but stationary in the Metro

Gypsy Gran is still around and contemplating resuming my life on the road therefore re-gypsyfication -  kind of the opposite of gentrification.  There have been some pleasant aspects to having had a a stationary life for the past 2 years and five months and . . .

Perhaps re-starting the Gypsy Gram Blog is a starting point even while living in what the Nomadic Movement calls a 'Sticks and Bricks' home is an actual first act in making my visions a reality.

Those visions: - a freedom from crushing rental charges.  Having been paying 3/4 of income to rent. Fortunately I still work a few weeks a year which just keeps 'the wolf from the door' and I thank and praise God every day for how luxurious His provisions are.

But, what has been troubling me for the 2 years here is why am I paying this unreasonable rent to sit here in relative to worldwide standards - luxury - when if I had the courage to do it I could venture back onto the road and especially for summers live as  nomad/camper to save at least half of what I live on now by not paying rent on a suite or apartment.

I've studied a length the steps to take to do this by those who've done it. And most of them like me out of sheer economic necessity.  There are many who are doing it in copy cat format but if you not my very first blogs regarding living in camp were way back in 2007 and I haven't researched it yet but I think that would actually put me at the front of this movement but at that time I'd never heard of anyone else doing it.  If I had them perhaps I would have been able to gain even greater courage to actually doing it instead of paying out the hundreds of thousands I've paid out to landlord in the 11 years since.

So today I have to make a difficult decision - do I just p - - - or get off the POT?! 

Several months ago I began to purge my belongings, then I got ill, followed immediately by being asked to take an ESL contract which I jumped at, followed by severe allergic period and whooping cough.  But today the sun is shining, i HOPE the pollen count is dropping. 

 So perhaps I have kept this pile sitting near my door of the possessions (and there's 10X that many more) which I must get rid of, because I want it continually in my face that it is stuff stopping me from doing what I feel strongly called to do!  That calling as a Christian is one I believe I am wrong to keep ignoring.

How I've come to this decision is because I know my heart and I passionately desire being free from too many expenses to have a budget that allows tithing and giving to my maximum as God enables and I feel called to allow Him to enable that by riding myself of my former habit of holding tight to the material in a deep and wrongly rooted attitude that having the little things creates a sense of permanence to my life.  Our 'minute' of life in our human on earth portion is so brief when we consider eternity.  I want to make my life about my eternal life which I entered the moment I gave my heart to Jesus, thus entering my eternal life and storing up treasures for the Kingdom of God in Christ Jesus. 

Now that I've written this as a record of my intentions I pray that I will walk by faith, in obedience to the leading of my loving Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ who knew the joys and sorrows of life as a human.

37 Seconds | All Girls Allowed

37 Seconds | All Girls Allowed



I can't help asking "What is it all North Americans don' get about us following China on this horrific social engineering experiment?  We are far closer to being exactly like Communist China than people seem to realize - blind, deaf and dumb as to what murdering pre-born infants is bringing down on all our heads!

May God help us all to have our eyes, ears, mouths and hearts opened to this horrible tragedy - if you don't care about the people of China can you find it in your heart to see that in New York state now they've begun to murder babies.  That is if you were deluded into thinking a fetus was not a baby - please tell me that you can see that at 38 weeks an infant still in utero is as viable as an infant who has just been given life through birth.  But, it is legal to kill that 38 week old baby in the womb.

Please listen up, speak up and feel the pain that 38 week baby feels at being brutally murdered all the while millions of people can't adopt a child when they'd love to do so.

Day with a Lake in it - Episode 2

Many . . . many, of my summer and even winter ones have a lake in them. Yesterday was anothratiner beary special, as my photos will show, day "with a lake in it". I've wanted to canoe in Alberta as long as I've been here. Friday, August 12 was the day.  I had already had "a day with a lake in it" which included a kayak.  That was the summer of 2010 when I rented a kayak and with it strapped to my RAV4s roof rack off I went to of all places Payne Lake . . . not sure if those of whom it was named for would be related  to my former husband who wasn't truly of Payne blood but by re-marriage of his grandmother to a Payne - how truly complicated families are!

so . . .  continuing on with the most current lake-day viewing it from a canoe . . . I paddled all the way to the end of a high-altitude, alpine lake in the Canadian Rockies, Cameron Lake; there abouts discovering a beautiful little Shangri-La - rather a norther version in a long winters climate. 

