you dream it, they'll cake it

On these wet wet days when our walking path looks like this...

...we've altered our route to go through town. We walk past a cute shop window that has the coolest decorated cakes. I first noticed it this fall and took some photos around Halloween and Remembrance Day.

Fall Cupcakes

Beach Cake

Halloween Ghoul Cake

Creepy-Crawly cupcakes

Treasure Island Cake

Flanders Fields Cake

Over the Christmas holiday the window was empty. But this morning when we passed by I saw the shop window was again getting filled with these incredible cakey creations. Are they real, edible cakes? I have no idea. But they sure are fun scenery on a rainy morning. 

Snowboard Cake

Penguin Cake

And a HOCKEY CAKE, to celebrate the end of the lockout, do you think?

The shop is Scoop-N-Save, Cake Decorating Supply Specialists. They have a web page and a presence on Facebook. (If you're into cake decorating and live in the area, they're probably a destination that will make you drool.)

revision (#874-881 of 1000 gifts)

"It is never too late—in fiction or in life—to revise." Nancy Thayer

Our flooded room has been revised. The restoration company moved everything back on Wednesday. Look at it now! That is my headline gift this week (and #874 of 1000).

875. A lovely visit with sister-in-law.

876. Daily walks (well, almost daily).

877. Spring crocuses.

878. A safe trip to the interior on Thursday.

879. Spending time with my favourite little people

880. Watching a whole season of Downton Abbey on the weekend (fun!).

881. DQ ice-cream cakes. YUM!

882. A safe trip home yesterday through snow squalls in the mountains. 

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If  you'd like to join me and many others collecting One Thousand Gifts,  please do. Some members of this gratefulness community post their gifts  on blogs, while others list them in private journals. Instructions on  how to join are here.

music (#792 - 804 of 1000 gifts)

There shall be music, sweet and clear,

Calling the reverent worshipers near,

Telling the story in notes and in rhyme

Of the Child who was born at Christmastime.

There shall be music, soft and light,

A lullaby sung on a crisp winter night,

Sweetly angelic like the voices that told

Of the birth of a king to the shepherds of old.

There shall be music, deep and strong,

Filling the air with melodious song,

Resonant sounds of gladness that tend

To lift every heart to a grateful amen!

- Alice Leedy Mason (Christmas Ideals - 1978)

As I always do at this time of year, I've hauled out the Christmas albums and am giving them some play time. Some of my favorites are the 2003 Michael W. Smith Christmas album and some CDs released by Our Daily Bread that contain beautiful classical songs. I have yet to play two golden oldies that we have only as records—a Nana Mouskouri Christmas album and one by Roger Whittaker. There's nothing nicer than a house filled with the warmth of a fireplace, the twinkle of lights, and the gorgeous songs of Christmas. That's number 792 on my list of 1000 gifts.

And ...

793. A hawk sighting.

794. Much shopping and other Christmas preparation done this week.

795. The way frost transforms, outlining ...

796. ... sugar-frosting ...

797. ... glazing ... 

798. ... and exposing.

799. Discovering a new worship album. The Journey by Stuart Townend has a lively Celtic flavour. Love it! (From some notes on Mr. Townend's website: "This album may signal that it’s time to turn the guitar amps down from 11, time to dust off the violin and flute, get out the accordion and the banjo, and lead God’s people in worship along slightly different musical paths to the ones we’ve got use to in recent years – and, in my humble opinion, that’s no bad thing…" - I'd say AMEN to that!)

800. A visit with my sis.

801. An inspiring church Christmas production.

802. A Christmas party with one of those wild gift exchanges where you get to steal someone else's gift. I came home with some Starbucks!


803. Plans for Christmas Day finalized. They'll be home!

804. A beautiful Sunday walk in the fog.

Fort Langley Bridge over the Bedford Channel

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If you'd like to join me and many others collecting One Thousand Gifts, please do. Some members of this gratefulness community post their gifts on blogs, while others list them in private journals. Instructions on how to join are here.

kindnesses (#756 − 766 of 1000 gifts)

"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless." - Mother Teresa

"Always be a little kinder than necessary" - James M. Barrie

Though the weather is cold, the last two weeks have been made warmer by kindness. It was a great treat to spend last Monday celebrating my brother and his wife's wedding anniversary. They treated us to dinner and coffee later (something's wrong with that picture!). When we went to visit uncle in the Abbotsford Menno Hospital, Auntie served us tea in her nearby assisted living suite. Kindness, tea or coffee, and food—what a great combination!

Here is my list of kindnesses, ultimately from our gracious Heavenly Father, collected over the last two weeks.

756. The beauty of green, growing on gnarled branches.

757. Our friend is making a recovery following his near-death experience. Thank You Lord!

758. A new, fun mural on the backside of McBurney's Coffee House in Langley, replacing the faded old buggy that was starting to show its age.

