Things We Love About Arta: #54 - #60

 Hi All,

I had fun playing games with my sisters, Zoe and Charise this evening. Now I am going to type while they tell me the things they love about Arta. 

#54

Charise and the folks at Chisholm have received beautiful Irises from Arta's garden. She is very generous in sharing plants once they have grown too large or thick in her own garden. Tonia remembers visiting Arta while she worked at the University of Calgary Library where Arta had grown so many plants in so many pots. She would laugh that she was a green thumb at work but did not have any potted plants at home. Her outside garden grew to be very lovely and the smell of sweat peas was always a welcoming scent. 

Arta's shared Irises. 

Wonderful for the front garden.

#55

Zoe says she loves shopping with Arta. They would often buy snacks like chips, chocolate and pop. So delicious! Sometimes they would even go out to eat at places like KFC and McDonalds. Zoe loves collecting and using coupons, which she and Arta used for their fun dinners.

These are not the treats Arta and Zoe bought in Calgary,
but we all had our favourite chocolates when we
were travelling to London and Brussels. 
Leonidas chocolate and Lion bars are the best!

#56

Zoe loves playing board games with Arta. They play Azul, Crib, Canasta, Splendor and Racko. Zoe says that she wins most of the time. Charise and I believe her. I am sure Arta was always a great sport. Zoe did just confess that Arta did win on occasion. They both had fun together!

Zoe and Arta having fun!

Game night with Arta and Zoe!

#57

Zoe and Arta used to go to aquacise together at the local pool. They would put on their floatation belts so they did not sink. Zoe loved running and biking in the water because it felt like she was walking on thin air. Twice, Zoe could not go to aquacise so Tonia went instead. It was really fun to workout and talk with Arta at the same time!

#58

When Tonia was 19 years old and came down from Edmonton, where she was in University, to visit the Johnson's, a number of us went to the cow house along 16th Ave. It is called the cow house because the owner had painted the house white with large black blobs on it. At the time it was a clothing and jewelry store. Arta found two matching rings and Tonia said she loved them. Arta then said, "I will buy one ring for you and one for me but you have to promise to wear it as often as you can". Thirty years later it is still one of the rings Tonia likes wearing the most. It has the hair she has always wanted, long and flowing, and it reminds her to be a good and fierce feminist.

Our matching rings.

The long flowing hair all around her face.

#59

Driving with Arta to Shuswap Lake

If you want to know all about the geography, terrain, history and natural world as you drive from Calgary to Annis Bay along Highway 1 take Arta (or Glen). I remember the first time I (Tonia) and Arta drove in a car together, Arta pulled out a binder full of research she had collected over the years, and shared it with me as we passed particular places and objects. I remember you cross the Kicking Horse River/Columbia River (with all it's names) 14 times. You can tell which part of the mountains you are in by the names of the restaurants and hotels (Monashee, Purcell, and Selkirk mountain ranges within the Rocky Mountains). I know there was a buffalo jump at Jumping Pound Creek just outside Calgary (which is sadly being changed with suburban development). I also look at how the snow rests and clings to tree branches, fence posts, bushes, and the tops of bathrooms stops in the winter as Arta pointed out. It is a magnificent drive and her voice and research is in my head every time I take the trip to our beloved land.

For more information about the three mountain ranges, click here.

#60

Zoe said she and Arta would go on fantastic walks. They would go to Nose Hill Park and see deer, birds, flowers, trees, and a teepee. There is also a pond where they would stop and enjoy the views. Such lovely times walking and enjoying nature.

Fun with Arta and Zoe in a Photo Booth.

We love you so much Arta and are so grateful that you are our amazing Aunt! 

We keep trying to be as cool, smart and wonderful as you!

Zoe's 37th birthday in pics

Hi from Tonia!

As the designated photographer of Zoe’s birthday (no one else brought their mobile device), here are the best pics.

It was a wonderful event and Wyona and clan did a great job with food, cake, and Covid safety.

Hugs to all!

Tonia

A note from the one-handed typer:

- wow to the design on the blue blanket -- something I want one of

- I ee food lined both sides of walk-way.  Yum

- nice modelling of family mask wearing

- so many mask models

- gorgeous hand made gingerbread cookies on exterior of bd cake

- Happy bd hat rocks.  love the candles on top

- cute cousin's table

- as usual, your camera rocks, Tonia

Arta

When are eyes not eyes?

The Jokiest Joking Riddle Book

Zoe and I do Facetime together. 

Today she was reading to me from a new book that Wyona bought here.  The Jokiest Joking Riddle Book.

Here are some of the riddles that are heard from her.

What kind of hair is the hottest?
Answer: Sideburns

When are eyes not eyes?
Answer: When the pollen in the air makes them water.

How many feet in a yard?
Answer: Depends on how many people are standing in the yard.

I thought all of her jokes were funny and asked her if she reads them to Brandy Shortridge's children.