Magnificent, stupendous, phenomenal . . . every superlative works for that special place. Never have I seen cleaner air, water or more pristine nature. . . even ICEBERGS.  Seeing my 'first-ever' iceberg was mind-blowing.  They are more beautiful in reality than one can possibly imagine.

in

But back to the beginning of the canoe trip.  Having arrived at this alpine lake at 10:30 a.m. there were several others embarking also. The young girls in the above photo said they work in this national park, so are often recreating at this lake. Following behind I saw that they paddled half way out the lake then must have turned back because I didn't see them anywhere at the far end of the lake - a young working girl's budget may influence as it is not inexpensive to rent a canoe.

It was hard going at first because of paddling against the wind. Close to the end of the lake it became calm. I was a bit nervous trying to take photos and manage my paddle also, being in the bow I needed to constantly attend to the progress.

In a hugely disconcerting incident about half way into the canoe journey a gust of wind caught my lovely, Italian-made, brilliant turquoise"La Scala" sunhat unkindly tearing it off my head and stealing it away into the deep, crystal-clear  ice-water.

There was no way I was going to forfeit that hat to such a cold-hearted thief of a lake.  Frantically, madly I paddled for the spot where I could see it sinking at an alarming rate and began to reach and pluck with my paddle . . . in an emotional roller coaster of sweaty effort, I laboured, one moment hopefully having caught it on the end of the paddle only to see it slide off again.

In an adrenaline rush of determination I kept up the plucking until 'glory be' I finally caught it on the paddle when it stayed while I slowly, steadily raised it into the air, then on board.  What a coup! That hat is not only  the most comfortable sun-hat with a great wide brim to protect my already well-weathered face and neck form more UVs, but of sentimental value having purchased it in my only visit to beautiful Maui, Hawaii.

Ahhh what a relief! The 'day-with-a-lake-in-it-adventure' was salvaged (no doubt I would have been in a lessened state of lake-lovin' euphoria had I lost "La Scala' to the deep.

Now continuing on with the strenuous paddling, finally the end of the lake, a lush, green land of icebergs and many waterfalls. They dropped like skinny white pony tails from the highest glaciers. They made a musical background sound to the dip dip of the paddles.  A fine mist hung invisibly in the crisp, mountain air.

The past winter had record snowfalls in this area rendering the slopes around the lake and below the glaciers into lush, densely vegetated mini-jungles.  It was a world painted in multi-shaded greens and blues.




Destination achieved!  That, a lake-level glacier in the southwestern corner of the lake.  Although the canoe departure was from Canada this end of the lake was in the USA.

This mass of snow and ice, was devolving, the glacier was breaking up in the warm August sun and spawning mini icebergs. They floated in the crystal clear waters giving off beautiful, opaque, aqua light from the brilliantly polished ice just below the surface.

The day did not end with canoeing. That invigorating journey was just the appetizer. After a picnic lunch on the beach





and a short siesta I wandered through the woods dotted with mini alpine meadows, with camera and tripod to capture frames - hundreds of shots of wildflowers:



Having gone out on the lake in canoe with a very strong hope of seeing/photographing grizzly bears or any bears at the southern end but that was not to be. Yet, ironically, when driving down the lane entrance of the place once almost home, there was a huge silver-back - a male grizzly sauntering across the steep, high bank above the creek that crosses the property.

The window was open wide when I spotted the bear. Oops so much for photos when I loudly yelled "BEAR" as my human scent wafted out the car window into the always wary nostrils of the impressive grizzly. He quickly, easily took rambled uphill and into the cover of dense wolf willow brush.

Another great day with a lake in it!

A Day with a Lake in it

This was between 4 and 5 pm. I'd been at the lake with some people I work with then my niece and her family met me there. I haven't seen any of them in over a year and she's had an eighth son born since then so this was the first time I've seen little Daniel. He is, like all her boys a beautiful child. Below you will she her holding him - get this - he's nine months old and eating a HOT chicken wing. What they don't know won't hurt them eh? So maybe kids learn to dislike some foods by parents thinking they don't like it? That is my new vehicle we are standing by. My niece is almost 37 and now the happy mother of eight sons. She has a loving supportive husband who is her best friend.

These are shots from the lake which is a central part of my life here. I get to spend time at this lake almost daily as part of my job taking special needs adults for walks around it.






This particular day it was doubly enjoyable as I was there for work then met my niece and her family there for an impromptu picnic when they came through town on their way to their new home near Houston, Texas. I was overjoyed to see them all as when I moved to this province where they have been living for at least 10 years and where he husband grew up, I had been looking so forward to being able to go up to their place to visit but they moved now so I won't be able to do that.

