YEAR IN REVIEW – Skelton Sketches

Best Bits of 2017…

Posted on December 29, 2017January 28, 2018 by lindaskelton

Christmas is past and the New Year’s coming on fast.

Thought I’d take a minute to look back and see where 2017 went!

Last year at this time we were officially commencing our first winter in Canmore…

We were braced for snow and cold and determined to use it to hone our cross-country skills…

MARCH brought Rachel to see our new nest before moving back to the Coast from her two-year venture in Alaska.

By APRIL I was more than ready for the snow to be done! But there was still time to tromp on frozen Lake MInnewanka and get some Grand shots of the Grandkids–

By MAY my flower hunger was acute but sweetly assuaged by the birth of grandbaby Jaxon back in Powell River where spring was already in gear…

And by the time I flew home, Alberta was fast catching up!

I guess I measure seasons in flowers. JULY brought the wood lily and the blue-eyed grasses…

And our sweet Alexis came for a visit with her mom and dad!

AUGUST brought her cousin, Jaxon with his folks

Then we were off to Yellowstone to camp with the rest of the grandkids

and witness the eclipse together beside amber waves of grain…

SUMMER 2017 will be remembered also for its unseasonably and delightfully hot temperatures

And just before frost hit in SEPTEMBER we discovered gardens in Banff we had somehow missed!

OCTOBER was perfect for a road trip…

to Prince George

and on to Powell River

to spend Thanksgiving with the girls and their men

Back home…

With NOVEMBER came snow in earnest and frozen lakes and beautiful sunrises…

And it brought us grandbaby Tiffany whom we have yet to meet in person.

And now that WINTER is officially here, well it’s time to ski again.

Though to be honest, I’d rather hole up indoors this time around.

And sometimes I need to remind myself of the reasons we’ve chosen to live in such a frigid place…

They are worth it!

And that’s where our year has gone! What about yours?

May God bless you as you recall all His mercies in the old year and look forward to all that is to come!

–LS

The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage…
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

–Ps. 16:6;127:3 KJV

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…

[Sweet-Suite2.jpg]

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 ( :

10 First Morning Tea April3

The spring found me hiking with new found acquaintances…

P1200079

P1200138

Finding my first Prairie Crocuses…

Crocus chorus

P1200539

…scaling a couple peaks nearest our home with Jim…

P1200610

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

IMG_20160511_113443623_HDR

There has been so much to discover…

IMG_20160514_142759917_HDR

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

IMG_20160531_153640581_HDR

IMG_20160604_171240397_HDR

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

P1210064

and see family…

P1200768

Siblings

and all the wonderful cousins I grew up with!

Weaver Cousins

IMG_20160613_202354338

This is my sis (could you guess?)

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

P1210294

P1210326

P1210454

And there were visitors, both people and animals…

deer with fuzzy new headgear

And flowers blooming on my doorstep…

P1210242

P1210803

P1210818

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…

IMG_20160818_124758592_HDR

And hikes with the kids…

P1210897

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!

P1210991

The meadow mellowed…

P1220115

And the aspens began to turn…

P1220370

And the mountains got their winter powder…

IMG_20160911_125402750_HDR

Leaves turning gave inspiration for art all through September…

IMG_20160927_123842594

P1220395

P1220493

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

stump P1220616

The elk came calling often…

P1220686

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 ( :

P1220740

P1220783

October had its inspiring moments…

IMG_20161103_102933874

And November its practice alphabets…

P1220900

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

IMG_20161119_114203254

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…

Holiday Train JS 3

…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

2015 in Retrospect

Posted on January 30, 2016April 29, 2017 by lindaskelton

It was a year ago this week that we made our initial move away from the coast to limboland. It was the day after my 53rd birthday. We left house and home with just a little trailer full of home-making essentials…

[IMG_20150126_082846760_HDR%255B4%255D.jpg] [P1160942%255B3%255D.jpg]

…to set up housekeeping with Jim’s Dad in the Kootenays for a bit and see where God might lead us all.

It’s been a year of discovering seasons and nature’s bounty in a new place,

of connecting more often with our grandkids,

of making a few new friends and

of learning a few new skills. It’s been a good year.

Discovering Seasons and Nature’s Bounty…

The snow receded early in the Kootenays…

P2250116

and we began to discover the world at our new doorstep.

P5060561 P3060166

By early April we were out on our tandem–

IMG_20150330_141258137

This is quite the place to cycle—lots of hills, and mountains!

With the coming of spring, I realized that flowers I thought I’d left behind, bloom here too…

[IMG_20150529_195943675%255B3%255D.jpg]

IMG_20150529_200200103

And there were new ones coming up in profusion among the pine needles…

P5060550 crop

Out my window a young oak replaced my beloved willow… P5060558

With the coming of spring a buyer was found for our left-behind- house. So April found us back in Powell River boxing up 12 years of family life.

