a growing kind of day

P's growing seeds. The radishes are in first place. They were planted 10 days ago in a mini greenhouse. It's quite addictive to see things grow. I've been most impressed by the Morning Glory, by the strength and boldness the first leaf displays as it cracks through the surface of the soil. So I wasn't surprised to find out that it has weed-like qualities - I'm sure it'll feel right at home in our garden! You know, I don't think I've grown edible or non-edible plants from scratch since I was a whole lot younger... I'm looking forward to a vegetable garden. And flowers.

Tomorrow is going to be:

Whooohoo! And I thought we might make it a bit of a gardening day. In response Stephen exclaimed how he'd never thought he'd find himself saying "that sounds like fun". It is of course, because he gets to do very manly things... heaving and lugging and digging and chopping....

A big scraggly shrub has been removed from next to the shed leaving a gaping hole and a very visible neighbours fence making it look like the before and after pictures are the wrong way round. But we're choosing to call it room for potential. Wait and see.

We've also decided the toilet has to go and part of the driveway that protrudes into the back yard is history too. Yesterday, as P came out of the house, she was just in time to see S drop a huge slab of asphalt to crack it but, as it landed on the ground, it also landed on the shovel ejecting it into the air with a graceful rotation but stunning speed! Whizzing by not far from his head it was quite a sight to see. Especially as S had asked not long before whether P realised that it was likely that at some point during this project he was going to hurt himself...?! Pray not today.

After all that stir-fry for dinner? Maybe with egg? P set about scrambling eggs, setting them aside, frying vegetables, adding tofu with curry paste to make a milky sauce to go with potatoes and carrots... We're all set! As you know manual labour results in quite an appetite, it went down rather quickly, was it not enough? No worries, that just means some room for ice-cream! With empty bowls we're back in the kitchen when S lifts the lid off a plate, "what's this for?" It's the scrambled eggs that never made it into the curry! And that became the last course of the meal that satisfied these gardeners.

Introducing Phineas Varinus the 5th

Our Ford,
who art in Hamilton,
hallowed be your name,
your gas station come
your lights be on in the dark and when its raining.
Give us today many greens lights,
and forgive our bad passing,
as we forgive those who pass badly in front of us.
Lead us not into traffic jams,
but deliver us from speed traps.
For ours is the stick-shift, the sunroof and the power-windows.
Ford ever & never. Amen.

match boxes

We had 10 glorious days during which we opened a few matchboxes every day ... We'd take a couple to breakfast, we'd pop a few in our bag before we went to the river or out for the day... it was wonderful! and what a variety! Thank you for pouring your creativity into that.

Beautiful words and wishes were written in all shapes and sizes on many different types of paper, rolled and scribbled, in English, Dutch, Frisian & Irish (still need to get that translated ;). Then there were words in the form of games, puzzles, poems, advice, newspaper clippings, mini-cards & books.
Shells from places near and far, flower seeds, stones, wool, a little dove and candles... Symbols of great virtues and qualities. Too many gifts to mention individually but always personal, often in two's, chosen with care & chosen to fit.

Also some surprising things you wouldn't think would come in a matchbox like:
a kitchen counter (ok it didn't actually fit in the matchbox); an African princess' bracelet (which feels like it could be used for magic -we've been reading Harry Potter); a pair of sheep; a Scottish quaich for each of us; a pretty spectacular type of match (firestarter) which can be used for up to 3000 times; Holy water from the Jordan river & fireworks which we enjoyed with many on our last night in France.

This was all about the contents and and we haven't even started describing the ways in which the boxes were decorated. One included a geology lesson of the Hebrides, one was a geography lesson of the gevoels wereld... if ever you're in the neighbourhood you're welcome to come and admire them. This weekend we went through them all again and they are truly a great impression of the talents of our friends and family.

