All the rest! – Skelton Sketches

The Highlight of the Month

Posted on March 16, 2017April 29, 2017 by lindaskelton

The highlight of the month (so far) has been the whirlwind visit of our youngest daughter en route back home to Powell River after almost two adventurous years in the boonies of small-highway-town-Alaska! Two years ago we sold our Powell River home out from under her and as we moved east eventually landing in Alberta, she flew North to the wilds of Alaska to be near her grandma. Well she’s moving back home to Powell River now to live near her sisters. And once again she’s trusting the Lord to open doors for housing and employment as He did so incredibly these past two years as she got to work at her dream desk job at the Crossroad Medical Clinic.

So this post is dedicated to Rachel and her effervescent confidence in God, and posted with a prayer for her guidance and success!

taking the requisite tourist pictures

The rising steam from Banff’s natural hot springs creating hoarfrost.

The discovery of hot springs here would be the grounds for establishing Banff Nat’l Park in 1885

Rachel’s travelling companion…

She arrived in time for bracing cold but we still enjoyed a tromp around our neighborhood…

And now she’s arrived safely ‘home’ to Powell River out of reach of hugs but not prayers.

Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.

Before the mountains were brought forth,

or ever you had formed the earth and the world,

from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Let your work be shown to your servants,

and your glorious power to their children.

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,

and establish the work of our hands…

Ps.90:1,2,16,17

–LS

2016 in Review

Posted on January 6, 2017April 29, 2017 by lindaskelton

I am ready for a New Year. The old one sputtered to a finish with colds and flu that made this the quietest holiday ever—just the two of us commiserating, napping, and idling about hoping to feel better in the morning, for days and weeks… P1220903

So, I am glad to be able to look back to sweeter memories of the old year and thankful for the energetic times we’ve had and the good things God has done for us in it!

We were still living with Jim’s dad in the BC Kootenays last year at this time and loving all the snow and learning to X-country ski in a pristine wooded wilderness. It was amazing!

IMG_20160220_122640123 All through January and February we skiied and I discovered doodling… IMG_20160104_221802890 P1190843

Then came an opportunity to live and work nearer the Calgary kids and the end of March found us exploring Canmore, Alberta.

IMG_20160330_151243778_HDR where Jim became a bicycle mechanic!

April 1 we moved into a sweet little suite…

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with the help of this great moving crew!

7 The Moving Crew roosting

It’s been a dream come true to live just an hour away from them all ( :

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The spring found me hiking with new found acquaintances…

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Finding my first Prairie Crocuses…

Crocus chorus

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…scaling a couple peaks nearest our home with Jim…

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And taking it easy on the neighboring golf course as I recovered from Shingles!

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There has been so much to discover…

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And always the stately Three Sisters providing the backdrop from our doorstep…

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A niece’s summer wedding was the perfect opportunity to return to my childhood home in New Jersey…

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and see family…

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Siblings

and all the wonderful cousins I grew up with!

Weaver Cousins

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This is my sis (could you guess?)

Then back in Alberta there was more hiking—and our first hike in a hail storm!

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And there were visitors, both people and animals…

deer with fuzzy new headgear

And flowers blooming on my doorstep…

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In August our middle daughter married, luring us back to Powell River for the occasion!

Sarah and Jim down the aisle

And we got to meet our newest grandbaby girl for the first time! the latest addition to our family

new grandbaby, Alexis

Then back home to the mountains…

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And hikes with the kids…

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And endless views… IMG_20160901_114248794_HDR

And then it was fall rutting season and the stately elk were back in our yard, plundering my flowers and providing awesome scenery!

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The meadow mellowed…

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And the aspens began to turn…

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And the mountains got their winter powder…

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Leaves turning gave inspiration for art all through September…

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And with October’s coming we had our first dusting of snow in the yard…

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The elk came calling often…

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And the trees out the window made beautiful silhouettes…

Evening falling silhouette

And finally, in October we got to take a trip north to see that new grandbaby in her home ( :

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October had its inspiring moments…

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And November its practice alphabets…

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And the cross-country season opened at the local Nordic Center!

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And holiday time came round again…the most low-key holiday ever and one we gladly leave behind to get on with a new year and a new season in our lives…

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…a cold one! But not without a beauty all its own…

Thanks for joining me for the reminisce! ( :

–LS

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Ps.90:1-2