Wyona answered for Zoe.  These jokes are too hard. 

I hadn't really thought of that -- jokes do require a certain level of word play that small  develop, but that they don't have innately.

Zoe sent me a picture of her holding the book.  You can buy it at Walmart.

Good Parking at Costco

You can always get good parking at Costco if you go on a day when Costco is closed, which is what happened to Wyona, Chelsea, Zoe and me today.

An empty parking lot? Greg had asked Wyona if Costco weren’t closed today.

Zoe Bates and Arta Johnson, shopping at Winners

She told him they are only closed on stat holidays. I guess Family Day stands in for a stat holiday now.

We were saved by the fact that A&W was close by and that Zoe had her coupons with her. 

Zoe always has coupons with her, so we sorted those out, enjoyed the darling wire trays that the French fries are served in, and the icy beverages, before we headed in to Winners.

... Chelsea, the sonnet woman ...

I enjoyed the lunch specials a lot because I had a chance to interview Chelsea Bates about the courses she is taking.

 How about English 252.2 – specifically the sonnet.

“Are you kidding,” I asked. “You must get to look at sonnets from every time period! What is your text book.”

Falteringly she said, “The Norton Anthology of Poetry. Is there such a title.”
“Oh my gosh. I can hardly wait to get my hands on that book,” I said. “Know any sonnets yet?”

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” she says in almost a whisper. "That is the only line of that sonnet I know."

Yes, … thou art more lovely and more temperate … I had forgotten how quickly those lines can come back to a person.

We had a lovely afternoon at Winners, though the poetry discussion was even more fun than shopping was.

Chelsea and Wyona shopped for some winter clothes for school, enough that Chelsea doesn’t have to do her wash so often. At least that is what she wanted.  Enough clothes to last until the next wash.  Wyona knows how to get 25 items in a cart and be off to the change room to help get those clothes on and off someone else's body so that trying on clothes is not so much of a chore.

Zoe and I went up and down the isles of Winners as well – Zoe buying some French meringues. And I got carried away at the Easter decoration isles.

“How can they continue to make so much cute stuff for Easter,” I asked Wyona.

“Yes,” she said, “and our job is to get home and get out all the stuff we already have, so we don’t continue to buy more."

They dropped me off at home and I began to pull out my Easter decorations.

As well I came inside to look for Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 which I just had to read again.

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:
     So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
     So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Southern Stardust Big Band 20th Anniversary Valentine Concert

... Art and Marcia trip the light fantastic ...

On Tonia Bates' Facebook page she first invites everyone to the  Southern Stardust Big Band 20th Anniversary Valentine Concert at the Austrian Canadian Club, February 15, 2020.

Then she posts links and pictures of the event, which I have lifted to this space in case anyone didn't see them on Tonia's Facebook page.

Tonia says, "Always a great time! ❤️  Lurene singing and Tim playing the trombone. My parents and all of us dancing!"

So here are some links below and some pictures in case you didn't take a peek.

Lurene singing

Trio Sings

In case you haven't heard this number for a long time, here the Trio Sings Boobie Woogie Boy of Company B.  Now that would have been fun to dance to.

And this is a link that should be called, "How to Dance you feet off in your 70's by Greg and Wyona".

If the links aren't enough, here are some pictures to enjoy:

Not to miss Tim he is the trombonist, second row,
whom you can hardly see in the picture.
But he is there in the second row of the band.

Tonia and Zoe Bates at the
Southern Stardust 20th Anniversary Dinner and Dance

Marcia Bates, Art Treleaven and Wyona Bates rest for a minute.

A good time was had by all.

(As photographed by Tonia put on her Facebook page)

Grievances: Real or Imagined

... Lurene and Tim at his birthday party ...

Sometimes grievances, real or imagined can get in the way of happiness.

But I don’t seem to carry my grievances (real or imagined) that way.

I find myself waking up every morning, just thrilled to have another day ahead of me – even if that day includes going to the dentist, which my life included today.

I feel that little pinch that comes with the freezing and think how lucky I am to have a dentist and good dental care.

... Marcia and Arta wearing necklaces designed by Wyona ...

My life is rich.

I wake up early.

I have a chance to do exercises, which I detest, but I still love doing them, since doing them is better than letting my joints get stiff, or not being able to walk at all.

Now it is the middle of December, or just about.

Wyona and Greg, the last of the 6 guests at Tim's birthday party

I have all of my Christmas decorations out, at least the ones I am getting out.

Not that I want them out. Decorating takes so long: little tiny ornaments on trees, finding batteries for small trains that will play tinny Christmas melodies, using the glue gun to repair ornaments that are broken now.

Everything Christmas decoration that stands (as opposed to hangs) is on my island.

To me it looks like an unholy potpourri of objects collected over 50 years.

But my grandchildren like to touch them, or turn on the batteries to them -- and that is what Christmas is about.

... Tim, good-naturedly posing with his birthday hat on ..

