Abigail Echo-Hawk

I have been thinking non stop about the 215 stolen indigenous children whose lives were taken at the Kamloops Indian Residential School and whose families where never told.  Buried there with no record of their name or deaths. I know there are many more sites like this across Canada and North America yet to be discovered and documented.

I came across this poem today, written by Abigail Echo-Hawk.  I needed to type it out. Read it aloud. Let my tears flow.

When they buried the children
What they didn't know
They were lovingly embraced
By the land
Held and cradled in a mother's heart
The trees wept for them, with the wind
they sang mourning songs their mother's
didn't know to sing
bending branches to touch the earth
around them.  The Creator cried for them
the tears falling like rain.

Mother Earth held them
until they could be found.
Now our voice sing the mourning songs.
with the trees. the wind. light sacred fire
ensure they are never forgotten as we sing
JUSTICE

When I went out to try to find out more about Abigail Echo-Hawk I came across this converstion with her about the work she is doing in Seatle right now. She is the chief research officer of the Seattle Indian Health Board and is creating programs and databases that are not based on Western concepts to better serve indigenous communities.

Conversation with Abigail Echo-Hawk

#53: 4 AM Bathroom Hallway Hellos

 53: 4 AM Bathroom Hallway Hellos

Truth time: I have an over active bladder. 

Ask anyone who has lived with me or who has been on a road trip with me. There are rules about my liquid allotment on road trips. It took me years to figure out my bladder. If you pee often, go to your doctor soon. There is helpful medication.

While living in Arta's house in the early 2000's, I slept in the room beside hers and as we went to bed, she would say, "see you at 4 am for our hallway crossing to and from the bathroom". Yes Arta, we did meet in the hallway every morning, one of us headed back from the bathroom and the other heading toward it. Every morning.

While in the hallway that early, you might as well be friendly and polite. Thanks for the quick hellos at 4 am in the hallway Arta!

Love you! 🚽  💙

Tell me about Blanche Fisher Scoville

Great grandmother Blanche Fisher Scoville - mother of my grandmother Wyora Scoville Pilling

A quick photo essay of images I found on family search.

Blanche Fisher Scoville 

What I know about Blanche comes from my mother Arta.  I have heard her speak about Blanches lovely voice.   Grandpa Doral Pilling often tried to get Blanche to do a solo at church.  I know she loved sheet music and if I remember correctly kept it on a wooden music stand in her home.  I think it might be the very music stand I now have in my house.  

Here are my mother's memories of her grandmother Blanche Fisher Scoville.

This photo might be the earliest photo I have ever seen of Blanche.  She is the cute baby sitting on her mother's lap.   The photo is of Elizabeth Stewart with her 3 oldest living children, Blanche on her lap with her oldest daughter on the left and her son James Fisher on the right in that fancy dress.  Elizabeth's first child died the year it was born.

Blanche is seated on her mother Elizabeth Stewart's lap.  Her older sister Bertha is on the far left and her brother James is in the cute dress on the right side.

Blanche Fisher on the right with Myrtle Borup.  I wonder if they were still friends into adulthood?

I wonder who took this photo of Myrtle Borup and Blanche Fisher?  Why these two girls together?  Are they friends or relatives?  A mystery unsolved.

The Fisher Sisters.  An image from family search.  Blanche is on the right.  This photo is with two of her sisters - Bertha in the centre and Tearoha on the left.

I always enjoy seeing photos sisters.  Here a photo of the Fisher Sisters.  Blanche was married at the age of 19.  Had her first child at the age of 20 and was widowed at the young age of 45.  I know she lived down the hill from Doral and Wyora Pilling when my mother Arta was young.  She died at the young age of 59, I think from leukemia.  

Does anyone have any more stories they can share about Blanche?

No Self Control

First, start popping the kernels.  Two full bowls aren't really enough, so get the first one full and buttered and salted.  Once that bowl is on the couch with the movie go-ers start a second and at least a third.

