Remembrance Day 2007

My Great Uncle

[updated 12:oo pm]: Did you go to a Remembrance Day Service? If not, why? What could possibly be your excuse for not going? Give me your best shot. I will tell you now that unless you were infirmed or deceased, you as a Canadian have no excuse for not attending! You have no excuse for not showing your respect for our fallen soldiers and those still battling for our freedom. Sorry, you do not have an excuse! It doesn't matter if it is drizzling, snowy, pouring rain, in the midst of a blizzard or so cold your toes freeze while standing at the ceremony.

This year is the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge (April 9-14, 1917). At least four of my ancestors fought in WWI and two of them were at Vimy Ridge. I grew up in a home were all family members were involved in one way or another in the military. Just about every one of the male members and some of the female members of my biological family (different from home I grew up in) were in the military. My European ancestors were fighting wars from the time they landed in Quebec, my English ancestors under British rule and my native ancestors well before then. All these efforts have made Canada the country it is today. I know my family stories, how the wars affected our family and yet time over time again, our family has enlisted defending our country. Our chests have been inflated at the honours, deflated at picking up the pieces and our hearts have been broken at burying our dead. Men barely out of their teens, still babies themselves buried. They had no excuse but gave freely with their lives.

What possible reason could you have for not paying respect?

Do You See the Baby?

If you can't see the baby in the picture, don't give up.
It's really cool when it actually appears.
This is not a joke and ~ NO ~ Nothing is going to jump out at you!

You have to have an open mind.
Don't look for a Baby, and you will see the Baby!

Once you see it you won't see anything else!!!

This is so cool. Do you see the baby?

author unknown, image source unknown
If you know the author or image source, please let me know so I can acknowledge accordingly.

Wordless Wednesday - Sunset Through the Clouds

Sunset Through the Clouds
November 5, 2007

Monday Funnies - Growth Hormone

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - The Miracle of Life

Grandbaby
ETA April 5, 2008

What better blessing to celebrate than the miracle of life. We are closely watching the development of this little wonder sharing the milestones in vitro and sharing the hopes and dreams. It is a true blessing to share this with our kids as everyone prepares to welcome a new bundle of joy into our lives. Once again our family is growing. This little one like those before him or her will be surrounded with a lot of love and supported unconditionally by family.

Happy Hallowe'en 2007

A Beautiful Day

Boating
Oct 22, 2007

The weather has certainly been unseasonable here, much warmer than it should be. So the kiddies shouldn't have to wear snowsuits for Trick or Treating tomorrow night. We were supposed to go to help hand out candy and grandbaby's house. We were going to leave tonight, babysit tomorrow and head home after the festivities except my husband and son are down with colds. This cold hit my husband quite hard so him driving down tonight was not an option and exposing the kids and grandbaby to the cold . So I did a little Hallowe'en decorating, not much mind you as I only put the decorations up the day before and take them down the day after. It felt good puttering outdoors enjoying the sun's kisses. I even took a break to sit on the dock enjoying the glittering water. What a beautiful day!

Monday Funnies - Tolerance

RIP Dr. Kornberg

Enchantment
October 25, 2007

Dr. Arthur Kornberg died yesterday of respiratory failure at the age of 89. He was an active professor emeritus at Standford's School of Medicine. This genetic pioneer won the Nobel prize in 1959 for the synthesis of DNA in the test tube. He compared the nitrogenous base compositions of the DNA template with those recovered from the DNA product thus demonstrating that the templates were replicated faithfully. He also used the nearest-neighbour frequency test to assay the fidelity of the copying confirming that DNA polymerase I seed to be the likely candidate for DNA synthesis during replication within the cell. Out of necessity Kornberg's experiments were performed in vitro.

