I'm so glad you could stop by. This is my personal blog of daily life and my journey through life. You will find a strong emphasis on family and friends as well as finding my ancestors through genealogy. Unlike my other blogs this blog is more of a catch-all so any topic is fair game.
Although it did not set out to be, the theme of our recent vacation to the sunny south quickly became 'Q' - BBQ that is. We savoured the sweet yet robust flavours of some of the best smoked Q you have ever tasted. Now I've been wanting a smoker for quite sometime. Smoked meats have a characteristic red ring that you just can't get with any other cooking method. The choice of wood, usually hardwood, determines the flavour. The thing about Q is it is long and slow so not only is the meat flavourful it is moist and tender, melt in your mouth. A smoker is on my list of must haves this year!
I hope you are enjoying all the pictures from our vacation. There's lots more to come but I thought I would take a break to announce one of our kids' new websites, MysteryPile. This is not a blog but rather a website that is very much mind provoking website complete with a forum for active interaction. As part of the mission statement "We crave to know and crave to learn the ways of our ancestors and how their trials built the foundations we live upon today." So if you have a minute or two drop by and say hello. Say hi from the Garden Gnome :)
It's funny sometimes looking back to see how you got to this point. I can remember the excitement at spending hours and I do mean hours of watching code as the little one leaped for joy when a little white dot danced across the screen. This meant the code so carefully and painstakingly entered worked. Well Mom and Dad were well behind the little one but we finally splurged and bought our first computer in 1989. It came with Internet in a Box and oh my gosh I was hooked! It wasn't long before I set up my very first website, very much blog style. At that time is wasn't as easy as using a blog host though as every thing was done via html. One day, I was so frustrated I asked the little one how to do it. With a characteristic grin, the reply was "I could do it for you or you would learn more figuring it out yourself". Well there you go, a chip off the old block and definitely something I would have said myself. So I learned html and every once in awhile when the going is a bit tough with coding, those words come back and they serve me well. Kids have a wisdom that you can learn from if you are open minded enough to listen.
This past week has been one of discovery mainly blog related. I have decided to make a few changes on all of my blogs. All of this will be behind the scenes spanning a month or so per blog. This is being done as a major improvement overall, one that will give me significantly more control over my blogs. For the most part I hope to keep the look and feel of my blogs so readers likely won't notice much of a change. They will notice one quite apparent change although that too shouldn't be too painful. In order to make these changes I have been doing a lot of research so that I can make the changes systematically and as pain free as possible. My gosh there is a lot of material out there to digest! Each day I have discovered something new, quite often one more way to improve my blogs. Through discovery I am learning a lot about the behind the scenes workings for blogging! It has been a very interesting week.
Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida is home to about 300 Caribbean flamingos. Flamingos are very impressive magestic birds with their characteristic pink colour and habit of standing on one leg. Their pink colour comes from carotenoids, a pigment found in their food. They stand on one leg in both cool and warm environments because of a process called thermoregulation, an adaptation strategy. Curling one leg under the body keeps the foot warm and conserves body heat. These birds are protected under the US Migratory Bird Act of 1918.
The kangaroo and wallaby exhibit at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida is home to a rare albino wallaby. Albino means lacking normal pigmentation so the coat appears white while the skin appears pinkish even though it is white. What gives the pinkish tone is the blood below the skin. This is the same reason why the eyes appear red. Albinism is a rare, autosomal recessive trait. In the wild, albino animals seldom survive because the lack the necessary colouration to avoid predation. As a result of their reduced fecundity, albinos seldom live long enough to produce offspring however the gene that causes albinism remains in the general population as a recessive only to be expressed on the very rare occasion. Thanks to Busch Gardens this little guy should have a relatively normal lifespan!
Busch Gardens has a large number of wildlife exhibits. Our first stop was the kangaroo and wallaby exhibit. You can buy a cup of feed to feed them through the low wood fence. If you put the food in your palm or hold the container where the can see it, both the kangaroos and wallabies will come to eat the offerings. Kangaroos and wallabies are both marsupials but wallabies are considerably smaller than kangaroos. They were quite docile, lazing in the sun.
I hope you enjoyed the first set of pictures from The Florida Aquarium. I now want to share a series of pictures from our first trip to Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida during our recent vacation. The large parking lots are a distance from Busch Gardens. Trams run on a regular basis to take you to and from the amusement park. The friendly drivers give a little information on the park while telling a few jokes. They really are quite lovely ambassadors for greeting visitors to the park.
