Paasstol – Dutch Easter Bread

This Easter, I thought I would revive a Dutch tradition and make a wonderful stollen. I found out, after I had made it, that I should have formed it in the shape of a cross, in memory of Christ’s death and Resurrection. Next year, this is what I will do.

This is a rich, sweet bread filled with dried fruits and almond paste, then sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Soaking the raisins, and the currants stirred up some old childhood memories.

A big thank you to the crusaders, who 650 years ago brought back the almonds, the candied peel, and the spices, that add so much to the fine dough, made with so much butter, that makes this rich delicious stollen.

Sharing this culinary delight with family, made reviving this tradition, learning more about my heritage, even more delightful.

He is Risen! Alleluia!

Early Mornings

I have a sister who tells me that early morning is the best time for photography.

I tell my sister that early morning is the best time for sleeping.

This morning I awoke early.

I stepped out onto my back deck, and this happened.

To early mornings!

The Colour Blue

Today started out as a blue kind of a day, as a combination of snow, sleet, rain and freezing rain, prevented me from spending the afternoon painting with my sister.

Generously supplied by the Maclaren Art Center

But seeing that little watercolour palette, with it’s dot of blue pigment, along with a new paint brush, washed those blues away.

With supplies generously donated by the MacLaren Art Center, for us folks who have reached a certain age, and under the direction of one of their artists, via Zoom, my paper went from white to blue.

A Silly Spring Poem

I love this rock,

With it's wood and rock.

The ice that clings

Like a woolen sock.

It'll stay there 

Til the weather is fair,

When it will melt away 

Like a frilly frock.

It is so much fun

To see the slush

Form

Beneath your shoe.

It will make you wet,

But what they heck.

A tasty treat, 

For those fast red feet.

Of the elusive red squirrel 

If it comes near the house,

It will be treated like a mouse

AND!!!!!

Happy Spring Everyone !!!!!

Walking on Ice

Kempenfelt Bay, upon whose shores the beautiful City of Barrie sits. It’s also home to other wonderful little spots, like Big Bay Point, and Shanty Bay.

A Bay, that grows ever more beautiful as winter melts into spring. When spring moves into summer, then autumn, and back to winter, and ice huts will once again dominate the landscape.

The frozen waters provide a perfect playground for this beautiful chocolate lab. A chocolate lab, much loved by his Oma and Opa.

Pressure cracks, and nature’s sculptures, cover the bay as water begins to pool on top of the ice.

Deep below the layers of ice lurks the legendary lake creature named Kempenfelt Kelly.

Kempenfelt Kelly is said to have a long stove-pipe neck, topped with a face that looks like a dog.

It is about 12 feet long, or prehaps a lot longer.

Folklore also says that it has three pairs of legs, and looks like an octopus, topped with two long and sensitive antenna.

One source noted that it has “exquisitely beautiful feather-like appendages, that are constantly in motion.”

When I finally lay eyes on the mysterious Kempenfelt Kelly, I will give you a full, and accurate description of this remarkable being.

Along the shore of Kempenfelt Bay, in Big Bay Point.

War in Ukraine

We pray for the Ukraine.

For the people.

For the country.

For their freedom.

Red

The colour

Of the blood

Being shed.

Green

For the new life

That will begin

When the fighting stops.

A leader stands

Tall

Waiting for the world

To provide support.

Winter Blues

Shadows in the snow,
how sullenly they flow.

In the depth,
of winter blues.
The colours,
varying in hues.

One war
is almost over.
Another one
may soon begin.

The clouds open,
and shadows form.

The forecast, 
as unsure.
As the winter
is long.

February

This old tree.
The forest. 
And me.

Following footsteps. 
Of those who walked.
These trails.
Before us.

Let your imagination. 
Go wild.
And you will see.
Dragon wings.
And other things.

Listen to the wind.
Listen to the trees.
Listen to the sounds.
Floating on the breeze!

Refreshing my Dutch Language

My parents and my two sisters, plus four of my mother’s siblings and their families, emigrated to Canada from the Netherlands, in the early 1950’s.

I was born in Canada.

When I was a little girl speaking dutch, an aunt gently said to me, ‘We came to Canada to be Canadian, let’s speak English.’

Aunts and Uncles, from the Netherlands, would visit and very quickly my first language would return. Today, cousins visiting are very fluent in the English language. Practicing Dutch has becoming a rare occurrence.

Gradually, the language of my ancestors became lost to me.

Or so I thought.

My friend, D, has been using this quiet time of Covid19 to study the French language. I am very grateful to her for introducing me to her wonderful little App. Two days ago I started on a journey that, hopefully, will lead me to becoming fluent in the Dutch language.

I am surprised at how easily the words are returning. The written word is a bit challenging, the grammar, the spelling!

But the speaking, and the reading, come back easily!

I realize I am early on in the course, but I feel very confident that I will regain this language that I had believed to be lost.

A Covid Weary World

Feeling the weight
of the world.

Those on the right,
Those on the left.
God, please get us 
safely,
Out of this mess.

Being inconvenienced, 
is not the same as
Being oppressed.

Instead of purchasing 
canteens of gasoline, 
Help the world
gain
Access to the vaccine.

Then all the variants
will go away. 
And safely,
once again,
We will play!