Home again.
P&S

photographs & video too

See:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterandjulie/sets/72157601864964428/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethandbrent/sets/72157601851620360/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/70823799@N00/sets/72157601089787810/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/69414658@N00/sets/72157601893608675/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/margaretandgreg/sets/72157602053439400/
and video too at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnjdVxQJ4GA

enjoy
we are
p&s

We're married!

thank you everyone & travel safely
much love
P&S

White ribbon campaign

hey, what if everybody going towards Iona for our wedding was to put a white ribbon on their bag?
yeah, that would be cool! then they would recognize each other on the bus, train, plane, or ferry!
maybe they would be able to meet beforehand and have more fun on the way.
what if they told stories about us we don't want them knowing?
oh yeah, hadn't thought of that. maybe we shouldn't tell them.
also, it's pretty late to let people know.
yeah, lots of them are already travelling
how could we let them know?
put it on the blog?
no, only a few people are checking the blog
yeah, and we haven't been good about updating it lately
maybe an email?
okay, then we can also wish them safe travels and let them know how much we're looking forward to seeing them.
Good plan.

Veel Liefs.
S&P

Soon

There is a shop in our street that has been closed for for the past few months but has also, for some time already had a note stuck on the door which says "opening soon". How long does "soon" take? Three weeks from now we hope to have greeted many of you as you step off the ferry onto the isle of Iona, 3 weeks from now we hope to be married! How we have looked forward to this month and now it is upon us!

It feels like 3 weeks is nothing compared to the many months that we have been looking forward to our travels, our visit to Iona, the ceremony and celebrations.... the start to life after that. At the same time we are looking forward to a lot of socialising in the Netherlands in the coming weeks before we make our way to Scotland. There is so much between now and then and there, that soon feels like it's going to be jam-packed to the brim and not very soon at all.

What a paradox time is. Right now all seems organised, all seems ready and yet we know we have forgotten something! Oh patience! I can't wait to meet our newest nephew. I can't wait to see my sister pregnant. Oh siblings! parents, friends, family. Oh Iona. Wish we were there.

Until then.

Making news

Ever tried getting your name in the newspaper twice in 1 week?
It's fun! (click on newspaper article to read/ view a larger version)

Wild life

Our apologies to those of you who have been here over and over again only to find no update... It's not that nothing has been happening! We do hope that the previous post is and continues to be helpful for those of you planning to travel to Iona.

Since last posting our house has turned into a home! A few of the bigger projects we have in mind have not yet been completed but we've put a lot of hours into it and if you compare these photo's with earlier ones you'll get a bit of a "before and after" idea. The garden has also come alive and thanks goes to our first house guest P's mum Marion for creating some order in the chaos out there! With thanks to many generous friends for cuttings and new plants too.
At the first signs of spring P planted some seeds but that turned out to be a little early. In Southern Ontario most gardeners wait 'till the end of May for the last frost to pass! So, snow fell on Easter Sunday and the Magnolia's took a very long time to start blooming but now we've had quite a few hot and sweaty days, barbeque's too and Stephen's discovered a talent for pruning. Trees and bushes are looking extremely neat and tidy, the lawnmower is used regularly and the latest report from the garden is that the rabbit has eaten the parsley.

More wild life news is that P ran over a chipmunk with her bicycle recently which was quite a traumatic experience. However, generally we're both enjoying cycling to most places and looking at birds, squirrels and deer along the way. (View short video clips of Hamilton by Handlebar here). Last week we discovered Mount Albion Falls just 15minutes from where we live. Yup, we like life on the Hamilton Mountain! We did quite a bit of exploring with Marion. A visit to Niagara Falls, a walk around Canterbury Hills, we spent time with S's parents in Guelph, we showed off Hamilton and Dundas and we were able to make a trip up to Kingston to visit dear friends there. All in all a quality visit during which beautiful memories were made. In that time we also had a birthday / housewarming garden party, there were many phonecalls from the Netherlands, the postman brought wonderful packages, "het NRC" and cards and Marion's suitcase seemed like an endless source of gifts. Thank you to all!