We held our larger family Christmas celebrations yesterday as we were at our vacation home during the holiday season. The week was filled with preparations and excited anticipation! We kept our fingers crossed hoping for good traveling weather for the kids. The big day came with the first to arrive parents of oldest and youngest grandkids. The grandkids were so excited to see us so there were lots of hugs and kisses! Next to arrive were parents of our middle grandkid who was also quite excited to see us along with the cousins. We sat around chit chatting enjoying a wide array of our tradition family holiday treats like kibbeh, crab meat dip and crackers, crudites, cheese tray and hummus with pita bread. The little ones amused themselves playing, eyeing up the presents and helping themselves to the snacks. Finally our youngest kid with significant other arrived. The much awaited for moment of present opening was upon us much to the delight of the little ones! Oh my gosh we had so many chuckles to the point of tears in our eyes. The little ones are just a hoot! After the present opening we sat down to a sagging table (actually 2 large tables pulled together as there were 12 of us) loaded with our turkey feast. It was just an absolutely wonderful family get together!
The seas are filled with so many wonderous inhabitants, some of which haven't even been identified yet. I can remember the first time I looked at diatomes in the microscope. They triggered my imagination with their tiny jewel-like shapes and colours. I had been hooked on microscopy but oh my gosh did that ever strengthen my love of what treasures a microscope could reveal. You don't need a microscope to see sea dragons but guaranteed they will trigger all the excitement and imagination of seeing a diatome for the first time. These creatures are simply amazing! They move rather gracefully through the water despite their cumbersome leaf-like appearance. Despite their similarity to sea horses, sea dragons are actually a member of the family Syngnathidae, a bony fish. These are truly beautiful creatures!
We had aquariums when our kids were growing up. There is something calming and relaxing about watching fish. I've always loved going to larger aquariums to see those fish and other aquatic life that is not available to the home aquarist. Sea anemones are actually predatory animals (phylum Cnidaria, order Actiniaria) that live in the water. They are closely related to corals, jellyfish and Hydra. Se anemones have a flower-like appearance and are brightly coloured. Watching them sway gently in the current that accentuates their natural movements is sheer magic!
I have to tell you, I am a huge seafood lover with lobster being my number one favourite. My next favourite is snow crab legs but I digress. The spiny lobster does not have the two enlarged claws as true lobsters do but they are quite edible. They are the biggest food export of the Bahamas! Pictured is one of several spiny lobsters at The Florida Aquarium. 'Tis a thing of beauty!
One of the first things we noticed at the resort where our vacation home is located was the numberous gator warning signs. There are signs to stay out of the water and signs to not aggravate or feed the gators. I thought they were rather humorous until we spotted our first live gator sunning itself on the shore of one of the ponds. I have taken a lot of chances over my lifetime just to get a picture of something I'm interested in especially wild life like tracking a black bear but I have a rather healthy respect for gators. A gator can out run a human in a straight line and if I ever tried the zig-zag running method, I'd trip after the first stride if I could actually move! I've managed to get a lot of great pictures of the gators roaming our resort from the safety of the car or golf cart. It was interesting to get up a bit closer picture of this gator at The Florida Aquarium tucked safely behind an acrylic barrier. He was indeed a huge adult gator!
Florida is home to a vast amount of wetlands and that is reflected in the Wetlands Gallery at The Florida Aquarium. The displays are mainly raised to about chest level and open allowing the 30 species of free flying birds to land where they wish along the water's edge, in the mangroves and in the larger trees. The displays also give a wonderful view of what is going on below the water's surface. Turtles and fish swim amongst the mangrove roots. It is really a very lovely and rather large exhibit to wander through.
Now that we are back at our primary residence after being on vacation with a home base of our vacation home for a month, I'm taking some time to go through all the pictures I took. There are a lot of them, 1,793 to be precise. It is such a blessing that we have so many pictures to remind us of our first extended stay at our vacation home! I have plans to share some with family and friends as well as readers of my blogs. Some will be used to create a digital scrapbook. I feel very blessed not only at having the opportunity to get out of the cold for a period of time but to also have brought back such great memories.
There are several hands-on opportunities at The Florida Aquarium where they allow you to touch the inhabitants. One such exhibit is the Giant Stingray petting tank. If you lean over the tank slightly, extending two fingers into the water the stingrays will come up to allow you to touch them. It is quite the experience!