I do hope some day I can drive down to Texas to visit them. I have a long time pen pal in Van Texas. Her and I have been hoping for a long time to get to meet one another so maybe that will be in the next year or so.

Here's my niece and her gang:

I felt lost and lonely when they left until, I, as I always do when those feelings come, decided to soak in some more of the beauty there by capturing it in my camera lens. Here's a favorite from that late afternoon.

Day of Decision

TODAY'S PRAYER
Lord, I desire to live as one
Who bears a blood-bought name,
As one who fears but grieving Thee,
And knows no other shame.*


Today I resolved something that has taken me a long time to come to a resolution on. I have had so many things pointing me to this decision and in a grievous experience yesterday - one added to many that have confused, depressed, and challenged me lately I saw the light, finally.

I am greedy, I am not walking in faith - I must change the tense there to, was. I was being greedy I was walking in the flesh not in faith. Tonight I found the above prayer on:

http://www.truthforlife.org/site/PageServer?pagename=tls_overview
It was clear - because I had just spoken exactly that sentiment to my new friend - that I am not ashamed not to be well-off economically at my age. I know I am no less blessed than those that are 'well-heeled'.

In fact I know that I am blessed because the book of Matthew says: "Blessed are the poor in spirit". By world standards I would not be considered blessed but in the midst of my culture, my associates I qualify as poor. But although it would be a lie to say one is overjoyed when there is a shortage of money to supply the basic needs; while the practical knowledge that you have a shortfall of cash can concern you, that cannot remove the joy of the Lord which is one of the 'fruits of the Spirit'. 

Spiritually I'm rich in that knowledge and experiencing the presence of Jesus.  So, I don't feel poor, I know I'm not but I'm looked upon by many as poor - that's OK. I know in my heart how very rich I am in Christ Jesus. Yet, I have concerns about how to remedy the economics of my life and seek God's guidance to teach me that. 

Although I bear no shame for my economic circumstance I see there are ways that I have been walking in disobedience. There are things I must do to be obedient to the word of God and a couple of those things I have waited long to do just because I fear, because I can't seem to get the word of the world out of my head on those matters but, I know what a tremendous relief I've felt to state verbally to my friend that I do know how to have peace and joy even in a climate where there are many who will call me 'fool' for what I propose to do.

So in quotation marks below you will find the portion of the devotional on that same web page as the above prayer. Reading it was like that proverbial light going on in the semi-darkness - I had a little light from the window of realizing where my problem was coming from, but I read these words, I knew that section of the devotional was speaking directly to my situation and was the bright light I needed shed on the matter to confirm that my decision to truly begin to walk by faith is the right decision. I want to be in God's will about ALL that I do ALL the time.

" Have you given up trusting in earthly things? Are you seeking each day to live above worldliness, the pride of life, and the ensnaring grip of greed? Remember, it is in order that you might know such victory that you have been enriched with the treasures of God. If you are really the chosen of God, and beloved by Him, do not allow all this lavish treasure of grace to be wasted on you. Pursue holiness; it is the Christian's crown and glory. An unholy church is useless to the world and of no esteem among men. It is an abomination, hell's laughter, heaven's abhorrence. The worst evils that have ever come upon the world have been brought upon her by an unholy church. O Christian, the vows of God are upon you. You are God's servant: Act as such. You are God's king: Reign over your lusts. You are God's chosen: Do not associate with Satan. Heaven is your portion: Live like a heavenly spirit, and in this way you will prove that you have true faith in Jesus, for there cannot be faith in the heart unless there is holiness in the life."*





* Please note: Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg. Copyright (c) 2003, Good News Publishers and used by Truth for Life with written permission. Scripture quotations are taken from Holy Bible: English Standard Version, copyright (c) 2001, Good News Publishers.

The Hurdles along the Trail

A broken car door, a large, agressive black bear, a rude insult, a near-the-front-0f-the-mouth broken tooth, a bout of neuralgia (the umpteenth one) and $1.50 ltr. gas price. Life on this long and winding road is throwing some curve balls.



On the plus side - found a good hair cutter but when I asked for her card she said "Sorry I'm moving back to Montreal" I said "I'm coming too." She laughed. Seriously, I would like to drive down east this summer. Stop in Quebec at least a month and see about working there as an English teacher while I sharpened my conversational French. When I drove two 21 year old Quebecois girls, who had spent one night at the campground, into Vancouver in the pouring rain (because they had hitchhiked all the way across Canada, had huge backpacks and I'm a soft touch), they told me that in the smaller towns of Quebec it would be easy to get work teaching English.



