Chinese New Year

although it is technically feb. 13th here in canada and the united states, over in maylasia, i have two friends, june..http://mangkokblog.blogspot.com/.. and amelia..http://flutteringthots.blogspot.com/ who are right now greeting in the new year..it is now 1:30 pm here and and it is 2:30 am, feb 14th in china and malaysia.
june has kindly sent me some beautiful pictures to post here.
these, she says are pictures of the "great eastern mall" which shows how they have decorated it for the "chinese new year"...

Chinese New Year or Spring Festival is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is sometimes called the "Lunar New Year" by English speakers. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first month in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival. Chinese New Year's Eve is known as chú xī. It literally means "Year-pass Eve".

Chinese New Year is celebrated in countries and territories with significant Han Chinese populations, such as Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had influence on the new year celebrations of its geographic neighbors, as well as cultures with whom the Chinese have had extensive interaction

In countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States, although Chinese New Year is not an official holiday, many ethnic Chinese hold large celebrations and Australia Post, Canada Post, and the US Postal Service issue New Year's themed stamps.

Within China, regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the Chinese new year vary widely. People will pour out their money to buy presents, decoration, material, food, and clothing.

On the Eve of Chinese New Year, supper is a feast with families. Food will include such items as pigs, ducks, chicken and sweet delicacies. The family will end the night with firecrackers. Early the next morning, children will greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year, and receive money in red paper envelopes. The Chinese New Year tradition is a great way to reconcile forgetting all grudges, and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone.

Chinese New Year is observed as a public holiday in a number of countries and territories where a sizable Chinese population resides. Since Chinese New Year falls on different dates on the Gregorian calendar every year on different days of the week, some of these governments opt to shift working days in order to accommodate a longer public holiday. Also like many other countries in the world, a statutory holiday is added on the following work day when the New Year falls on a weekend.

thank you so much june and happy new years to you and amelia and god bless you.......love terry

Happy New Year

bernie and i want to wish you a very happy new year...this first day of january 2010.
may the year ahead be a blessed and peaceful one.
i am putting this song in for my friend corry http://experiencingrheumatoidarthritis.blogspot.com/ who is a good friend to my grandpaw ron and my sunshine, jel.
we have met so many nice people the last four years and i am so glad that bernie and i have discovered each one of you!...love bernie ane terry

First Christmas in Heaven For Aunt Lilly

bernie and i send all of our best wishes to you all..so many blog friends and all of your families...may god richly bless you as you celebrate, not only the coming into the world of the lord jesus but also keeping in mind WHY he came...to die for us and pay for our sins with his own blood and finally to take us to heaven if we do receive his wonderful gift of love.........love bernie and terry




i received this letter a couple of days ago from my dearest friend and i am going to copy a portion of it for you to read..i am sure that felisol and gunnar and serina will not mind.

"Yesterday Gunnar’s aunt Lilly died, while we were visiting.
She had been weakening for a month, and died peacefully. She meant so much to our small family, and she had this giant heart with a place for us as well as her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great great grandchildren.
Now we are feeling a bit empty and lost even though she was saved and I was allowed to wish her a good journey to heaven."

here is gunnar and his dearest aunt lilly who he and felisol and serina were forever visiting.
and here is a lovely poem that i am dedicating to them

I see the countless Christmas trees
Around the world below
With tiny light, like Heaven´s Stars
Reflecting on the snow.

The sight is so spectacular,
Please, wipe away that tear,
For I am spending Christmas
With Jesus Christ this year.

I hear the many Christmas Songs
That people hold so dear.
But, the sounds of music can´t compare
With the Christmas Choir up here.

I have no words to tell you
Of the Joy their voices bring
For it is beyond description
To hear the Angels sing.

I know, how much you miss me,
I see the pain inside your heart,
For I am spending Christmas
With Jesus Christ this year.

I can´t tell you of the splendor
Or the Peace here in this place.
Can you just imagine Christmas
With our Saviour face to face??

I´ll ask Him to lift your spirit
As I tell Him of your love,
So then, Pray for one another,
As you lift your eyes above.