On the 2nd Friday of very month we've been "doing the artcrawl". We're getting to know more and more people who are involved in that growing scene and for P things are getting busy as she gets involved with local designers, their shops and their newspapers. Stephen's wild life has been centered a bit more around the life of the Anglican Diocese of Niagara. Much has been going on, the main event being the episcopal election that took place last weekend. The coming weeks will see the start of the wedding season... Stephen will be involved with weddings for 4 consecutive weekends! It will be interesting to experience this as we look forward to our own...
Wishing you well, from our home to yours. P&S

Van plan om naar Iona te reizen?

[English version below]
Wij wel... en als u dat ook van plan bent volgt hier wat (hopelijk!) handige informatie.

Wanneer u samen met ons op het eilandje Iona ions huewlijk wilt vieren zouden we u willen adviseren zo spoedig mogelijk een slaapplaats te reserveren. Accommodatie mogelijkheden zijn beperkt en het is gebleken dat veel bezoekers ver vooruit boeken. In een eerdere blog (genaamd: Accomodation on Iona) vindt u aanbevelingen wat betreft accomodatie en neem vooral contact op met ons als u vragen heeft.

Reizen naar Iona
Met het openbaar vervoer:
Wanneer u s’ochtends vertrekt vanuit Glasgow kunt u op tijd in Oban aankomen om tussen de middag de oversteek te maken naar Mull. Hier wacht een locale bus naar Fhionnphort je op waarna je rond 14uur de oversteek maakt naar Iona. Vertrek je rond het middag uur vanuit Glasgow dan kun je om 16uur met de pond naar Mull, vervolgens met de bus van 16.50 naar Fionnphort en om 18.15 over naar Iona.

http://www.citylink.co.uk/
Voor bus diensten tussen Glasgow en Oban. Het is een prachtige reis om met de bus te maken door valleien, over bergen, langs meren en dorpjes… maar niet als je last hebt van wagenziekte!
www.firstgroup.com/scotrail
Ook prachtige uitzichten vanuit de trein. Iets duurder, wel meer comfortabel.
http://www.calmac.co.uk/
Voor meer informatie over de ponddiensten. Wanneer je met de auto zou willen komen moet er voor de Oban – Craignure pond van tevoren gereserveerd worden. Auto’s mogen de laatste oversteek naar Iona niet maken. Wel zijn er goede parkeergelegenheden dichtbij de pond in Fionnphort.
www.bowmanstours.co.uk
De bus dienst op Mull vertrekt in Craignure bij de pond vandaan en er staat duidelijk op aangegeven dat deze naar Fionnphort / Iona ferry gaat. De laatste pond gaat rond 18.15 naar Iona (deze wacht op de bus).

Wat nog meer?
Als u er over na denkt om langer op Iona te verblijven is het misschien een idee om te kijken naar de mogelijkheden die de Iona Community biedt. De programma’s lopen in de Iona Abbey en the MaCleod Centre van zaterdag tot vrijdag.
w http://www.iona.org.uk/
e mailto:ionacomm@gla.iona.org.uk
t +44 1681 700404
f +44 1681 700460

Wisselkoersen komen misschien van pas: http://www.x-rates.com/
Huidige koersen
can$1 = €0.66
can$1 = £0.44
€1 = £0,67
€1 = can$1,52
£1 = can$2,27
£1 = €1,49

Planning to travel to Iona?

We are... and if you're making plans to join us there here's some - what we hope is - helpful information.