I have had the distinct privilege and honour of listing and meeting some of the greats in the field of genetics. Dr. Kornberg was one of those that I had the opportunity to listen to, riveted in my seat hanging to his every word. I can still remember quite vividly the first time I separated a strand of DNA. It was a sheer thrill! Then it got better as I visualized the DNA as bands on a gel and realizing each band represented a nucleotide creating a sequence. I still get a thrill at seeing this. The pioneers of genetics left us this legacy. We are indeed very fortunate!

Rest in Peace, Dr. Kornberg and thank-you.

Thoughts on Autumn

Sunrise on Maple
October 25, 2007

I have a love/hate feeling about autumn. The abundance of the harvest keeps me busy as the days begin to cool and daylight hours get shorter. The sunsets and sunrises can be spectacular. Yesterday the sun peeped just enough above the peak of the house to light up one of the maple trees. The beautiful orange and red leaves just popped against the vivid blue sky! I love the days with blue skies and sunshine but dread the grey days like today. Everything takes on a grey cast including the water. November is my least favourite month because of the grey. It is such a long, dreary month!

Little Miss Sunshine

Now We're Cooking...
October 6, 2007

Little Miss Sunshine loves to help Grandma in the kitchen! I've been told by her mom that she like helping at home as well. Cupboards and cabinets are kid magnets but she comes by being in the kitchen by nature. Our kids were always in the kitchen and still are because of our love of good food so it is only natural she wants to be in the kitchen as well. We just have to work a little on her technique!

Wordless Wednesday - A Beautiful Sunset Over the Water

Sunset Over the Water
October 23, 2007

Final Boat Ride 2007

Final Boat Ride 2007
October 22, 2007

The weather turned unseasonably warm over the weekend. I wanted to take a final boat ride as our boat was scheduled to be lifted out of the water the week of October 22 to be stored for the winter. Unfortunately the weekend was too busy with preparing and hosting my husband's monthly poker tournament and taking our future daughter-in-law to the airport. I kept my fingers crossed hoping for nice weather yesterday and that they hadn't got to our boat yet.

Yesterday was warm and breezy. My husband called saying he was taking the afternoon off, one of the perks of self employment, to take the boat out for her final ride of 2007. I quickly tidied up my canning anticipating the boat ride. The water was crisp looking in the slip with the bottom and weeds showing clearly through. This is one of the first signs of colder weather coming. As we left the cut the beautiful blue sky with white wispy clouds took on grey tones. The water was a deep bluish green that deepened as we scooted over the choppy waters. The wind was strong going against the current creating some nice sizes swells. The skies continued to darken so we decided to turn around and head towards our slip. I stood for awhile enjoying the wind whip my hair around, drinking in the sights while snapping a lot of pictures. When we arrived back at the marina it was clear that they would reach our boat today ending yet another wonderful boating season. This year is a little bitter sweet as it may be the last year for this boat. We've been looking at buying a bigger boat and already have one possible boat in mind. We'll see what the winter brings. In the meantime we have a lot of great memories and pictures from this boating season!

Monday Funnies - Who Wants Ice Cream

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - Focusing on Family and Friends

Last week was filled with many blessings. A scheduled procedure had to be unexpectedly postponed so I busied myself canning beef and pumpkin. Both looked lovely in the jars as they took their place in an almost bulging at the seams pantry. Being able to stock the pantry through canning is always a blessing! The weather turned unseasonably warm so we were able to spend a bit more time outdoors, winterizing the house and simply enjoying the sun's kiss. Our future daughter-in-law came mid-week to spend a few days giving us a chance to visit. Last night my husband hosted his monthly poker game to some 20 gentlemen. I had a wonderful time playing hostess, serving up various snacks and chili as well as making sure things were going smoothly. Once again family, friends and good food were the focus - all true blessings!

Wordless Wednesday - Problem Solved

Problem Solved
October 7, 2007

Blog Action Day - The Environment

Today over fifteen thousand blogs with twelve million readers will be blogging on one topic - The Environment. Each of my blogs are participating, each from a different perspective so be sure to read them all.

Readers of this blog know that each Monday the entry is a funny of some type. Remember in humour there is an element of truth. Today's funny is a very good example of that.