During our recent vacation at our vacation home we had the great pleasure of visiting The Florida Aquarium not once but twice! We could have easily visited for a third time. We were so impressed with this amazing attraction that we bought an annual membership. Pictured is one of the six African Black-foot Penguins the aquarium is home to. Unfortunately we only caught the tail end of the Penguin Promenade so that is on our list to thing to do during our next visit to the aquarium. Isn't he just adorable?
I'm sure by now you have figured out we were recently on vacation. We left our primary residence on December 8 traveling south to our vacation home then northeast to visit a couple of kids before returning home on January 9, 2011. Essentially we were gone for a month so I have lots to blog about some of which has been peeking out at you even while we were away. I had internet during our stop-overs, amazing internet at our vacation home and the kids so am kind of noticing just how crappy my internet service is here but hopefully that will change soon with the house up for sale. Anyway, I thought I would give a brief synopsis of our vacation so you will have an idea of what to expect for posts in the coming days or weeks.
Dec 8 to 9 - on the road, not much sightseeing but saw some great sights
Dec 10 to 11 - a bit of unwinding, opening up the house, getting groceries, blew up the golf cart battery (not pleasant)
Dec 12 to 18 - a friend with 8 yr old visited so lots of sightseeing including trips to The Florida Aquarium, Busch Gardens and the Gulf Coast, a lot of great eating too, natural wild life in our community, fixed golf cart (expensive)
Dec 18 to 29 - took friend with 8 yr old to airport, picked up one of our kids with significant other, visited The Florida Aquarium and Busch Gardens again, made it to the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, hunted for seashells, ate a lot of great food, did a bit of golfing,
Dec 29 to Jan 5 - crashed a bit, celebrated New Years by actually going out to a paid event for the first time since being married, had an amazing night out with celebrities, did a bit of shopping, closed down the vacation home
Jan 5 to 7 - on the road, did a bit of sightseeing, ran into an icky and very heavy rainstorm, arrived at the kids, enjoyed great food
Jan 7 to 9 - crashed at the kids, did a bit of sightseeing, stocked up on cheese to bring home
Jan 9 - on the road, changed Lucy's voice to something that could pronounce the name of towns properly, ran into rather heavy lake effect snow but kept her on the road, arrived home safe and sound but tired, unloaded the car, called the kids and started putting things away
I wrote about our amazing evening rubbing shoulders with a lot of famous folks a couple of days ago. Pictured is the rose Jack Calhoun, one of the Twin Brothers, gave me the night we were so very lucky to see him perform. I'm thinking I could become a serious groupie to these entertainers! Isn't it just gorgeous and oh it smelled just heavenly too :)
The Florida Aquarium is located at 701 Channelside Drive in Tampa, Florida. The building is architecturally quite impressive. We have an annual membership so can go as often as we want as well as save a little on extras while there. We took our friend and his 8 year old there the first week of our vacation then the kids there when they were down. This is seriously a wonderful place to spend the good part of an afternoon. The next few posts will be from our first visit there.
The first week of 2011 was eventful yet quite pleasant. We spent the first part of the week soaking up the sun knowing we would be back in the cold and snow soon enough. Mid-week we said our good-byes to our vacation home friends once again until our next visit. Pointing Lucy in the direction of a couple of our kids where would spend a couple of days before making the final leg of our trip home. It had been a wonderful extended vacation filled with family, friends and great food. We had been very blessed to enjoy such a great time!
Our vacation home neighbours asked if we would be interested in going a Tuesday night buffet they liked going to and we accepted. The buffet was roast beef and chicken with the extras. It was nothing fancy and at $10.95 each, definitely not expensive but the food was good. Aside of the food the only other cost for the night was for drinks. The buffet was held at a former Holiday Inn in two very small banquet rooms that had the divider open to form one larger room. There was a bar to one side on the front corner beside a tiny stage. There was a small dance floor in front of the stage and I do mean small. The crowd was small numbering about 50.
The entertainment started after dinner so we settled in to enjoy what we thought was only going to be karaoke. After a few singers things started to liven up well beyond our expectations. McKinley & Beggs, a well known Florida country duo came on to play a set. They have been the opening act at Silver Springs for George Jones, Charlie Daniels and Merle Haggard as well as others. Jack and Jerry Calhoun (Twin Brothers) who frequently appear at the Grand Ole Opry played a set then Jack performed a few songs himself. When he came out to perform, we went around the room handing long stem roses to all the ladies. Ken Brady of The Original Casinos and now lead singer of The Casinos performed several number and gave me a signed CD! Eddie Snyder sat at the table next to ours with Dawn, station manager to 4 radio stations. Richie Merritt performed a couple of songs as well. There were other famous singers in the room as well.
