nearly one year

We have been in our house in Winnipeg almost a year. I can hardly believe it. I still feel like I'm brand new here--still learning new things every day. However, I am also seeing signs of home.

About the strawberries--the season has been pretty short. I never even made it out the 8 miles out of the city to do any picking. I didn't feel well and the season was very fast this year. I did buy some berries, and here is a shelf in my basement. New jam --about 7 cups--on the left. Last year's leftovers? On the right. (a true sign I've been here a year!)

We're also joining the Winnipeg masses in having something constantly under renovation. (Winnipeg has a lot of old houses...so we're not alone in this.) This is the scaffolding that has been up on my back deck since June 28th. Yes, that's our chimney, and it will now be shorter than before, with less of a chance of it falling down and killing someone on the street. Someday, we may even have it set up with the gas fireplaces that we found. (the British ones, designed for Victorian houses, that fit in our small fireplace openings...Hurray!)

Our Nanking Cherries are ripe, so I went on a picking spree this morning. There are still plenty to pick later. When I have time, I hope to put these up in jars as jelly or maybe cherry sauce. The container here holds 6 cups, and since each cherry has a big pit, it won't make a lot on its own. Still, I harvested these from our yard and I'm proud of the homegrown crop!

In between teaching classes at the university, editing, and getting ready for houseguest #7, things have been busy. (For those who have been reading the blog a long time, the Norwegian Bachelor Biologist is driving up from his family's Minnesota cottage and coming to town! I can't wait to see him!) So busy, in fact, that I have felt a bit under the weather. However, it was nothing a little bit of antibiotics couldn't fix.

Today, I celebrated the sunshine and our elms in their fancy summer leaf costume! The light dappled through those leaves and I took the dogs on a long walk. We went past the big houses, all the way to Munson Park by the river. It was a deliciously sunny day, with two happy dogs by side. It's good to be here. It's been quite a ride since last year, when we arrived in Manitoba on July 15th, 2009.

Now it's off to grade more papers...