Ho Ho HOME!

Just ahead of story assignments for the Spring issue, the Saskatoon HOME and Prairies North gang gathered as guests of intrepid publishers Amanda and Rob Soulodre. Wonderful to get together with fellow writers, editors and photographers at the Soulodre home. Even Mr. Pickles got into the holiday spirit, sorta. Following the appies, we all loaded into a limo to tour the mesmerizing Enchanted Forest at the Forestry Farm. On until January 6th; you should go! Still plenty of time to get 2020 subscriptions to these magazines, a great holiday gift that keeps on giving all year around!

65 years later

It all began in Seattle. My parents, Fred and Doris Melberg, were married in 1954 in a quiet little ceremony. Folk singer Walt Robertson was Dad’s best man. Walt’s girlfriend Liz Ritzau stood up for Mom. Also attending Grandma Melberg, and Mom’s Auntie Sal and Uncle Merrill Musgrave (interesting family factoid: he was the engineer who invented the machine to crack the outer shell of the macadamia nut). Fast forward 65 years to Saskatoon. On December 3rd, Mom and Dad had another quiet celebration to mark the milestone. We delivered a stack of well wishes from family, friends, and a few notables like Mayor Charlie, the premier, the lietenant governor, the Governor General, the Prime Minister, and even the Queen! Mingus, the neighbour’s cat, came by with a congratulatory cuddle. Thanks to Heather for the cupcakes, which Jim guarded carefully.

Holiday spirit

Always so much fun to attend Anthony Bidulka and Herb McFaull’s holiday opener. I had the pleasure of interviewing Tony (yet again) about the beautiful Bella Vista renovation at their home. You can read it in the Summer 2019 Saskatoon HOME issue. My date Heather Fritz and I had a wonderful time, so thank you Tony and Herb for sharing your special launch of the festive season. The Harry Potter tree was my favourite; the mandrake was adorable! If you could just have a jumbo shrimp tree just for me next year…