I'll tell you, I was in seventh heaven and then some! I could not believe we actually were able to enjoy all this amazing talent and not only that chit chat with the entertainers as if we had known them forever. They were so down to earth and friendly! The entertainers get together to just do bit of performing and networking so don't charge for the entertainment on Tuesdays. No one knows who will show up to perform so it varies from Tuesday to Tuesday. In addition to the free Tuesday night performances special events are scheduled on select Friday and/or Saturday evenings with a seating cost of $10 per person and additional $10.95 for the optional dinner.
A walk-about is always a good activity to indulge in after a busy holiday season filled with lots of great foods. The nice thing about a walk-about is you never know what you are going to see or who you will meet. My camera is always with me just for those special times. I happened upon this very friendly gnome collecting water for his garden. He was up near a beautiful chunk or greenish glass. My Mom had several pieces of glass in her front garden bed so I've always been quite fond of it. After a brief chat and a photoshoot I let the gnome go about his business collecting water while I continued my walk-about.
Christmas lights are always so pretty with their cheery colours and twinkles. I spotted this house all lit up but what made it even prettier was the house reflecting off the pond in front of it. Don't you think it is gorgeous?
I like to unwind a little before going to sleep for the night. Quite often I indulge in a little bedtime reading, something I've done since childhood. I'm currently reading Naomi Judd Love Can Build a Bridge (ISBN 0-679-4127-6). This is the story of single mom Naomi Judd and daughters Wynonna (born Christina) and Ashly Judd and their rise to fame and fortune. It is a rather interesting read!
Many people declare their New Year's resolutions each year. They make a long list of resolutions that usually are broken by the end of the first week of the new year. The problem with making resolutions is they set you up for failure right off the hop, then you feel horrible for breaking them and not living up to those expectations that you get discouraged and give up trying. I don't make New Year's resolutions. Instead what I aim for is to make the new year a better year than the year before. With that comes the realization that I need to work on making myself a better person but nothing is ever cut into stone. I just work on it. What about you? Do you make New Year's resolutions?
Here we are celebrating the first Sunday of 2011. We had a blessings filled 2010 and survived those happenings that weren't so much of a blessing. We grew though our experiences, laughed a lot, traveled a lot, and enjoyed our family and friends. We are looking forward to seeing what blessings are in store for us for 2011. I'm sure like the many years that have gone before us, 2011 will have many blessings!
The old year is quickly drawing to a close. My husband and I are celebrating the passing of a year well lived while welcoming in the new year with all it's promises in a very uncharacteristic style this year. We have been married over 30 years. While in our younger married life we went to a couple of New Year's Eve house parties we have never been to an actual New Year's Eve event. The reason for this was basically we are home bodies rather than party goers. Oh we could come up with so many reasons for not going out on New Year's Eve. When the kids were young and my husband wasn't self-employed working New Year's Eve was double time and goodness knows that extra money went a lot further than partying. We weren't into babysitters for the kids either especially before school age. It was usually cold and we were tuckered out from the holiday season and had to get things ready for our New Year's Day steak and lobster entertaining. Several years we were tucked in bed already fast asleep while others partied and yet it's the way we wanted it. Greeting the New Year, fresh and relaxed, hung-over free ready to enjoy the day with family and friends was precisely our way of celebrating a new year!
Well this year we splurged. We are going out to The Full Monte at the club house. This is a dinner and dance community event. Tickets were $75 per couple and features a night of entertainment with sirloin steak or chicken dinner, a bottle of champagne and a champagne breakfast at 12:15 am. It should be a fun time. I'm dressing in casual dress with new dress pants and one of two dressy sweaters I just bought. One sweater has metallic threads through it so that will work nicely but I'll see. I don't do sequined dresses, didn't bring a fancy dress and don't feel like shopping for a dress either. My husband is wearing dress pants with a new trademark Hawaiian shirt. Seriously, he wears Hawaiian shirts about 90% of the year! While the attire sounds quite dressed down for a New Year's Eve event, trust me we will fit right in.