Cirrhosis is caused by chronic liver disease. It is irreversible but treatment could stop or delay further progression. and is life threatening. The liver is responsible for filtering out toxins much like a river in nature. How appropriate to compare the current condition of our waterways due to toxins from factories to cirrhosis. We live on the Great Lakes waterway system. Industrial chemical spills are of concern in our area as well as in other parts of the waterway system. These spills are either accidental or illicit discharges of substances such as oil, hydrocarbons, chemicals and waste. Not only are these spills harmful to humans, they also harm marine life and the environment.

What I have noticed though that the problem is not caused just industrial spills. Littering and illegal dumping are common in our waters. The dump may be as small as pour the left-over contents of an herbicide into the water or releasing waste water into natural waterways. Some residents living along the waterways think nothing of dumping their yard clippings into the water. These are the very same people who would be very vocal over industrial spills. How are their actions any different other than being on a smaller scale? Farm chemicals enter the waterways through run-off as does the salt we use on the roads in the winter. Things like Tylenol and estrogen are showing up in our water supplies as well. Compounding the problem is the introduction of nonindiginous species into the waterways disrupting the natural balance.

It is time we as citizens of this earth stand up and say enough is enough! We need action and personal accountability for how we use water. If we don't our water will reach the point of suffering irreversible damage. Each of us has a responsibility to protect our water for ourselves, for future generations and for the environment.

Garden Gnome
©2007

Misty Sunrise

Misty Sunrise
October 5, 2007

It's that time of the year with cooling weather and foggy skies. I couldn't resist taking a few pictures of this beautiful misty sunrise. What a photo opportunity!

Blog Action Day 2007

October 15 is Blog Action Day. This year's theme is the environment. Imagine 9,898 blogs, the number of registered bloggers when I signed up my blogs, uniting to blog about a common theme. Each of my blogs will participate in this worthy cause. It will be interesting coming up with four very different entries that combine the topic of each blog with the theme of Blog Action Day. Please join the cause, register your blog and blog about the environment on October 15. You can blog about any topic relating to the environment.

Weather Turning

Sunrise
October 7, 2007

The days are turning grey with foggy mornings. The clouds reflected nicely off the crisping of the water giving what I thought was a pretty effect. I really don't enjoy this time of year, not with the grey. I love the fall colours but not the greying of the days. The only saving grace is being kept busy with preserving as much as possible. It seems the sun just disappears while the temperatures drop. It signals the end to the warm weather along with needing to get things ready for winter but it also triggers a negative mood swing for me that lasts for most of the month of November. I seriously need every light in the house on! The only things I really enjoy are seeing a full pantry and turning to genealogy.

We haven't had a frost yet even though our ADFF was October 8. Tomatoes ended last week so I'm working on apples and squashes along with canning a few meats to free up room in the freezer. At the same time with the cooling temperatures I'm busy sealing up the house. I'm scheduled for surgery on Tuesday so am working frantically to get everything finished before then. The timing is not the best given our boat comes out of the water the week of the 22nd and I doubt I will feel up to boating before then but if things go well I will be healed nicely before Christmas.

I'm aiming for going to our daughter's on Oct 31 to see our grandbaby's first Hallowe'en and help hand out candy because we have at most one or two little goblin visitors. We are going to babysit her for the day so that will be a real treat and I'm making dinner! I don't think they are planning doing the trick or treat routine with her this year because she is pretty small and they only know a very few people in their neighbourhood. They are going to be dressing her up for the occasion but I'm not sure as what yet. My husband is going to be dressed in his monk's outfit. Now if you know him you would laugh! I'm bringing my witch's costume so if I feel like dressing up I can. We are planning on coming home that night but it should be a lot of family fun!