759. Last weekend's powerful church conference, with much to think about (and some new tunes to sing).


760. Hosting a billet and making a new friend.

761. A magical day in Vancouver with my bro and his wife. (This is the view outside the window of their hotel room where we had tea and played Phase 10 for several hours.)

762. Magenta berries—by the thousands.

763. Pounding surf.

764. Making the acquaintance of the charming Sylvia hotel and its once-upon-a-time mascot Got to Go. (These are the muscled arms of Virginia creeper. It covers the hotel's facade in summer.)

765. Cold beauty.

766. Having tea with a dear auntie.

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If you'd like to join me and many others collecting One Thousand Gifts, please do. Some members of this gratefulness community post their gifts on blogs, while others list them in private journals. Instructions on how to join are here.

1000 gifts in orbit (268-283 of 1000 gifts)

While much of eastern Canada shivers in a deep freeze, here on the west coast we're toying with spring. On a walk this week I saw the first blooms of forsythia and heard spring birdsong. Spears of bulbs are breaking the soil. We have a few more minutes of sunlight every day (268-271)!

Here are some more blessings I counted this week:


272. A neck that normally swivels without pain. (On Monday and Tuesday for some reason mine didn't. Ouch!)

273. Buying books for the Kindle e-reader (they shouldn't make it so easy!)

274. A walk on a cool, grey afternoon, perfect for calming restless thoughts and using up nervous energy.

275. A lo-o-o-o-ong dental appointment — done!

276. Freezing. Can't imagine going through the jack-hammering that happened in my mouth without anesthetic.

277. Lunch with friends. Old friends. I met the lady part of our friend duo twenty years ago when our 5-year-olds were in music lessons together.


278. A break in the rain so we could walk.

279. Green upon green upon green.

280. Golden-crowned Kinglets (identified by our more-expert-than-us ornithologist friends).

281. This moving song.

282. Being one of the crowd. At our Wednesday women's meeting someone spoke of God reassuring her that it was important, too, to be just one of the crowd. After all look how the crowds served Jesus — with news spreaders, hosanna shouters, palm wavers, children singers, generally lots of buzz.This week I've loved being part of the crowd that has helped launch Ann Morton Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts to the stratosphere of No. 11 on Amazon.com (on Saturday). Way to go Ann — and all glory to Jesus who foundations the gratitude lifestyle.


283. Discovering the gorgeous poem that begins:

What is it makes a church so like a poem?
The inner silence – spaces between words?


The ancient pews set out in rhyming rows
Where old men sit and lovers are so still?


Or something just beyond that can’t be seen,
Yet seems to move if we should look away?

Read the entire poem here...

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If you'd like to join me and many others collecting One Thousand Gifts, please do. Some members of this gratefulness community post their gifts on blogs, while others list them in private journals. Instructions on how to join are here.

Ann's book One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are is out and selling like hotcakes. Get your copy! 

highways and byways (#258 − 267 of 1000 gifts)

My tally of everyday gifts continues...

258. Waking up to a snowy wonderland.

259. Someone special resolves to quite smoking.

260. Bananas and yogurt sweetened with jam.

261. A ray of insight on a project.


262. A witty letter from a friend.

263. Realized again how much I'm loving my now almost-five-year-old digital camera —the best birthday present ever!

264. A belated Christmas present (my Kindle e-reader) arrived just before our weekend travels.

265. Road adventures. It seems we had hardly unpacked from our Christmas travels when it was time to go again. On Friday we planned to drive the familiar route to Kelowna (Hwys 1 to 5 to 97C) in order to attend aunty's funeral on Saturday.

Friday turned out to be a horrible day for highway driving. A rock slide closed the #1 to eastbound traffic between Chilliwack and Hope for most of the day. We took a detour to Hope and after lunch there I happened to see, on our way out of town, the sign saying the #5 was closed. Good thing I noticed, because there were no other signs or barriers across the road till we left it at the Hope Princeton Highway junction to detour past the closure.

At Princeton we took the new-to-us Highway 3A to Aspen Grove (and back to 97C). We passed a couple of groups of ice fishers on the lake, motored through rolling ranch country, wound down valleys and up pine-treed hills. All in all it turned out to be a very scenic road, in great condition (even greater when it stopped raining) with logging trucks our main company. Our detour turned out to be another gift.

Ice Fishers

You never know what's around the bend!

266. Heard this beautiful song at aunty's funeral:



267. We're back home since yesterday with almost 1000 km. traveled. So thankful for safe travels.

 The town of Merritt seen in the distance from Hwy 5.

Merritt in the Nicola Valley

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If you'd like to join me and many others collecting One Thousand Gifts, please do. Some members of this gratefulness community post their gifts on blogs, while others list them in private journals. Instructions on how to join are here.

Ann's book One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are is releasing in hardback soon (tomorrow, in fact). But you can get the Kindle version  now!

Here is the book trailer. I bet you won't be able to watch it without shedding a tear!