Grief, bereavement and mourning: a soul well-loved

hubby's book case

her urn in the middle
new photo display for Sady
-included is the story about
pets waiting on the rainbow bridge.

It's a long process, whether you've lost a beloved pet or human.

GRIEF:  refers to social, physical, and psychological, and emotional reactions to the loss of your loved one. 

MOURNING:  is the process by which we work through a loss to allow healing to take place.  It is like a roadmap to healing, marked by the public ways in which we express our internal experience of grief.

BEREAVEMENT:  is the state of being deprived of a loved one through death.  A person is bereaved for as long as they are in the process of mourning that loss. (Read more here: GRIEF, MOURNING AND BEREAVEMENT.)

 Hubby is managing his grief with a Celebration of Life!

I spotted this at the Gore St. Antique market.
Just $3, and shows her off well.

Dorah and Sady on my fence
I recovered the old cedar from the forest.

More Critters

If a deer poops in the forest...

How does a deer poop in the forest?


Deer poo from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
I've captured nothing on the trail cam but deer and finally: a deer pooping in the forest. I'm sure there is a joke herein, but I fail to be able to articulate it!

YAM?
Hilary?

Paint Party Friday and Oak leaves

original

Paint Party Friday gives me good motivation to play with shapes, light, saturation and colour.
I'm no artist, I just relax with my photography and sketching.

playing with colour

Black and white

I like this one!

I think it looks better in black and white!

My grandkids have been having their way with the coloured markers. 

Actually, they are the kids' markers, I just borrowed them!

Hydro crews

On a bitterly cold day, a week ago, they came to replace something. I love work, I could watch it for hours! I like having hydro. It makes life easier...

hydro work from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Book Review: One of Everything

I was sent another book for review. It was a shocker. It's an intriguing journey, an autobiography, about the author's dysfunctional family and her eventual salvation from joining a Mormon society.

Now, I'm not into organised religion any more, let alone bible-based Fundamentalism, but it was a riveting story. I had my doubts, at first, but as each chapter of her life unfolded, I was shocked with her exploits and curious as to how she dug herself out from the bottom of this well.

 Voss writes well, and has done her work learning how to write. Unlike myself (I co-published) she battered down walls until she managed to find a publisher. This alone shows strength and courage!

Voss begins near the end of the story, a portent of doom avoided, otherwise, I might not pick up such a defeating story. She tells her story honestly, with no holds barred. There are many facets to the story, from hitting bottom, after a life of abusing herself and her body, to abuse, an abortion, to adoption and racism.

Of 9/11 she writes:

"I need to be with Gregg and Koni, need to sit on their blue corduroy couch all day, watching the same footage all over, saying the same things to each other over and over, ritualistically grinding the shock into manageable bits."

There are many lessons in this book, for parents, children, and the rest of us in society. Excellent read.

One of Everything (narrative non-fiction by Donna Carol Voss)

Is it possible to overdose on life? What is recipe for happily-ever-after? How do you balance and overcome the insecurities, missteps, and explorations of youth to have a healthy adulthood? How do you proudly associate with a religion that conflicts with some of your personal views?

From shame to self-acceptance, from sexual ambiguity to definitive choice, from skepticism to belief, Donna Carol Voss’s journey from childhood through marriage and motherhood is both unique and universal, a story that will resonate long after the last page is read.

Frozen forest bathing

porcupine last year

We eagerly anticipate Spring hereabouts, but it is nowhere near arriving. Climate Change is a bad thing, if that is what it is. We should be having 10 C. in the day, but we seldom make it to 1 C.
The sap producers are chewing their fingernails. Not so good.

I've been deer shed hunting, as we've lost about half of our snow cover, and I thought it might be a good time to spot them poking out of the snow, before the critters steal them away. I saw nothing.

I was following some deer tracks, obviously made on a warmer day. They sunk through the soft snow. I was walking in -15 C. weather, and walking along the top layer, for the most part. I did not need snowshoes, despite the snow cover.

It's funny how it works, you head out for one thing and find another.

porcupine in summer

I was not disappointed, since it's wonderful to be outdoors and walking, but I spotted a porcupine's site. They tell me that in winter they don't hibernate so much as estivate (sort of doze). In addition, they wake up, from time-to-time, to eat within 100m of their burrows. I found such a site. Lots of trees with bark nicely peeled off. It's a big forest, and it won't harm the forest integrity. It might even do some pruning, allowing smaller trees to get more sun.

I found some neat cave-like shelters under the sedimentary limestone in the area. We have very shallow soil, and shallow lakes, as well.

The porcupines are as big as our raccoons, eating like mad all summer to carry them through the winter. They are often roadkill, however, these docile, slow-moving creatures are often on the road.

The only critter I saw was a pileated woodpecker flying on the opposite side of the wetland.

Daisy and I took a walk on the wetland in the morning, and I could see where the ice is melting. Can you see her in the 2nd photo? We were checking the trailcam, which had NOTHING on it!
She is in the upper right, checking things out. She likes to lead me across the wetland. Daisy was out this morning for an hour in the -15C. morning temperatures. She's a trooper!

Basically, I did a circle around the wetland, cutting across it where it narrowed. The walking was fine. The penultimate photo shows the roof of our house, the final one a close up.

Dratted Red Squirrel figured out the peanut feeder!

And I figured out the log splitter.

Red squirrels are everywhere! They are in mating mode, at this time of year. Annabelle was exhausted, however. Photos were taken with the Videocam, hence they aren't quite excellent. The sun was shining, at least, and that makes for a better photo.

Whilst the other cats slept, Daisy and I figured out how to work the electric log splitter. I cannot lift it, but it has wheels. I dragged it out from the garage, where it has been sitting for the 5 years we have lived here. Time to make it work. The wood we bought has some big pieces that do not fit into the wood insert. This was the case last year, with a different supplier. sigh. What do these men think? 

Some I can barely lift!

My friend, Jean, offered to have her hubby help if I sent photos, but the directions were pretty clear. Thank you internet buddy!

Hubby returned from delivering Meals on Wheels and he found the manual for me, after I searched online. They don't make my brand any more. "Be careful!" he says. No guff.

With our cold spell, I've been keeping it warm indoors. It has a 6-ton capacity and works quite nicely, once I read the manual. I'm startled by loud noise, but it just gently pushes the wood into the splitter. With great force, I might add. My 8-lb. maul didn't work on a couple of pieces.