Thanksgiving 2007

Blog Your Blessing Sunday - Thanksgiving Weekend

Tomorrow is our Thanksgiving and while we officially celebrated our last weekend the kids were home this weekend so it was still a food fest filled with a lot of love, laughter and good feelings. This time of year reminds me to always be thankful for very family and good friends. They are what really makes our life experiences. Both should always be treasured! They are true blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wordless Wednesday - Grandpa's Love

Grandpa's Love
September 28, 2007

A Rainbow Spotted on Our Road Trip

Rainbow
September 28, 2007

We left the house late Friday afternoon heading in an easterly direction towards our daughter and son-in-law's home. Safely tucked in the trunk was shredded barbeque pork for dinner and the turkey for Saturday's early Thanksgiving feast. The Canadian Thanksgiving is traditionally celebrated the second Monday in October. We had tentative plans for that weekend so an earlier date fit everyone's schedule and it meant that at least two of our married kid's would not have to eat two Thanksgiving dinners in one weekend.

We travelled north then directly east, made a couple of jiggs finally arriving at Hwy 401. Continuing on our journey, I spotted a rainbow. I took several pictures as the car was speeding towards its destination. My theory is the posted speed limit is the speed to be going but my husband's idea is as long as you are within 20 km of the speed limit, it's ok. Anyway, there were no signs of rain and the rainbow just seemed to appear out of nowhere. Somehow it just seemed so fitting. Here we were heading towards a family get together with the promise of a wonderful time. The rainbow echoed that promise.

The weekend was amazing. We enjoyed being with our kids and grandbaby. We even took a trip to a neat apple orchard, did a bit of grocery shopping but more importantly we spent the time with our family. On the way home I realized one of the dishes I brought needed to be used up so called my daughter. Then when we arrived home she called to say she got the message and they will be home this Friday for the weekend. So we are going to be having a second Thanksgiving dinner but lower scaled.

Monday Funnies - Barney Creature

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - A Early Thanksgiving Gathering

My blessings this week were centred around family and food. During the week I stocked the pantry with a lot of home canned foods then Friday we headed out to celebrate an early Thanksgiving feast with our kids at their home. Traditionally the Canadian Thanksgiving is celebrated the second Monday of October. All of our kids gathered there as well. We brought the turkey that was roasted in our traditional manner starting in the oven just before 10 am. Once the turkey was in the oven, we headed to an amazing apple orchard then after a short stop at the grocery store we headed back to their house. The grandbaby in true form was the centre of attention. Her favourite spot is in the kitchen so was underfoot for most of the food prep but in a good way. At nine months of age, she scoots up the stairs and gets into everything. She's perfecting her evil eye look that is just hilarious to watch! Our son and daughter-in-law arrived with the first pictures of their soon to be little one aka our second grandbaby. After a very filling meal of turkey with all the fixings we settled in for an evening of simply enjoying being together. Life as always is very good when surrounded by those you love!

Wordless Wednesday - In Memory There is Hope, In Hope There is Survival

Carnations
(breast cancer)
September 2007

Breast Cancer Awareness

Monday Funnies - Experts

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - A Wonderful Week

Last week was one where everything just seemed to meld together in a glorious blur of blessings. Some of my blessing highlights were:

1. family as always provided love, strength, support and laughter
2. video of grandbaby now 9 months old climbing the stairs
3. excited news from DS and DDIL over hearing their baby's heartbeat for the very first time
4. being able to take advantage of a couple of very good meat sales
5. an abundance of local, in-season produce
   
6. several successful canning sessions - my pantry is beginning to burst at the seams
   
7. numerous photo opportunities
8. a visit from a spider with a leg span of almost 3" - the blessings were we identified him to find he wasn't harmful to humans (barring my instant heart attack) and he was outside
9. quiet reflective time
10. two gnew gnomes joined my gnome empire
    

In the Beauty of the Day

Mute Swans
September 19, 2007

Yesterday I took a little more me time. I'm not sure why but I need it right now. The pork shoulder was defatting in the oven and I knew the hamper of tomatoes would wait so I went and sat by the water again. The swan family visited yesterday. The cygnets have really grown so likely are closer to yearlings now. I fed them a little so I could get a few nice pictures. They stayed around the dock until after sunset. As the sun went down I snapped this picture of the mother with cygnet. It was a perfect ending to a bit of a relaxing day.