This should prove to be an interesting way to greet the new year. I bid you a fond adieu and will see you in the new year :)
I'd love to tell you that I am always mature and level headed but the reality is I have a wicked sense of humour that sometimes leads me away from level headedness. Well, we were at a theme park and since I do not do rides not even the merry go round, I had to amuse myself waiting for the rest in our party to abuse their bodies on the rides. Near the exit of one of the rides there was a booth where you could get henna tatoos. I can't say that I'm really fond of tatoos although they intrigue me but what I can say is I would never get an actual tatoo because that involves huge, huge, horrid needles. I dislike needles even more than I do rides! So an actual tatoo is never going to happen in my life time. Now a henna tatoo on the other hand sounded rather benign. What you do is pick out the design then the technician paints it on by hand using a thin icing piping bag like application. The henna goes on dark and raised. As it dries it flakes off leaving a pale orange stain that darkens over 48 hours to reveal the tatoo. The technician said it was very important not to disturb the henna until it flaked off itself. I chose a cutesy swirly heart design to go around my wrist, paid the technician complete with tip then proudly showed my green at the gills husband my new acquisition. He rolled his eyes but I think that was still the after effects of the roller coaster he just came off of.
I protected my henna application and by the following morning there was nothing left but the pale orange marks. It did darken as as it did I unconsciously wiped at it much to my husband's amusement. He actually burst out in a hearty laugh when I casually mentioned I wasn't sure I liked my henna tatoo a couple of days later. Then he chortled that it was a good thing I hadn't cut my hair on a whim. Well, humpf! It's a good thing he saw the humour in it ;)
Anyway, my hair is still intact. I didn't buy a hair piece (a very humorous story) and I'm patiently waiting for my henna tatoo to wear off while my husband chuckles. Humpf!!!!!!
The final few days of 2010 are counting down. I've heard so many say they will be glad to see the end of 2010. While 2010 had a few bumps and glitches for each one there was a blessing right behind it. It is so true that everything happens for a reason. This year has been chaotic and emotional as we have struggled to sell our primary residence and purchase a new one in an urban setting. We will be sad to give up our rural living but it is time to move on. Spurring on that decision was the purchase of our vacation home in the sunny south where we hope to vacation 3 months or more of the year. The first seven months of the year I dealt with an online stalker that finally came to the boiling point. Thank goodness the problem resolved itself! On the heels of that I felt at peace finally able to relax. The rest of the year has been a hodge podge of minor ups and downs, the house still on the market, traveling and a strong focus on family and friends.
The weather for most of the year was out of sorts both at home and our vaction home but we still had a lot of fun. We didn't get the boat out as much as we would have liked. My husband didn't get as much golfing in as he would have liked either. Yet we had fun! We enjoyed a heck of a lot of excellent food. The garden produced rather well despite the weather. I was able to get the pantry shelves restocked with an abundance of home canned foods and the freezers restocked with beef on the hoof. I managed to get a few knitting projects done. We did a fair amount of traveling in 2010 spending 8 weeks total over the year at our vacation home in addition to the other travel we did.
All in all, despite the bumps and glitches that increased our stress level, 2010 was not that bad of a year. I'm looking forward to 2011 but at the same time enjoying the memories from 2010 :)
This year our Christmas celebrations were significantly different than other years (more on that later). That brought out a whole range of emotions and memories for me. As I sat reminiscing, I pondered about how very blessed I am to have such beautiful memories. This Christmas would add to those memories as well and so it goes.
Oranges have graced our holiday table since were newlyweds. Way back in the recesses of my memory I can remember my Mom telling me how very important getting a Christmas orange was. My Mom was 56 when I came to be. Her husband died that same year. My Mom had lived through a lot of hard times including the Great Depression. She used to tell the most amazing stories of her childhood days and oh how I longed to experience some of that. She came from a rather large family and while she never said they were poor, her family were farmers living in a small Ontario area so they certainly were not well to do by any stretch of the imagination. Their mode of transportation was horse and buggy and while the family later got a Model T, she never learned to drive. They heated with coal and one of my Mom's daily chores was to stoke the fire. One day she suffered a nasty cut on her thumb while stoking the fire. It became badly infected so one of her thumb bones (tip to first joint) had to be cut out to save her life. She missed so much school that when she returned she had to start grade 2 all over again. She quit school and never went back. In some respects this explains her strong emphasis on getting an education. I think she always regretted not getting one because she was smart as a whip!