We had moved in as a family…

2003 leaving Arizona 001

We left as a two-some…

[P11702863.jpg]

The day we moved, our last fledgling flew, off to Alaska to join her Grandma. P1170307

Good-bye Powell River… [IMG_20150418_200559630_HDR%255B4%255D.jpg]

Our nest here has been lined with boxes every since, as we wait to see what will be our next home…

P1170364

Summer here was hotter and drier, which we didn’t mind a bit!

Familiar faces bloomed in my wee bit of garden

[P1180268%255B3%255D.jpg]

[P1180766%255B1%255D.jpg]

And we went to our second Tandem Rally—back to the coast, Bellingham, Washington.

[IMG_20150704_075332129%255B3%255D.jpg]

IMG_20150705_090100404

In all, we pedalled 2,000 miles together in 2015!

One perk of pedalling down the highway was catching sight of all the wayside fruit! Free for the picking—Cherries, Saskatooon berries and delicious apples! [IMG_20150625_1113018584.jpg]

P1180792

[P1180795%255B2%255D.jpg]

And then summer had passed…

[P1180836%255B3%255D.jpg]

But fall was so beautiful we coudn’t begrudge its coming P1180820

IMG_20151026_111851223_HDR IMG_20151030_155016195

The glory of yellowing larches was new to us…They extended the fall color.

[P1180993%255B7%255D.jpg]

It has been good to be nearer extended family too. Thanksgiving was a great feast shared with siblings, nieces and a host of progeny…

[P1180956%255B4%255D.jpg]

[P1190154%255B4%255D.jpg]

[leaves%2520falling%255B7%255D.jpg]

The visitors to the yard have been different here. The black bears have brown noses and are very clever…

And the turkeys come gobbling just in time for Thanksgiving…

[P1190016%255B7%255D.jpg]

and Elk come looking for winter grub…

P1190514

Enjoying the Grandkids

We now live ever so much closer to our favorite little people—a mere 8- hour drive away through some of the most beautiful Parks in the world…

P1170832

P1190715

We have been back and forth to Calgary more than half a dozen times this year trying to keep up with birthdays and such.

IMG_20150616_164110842

[IMG_20150728_173154875_HDR%255B3%255D.jpg] [P1180968%255B3%255D.jpg]

six

IMG_20150213_103942945

P1170641 IMG_20150404_173648052

[IMG_20151121_102107404_HDR%255B8%255D.jpg]

We even got in our first camping trip all together! And our first family bike ride too!

Spray Lake panorama

[P11803283.jpg]
P1180634 P1180417

P1180591

[P1180639.jpg]

Discovering New places with New friends…

IMG_20150819_112251407_HDR

Despite the want of ocean views, the Kootenays have some pretty spectacular scenery and we’ve made a start at discovering trails and the people that walk them…

P1180084 P1180082

[P1190243%255B3%255D.jpg]

[P1190250a%255B3%255D.jpg]

IMG_20151024_125012869

P1180868 P1180881

A new friend introduced me to a new hobby– birdwatching!

[P1170413%255B3%255D.jpg]

Learning New Skills

Pine trees rise all around us here, and some of them have foot-long needles!

[P1180721%255B3%255D.jpg] [IMG_20150824_173245682_HDR%255B3%255D.jpg] So… I tackled something I never imagined I could learn…

IMG_20150916_204904808 And now I suppose just about everyone in the family owns a hand-made pine needle creation! If you don’t and you’d like to… you know who to ask ( :

********

Living in snow country, we figured it would be better to enjoy winter than to languish indoors wishing it away, so within a week of arriving last winter, we had purchased cross-country skiis and commenced to learn how to use them!

IMG_20150204_112235753_HDR The season ended early last year but this year we’ve put in many miles (135 miles for me at last count!). It’s been terrific for morale to get outside and glide along through pristine wilderness. And for me it has been a personal triumph over unwarranted fears.

IMG_20150219_134053

[IMG_20160120_154526934%255B3%255D.jpg] IMG_20151123_094157657_HDR

That pretty much brings us to the present. I expect we’ll be out skiing again tomorrow…This re-cap of the year has been too long but there is just one note to add…

FERRIES.

When we left the coast we thought we were done with ferries—but no, there are three of them in our vicinity. They have short runs, crossing rivers rather than ocean straits. But the best part is, they’re free!

[IMG_20150605_075641790_HDR%255B4%255D.jpg]

P1190235 [P1190227%255B5%255D.jpg]

And that concludes my year of being 53 without a home to call my own. I expect we’ll look back on it fondly, though now it seems like a perplexing bit of limbo for us. We are in Good Hands.

–LS

“Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!” Ps.23:6