Launch of "Florrie" by John E. Speers

   
     This past Monday I went to the launch party of "Florrie", a book written by John E. Speers about his mother.The event was held at St. Giles' Anglican Church  in Barrie. St. Giles' provided a space that allowed all in attendance of the event to feel close and connected as the excerpts were read and songs were sung. The small  admittance fee went toward The Leprosy Mission Canada.  

      I feel blessed to have been able to attend in person because it was a wonderful evening filled with music, poetry and heart warming stories. Much of it was written and preformed by Canon John himself, with help from his friends.  

     The story of "Florrie" is told both by John and through letters written by Florrie herself. The end result is a  warm, rich and honest story of life in Canada in the early 1900's. As I read the book I was quickly drawn in by Florrie and through reading her letters begin feel as if I was truly getting to know a woman who was a true wonder and lived in Canada at a time when it still being tamed. I was able to see Saskatchewan in all of it's wild splendor, and get a feel for life in a period of time when life was hard but families came together to make it through.

     "Florrie" is only available currently from John Speers himself, But if you are able to get a copy, it is a story that you will not soon forget. I count myself lucky to have a copy. If you desire your own please feel free to contact me through this site and I will see about getting you in touch with him.  

Text from above:
Canon John E. Speers is a retired Anglican clergyman, having served over 50 years with his late wife Gwyn at parishes in the Toronto Diocese. An accomplished pianist, poet, writer, and gardener, Canon John resides in Barrie, Ontario, where he enjoys a full and active life of preaching, concert-going, literary projects, and wide-ranging conversation with friends and loved ones. At 95 years old, he remains an inspiration to three generations of the extended Speers and McLauchlin families as patriarch and bard.

Around the world

Today Bear, my sisters boyfriend, got on a plane to head back home, back to Australia.  I have watched how they have interacted the past few days and it has made me sad. It makes me sad because I know how it feels to need to say good bye to the person that you love and let them go away from you. You know that you love each other, and that you will see them again, but deep down you wish with all your heart that it was not so. You wish reality and logic did not come into play. You wish that the strength of your love could some how reshape reality so that you would never need to say good-bye.  But you must, all you can do is trust that your love combined will be able to bridge the distance and keep you strong until love brings you together once again.

THE MASTER AND THE DOOR

I found this article about the refinishing of the church doors at Trinity Anglican, Barrie. I was really shocked at how well  different it looked and how well It came out. I have added my own photos of the door for my re-posting of  this article. To see the original photos that ran with this or to read the article at its' source please click the link below and scroll down to the second page of the paper. I hope you enjoy. -SA  

http://www.trinitybarrie.ca/happenings/30oct11.pdf

THE MASTER AND THE DOOR

What began as a generous bequest from the will of Verdi Wallwin, a much-loved, beautiful and gracious member of Trinity, culminated in a welcoming new entrance to the church at the top of the hill.

Door just after it was painted in 2000

Jack Wallwin, with the help of Jim Laking and Millet Salter, undertook a replacement of the steps and the handrail leading up to the front door.  Then it was time to address the refinishing of the door itself. Jack contacted the very best man for the job, Ben Poernbacher, a master painter and refinisher, who at the age of 14 began a 3 year apprenticeship in Austria, his homeland, and started to work at his trade when only 17!

Ben was used to working on ladders, at 19 he found a job high in the mountain villages of Switzerland where he would paint on rising scaffolds, church steeples as high as 130 feet!  Ben came to Canada by himself in 1957 when he was 24 years old and settled in Toronto. Because skiing was a passion he eventually found his way to Snow Valley and owner, Hans Eder, also Austrian. Soon Barrie became his home.

Door once all paint was removed

Over the years Trinity’s main entrance door had accumulated more than 20 layers of paint.  All of these layers were removed by Ben in painstaking fashion using a propane torch.  To avoid burning the wood, the final two layers were cleaned with paint remover and then scraped by hand.  Once cleaned, scraped and sanded Ben realized that the main part of the door was mahogany with pine mouldings which he stained to match the mahogany and bleached once for uniformity of colour. Then came three coats of clear varnish to complete the natural finishing of the door.

Door as it appears today

The final touch to the completion of the church entrance was the installation of a new threshold. Jack Wallwin provided the wood that had been recently cut from a red oak tree on the Wallwin family farm. Two coats of stain and three of varnish were applied by Ben to protect this very handsome piece of wood. Removal of all the old paint from the door hardware and from the wonderful original light fixture above provided for a fresh new coat of black paint to complete the masterpiece!

It is the hope of all parishioners that the new entrance signals a new vision for Trinity

Sweater Song- Hedley

The other night as I was driving home after dropping Biohazard (my girlfriend) home, I heard "Sweater Song" by Hedley on the radio. I was surprised at how much the song spoke to me, and would speak to anyone who has had to been apart from the person that they love for any length of time.

I have posted a link below. let me know what you think.

Sweater Song- Hedley