Wordless Wednesday - The Rose

Simple Beauty
September 18, 2007

Me Time

Clouds While Boating
August 17, 2007

I'm into the heavier canning season so spent much of the weekend cooking and canning. Keeping the motivation at a high level can sometimes be a problem this time of year at the best of times but I'm still tired from our move and settling in so fighting procrastination is a daily thing. One of the grocery stores have a sale on pork shoulder roasts at $1 per pound so that has been a good motivator. I canned up five test jars on Sunday (picture and method here) after a slow cook. It was a nice break from canning tomatoes. We are taking advantage of this sale so my husband brought home 16.4 lbs for $16.40 regular price of $53.96, a substantial savings. It's in the oven now slow cooking for canning later this evening.

With no tomatoes to process today and having no one home, I've decided on a little "me" time while I wait for the roast to cook. After filling the bird feeders, I'll do a walk-about the gardens, camera in hand. Then I'm going to settle in on the dock for an hour or two flipping through a couple of home improvement and scrapbooking magazines listening to the sounds of the water and pausing to catch the sights. It should be a very relaxing and reflective afternoon.

Enjoy your day!

Monday Funnies - Genetic Engineering 101

Fruit Bowl

Perpetual Fruit Bowl
September 13, 2007

I had a dentist's appointment this morning so stopped at the nearby grocery store to pick up a few things. As always a healthy part of the purchase was fruit and vegetables. While most of my produce purchases is from a wonderful little market with locally grown produce, I have to buy things like exotic fruits, citrus and bananas at the grocery store. For some reason today's shopping stop jogged a small memory tucked away.

Food plays a huge part in our family and always has. Everyone who knows us, knows that and they know how insulted I would be to think anyone ever left our home hungry. I always have two large bowls of fruit, one on the kitchen/dining table and the other on the coffee table. I also always has a huge bowl of vegetables on the kitchen counter. Both are repeated in the form of chopped fruits and vegetables in the fridge. The contents vary but they are always there. The rule in our house is any food is fair game meaning even when the kids were toddlers they were free to help themselves. My philosophy was and still is emphasizing good, wholesome foods. Kids will eat what is available and in our house heavily processed, preservative laden foods full of excess salt and sugar was just simply not available. So back to this little memory.

One day our youngest, then a precocious pre-schooler climbed up onto a chair and sat looking very perplexed at the fruit bowl. Thinking he was trying to choose a piece of fruit, I continued about my kitchen activities. Finally he sighed and asked me if the fruit bowl ever got empty. I said, well sure but because we keep eating it the bowl keeps being refilled. Satisfied he grabbed an apple and went off to find his brothers and sister. A few minutes later it was just a bit too quiet so I went to investigate. He was munching on his apple telling them that the bowl was magic so it would never get empty. We heard the night time raids and did find evidence of them trying to empty the fruit bowl by eating one piece at a time but true to his then their belief the bowl was always filled.

Over the years I've added new fruit bowls like the one in the photo but that one bowl is always out. Our kids are now grown with fruit bowls of their own. I have to smile when I see the bowls heaped full available for anyone to snack on. One of our traditions has been passed onto the next generation :)

Wordless Wednesday - Sunset at the Marina

Sunset at the Marina
September 8, 2007

The Marina

The Marina
Sep 9, 2007

We stayed overnight on the boat Saturday night despite the forecast for rain. The marina we docked at is one we've stayed at several times. It's within walking distance of a few restaurants and grocery store but the marina provides a shuttle service to larger shopping centres. We opted to walk to the near by sports bar for a quiet meal while watching the football game. After dinner we went for a nice walk before settling down on the boat. It's always quite relaxing just sitting on the boat as it rocks gently in the water while taking in the sights and sounds of the marina.

