Blogs from Belleville, Ontario, Canada, North America

Woooo!! In just 3 hours I'll be at my college meeting up with everyone in my program (only around 15 of us total, and 2 teachers), probably having a rundown of rules and such before we hop on the nice bus we're going to take to Toronto. Not sure why we're leaving so early when we only need to be at the airport at most, 3 hours ahead. Probably just in case the weather decides to act up, always good to be sure, but I think a few spare hours is a bit much. It's a bit funny, that I start this blog with the sound of excitement when it comes down to it, I'm really not feeling as excited as I should be. Seriously? My MOM is more excited about this trip than I am.. ... read more

It's hard to believe, but on Tuesday morning I woke at 4:30 a.m. to catch my flight out of Kenyatta Airport, Nairobi, Kenya. I arrived at the airport about 5:30. I had jewellery making tools and copper wire that wasn't a problem going over but made security nervous on my way back. However, when they saw the beads and knew it was going into baggage (not carry-on), they let me through. The Nairobi-Amsterdam leg of the flight was to leave from Gate 12 at 8:30 a.m. (12:30 a.m. EST). The airport was already busy with lines of people and the second checkpoint moved slowly while people removed shoes and belts and anything else that might cause the scanner to beep. Also, the gate was changed from 12 to 14 and the waiting room was filling up. ... read more

Windy and -10C this morning.... read more

hello..having taken the challenge of a walkon/off suitcase for 2 months, packing this morning relatively easy... My stay here has been full of surprises, not least the wonderful weather, did not expect to top up my suntan on shore of Lake Ontario in October... Ever since I lived in Vancouver in the 60's I have fantasised about Autumn in Ontario...the wonderful Maple reds and oranges.. Of course, like most fantasies, transformed in the face of reality... The sun rise this morning, red and pink, filtering through Roz's Maple, willow and birches, beckoned me to an early start, the house is still peacful after the fullness of last night's harvest supper... A lovely going away present, loved and nourished by the generosity of Roz, Vicki and their friends.. Looking forward to the day, flying to Seattle and ... read more

If we'd kept a construction log, our helpers would have logged 100,000 hours easily. With humility and gratitiude we thank all those patient souls who invested minutes, hours, days or years of donated time in this project. Their continuous efforts, including physical work, mental planning and emotional support have literally kept us pointed toward our very long term goal. We've been accused quite often of constructing an Ark, but without Noah's grasp of timelines. A project such as this does not move forward in a straight line, at least the way we do it! It is much more a zig-zag kind of path. The miracle is that people have appeared like itinerant birds, helped by building or singing their song and then mostly darted away to their next adventure. To stretch this metphor a little further; ... read more