Back in her childhood days Christmas was not so commercialized. The only thing my Mom ever wanted for Christmas was an orange. Back then getting oranges in Ontario was a lot more difficult and were considerably more expensive. Year after year that is the only thing my Mom ever asked for. Her Mom somehow managed to tuck an orange in my Mom's stocking, hung at the end of her bed. She told us of how very grateful and loved that she felt that her Mom would save throughout the year just to be able to get each one of them an orange for Christmas. That story always stuck with me. The underlying message was to always be grateful for the sacrifices others have to make in life just to make you happy. It taught me to appreciate the little things in life. Once I got a bit older I always made sure my Mom had oranges in the house. She so enjoyed them but I'll bet they never tasted as sweet as the oranges her Mom got her for Christmas.
Mom passed away several years ago on Christmas day so it is always a bittersweet day for me. I would have loved to have many more Christmas days to enjoy with her, breathing in all the delightful stories of time long gone. Ah, the memories and my Christmas oranges tastes just a little sweeter!
The warmer fall has meant a lot more illness in our area. The problem is the weather didn't get cold enough, quick enough to kill off the germs. I have been under the weather for the past month. It started with what I thought was a cold with the main symptoms of severe itching of mucosal membranes and sneezing. When the symptoms continued I decided it was allergies rather than a cold. The symptoms moved onto heavy congestion, more sneezing and a bit of dry coughing. A few days ago I developed a sore throat that is considerably worse at night. So I'm back to my original idea that I have a cold. Or perhaps I caught a cold on top of a cold. At any rate, I'm under the weather ;)
'Tis the time of year Christmas trees are everywhere, in every size and shape. Silver Christmas trees are quite popular perhaps because they glitter so much whether or not they are lit up. When lit with clear lights they take on the appearance of a multitude of icicles. Isn't it pretty?
My gosh, this is a late post and I do apologize. This is the busy time of year when somehow blogging just gets pushed to the back burner. There are so many things going on here. For the second week in a row we have house guests so that just throws everything out of kilter. At any rate I am working at getting the posting back on schedule for those readers looking forward to reading new posts first thing in the morning. I can't make any promises only that I'm working on it.
There is going to be a total eclipse of the moon early tomorrow (Dec. 21) morning. It will begin at 2:41 AM EST and last about 3 hours. The moon will be totally covered for about an hour during the eclipse. This will be an amazing sight worth missing a little sleep for. I'm planning on watching it so may have to have a little nap this afternoon just so I can stay awake throughout the eclipse.
We have had house guests for the past week which has meant a fair amount of traveling showing them the sights. The travels have all gone rather smoothly. There were a couple of traffic delays and we ended up taking a detour or two but for the most part we were able to enjoy a lot of sightseeing without problems. Yesterday's traffic was quite heavy. I realized it was the last shopping weekend before Christmas which explains why. What a blessing we have had to enjoy friends and sightseeing safely this holiday season!
We play a lot of card and board games. Both are good sources for at home entertainment with family and friends. Mexican Train is a domino game that we recently discovered. It is suitable for ages 6 and older so a nice game to play across generations. The game starts with whoever has the highest double in the centre. Each player starts their own train using a domino from that double so if the starting domino is 12 then each player starts with a 12. If they don't have a 12 then they have to pick up another domino. Each player builds on their train but if they can't add to their train they put a train piece on their train spot for others to add to their train until they can make a move again. Oh and if a player gets to one domino left there is a button to push that activates the choo-choo song. It is a fun game, that's for sure!
My gosh, where has the time gone? Here it is the last shopping weekend before Christmas and let me tell you the roads are busy! Take care, drive safe and drive sober.
'Tis the season for all the pretty baubles and balls on brightly decorated trees. Some keep their trees quite simple while others go all out. For the past few years we have had a fiber optic tree with only small red bows. The kids don't like it so we are going back to a real tree. It will be nice sharing the history behind some of our treasured baubles and balls with the Grandkids.
I think I was born about 140 years too late! For some reason the 1870's era really appeals to me. Canada as a nation was in her infancy and progressing quickly. My third great grandparents were busy raising a family while tending their farm. I've always wanted to live on a farm with livestock and land to stretch out. Unfortunately our current house is about as close to living on a farm as I'm ever going to get given my husband's urban tendencies. Since our house is up for sale, I will be saying goodbye to rural living but I can still dream! You don't suppose my husband would notice my new found friend if he just happened to follow me home, do you?
