My Accomplishments Since I Turned Forty

I enrolled at the University of Guelph. In 1986 I graduated with my Diploma in General Horticulture. In 1988 I again graduated, this time with my Diploma in Landscape Maintainance. I received an award for my high grades in Landscape Maintainance. In total I took nineteen courses from surveying to arboriculture with grades ranging from 83.5% to 98.8%. I have my Qualified Plantsman Certificate, Home Gardener Certificate, Alberta Pesticide Certificate.

I ran my own landscape maintainance firm, Pat's Landscape Maintainance, from 1985 to 1994. My contracts included federal, provincial, municipal and private properties. An injury to my back made it impossible to keep up with this type of work. I still help people plan their yards. I ran a hobby greenhouse where I grew bedding plants for my yard and my neighbours as well as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers all summer long for myself and the food banks.

While taking my horticulture courses, I had to do a thesis. After almost 4 years of research, I had a pile of data that was unmanageable. It was at this point my mother decided I needed a computer and bought me an early graduation present, a Tandy 1000. So here I was learning horticulture, running a business, raising a toddler, and now learning about computers. I took what few courses were available through correspondence and then proceeded to learn the rest by myself through books. Eventually I learned to use Windows 3.1, 95, 98, XP and many programs, word processors, spreadsheet programs, databases, etc.

I had done embroidery since I was a child but one day I decided to try my hand at cross-stitch embroidery. I became addicted. I have made many items from small pictures to designing Christmas stockings for family members. I now have a computer program that allows me to turn photos into cross-stitch patterns. I hope to be able to provide this service to people in the area. In 1999, my entry in the local fair received a third. This was the first time I entered in this category at the fair.

Over the years I have learned to knit, crochet, tat, hook rugs, and draw (for my own pleasure). I have done reupholstery, furniture refinishing etc. There is nothing I won't try. I can usually be found with my nose in a book learning something. I am learned how to do Web pages without using special programs. Hopefully you will find my effort at least worth a visit. Maybe it will plant a little seed in you mind and you too will create a web page to tell your story or promote you special interest.

Quilting is another hobby I have taken up in the last few years. I have made 3 full quilts, a quilted headboard and pillows, and I am working on my 4th quilt.

I was also a judge at our local fair. I have been judging in the children's fair for many years. We had a children's fair sponsored by our local library even longer than the main fair.

When my daughter had Jodi, she was too young to be a mother. She was going to give the baby up for adoption but I decided to support them both so she could finish school. I eventually became Jodi's guardian and then adopted her. Many people thought I was crazy taking on the responsibilities of raising her at my age. It is one decision I have never regretted. It also provided an incentive to a friend whose daughter had died leaving behind a little girl. She too is now "mother" to her granddaughter.

After I closed my business, I started working part-time at our local library. I was responsible for shelving the children's library and running story time. I was then asked if I would become an on-call librarian. On days when the regular librarian and the assistant librarian were not available, I ran the library. I had to learn several library related programs in a very short time. I received no formal training but had to learn most of it on the job which was sometimes very difficult as on the days I worked I was all by myself. I enjoyed working at the library and it provided an excellent opportunity to help people.

Over the years I have been a volunteer in many areas ranging from volunteering at Playschool, kindergarten, public school, Block Parent's, as a Volunteer Tax Preparer and also teaching senior's how to use a computer. I transcribed historical data for the Pinetreeline website. I am presently a volunteer transcriber for the CLIP project.

One of my greatest satisfactions has been the assistance I was able to give to my neighbours. I assist them in everything from advice with their gardens to helping them get up and running on the computer. In the 80's a developer came into town and started 'taking over'. He tried scaring seniors into selling their homes to him. He had plans to build many apartment buildings and a shopping center in this small town. I led a mass appeal against the building of a large apartment complex designed mainly for singles. I was successful in getting his proposal shot down as it didn't meet any of the town bylaws. At first many people were afraid that the same kind of tactics would be used against anyone who participated in the appeal, that had been used in previous complaints about developers. People had been told that if they signed a petition their children would never work in this town. There were threats against me but I went public with them and made it clear that what I was doing was legal and therefore any more threats would be reported to the police. Once they saw that I was going ahead with my appeal, I had no trouble getting support from the residents. The goodwill that was created by this has served me well over the years. When I started my own business, people knew that I would put my whole heart into it and that they could depend on me to do the best job I could.