I awoke to the sound of a gentle rain in the early morning hours and of course couldn't get back to sleep. I couldn't go and sit outside because of the rain so finally turned on one of the cabin lights to read through a magazine while my husband slept to the sounds of rain drops increasing in numbers and boat rocked a little stronger. Being rained out when boating much the same as being rained out in a tent when camping but photo opportunities always present themselves.

Not to miss any photo opportunities, the camera was beside me on the cabin's ledge. Looking out one of the port holes, I spotted the lighted palm trees a few feet from our well. I took a few pictures from inside hoping for at least one good one. It's had to tell how good the picture will be from the LED display sometimes. I was rather pleased with what I thought was the best picture from the group. The palm trees sit on each side of the dock ramp. What looks like golden shimmering water is actually the dock beside our boat. The empty well beside us adds to the illusion of shimmering water forming a mirage effect.

Monday Funnies - He's a Rebel

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - Boating

I thought it was about time to change my Blog Your Blessings Sunday banner so I hope you like the new design.

Last week was quite busy and filled with many blessings. We decided to end the week by taking the boat out overnight yesterday. Apparently the rain predictions didn't scare off my husband. We had an uneventful trip there and ate dinner at a lovely little sports bar with great food and likely more importantly the football game on. We took a nice walk after dinner then sat on the boat chatting while the sun set. In the wee hours of the morning it began to rain so despite the rhythm of the falling rain and gentle lapping of the waves, I couldn't sleep. This morning promised more rain so we headed back to our slip. All of our clothes were wet. What wasn't wet was damp so it was a chilly ride home but we arrived safe and sound getting the boat unloaded just in time for more rain. A safe boating journey is always a blessing!

Other blessings last week included:

1. quiet time with my husband - talking and laughing while discussing what we need to do in the house
2. quiet self reflective time
   
3. family and friends
4. a bit of good luck at a casino
   
5. excellent produce availability
6. knowledge and ability for several successful canning sessions
7. mastering another Photoshop technique
   
8. an encouraging physio report
9. blogging friends
10. just being
    

Have a great week filled with many blessings,

Fiery Sunset

Fiery Sunset
September 5, 2007

The days have been quite busy with traveling and canning so last night I decided to sit on the dock and finish reading the final pages of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The evening was quite fitting and as the sun set I closed the book. The cool air enveloped me as the sky turned a beautiful orangy red. I sat for quite sometime digesting what I had read knowing full well that I would be re-reading the last hundred pages before going to bed.

Wordless Wednesday - Boat Ripples

Boat Ripples
June 17, 2007

IKEA Sweetheart

IKEA Sweetheart
Sep 1, 2007

Sorry everyone but I wasn't home to post my Sunday blessings and yesterday was so busy trying to get back into routine, well blogging was a bit on the back burner. I spent Thursday canning and packing. We left Thursday night to travel to my daughter and son-in-laws full of anticipation and excitement. We were going to have the grandbaby to ourselves for the whole day!

Friday, they were ready to go out the door about 8 am while grandbaby played with grandpa aka my dear hubby while I rolled over for a couple of extra z's (that's zed's not zee's). I woke with a start because everything was so quiet to discover both of them snuggled up sleeping on the couch. The noise from the camera caused her to stir enough to open her eyes but she wasn't ready to wake fully yet so she drifted off to sleep again. Grandpa carefully put her on the love seat so I could watch her while he got ready for our big day. She finally woke with a beautiful smile and twinkle in her eye signaling time to roll. I quickly got ready and we started loading everything into our car. Do you have any idea how much stuff kids need today?