If you’re planning to celebrate with us on the Isle of Iona we would like to advise you to find a place to stay as soon as possible. Accommodation on the island is limited and we have found that many visitors book very far in advance. Please find some recommendations in an earlier web post (title: Accomodation on Iona ) and do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Travelling to Iona
By public transport:
The morning departures from Glasgow get you to Oban in time for the mid-day ferry from Oban to the Isle of Mull, which is met by the local service bus which takes you through Mull to Fionnphort, where you take the afternoon ferry to Iona. The mid-day departures from Glasgow get you to Oban in time for the 1600 ferry to Mull, the 1650 bus through Mull and the 1815 ferry to Iona.

http://www.citylink.co.uk/
Bus services between Glasgow and Oban. This is a fantastic ride through mountains and valleys, along lakesides and the prettiest Scottish villages but not advisable if you’re prone to motion sickness!
www.firstgroup.com/scotrail
A similar trip by train is more comfortable.
http://www.calmac.co.uk/
For more information on the ferry services check out the Caledonian MacBrayne website.
If you plan on bringing a car across to Mull it is necessary to make reservations for the Oban – Craignure ferry beforehand. Cars are not allowed to be taken onto Iona.
www.bowmanstours.co.uk
The coach service across Mull leaves from the ferry terminal at Craignure and is marked clearly with Fionnphort / ferry Iona. The last ferry to Iona leaves at 1810 (will wait for bus).

What else?
If you’re considering a longer stay on Iona you may want to look at the programmes offered by the Iona Commmunity at the Iona Abbey & the MacLeod Centre.
w http://www.iona.org.uk/
e mailto:ionacomm@gla.iona.org.uk
t +44 1681 700404
f +44 1681 700460

You may find exchange rates helpful: http://www.x-rates.com/
Todays rates are:
can$1 = €0.66
can$1 = £0.44
€1 = £0,67
€1 = can$1,52
£1 = can$2,27
£1 = €1,49

Celebrations!

Some photo's to give you an idea of what's keeping us busy... thinking, dreaming, hoping, wondering... There’s lots of creative juices flowing, also some adrenaline as huge decisions are made... We get the key next week!
We recently celebrated the fact that Pleuntje arrived in Canada exactly one month ago. A few days later we celebrated the fact that she arrived in Canada exactly one year ago... How’d we do that?! Time’s flying and we find there’s much to celebrate. We’ve found ourselves a new home, we found square envelopes for the wedding invitations and we hear good news coming from friends and family regularly! Thanks for phonecalls, chat sessions and together-time.

[Photo's from left - right]
Top: downstairs bedroom, dining room, upstairs 'master' bedroom
Lower: view from kitchen, bathroom, kitchen (counter to be replaced asap;)

A little more “ours”

The big day started at Jack Johnston’s (not to be confused with Jack Johnson: the surfer/ singer songwriter who, by the way, we hope to invite to our wedding along with Mr Paul Simon!). We rented a van from Johnston’s garage and had a detailed plan drawn up for the day. I was pleased to see that this garage was seriously certified. The owner’s name seemed to be differently spelled on every certificate but they were all neatly framed and hung for all to see and admire. As the day wore on we noticed certificates all over the place. This is a country where it helps to be certified.

The (certified) local shipping agent in Toronto gave us two copies of a form and a map which showed us how to get to the next stop. In return we had to give him a check. Why exactly did we pay him? As far as I could tell this man had never seen our shipment and apart from moving some papers from his in- to his outbox, I don’t think he had very much to do with it at all! But never mind. We were grateful for his directions as we found ourselves driving around looking for Customs. The offices seemed to be located on the airport runway. Are you sure we’re allowed to be driving here?!

At customs we were assisted by a man with lots of labels on his dark blue uniform. We both went looking for his name tag but only found a number: 271993. He was calm, collected, and was sure to inform us of all the latest developments as he was processing our papers. There were questions, prepared and unprepared answers, suspense and relief. He found our story convincing, stamped stamps in the designated areas on the necessary forms and eventually we left the building as proud owners of the form we needed. Do you think it’s possible to send flowers to a number? By this time our tummies were grumbling but we felt the need to press onwards. Here’s some water and a granola bar… persevere! It was a lot like a treasure hunt really.

From customs to warehouse was another 20min drive, a wrong door, a short wait. Ah, the chests: one big one, two small ones and a number of boxes. We were reunited again!