Please, let your hearts be joyful
And let your spirit sing,
For I am spending Christmas in Heaven
And I am walking with the KING.

Author: Wanda Bencke. (1998).

please pray for our precious norwegian family as they prepare for the funeral being held the 26th or 27th and they celebrate aunt lilly's life and say their farewells for now.
it will NOT be a final farewell...
thank you....love terry

For Crown Of Beauty

http://mla-crownofglory.blogspot.com/

Take Time To Smell The Roses?...NOT

dearest amrita, my friend ...this post is for you!





yesterday when mom golden's doctor appointment was over, i stepped into the bright sunny november day to find the little red car which was our ride out!
as i headed toward this medical building i was so surprised to see this rose bush!
so amazing that it was still in bloom and with winter on its way yet!


oh! there were several pink bushes!



so, so beautiful and so, so still sharing their sweet fragrance!


and then i thought of my friend, amrita and i was so glad that bernie had recently charged my camera because now i wanted so much to send these roses to india to her and her mama.


oh aren't they just a miracle of our creator?


just behind another corner, i spotted a little red rose and it beckoned me!



and it introduced me to the rest of the family...oh! oh! oh!



just look at this beauty sunning herself and admiring her own shadow on the wall!


just around the last corner, appeared a bright splash of red berries on this bush.
for sure and i was really happy that i always carry my camera!
click!


and yet another click!


and another!
can you see who is watching me in the distance?
watching me and with a pink paper waving at me in the breeze, and stuck on to the little red car's windshield wipers..NOT a ticket and if so for WHAT?


when i reached that little red car or "little red riding hood" as amrita calls it, i was shocked indeed that the paper WAS a ticket!
and you know for what?
well the man had written out that ticket, accusing the driver[me!] of parking in a handicap spot illegally!
the note said that the expiry date could not be seen and so "how do i know if the thing is legal or not?"...oh!
after i picked mom golden up, i hurried right to town and into the ticket department.
i knew mom golden was praying for me as i left her in the little red car.
i told the lady that this must be a mistake and that lady told ME that "no.. it wasn't".
i guess when she saw how upset i was, she forgave and cancelled the ticket.
and then she gave me some two way tape that i could put on my permit. she told me to tape it to the window and always up far enough for the expiry date to be seen by the ticket man..
oh!! if she hadn't of canceled that ticket, it would of cost 300 dollars to pay for it.. almost the WHOLE of my disability check!
i am so glad that the lord answered mom golden's prayer!
hmmmm...though, i really wonder if i should STILL take the time to stop and smell the roses!!


one thing though, i refused to be too upset to send on to princess amrita and her mama these two roses...a pink one and a red one and my wishes that amrita's poor knee aching with arthritis will get better!!
http://yesugarden.blogspot.com/
take care amrita, mama and sheeba....love terry

Southern Ontario Winter For Barb

I am sending these pictures to Barb and her Circle of Five http://thecircleoffive.blogspot.com/
What we have here is another Mrs. Mac who loves the winter and the ice.
Now Mrs. Mac http://scentedgeranium.blogspot.com/ sent me this cold snow and ice, so I can't hurt her feelings and return it to the Idaho Snow Queen, could I, eh?
Soooooo.. I got me to thinking.
I will send it to Barb and be done with it!
Oh, and Barb, you can just email that Bernie back to Canada any old time!



























































Brrr, eh Barb?.....Love Terry

New Years Day Birthday Girl

Today it is New Years Day and it is Mrs. Jim's birthday!! http://jimmiehov.blogspot.com/
So Happy News Years Everybody and Happy Birthday Mrs. Jim.....



Because the stores were all closed up today, tighter than a drum Mrs Jim, all I could manage to find was this stale chocolate chip cup cake left over from Christmas eve.
I used second hand candles that I had left over from Mr. Jim's birthday cake.
As you well know that guy is 106 years old so at that rate , I have about five more years worth of candles.
In these hard economic times, we must not waste, eh?




