steak…..sorry but it was just not very good…..

Now home again and where did the day go?

 

The head line to this blog…I should explain…it is one month since I left Nanaimo and my family on the Bank and it seems such a long time ago and I think of all the wonderful things I have seen and done, the new friendships I have made, friendships I have rekindled, the girls, Linda and Guy all blessings except I guess those two guys who wanted my wallet!!

About this time 4 years I served my last customer and walked out of the Granary Restaurant in Nanaimo for the last time, my retirement finally kicked in!!!

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I was lucky enough to work here for 14 years, every day a great one, the owners were wonderful, my working partners great and the customers they were so special I would say that 80 % of my friends in Nanaimo I met at work…thanks for the memories.

Life goes by so fast and I am always thankful for my health and of course my family and friends…thanks to you all!!!!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Monday 29th November 2010…a lesson in humility!!!!

Linda and Guy employ a wonderful lady called Catalina to come and clean their casa on Saturday’s and they have become friends.

Now Catalina is an interesting and diverse lady her other job is a kindergarten school teacher…

She has 5 girls and 5 boys ages 3 – 5 years in her little school room….Linda found out that these children are in the rural area outside of SMA and really are very poor and she mentioned this to her daughter in Tucson, Teri and her husband Jason…

So the outcome of this was that Teri and Jason bought and put together 10 gift packages consisting of warm clothes, gloves, hat, toy and a stuffed animal for each child and I stopped by their home and picked up these gifts and brought them here to SMA.

So today was the day we were going to the school to distribute the gifts….one of Linda’s other friends, Jaime, was invited to be the chauffeur and translator for us and off we went.

Now let me tell you how Catalina gets to her school every morning…..she takes a bus from her home for about 35 minutes, then she walks another 30 minutes to the school and the same for the return journey.

The school is about 7km outside of SMA then another 7kn on dusty windy narrow tracks…nov29 002-1

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The one roomed school and Catalina….

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The school was really in the middle of no where and the room was very clean and decorated so special!!!

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nov29 011-1Catalina!!!

nov29 014-1Look at that face!!

I have never seen anything like these 10 kids they each sat patiently in their chair watching as each of them received the care package, no crying, no pushing…just smiles!!!!

Sit back and enjoy this as much as we did!!!!

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Above is Guy below is Jaime!!

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Guadalupe was a little shy!!

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Linda and Guy brought some drinks and I brought some donuts and we all had a little refreshments!!!!

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Moms and Grandmas came too!!!!

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What an incredible morning just made us all realize what the true meaning of giving and Christmas means!!!

The kids were so great..the Mums so appreciative and the memories will stay with us for a long time!!!!

After we came back I went to Casa Hogar as I had promised I would do my annual window washing…all the buildings it takes me usually three days!!!

It was going well but I was getting tired so I had to call Luce for back up!!!!!

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Soon some of the older girls including P & D came home from school…

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I stayed for about three hours and will go back tomorrow….said good bye to everyone then drove down town and took a ten minute break sitting in the Jardin and looking at the beautiful church that is the main landscape for miles around!!!

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I was told there was a big soccer game taking place and I found the stadium, the field was not that great but the crowd was really into it…

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The 3 most important men on the field…OK so I am a little biased!!!

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Here you don’t buy a bag of chips…..you just buy ONE chip!!!!

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See the church!!!

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Home by 7pm what a long but glorious day…that tea is going to taste good!!!!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Sunday 28th November 2010..If yesterday was an easy day what was today???

I just love to spend Sunday mornings this way….

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Reading a newspaper, listening to good old Salvation Army songs on the computer, first cup of tea and French Toast…..you may be asking what is that on his FT??

Now you know!!!!

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Then it was one hour lounge chair time followed by my laps in the park.

Ruth and Kevin stopped over again for a visit and invited me over to their rig tonight.

Got cleaned up and went to Casa Hogar, forgot to take a photo of the new mural…a little bit too much shade…

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The girls were having lunch…

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I took some time to play with the young girls I had brought some letters and numbers stickers and made them spell their name and I would pull out the stickers!!!

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This next photo is for you Allison…do you remember giving me these balls for the girls??

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P.S. Allison you owe me an e mail!!!Thumbs up

What fun could be have with just two balls and a good attitude!!!

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We played catch for so long and had so many giggles!!!!

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Too soon it was time for me leave and retrieve my laundry from Linda and Guy’s and like a broken record they invited me for supper, yes again!!!!   Who will cook for me when they leave next week??Sad smileConfused smile

Around 8pm I stopped in and had a great visit with Ruth and Kevin they are a really neat couple and living life the way I think it should be lived, they leave tomorrow so I wish them safe and happy travels….. and there you have it another day done!!!!!

Thursday 5 th January 2023…it was a great run!!!

 This was my first ever blog post back in November of 2006!!! With just a couple of days off I have written a blog every day since and I hav...