Best of the Season from the Goedes…
“Here’s to the bright New YearAnd a fond farewell to the old;
Here’s to the things that are yet to come
And to the memories that we hold.”
Traditional New Year’s Toast
Well, it doesn’t seem like so long ago that we sent our last Christmas letter, yet another busy year has flown by. Once again, it’s time to relax during the the holidays, remember our friends and family, and reflect on the good things 2003 brought to us.
2003 turned out to be a very important family year, with lots of family visitors, the exciting arrival of our first grandchild and then late in the year, the wonderful news that a second grandchild is on the way!
 Grandson Roan at ten months. The rocking chair belonged to Great-Grandma
Belva, the rocking horse was Grandma Nancy’s. The hanging
quilt was made by Grandma Nancy.
On January 4th, we rejoiced at the safe arrival of our grandson, Roan (pronounced “Rowan”). Roan was
born at home in Toronto and his Mom and Dad are greatly enjoying being parents.
Michael, Anne and Roan came and stayed with us for two months, from mid-April to mid-June, and we were able to see him change so much in such a short time.
 Roan
and fans
When Roan visited us, he was a very contented baby who loved the outdoors and all the bright blue and green colours. He had lots of swims in the ocean and has since traveled across Canada visiting other family. He is becoming a wonderful little boy, full of curiosity, and will soon be celebrating his first birthday.
 Roan
and Mom Anne watch the sunset
Anne, Michael and Roan have settled in Peterborough, Ontario where Anne is attending teachers college. Michael is on parental leave and is able to be a full-time Dad for awhile.
For the first time in many years, we were not able to attend the Pierce family reunion held in Western Canada, but Michael, Anne & Roan and Jessica & Scott were there to represent the family. A very good time was had by all who attended.
 Jessica,
Roan, and Michael on steps of new home
In December, we were very happy to hear that our daughter Jessica is now expecting, with the baby due in June. Jessica and Scott purchased their first home in south Edmonton this spring, and really enjoy their new neighbourhood. Jessica continues to work in administration at the Remand Centre and Scott works in management at a vehicle transmission dealer. They now spend much of their spare time working on their new home.
Around Glenelg
 Aerial
of Glenelg, our home
Much of the year around our place was spent working on smaller projects, seeing lots of closets, shelves, and a kitchen renovation in the guest cottage.
While visiting this spring, our son Michael helped Marcel the gardener plan the front two acres with approximately 150 shrubs and plants started in the greenhouse. Now the area by the gate is full of hibiscus, American sisal, yellow elder, and bougainvillea. While we were waiting for the grass to establish, Marcel set in watermelon.
 Bounty
of the Land
The new land became a very successful watermelon patch producing over 50 huge watermelon for us, our guests and friends, and unfortunately, many passersby to enjoy. This fall, we moved the watermelon patch up closer to the main houses.
We also weather-watched this year, and September and October gave us a few weather scares. Hurricane Fabian missed us, but then it looked as though Isabel, a Class 5, was coming
straight for us. Fortunately, it turned a few hundred miles out, but was strong enough to do serious damage to the Atlantic beach, even though it was never closer than 400 miles. It took a few months for the beaches to rebuild their sand, and the beachcombing is still interesting.
 Terry’s
Garden in the December Morning
In October, we were joined by our friend Terry Toma from Calgary, who performed a miracle in the gardens. The objective this year was to see how many different types of plants would grow, and Terry soon proved that the answer was… All of them!
This year we will sample somewhere around 30 varieties of produce, including ten types of tomatoes. Next year, we will try for quantity.
Nancy’s year passed quickly and she enjoyed her continuing involvement with the Eleuthera Natural Arts and Crafts Guild. Other crafts included gifts for family and friends and experimenting with the native fruits – either dehydrated or in jams and jellies. She is also helping Darryl with the development of an large information web site about the Bahamas, learning lots of interesting facts about the Bahamas, and about new computer uses for the web.
 Darryl
building the store front for the
Eleuthera Crafts Guild
Darryl continues to be very busy with two software projects and is actively involved as a communications and marketing management consultant for a large Caribbean real estate
firm. His assistant, Sebastian, returned to Canada in late June and Darryl is now working with programmers in Serbia. It is an amazingly effective way to work and, other than a few stumbles and giggles over the language “barrier”, the work is progressing quickly and efficiently. Unfortunately,
he again finds himself spending too much time on the computer. He still greatly enjoys creating projects in the workshop and developing new gardens on the property.
 Musical
interlude
with Donna Brown
The cottages continue to be a great way to make new friends, meet interesting people and renew friendships.
 Trio with Michael Graves, visiting mandolin player
2003 was a great year for visitors, and music rings around Glenelg, with the musical partnering of Darryl and Eleuthera friend Mark Adams, a guitarist and folk singer. Several guests who visited were musicians, and soon a musical party became part of the memories from their visit.
 Original Thomas Wedding Party, 25 Years Later
We also enjoyed several visits from our family and friends. A very special occasion was a visit from Nancy’s sister Cathy and husband Wayne, celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary.They brought one of the original attendants, Dave Hodgson (and wife Janice), who together with Nancy made up the entire wedding party.
 Susan Chantal and Nancy
at the Orchidarium in
Governor’s Harbour
Another special visit was made in February by Darryl’s sister Susan Chantal, from Ponoka, Alberta.
 Susan
of The Sea
Escaping the cold on her first visit to us, Sue was here to help us celebrate our February birthdays, when we turned 33 and 34 respectively. 
Other special guests were Darryl’s cousins, Roana and Jessica Rondeau, for their third visit with us. We even met some “shirttail” relatives as Glenn Chantal’s sisters Lynda Chantal and Lucille Dawkins visited in October. 
Blake and new British
friends, the Knights
Longtime friend Blake Fallis has now made Eleuthera his home (when not in Victoria, Canada) and we see his growing family several times a year.
 Niece
Claire Thomas (far right) and her friends at the Tarpum
Bay Junkanoo, Christmas Day, 2003
Now in December we are enjoying the company of niece, Claire Thomas, and six of her friends who are sharing Christmas and New Years with us – Bahamas style!
 Nancy
and Terry toast the
Christmas season
This year, we sat 21 for Christmas dinner, celebrating the occasion by gathering good friends, guests, and family to a meal prepared by Nancy and Terry.
And so what does 2004 promise for us? We think that we will likely get some traveling in this year, perhaps timing the western Canada portion to visit with a new grandchild. We have several projects on the boards, and hope to get more land cleared for open areas, a couple of acres cleared for Terry’s gardening next winter, hopefully a new shop for Darryl, and new crafts house for Nancy. The new software Darryl has developed may also mean traveling in North America and Europe.
As the distance keeps us apart, we aren’t able to visit with many of you in person. We would love to hear your news via email or snail mail.
We have a new email address at goede@bahamahost.net.
Our postal mail address is:
Nancy and Darryl Goede
Glenelg
Box 25
Tarpum Bay, Eleuthera, Bahamas
Telephone: (242) 334-4356
Fax: (501) 621-4054
Our best wishes to all of you for a joyful, healthy and productive 2004!
Warmest regards,
Nancy and Darryl
|