My tentative plan is - after I had worked a while teaching I'd like to continue on my drive across Canada to Fredricton where my son and his fiance will be finishing their last year at UNB. I have dreamed since childhood of seeing the Canadian Maritime Provinces.



Daydreams aside to continue enumerating things onthe plus side of my life, I have been adopted as a friend by a lovely, generous Christian couple whom I met my first time at a church in this community where I'm thinking I could happily live. Sunday night a very large, dangerously hungry black bear awoke us - one other camping party, the caretaker and me - three times that night dumping over the garbage cans. The last visit into camp after it finished with the cans which are a good distance from my tent, as I watched through my screened roof, it began to head down the road towards me then was about to walk across the little wooden bridge that comes out just feet from my tent. John, the caretaker had given me a aerosol horn which scares away bears. I had tried it once and used it twice before so when that big scary thing kept coming my way I let off a blast, it contined and so I pressed the panic button again only to find that their was no more air and it made only a patheticly inaudible toot. Just then it stopped and I couldn't see it behind a cedar bough; it must have smelled Joe - John's muscular, brave pit bull. What a relief to see John and the dog beside my tent. He had heard the bear horn and come to for the third time in one night drive it off. So when this nice couple befriended me at church and graciously invited me to stay it didn't take more than 1/2 a day for me to accept the offer.

The town I'm in is a very crowded bedroom community to our biggest city but . . . the redeeming quailty is that it's very close to beautiful, bountiful wilderness and unlike my last community for the 5 years up to 2006, it does not have the 401 freeway running through it with all the polluting diesel trucks traversing it day and night. I've been here over a week and have found my eyes ( I suffer from chronic, severe dry eye syndrome) are about 60 - 70% better than they were in the semi-arid region I lived in from July 2007 until June 2008.

I went to look at some rentals today with a property management rep. guy. They were brand new and I really liked the most expensive one - of course - the other two had relatively ugly views and little privacy. The one I like is 2.5 times more than I should pay by myself but I am going to see about having 2 students room and board with me.



If I'm going to do that I should buy so I can build up some equity in a home, but I would like to try it before I buy a place with that in mind. Otherwise I could buy a house with a suite and have tenants to pay part of the mtge.



My tooth is coming out tomorrow - I'm glad as it is very uncomfortable, probably abcessed and split right in half vertically - it's a bicuspid and will give me an even more unattractive smile - I've been grinding my teeth for years and they are short now. When I was young I had perfect teeth so I can't complain as at least I've had nice teeth at one time. I wish they weren't going but in the whole scheme of things this is not earth shattering - just disappointing. Kind of like how I felt about having someone I love attempt to insult me - I don't get insulted anymore - partly because I don't seem to need anyone's approval in my old age and partly because I know who I am in my Father's eyes and how OK I am for His purposes - I guess those two are related but like loosing an old favorite tooth having someone you care about try to make you feel bad is not pleasant.



I get my car fixed in the morning - good on the fixing bad on the bill. I'll look at more listings while I wait for it, then travel for 3/4 of an hour to my old dentist for the extraction. On Friday I go to my grandson's year end concert at his Montessori school then get a massage therapy treatment. Sat. and Sunday I hope to look at many housing options and find one for the first of July. Or arrange for my cross-Canada road trip. Whichever option it is I look forward to it.

I make my coffee in a cast iron pan . . .

and I eat the grinds - cowgirl style - hoping this behaviour doesn' t grow hair on the chest.

Granny is still holding her own in the west coast rain forest. No more bear visits lately. Just sweet little robins in various sizes and colours; also seeing squirrels and even a darling little pair of racoons - photos to follow of those little ones.

I finally had my favorite camp breakfast this morning - bacon eggs and cowgirl coffee - even had to make the coffee in the cast iron frypan because I had berry compote in the only other pan I've taken along. I have only a part of my camping gear with me as this trip to the West Coast was impromptu.

The sun has finally graced this green land. It is a mixed bag, 'though, with still too many clouds for my Okanagan loving temperament.

I have many bureacratic things to accomplish today and hope to connect up with my two darling grandchildren who live nearby. Maybe ELP can come to camp with me for the weekend. He's six but his adorable little sister is only two, so I doubt she - still toilet training - will be ready for camping for at least another year.

I have a whole new bag of tricks for rainy camping now - I learned the ones for cold windy camping last fall in the OK Valley. When I get all the tricks of the trade learned I think I'll start a seniors camping network or a service to get the oldies out into the wilderness before they croak. Could be a hoot.

Bye for now - who will read this I have no idea, as a brand new blogger. Over and out - Gypsy Grandmother