The top of the air popper is made to melt butter while the machine is on.  I've always found this not really to work time wise.  The popcorn always finished and the butter hadn't melted, so then we would leave the machine on without popping corn just to finish melting that butter.  Better to just get a pan on the stove and melt as much butter as your heart desires.

The popcorn is salty, and oily, and just perfect to eat while watching a movie.  Since my childhood I was always told by Glen that Hye's brand seasoning salt is un beatable.  It might not be true, but I've never felt the need to test this claim.

The reason that I wanted to write about this tonight is that popcorn is the one thing that Arta has never been able to stop eating.  Ask her yourself, to Arta a mormon punch bowl full of popcorn is a single serving if the movie is right and the lights are dimmed.

And the lights are dimmed.  And the movie is going....  I wonder how much popcorn would get through a juju-bee stent.  endoscopo jujenostomy?  I'm sure that it's wide enough to let SOME popcorn through....

Identifying Plants with Arta and the Miracle of Cell Phones

 

On Arta's birthday, Bonnie took me for a hike at Tsutswecw Provinaicl Park (about 1 hour drive from the cabins) to see the pictographs there.

Tsutswecw Provincial Park

During our walk Bonnie said to me, "look, wild ginger." Many memories were flooding back to us of walking in the forest with Arta and her pointing out different plants and trees during our childhood right up to our adult lives. We spent a long time talking about these memories while we walked.

Today I cam across this recipe for wild ginger syrup so thought I should share it and share some photos from our hike that day.

Wild Ginger Syrup - Chef Adler

 

Bonnie had been on this hike before so she knew just where to head off the path down toward the river.  We climbed up to a spot where the river narrows and drops in elevation so there are some beautiful rapids.  This is where you will find the pictographs.  There is a nice information board there that tells you a little about the indigenous people who lived on the territory and who would have created the pictographs, and about the current efforts to protect and preserve them.

 

We decided to get our feet naked and enjoy the very, very cold mountain runoff water.  Numbingly delicious.

On our walk back, we decided to give Arta a birthday phone call.  We weren't sure if we would have reception, but sure enough the phone rang and Arta answered.  We marveled at the fact that we could be walking in a mountain forest and just call her up.

Remember Arta's Pins?

When I was with Arta in the hospital in Victoria, one night she wanted to talk about some of her favourite pins. This past weekend I was in Calgary and came across two of the pin that made it into Arta's earlier musings.

Arta's pins - Part 1

Arta's Pins - Part 2 

I also came across the cameo she bought when I was lucky enough to be on a (mostly) Italy cruise with her.  We had spent the day in Pompeii together on a day tour.  Being the nerdy infrastructure/ transportation person I am, I was so excited to see the ancient roads and sewers systems.  I'm a weirdo. 

Another part of the day that I loved was visiting the nearby very large, touristy cameo store.  Beautiful cameos in a store that was able to support many artists doing this old art because of all the Pompeii tourists that come through. 

cellini gallery

Arta bought a cameo that could be a pin or a pendant.  It was beautiful. I remember her studying the faces of the different women, trying to find the one she wanted.  I also bought a cameo pendant and a pair of small dangley cameo pendant earrings.

Before I was in Italy and saw real cameos and I heard people talk about them, I hadn't know anything about the art -- I didn't even realize they were carved on shells and that is where the two-toned colour comes from.

"Our Camoes are handmade engraves shells that, thanks to their stratified structure, alow to vary the levels of profundity and make real miniature bas-reliefs. For our creations we are various kinds of shells; for example some of the most precious shells are the African Cassin Madagascarensis, Rufa and Curnuta. They are characterized by their two clearly distinguishable, coloured that allow to isolate the figure in relief." (text from Cellini Gallery website)

#52 - Feed any and all kids who comes into your house - lessons from Arta

Since I love food (as I say in almost every post I do, because inevitable I only blog about food), it was not problem at all for me to adopt this practice of Arta's once I had my own children.