We headed to IKEA at Burlington. IKEA is one of our favourite places to shop. First we stopped for lunch with the grandbaby sitting in a cart eating off of our plates. At only 8 months old she doesn't do the baby food routine but prefers to eat what adults are eating. Her parents are doing a remarkable job of introducing her to as many foods as possible so she will eat most foods. Then we were off shopping. Grandpa picked up a hippo he just thought she needed that turned out to be a good call. She is a very quiet and content baby so it was a few minutes before we noticed she had fallen asleep on her new hippo. Gosh, we have so many pictures from this outing! We decided to surprise the kids with a steak barbeque with all the fixings so after IKEA we stopped at Fortino's then headed back to their place. We enjoyed a lovely meal then played Joker as the grandbaby slept happy to be at home and the sleepy fairies fluttered about beckoning sleep. Babies sure can tucker out grandparents!

Saturday, we headed to Burlington for Canada's largest ribfest. This is a wonderful family event that we all look forward to. It was the grandbaby's first ribfest and she ate with all the gusto of the rest of us. If you would like more details on the ribfest check out the latest entry on my cooking blog. Sufficiently stuffed and tired everyone headed to our son and daughter-in-law's for the night. Eventually the sleepy fairies fluttered about :)

Sunday, we went out for breakfast at Cora's. It was a nice, filling breakfast with wonderfully cooked food and fruits. Then we did a little shopping finally stopping at Whole Foods. I loved this supermarket from the get go. It was bright, airy and filled with lots of culinary eye candy! After dropping thing kids off and collecting our overnight things, we headed home stopping in Brantford at the casino where we had an interesting experience along with making money. Then we pointed the car towards home to enjoy the comforts of our own bed :)

Wordless Wednesday - Morning Dew

Morning Dew
August 27, 2007

Lunar Eclipse

The alarm was set for 4:30 am this morning. When it went off I scurried to the dock, camera in hand in eager anticipation. After two return trips to the house to get warmer clothes and something warm to drink I was ready to settle in to see the lunar eclipse. It was very cool and damp sitting on the dock. Absent minded, I wondered where all my neighbours were. They should be out on their docks taking in this marvel of nature but no, they were snuggled in their nice warm beds! A large what I think was a blue huron landed two docks over almost as if he was watching the eclipse to. His calls kept me company as did the occasional jump from a fish. Other than that the water was very still almost glass-like except when a freighter went by but it quickly returned to the glass state.

I sat quietly snapping pictures of the lunar eclipse and reflecting. The eclipse itself happened quite slowly until the moon was gone yet there was a hint of the moon as it took on a light red-orange glow that my camera couldn't capture. Reflection brought a few profound thoughts one of them about how we as humans tend to deal with relationships. If we don't nurture and encourage them, then tend to become shadowed until they do longer exist except in the imprints of our minds always leaving a mark on our soul.

As the eclipse sunk behind the clouds much to my dismay and the sky lightened with the rising sun my attention turned to my avian friend who had kept me company. I hoped for enough light to be able to get a picture but he had other plans. He gave one last call then spread his might wings circling once almost directly over me the flew north. I so wanted a picture! Instead I sat quietly listening to the awakening world around me. What an absolutely beautiful time of the day, greeting a new day full of anticipation of what is to become.

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - New Grandbaby

It's official! Please see the estimated time of arrival for our second grandbaby. We couldn't be happier as our family grows. What a true blessing!

Possible Funnel Cloud

Possible Funnel Cloud
August 25, 2007 7:15 pm

Last evening the skies darkened so we went out to take pictures of the approaching storm. At 7:10 pm I took a photo of an artifact in the clouds that I thought looked interesting. By 7:11:32 pm the artifact looked like a possible small funnel cloud so I kept on snapping photos as the cloud developed. At 7:12 and 7:14 I took two video clips to capture the swirling and sounds of the storm. This photo was taken at 7:15 pm. By 7:16 the cloud appeared to almost touch the water. The winds picked up further along with the strange almost like a train noise. As the cloud approached us, we ran for cover barely making it indoors before the rain hit. We watched from indoors as a wall of rain quickly approached. The last video showed the wall of rain just before it hit our house with an annotation by me of "Oh my God!"