I hope that you guys don't get sun burnt in that warm place you have gone to.
There are quite a few people that would have loved to go along if they had only been asked.
If you think that Texas is cold, you ought to make a winter trip to Canada.
Leave your bathing suits behind though and bring your fur coats and snow shoes, eh?



Now, here is a gang that really misses you Mrs. Jim.
They got a couple of dogs together and went to the YMCA..Brought a beach blanket and pretended they were at the beach,
If you don't recognise them because the picture is so small, I will tell you their names..
Hmm...WE have here, Billy and Karen and BP and Katrin and Adi.



When Amrita's http://yesugarden.blogspot.com girl, Sheeba found out that there was a birthday party going on, she had Adi fly over and pick her up.
Sheeba had a few second thoughts about leaving the warmth of India and leaving her mama behind, so Adi let her take the newspaper where her mama's was front page news.
She is missing her mama and all for not! There was no party going on at all. Not one crumb of birthday cake and NO ice cream either!
Mrs. Jim and Mr. Jim had taken off and were having their own party in places unknown.
A place that was full of sunlight and warm weather!!
And PROBABLY licking on ice cream cones!
Chocolate ones!!

Mrs. Jim, if you noticed ,there was one head missing in the above group.
And that was Amber. She preferred to stay home to watch, "Deal or no Deal" starring her favourite Canadian personality, Howie Mandel.
Ever since I told Amber about that show, she has become addicted.
I have created a monster and you have my a deepest apologies Mrs. Jim!



Mrs Jim..I think that Mrs. Mac http://scentedgeranium.blogspot.com/ really wanted to come when I invited her but alas...she ended up stuck in a big pile of s snow....yep stuck solid in a huge heap that had been of her own making. I think that she was trying to make a giant snowball to throw at me!!
Oh the irony of the whole thing!

Happy Birthday once again dear Mrs. Jim!
You and Mr. Jim return home soon.................Love Terry

For Mrs. Mac

In the wee hours of the morning, I arose from my sleep, thinking only to get a glass of water.
I decided to go and see my friend Mrs. Mac. and this is what a found... a real treasure of a post written by a real treasure of a woman!
Alas! I couldn't keep this to myself, and so I lifted Mrs. Mac's words right off of her site for others to read!
All that Mrs. Mac can do is sue me, eh, but she is not that type of lady! So here it is!





My motto for years was: "When My Kids Grow Up" ... this meant the time for
me to get back in the workforce outside the home. Slowly the years have crept by. One at a time ... adding up to several decades now. Time still spent at home. No longer do I wait for these years to pass by ... there will, most likely, never be an opportunity to work outside the home. Some of my children have left the nest. Another will leave in a few short months after college. Yet another will most likely be my charge for many more years to come. Now I'm cycling in a grandchild to watch a few days a week. He's already stolen my heart and I couldn't possibly send him off to day care (not on my watch). Suddenly, I'm becoming the matriarch of our family. I am starting to like that title. It's a protective, full of wisdom type of title. Not many women can call themselves the Matriarch of their families. I've come full circle ... and I am thankful to be a child of God, sister of many friends, daughter, mother, grandmother, wife, secretary of our HOA ;)... my job titles are too many to list. I may not get paid monetarily ...but hugs, pats, and oatmeal kisses are not too bad a form of payment.
10/06/08 by Mrs. Mac http://scentedgeranium.blogspot.com




I found this beautiful picture and write up on the Internet and so I am putting it here in honour of our Mrs. Mac!


Oh that God would give every mother a vision of the glory and splendor of the work that is given to her when a babe is placed in her bosom to be nursed and trained! Could she have but one glimpse in to the future of that life as it reaches on into eternity; could she look into its soul to see its possibilities; could she be made to understand her own personal responsibility for the training of this child, for the development of its life, and for its destiny,--she would see that in all God's world there is no other work so noble and so worthy of her best powers, and she would commit to no others hands the sacred and holy trust given to her.

~ J.R. Miller, Homemaking




And I found THESE words about Mrs. Mac in the Bible!


Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
Proverbs 31:25-31

May the Lord bless you Mrs. Mac, both you and your family....Love Bernie and Terry