I love it when my kids have friends over and I love to feed them.  I learned from Arta that some flour, yeast and water can go a long way to making a bunch of teens think they are in heaven. Hot bread in less than 2 hours. And if you have some butter, brown sugar and cinnamon on had -- cinnamon buns will easy bestow upon you the crown of best mom ever.

This year for Xavier's 19th birthday, his second celebrated during covid times, four of his friends arranged to come over to hang out in the backyard, play boardgames, visit and have burgers and cake.  The rain interrupted their boardgame, but because everyone has had their first vaccination, we all agreed to move the party inside.

Xavier has loved spice cake for a long time, so I hade made a double layer spice cake with maple icing.  Of course, not complete without vanilla ice cream.

We laughed that even if covid hand't been a factor, Xavier would have still preferred a small group of friends for an informal party, than a big fancy shindig.  So everyone was happy.

 

 

#51 - things I learned from Arta - it is never too early in the day or ice cream / you can never make too much apple crisp

I've been craving apple crisp a lot these days.  Anyone who knows me will  know I think about food a lot, so not surpising really. I really love apple crisp.  It reminds me of my childhood.  I can't put my finger on a specific memory... just a general remembrance of the smell, and eating it while it was hot out of the oven, either with a little cream drizzled on it or if you were lucky, a big scoop of ice cream.

Roughly cut apples, can you see the slight sprinkle of cinnamon,
sugar and lemon juice?

 

I made apple crisp this morning and called Arta to let her know.  She said, "I hope you'll be having it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream."  I had not problem complying with that suggestion.

I always make 1.5 times the topping recipe.

 

It also brought back to me a very fond memory of asking for waffles with ice cream for my birthday breakfast.  I know I got to spend more than a few birthday breakfasts sitting in my bed with waffles and ice cream.

Crisp indeed.

But back to apple crisp.  One fall when I was home on maternity leave, we went apple picking as we always do.  So  many apple orchard in the Ottawa and Montreal areas. I think I ate only apple crisp for 3 meals a day for about a week.  I didn't once think that might be an odd thing to do.  I'm pretty sure I never heard Arta say, you can't have seconds (as long as everyone who wanted firsts had had a chance).

Today's breakfast was the best breakfast ever.  And yes, I did have two bowls.

Genealogies - Lucene B. Penrod

Arta asked me to start uploading a bunch of genealogical documents she has gathered onto her "Grandmother Arta" website.  

I have been reading through a few pages today about Lucene B. Penrod, who would be Grandfather Doral Pilling's great-grandmother.

https://grandmotherarta.wordpress.com/2021/05/22/lucien-b-penrod-1831-1915/

Now I wonder if anyone can find more information on her?  Pictures?

------------

Catherine here - jumping on to this post to add some photos from Family Search

Lucee Bird Bybee Penrod - image take from Family Search.  No other details provided

Lucene Bird Bybee (Beckstead, Penrod) holding her grandson Blaine William Adams 1908

Lucene Penrod is the 2nd from the right back row in this photo.

Lucien (Lucene is in the back row)

INTRIGUE.  Check this out and see if you can provide a good explanation

My Judy Grimes, Kidding Not Kidding.

 

There was a hilarious comedian who used to do this character.  She would always tell jokes and say just kidding at the end of the joke.  There was never any suspense.

We are doing many letters to Grandma these days and so letters are on everyones mind.  Betty wrote me a letter that she delivered me before bedtime.

I think that it's a christmas card?  Try and read / decipher before you read my interpretation.....

I love you Dad.  I want you to have a happy Christmas.  I was just playing around with you.  But not about the I love yous.  

Happy Halloween!

Betty.

P.S. AND..... Harmony.

just kidding not kidding.  kidding kidding, not kidding I'm kidding.