Our adventure continued as we drove across the province to pick up a table and chairs, inherited from Stephe’s grandpa. We passed through beautiful, wintery countryside and explored a wide range of radio stations. Carrying everything up the stairs and fitting it all into the apartment was the last major challenge of the day. How blessed we are with all these things! How nice it is to be “mixing belongings”.

And so everyday becomes a little less “yours and mine” and a little more “ours”.

brr

Someone has just headed off on a 45min bike ride, someone else is happy to stay within the walls of our warm home for now... brr.
A serious form of winter seems to have arrived in Ontario. It scares Pleuntje a little now again ('when do numb, cold toes turn into frostbitten or frostnipped?') but the cold brings with it many beautiful sights. Frozen rain on trees in the sunlight makes it look like they're wearing diamonds! Walking on the snowy frozen golfcourse brought an entirely new experience with it... Creaking and crunching I wasn't sure what I was walking on. Snow? Ice? Is this ground beneath my feet?
Stay warm, stay well.

A+

Beste Vrienden,
De cijfer voor mijn Nederlands les is A+!!!
Dank u wel Pien.
Ik wil meer Nederlands leren.
Stephen

Copyshop country

We’re thinking about the invitation. We’ve spent an evening on the design bringing our ideas together and the topic of conversation whilst washing the dishes this morning was what the text is going to be. We started looking through fonts but we have such a huge collection that we didn’t get much further than the “f”…. A luxury problem! Finding a suitable printer, the lowest price and the friendliest copyshop gives Pleuntje something more to do, people to call and places to go whilst exploring the Hamilton surroundings.

Copyshop country is a scene she loves and of course it turns out that the one that the guy at the art shop advised us to check out turns out to be owned by the guy who is living under the same roof as the daughter of the son of the sister of Pleuntje’s grandmother who she met up with last week and who turns out to be working right round the corner here in Dundas. It sure is a small world!

This invitation “project” is also an ideal opportunity to become acquainted with inches and North American paper formats, something she was dreading but it can no longer be avoided and thankfully the software can do a lot of the metric – imperial translation. One thing I would like to say to everybody on the otherside of the Atlantic: if you’re taking A4s for granted… Don’t! I think 21cm x 29,7cm will forever make more sense than 8,5”x11”. Everything’s in dollars and cents too and what on earth is a dime?!

The bilingual-ness is also a bit of a challenge. Come up with a beautiful sentence in one language… the chances are minimal that when translated it’s going to sound as poetic.
De twee-taligheid is ook een aardige uitdaging. Bedenk je in de ene taal een prachtige zin… dan is de kans toch heel klein dat het wanneer het vertaald wordt even poetisch klinkt. How does that sound? Hoe klinkt dat? The whole project will probably be quite a Dutch lesson for Stephe. Especially seeing as the designing software being used is a Dutch version! So don’t be surprised when his Dutch conversations are interspersed with words like invoegen, bewerken, & dupliceren. …?Inserting, editing, duplicating…

Alongside that Pleun has been conquering territory in the lanes of the (salt water) community swimming pool in Dundas, had the first local pint at the local pub and had 2 Canadians and a Scotsgirl teaching her “O, Canada”. The drummer at the jam session at the gallery yesterday loved her photo’s, and the Dutch artist and gallery owner was eager to offer her the opportunity to exhibit… Many, many exciting developments and we haven’t even started to tell you about the house hunt!