I can still name the places where the ornaments were purchased and about most of them I can remember the prices. That makes me laugh.

I try to group them by colour so that they don’t look like I have just come from a garage sale – all the white and silver ones in the same place. It doesn’t help much.

Zoe looked at my decorations last night.

She brought over her new game of Azul, but before playing it with me, she turned every battery operated decoration on, and then off and she also took apart my Nativity Nesting Dolls, which turn out to be a lot of fun.

Zoe beat me four games straight.
Sometimes she doubled my score.
Ouch to that for me.

Not only is there the puzzle of getting them apart, but then they have to be regrouped so that the wisemen stand together, and so that the animals are with the shepherds.

I noticed that just about everyone touches the nativities moves the characters into a slightly different position.

I like to do that myself – to other people’s nativities.

For Christians, Christmas – the most wonderful time of the year.

Arta

Happy 74th birthday

From Arta
When I went to see Zoe today, she was wearing this hat.
I asked what that was all about.
She said, "It is Wyona's birthday and Art,
my brother-in-law's birthday.

Well, why not wear a hat to celebrate their birthdays?

From Wyona:

My birthday was pretty quiet. I went to get tickets for Matilda on Sunday for Marcia and Zach. Greg and Marcia went to get tickets for The Book of Mormon: the musical and Les Miserables.

I only got Les Miserables for Marcia and Zach today.

I wanted to go to Costco so Greg and I headed off there. We went two stops past where we got off at the wrong place, Moiya, and then he and I took the bus back one stop.

I found a quicker way to get home also. Greg bought a filler jacker for under his coat for my birthday.

It is really cold here now.

Wyona

Antigonish ... Here comes Zoe!

Zoe's sisters in Calgary had a surprise celebration party 

for her for being invited to participate
in the 2018 Canadian Special Olympics.

Charise drew a picture and the girls had it painted on a cake for her. 

They had the party at Chisholm.

This means a number of us will be absent from the lake
 next year from July 24th or so to Aug. 7th or so.

We will be in Antigonish, Nova Scotia or thereabouts,
watching Zoe complete.

Zoe won 5 medals

From Wyona:

Zoe won a gold medal in the rope, the clubs, the hoop and the ribbon. 

She won a fifth told medal for all round best athlete in Level 11.

It was a tear jerking day. 

Zoe was awesome. 

I will send more pictures and show video later.

Zoe has to stay with the team for the remainder of the day and tomorrow. If she qualifies for the Nationals in Toronto, she must stay with the team all three days, to prove she is independent to go to Nationals for 7 days. 

She might now qualify but we do not want to ruin her chances.

Teague and his band are playing at the final ceremonies tomorrow so we sill stay for that.

Wyona

The head bone connected to the neck bone

The demo model for this skeleton had come unhinged.

That is why Zoe is holding its head in place

I took a turn myself, holding that head in place.

All of the time I was thinking about Halloween and how much fun it is for some and how horrifying for others.

Because Wyona's birthday is Oct 27th, my mother always had a themed party for her.

Now I don't know how many parties that would be, given that most children stop having birthday parties sometime arouid when they are in Grade VI.

Still those memories are vivid for her, and I think for me as well.

There can a lot of decorating fun at Halloween.

Who doesn't like a cake decorated like a graveyard.  I won't be making any witches fingers cookies, but if I am offered one, I will happily take it.

Zoe and I left the broken skeleton in the store.

Arta

Costuming

Zoe and I got together yesterday after her dental appointment which was just teeth cleaning.

Her mother pointed out to her that she went out to eat two times the day before, and now she was out eating again.  Adulthood (making these dining choices) is so much fun.

The three of us also went to Michaels to pick up Halloween costuming for Zoe. She found a two foot high orange hat, orange LED ringlets, (imagine how they glow), and she has matching striped orange socks. 

 I don't know what I will wear for costuming, but I don't need much in the way of make-up.

Arta

Richard, the Trapper

"This is not a skunk" to take a riff from Rene Magritte.

"Guess what I found in my trap?", Richard said. "I bought the trap to catch rabbits and I haven't caught a single one.  They are in our garden every night and it is a matter of survival for us, to stop them if we are going to be the ones to eat out of our garden.  All I have caught is squirrels.  And now look what I have."

"What did you use for bait?", I asked.

"My famous weekend crepes," he said.  "It looks like they really worked even though they were two days old."

During the evening, everyone came out on the lawn to look:  Amir, Derek, Nicola and even Wyona, Zoe and Charise when they came over later.

I didn't want Zoe to go quite as close to the skunk as she was going.

"Leave her alone," said Wyona.  "She has been very sad all summer since she didn't see a bear when there was one on the property.  Now that there is a skunk, she is going to have to get close, no matter what happens."

When Zoe came back to the rest of the group hovering far back in the yard by the wire fence, Wyona asked her, "What did you see."

"I saw its eyes," said Zoe.

I guess that was enough.

Arta