I'm going to be a Grandma!

Guess what....I'm going to be a Grandma really soon! Can't wait!

The Walking Trail

Just a few minutes from where I live is The Landing Place Walking Trail. It takes me about 20 minutes at a brisk pace to walk the 1.8 km. I walk it about four or five times a week. Come for a virtual walk with me and see the sites I see along the way:

Nattie's Wedding

They say the sun always shines on a happy bride! Well, the sun was shining in Mount Pearl on August 4th when Natalie and Geoff said their wedding vows. It was a perfect day in every way. We now have a new member in our family. Welcome to the family Geoff!

Wally, Geoff, Beverly, Natalie & Nadine

There are lots of Nattie & Geoff's wedding pictures on Facebook, if you'd like to see more.

Nadine's Grad

In the last week of May we went to St. John's for Nadine's grad. Nadine graduated from the Bachelor of Nursing Collaborative Program at Memorial University Centre for Nursing Studies.

Nadine Nippard, B.N.

The celebrations started off with a gala dinner served at the Delta Hotel on Monday, May 23, 2007. The menu included an appetizer, salad with imported greens, entree of The Ultimate Roast Turkey Dinner followed by a New York Style Cheesecake with Wild Berry Sauce dessert. Grace for the meal was offered by Nadine. The agenda for the evening included a violinist, several vocalists and addresses to the faculty and to the students, followed by an address from guest speaker Debbie Forward, President of the Newfoundland and Labrdor Nurses Union and a music collection by Drumline. The evening concluded with the cutting of the cake and a dance.

On Wednesday morning, May 25th there was a formal convocation ceremony at the Arts & Culture Centre for Memorial University where Nadine received her hood and diploma. Then on Wednesday afternoon, there was another formal ceremony at the Donald F. Cook Recital Hall, School of Music for the Centre for Nursing Studies where Nadine received her Proffessional Pin.

Congratulations Nadine. We're so proud of you!

Nattie's Engagement

Weeeelllll...I finally got the 'engagement picture'! Natalie, our eldest daughter became engaged to Geoff Constantine on Christmas Day 2006. When we went to St. John's for Nadine's grad in May, I snapped this picture of Geoff & Natalie at the restaurant where we went out for supper. They plan to be married on August 4th, 2007 in Mount Pearl. Don't they make a lovely couple!

Congratulations Natalie & Geoff!

Spring

We're already almost three weeks into spring, but we've had 40-50 cm of snow in the last few days and our patio is still totally out of sight. That don't stop me from daydreaming of the smell of earth and the buzz of mosquitoes as I poke at the first few emerging tulips and daffodils though.

Since April is poetry month, I thought I would share this poem which I had published in The Auxiliary News called The Process of Spring:

Like a shy child behind mother’s skirts
The sun hides behind gray clouds.
In company of fully dressed spruce,
Bare birches stand unashamed.
Like a pacing, expectant father
March winds sway the stand of trees.
In the absence of sparrows and crows
Traffic hums the only sound.

As Mother Nature lifts her skirts of gray
Suns powerful rays appear.
Alders, willows and birches bud now
Watered by the melting snow.
Short, snowy, cold days become longer,
Show’ry, sunshiny, warm days.
And then from under a blanket of snow
Emerges a mulched garden.

© Beverly Nippard, August 21, 2005

...ahhhhh (deep breath!)

Cats Enjoy Christmas Too

Our cats love Christmas! They are intrigued by all the 'new' things around the house and are by nature very nosey creatures. They love to play under the Christmas tree so I've hung some of their decorations on the bottom so they can play with them. Patches poses for a snap under the tree:


Then the three of them went to bed early, hoping for Santa to fill their stocking....and he sure did!

They played with the wrapping paper and each other - as well as their toys...

checked out all the decorations...

had special treats for Christmas dinner...

cleaned themselves up...

and then it was time to relax...

Ahhhh....'tis a cat's life!

Catch up!

Hi there! It's been a while since I've blogged. So much has happened in between. In fact, it's been so long...I feel so much older. I've celebrated another birthday. Well, it's probably the first birthday that I've actually celebrated. In fact 'twas the first birthday party I ever had in my entire life! Since my sister and I share the same birthday (she's 2 years older...ha) and we hadn't been together for a birthday in decades (won't say how many!), I thought I'd just go down to St. John's and thow a little party. That's exactly what I did! I did up wonderful powerpoint invitations and sent to my sister, daughters, sister-in-laws, neices....and we had a girl's night which (after a trip to the mall) started out with a feed of Chinese food.

It's probably too small to see, but I painted winter scenes on fungus for table favors, had presents for everyone and even loot bags. It was a surprise to them all. They wondered why I went into the restaurant pulling a large suitcase with me!

Our party continued with food & fun, followed by a sleepover at my sister's house. We had a ball! Even though there was no alcohol, we were laughing and carrying on so much that in the pictures we looked like we were three sheets to the wind. Here we were trying to stop laughing enough to blow out the candles:

The other pictures aren't very complimentary so I won't post them, but suffice it to say, we had a very happy birthday.

Then before we knew it, 'twas Christmas. We were very fortunate to have my youngest daughter Nadine and her boyfriend, Chris, share part of the Christmas season with us.

It's always a joy to have them home, whatever the season. Nadine & Chris, 'twas so good to have you! Nattie & Geoff, we missed you very much!

Busy Times!

Where does the time go? I've been quite busy over the past few weeks.

First we went to Corner Brook to attend the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Hospital Auxiliaries Convention. The Labrador Health Centre Auxiliary newsletter that I edit, The Auxiliary News, won first place in the national CAHA contest for the "100 bed and under" category. Here's the award that was presented at the convention:

The next weekend, I attended an art show. It was good exposure for me. I'm known locally as a writer and craft producer (among other things!), but not that well-known as an artist yet. Here is my first art show:

The weekend following that I went to St. John's to attend a union convention. The best asset, by far, of The Battery Hotel, is the view from the dining room window. It has a fantastic panoramic view of St. John's Harbour. Even though the weather was rainy (can you believe it?), the view was breathtaking. I was lucky to have my daughter, Nadine, join me for breakfast the next morning when the weather was starting to clear. Can you see that small patch of blue sky?

After breakfast we went to visit The Rooms where the view is just as spectacular. This view from The Rooms looks back towards The Battery Hotel. Can you see Cabot Tower sitting atop Signal Hill on the horizon?

A Walk in the Woods

It was just too nice to stay indoors this weekend, so after doing our chores we headed off for a walk in the woods. It's one of my favorite things to do. Here are some of the scenes we saw along the way:

Here's an interesting tree we found. My buddy thought it was a nice spot to build a cabin.

Farther on we found a place to have a rest and a drink. We also found some fungus for my collection.

This was the highlight of my Thanksgiving weekend!