Until the next time.

better together

We're together again!
We're having a blast!
At the moment eating Gourmet Jelly Beans... Stephe just had one that tasted like a strawberry smoothie and Pleuntje had one that might have been pineapple. Over the past couple of days we've had time to catch up, exchanged gifts, visited with Stephe's parents and walked their dog Shona (many, many times!). It's a little strange now to sit and write together instead of to one another but apart from mundane things to get used to we're ... better together!
We're grateful for a wonderful wave-off at the airport, safe flights, friendly fellow travellers and custom officers, phone lines across the Atlantic ocean, open doors, Christmas gifts, warm clothes, loving emails, each other = God's many blessings.
For Pleuntje, once again, "the village by the river" (Canada) has lots of curiousities. She's been taking photo's of the strangest things including supermarket signs and license plates. A tour of Hamilton was had and an introduction at Church of the Resurrection (Stephe's place of work) has already taken place.
Yesterday afternoon while visiting friends she came across what epitomizes Dundas hospitality... we were talking to the owners of the local "Lock & Key" shop who wanted to make us feel always welcome and said, "Our door is always open." Funny that a locksmith says that. Or does that say something about the quality of their locks?!

Wishing everyone a very happy New Year/Nieuwjaar. See you in '07!!!

Thanksgiving / Dankdag

Hey Peaches,
Thanksgiving is traditionally a time of family, so it seemed like a good time to introduce your family and friends to mine. Tonight we will eat lots of turkey, mashed potatoes, squash, and pie. (I will also try to translate as much as possible with my feeble Dutch skills)

Dankdag voor het gewas is een dag voor jouw familie, en ik voorstel mijn familie te jouw. Vandaag we willen veel kalkoen, aardappelpuree, en pompoen taart eten.
(Ik ben moeilijk met mijn klien beetje Nederlandse les omzetten)

My Mother... Margaret. She is a priest in Guelph, Ontario.
My Father... Greg is a retired teacher, who collects new jobs. He likes cycling.
They have been married for 35 years.

My (younger) sister... Beth is a midwife. She's married to Brent Davis. They live in Leeds, England while she studies for her PhD.

Mijn moeder...Margaret. Ze is een dominee in Guelph, Ontario.
Mijn vader...Greg was een docent ???. Hij houden van fietsen.
Zij hebben trouwen vijfendertig jaar zijn.

Mijn zusje... Beth is een verlos'kundige. Ze is trouwen met Brent Davis. Zij wonen in Leeds, Engeland. Ze is studente.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Goededankdag voor het gewas!

Announcements

Way to go, Pleun... first blog entry looked good! and informative.
Heel goede, Pleun... je hebt een eerste blog leuk gekijkt! (is that even close to making sense?)

I've now contacted everyone I could think of. Do you think it's time to send out the info. pack?
Any guesses on how fast the Hostel will fill up? Would it be possible for more than 1 person to sleep on a bunk?

Supposedly an announcement of our engagement has been posted on the Diocese of Niagara's website! Yikes! Couldn't find it, but got an email of congratulations...

Accomodation on Iona

Below are all sorts of interestings details and links on accomodation on Iona but mainly this is just me creating the first blog entry of my life! (Jippie jippie look at me!! xxpleuntje)

Hotels
Argyll Hotel 0044 1681 700 334
reception@argyllhotel.co.uk
http://www.argyllhoteliona.co.uk/

Columba Hotel 0044 1681 700 304
columba@btconnect.com
http://www.stcolumba-hotel.co.uk/

Bed & Breakfasts
Clachan Corrach 0044 1681 700 323 Mrs. Gill Black
Kilona 0044 1681 700 528 Mr. & Mrs. Crosby
Greenbank 0044 1681 700 330 Mrs. Barbara Hellenschmidt
Sithean 0044 1681 700 331 Mrs. Lotte Kirchwen
Shore Cottage 0044 1681 700 744 Miss Sarah MacDonald
enquiries@shorecottage.co.uk
http://www.shorecottage.co.uk/
Dalantober 0044 1681 700 776 Mrs. Joyce McIntyre
Bishop’s House 0044 1681 700 800 Mrs. E. Meehan
Cruachan 0044 1681 700 523/515 Mrs. Moira Morison

NB There are other bed & breakfasts in Fionnphort (on Mull) although you would need to leave Iona (& the festivities!) on the last ferry of the evening. This is also not all there is on Iona. You may find other /more info through: http://www.holidaymull.org/accommodation.htm