Storms

Stormy Skies
August 23, 2007

Yesterday the temperatures soared and the humidity became stifling so we took the boat out for short ride while dinner was cooking. My husband declared it too hot to grill! It was no surprise when an evening thunderstorm blew through. We sat in the sunporch listening to the roaring thunder while watching the lightening flash as Zeus and Thor fought out their battle once again. The whipping winds drove the rain with a furry while the waves crashed into the shore amplifying the sounds of the storm.

This morning the lawns were soggy but there was little damage from the high winds in our immediate area. There was a bit of wind damage and flooding away from our shielded area. Today the high is to be 31ºC but with the humidex it feels like 45ºC. Thunderstorms are predicted for this evening with showers overnight. We went from everything being so dry to so wet with no in between.

As I type this post the skies have been getting progressively cloudy with the humidity increasing. The air feels stagnate and the trees are eerily motionless. The conditions are perfect for severe thunderstorms. Normally this type of weather would send me scrambling to disconnect the modem. For the past four years we have had dial-up only because high speed simply is not available here. A couple of years ago one internet provider started offering wireless high speed but because of the abundance of trees we could never get a line of sight. Another company came out again Tuesday but couldn't get a line of sight either. So we called another company who offers a newer wireless satellite internet service. It was hooked up Wednesday! Ladies and gentlemen, I now have high speed internet so am now up to the speed of the rest of the world.

Boat Watching - The Kaye E. Barker

Kaye E. Barker
August 17, 2007

Living on the Great Lakes waterway provides ample opportunity to enjoy a wide variety of sights aside of the amazing wildlife. The shipping industry is a large part of the economy in our area so each year we buy a copy of Know Your Ships, Guide to Boats & Boatwatching on the Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Seaway. This wonderful little book is always nearby at home and travels with us on the boat. We make a game of learning about the lake freighters and ships we see throughout the year. Each sighting is carefully ticked off as we see them. We can now identify several of the ships from a distance based on their colours or horn sounds.

The Kaye E. Barker was unloading gravel the afternoon we decided to spend on the boat last week so we took the opportunity to get a few close-up shots. We've seen a lot of smaller pleasure craft get quite close to the ships as they are moving but that can be dangerous because of the undercurrents these large vessels create so we keep our distance. The Kaye E. Barker is owned by Lakes Shipping Co., Inc.. of Richfield, Ohio. It is a division of The Interlake Steamship Co. also located in Richfield. This vessel was originally built by the American Ship Building Co. in Toledo, Ohio and christened the Edward B Green. From 1952 to 1985 she* was the flagship for Cleveland-Cliffs Steamship Company fleet. She was lengthened by 120 feet in 1976 by Fraser Shipyards in Superior, Wisconsin to an overall length is 767'00", breadth is 70'00" with a cargo capacity of 25,900 Gross Tons. There are larger ships in the fleet but she is still impressive especially up close when in a pleasure craft. In 1981 she was converted by American Ship Building Company of Toledo, Ohio to a self-unloader. She joined the Rouge Steel Company fleet in 1985 under the name Benson Ford. In 1989 she joined the Interlake fleet as was renamed Kaye E. Barker in honour of the Chairman of the Board and President's wife.

That's as much as I know about the Kaye E. Barker other than her crew are a very friendly bunch, always waving back at us. My husband jokes that they are likely muttering under their breath "dang tourists!" but I don't think so. We had a very enjoyable day on the water heightened by the news that our second grandbaby is on the way. Estimated arrival date is April 6, 2008. This is another one of our kids not the parents of the first grandbaby who is now crawling and chatting up a storm. Spending a bit of time with them on the water was wonderfully soothing. We took a lot of pictures (thank goodness for digital cameras), did a lot of laughing and enjoyed our family time together. It reminded me of the times we would take one kid out just for a bit of alone time as a special treat to all involved. It's evolved to a special couples time alone away from the hustle and bustle of a busy household and still growing family making each one of these times a true treasure.

*Boats are always referred to in the feminine.