#49: Move With The Times & #50: Take Care of The Land and Enjoy

#49: Move with The Times

As I enjoy some time at Shuswap, memories always flood in. As children our many parents, aunts and uncles had to spend so much time entertaining us. Outside games like Doubles Tag, and Red Rover; inside games like Nerts, Crazy 8's, and Rook; at the beach like swimming, canoeing, and Rock Walks. I am sure it was fun for them sometimes? :)

Their time was spent with us because we didn't have televisions, we only rented movies occasionally in town, and the Internet did not exist yet. Nothing like 40 bored kids to drive adults crazy.

After all that time spent with aunts like Arta, we began to move with the times. We bought a TV for the cabin, we all joined the internet with emails (thanks to Arta), and we continued to access more technology like digital games (not Arta's idea).

Now we are on to our next adventure at Shuswap: Telus PureFibre Internet access. 

I was here when Telus showed up to install the two polls and fibre optic cables so we can send emails, post on this blog, and maintain contact with friends and each other from Shuswap faster!

Here are some pictures:

Truck With Our Two Poles

Navigating the road

Poles from behind

Glen organizing with Telus employee

Spot found and work begins

Pole is placed 7-8 feet in the ground

#50: Take Care of the Land and Enjoy

Well here we are placing poles in the land, not disturbing the trees, things blending in. 

Poll #1 Hidden in the Trees

Poll #2 waiting for fibre optic lines

Arta has spent a large part of her lifetime taking care of this land. Many of us have stepped in to help, lead, and organize this place we love. There are so many digital devices that we to burn through our bytes at an alarming rate. This new connection may help us enjoy this space even more. 

I sure hope we continue playing games like Red Rover and Rock Walks. Spending time together is one of the best parts of this place. Arta and all of our parents, aunts and uncles taught us that through their actions.  

Declared EXCELLENT by Dr Barclay

Yesterday, Arta had and ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography).  

Try saying that three times fast.  

The reason for the ERCP was to place a stent in her common bile duct.  Her NOT WELCOMED pancreatic cancer has obstructed that important piece of human plumbing which drains bile from the liver.  The blockage caused her to turn a lovely shade of yellow.  You might almost think it was a nice sun tan if you couldn't see her sitting next to someone without jaundice.

Rebecca and Arta at the hospital, taking a selfie before Arta goes for her ERCP procedure.

For those interested, here is the DIY instruction on doing an ERCP stent placement.

The black tube is the endoscope.  Enter through the mouth and continue advancing until you reach the ampulla of the common bile duct.  Thread the guide into the common bile duct, along with the metal stent in closed position.  Once you have achieved the desired position, open the stent.  Ensure bile drainage before withdrawing the endoscope and accompanying guide thread. 

Thank goodness this wasn't a DIY project and that the amazing and talented Dr Barclay was actually in charge.  He sent Arta this brief note after the procedure.  

I'd like to mention that I agree with his final assessment - EXCELLENT.  

He not only placed the stent with EXCELLENT bile drainage, but he also went in to recheck his earlier work and found the gastrojejunostomy tube in EXCELLENT position.  Hooray.  Dr Barclay may you work your miracles on many other patients in the coming days.  We send you a million thanks for being Arta's EXCELLENT gastroenterologist.

Looking forward to Arta turning a different shade in the coming days.

Frog Bread

Do you know what a group of frogs is called?  An army.  And here is the army of frogs I made with Rhiannon the other day.  They had seen frog buns on the "interweb" and had some ideas of how to make them.

So first I made the green bread dough. Then we rolled a "big" bun and attached two small balls at the top for eyes.  Rhiannon had seen someone use toothpicks to sort of blend the edges of the small balls onto the big ball so they would stick.

They also wanted to try braiding bread.

The results -- rising stage.

And after baking...

Don't forget to paint eyes and a mouth on them with melted chocolate.  This frog got heart-shaped eyes.

 

Rhiannon declared the results were perfect and they loved their army of frogs so much.  So much that we ate them.