We ate out at our local a couple of nights ago at the and as my normal custom I took several pictures of the meal. I've never had any complaints from doing this. Rather taking pictures of the meal has presented an opportunity for a starting lot of great conversations. It was a bit odd this time though as a couple dining at a nearby table were borderline agitated because I was taking pictures of my food. They made several comments. I found this rather strange since what I was doing at our table in no way affected them other than seeing something a bit different. Finally they said something to the waitress who said something then came over to our table to chat. Well apparently they were concerned over the picture taking until she told them I was a food blogger. I got a chuckle out that! LOL!
Sinus relief sounds like an odd topic for a Blog Your Blessings Sunday post but it really isn't. I suffer from chronic sinus problems/infection that also affect my ears, eyes, palate and back of throat. There are very few days that I'm not symptomatic. Congestion and itching are the norm to the point the congestion is quite apparent under my eyes and on both sides of the bridge of my nose. The problem is medications meant to solve the congestion dry mucosal membranes creating complications so this type of thing become a vicious circle. I have had what I thought was a funky, for lack of a better word, cold with the main symptoms being severe itching and sneezing but now it's more likely that it is an allergic reaction to something. Mid-week something caused my sinuses to give way. Without getting graphic the lack of congestion swelling was even apparent on my face! Not only that but I felt wonderful. As the clearing continued over the next few days and as I type this is still clearing, I am reassured taking the drug free approach is finally working. At any rate, sinus relief has been a huge blessing for me this past week.
While many areas in souther Ontario were being bombarded with snow this past week we got off quite lightly. A couple of days ago it was snowing nicely turning our area into a magical delight. I honestly love the snow providing I don't have to drive in it. It looks like we will be having a white Christmas, something I'm sure many were wondering about given the unseasonably mild autumn. Isn't it a pretty backdrop for the Christmas decorations?
It's that time of year that many Canadians are turning to the skies to get home for Christmas or to the sunny south to get away from the cold Canadian winters. Recently there have been some rather unpleasant reports in the news regarding pat downs in American air ports. This comes on the heels of the news of the full body scans that started in Canada and have now moved to American airports. It seems like the regular Joe Public is once again getting screwed so to speak. Even though this is all supposed to be for public safety the end result has pretty much been abusive behaviour on the part of the airport (mainly American) staff. Here is my favourite Canadian funny man Rick Mercer putting another perspective on the issue, and perhaps this time of year, that is what is needed...
Winter is setting in here with some areas in southern Ontario getting a fair amount of snow. My husband winterizes the upper three season sunporch by covering with plastic. Normally he puts the plastic up towards the end of October but with the house on the market he wanted to leave it off as long as possible to highlight the beautiful view. Last Saturday he finally put the plastic up. While he was on the ladder the sky overhead was filled with circling seagulls. It looked rather ominous but at least they weren't vultures!
A new teacher was trying to make use of her psychology courses. She started her class by saying, 'Everyone who thinks they're stupid, stand up!' After a few seconds, Little Larry stood up. The teacher said, 'Do you think you're stupid, Larry?' 'No, ma'am, but I hate to see you standing there all by yourself!'
'Bless me Father, for I have sinned.
I have been with a loose girl'.
The priest asks, 'Is that you, little Joey Pagano?
'Yes, Father, it is.'
'And who was the girl you were with?'
'I can't tell you, Father. I don't want to ruin her reputation'.
"Well, Joey, I'm sure to find out her name sooner or later
so you may as well tell me now. Was it Tina Minetti? 'I cannot say.'
'Was it Teresa Mazzarelli?' 'I'll never tell.'
'Was it Nina Capelli?' 'I'm sorry, but I cannot name her.'
'Was it Cathy Piriano?' 'My lips are sealed.'
'Was it Rosa DiAngelo, then?'
'Please, Father, I cannot tell you.' The priest sighs in frustration.
'You're very tight lipped, and I admire that. But you've sinned and have to atone. You cannot be an altar boy now for 4 months. Now you go and behave yourself.'
Joey walks back to his pew, and his friend Franco slides over and whispers, 'What'd you get?'
This week's blessings all centred around supporting networks ranging from medical to travel and everything in between. We are so very lucky to have all these external support networks available when we need them. In many ways these support networks work behind the scenes, quietly yet effectively. When we were young newlyweds we gave no nevermind to these types of supporting networks. Now we are a bit older and wiser so realize the benefit of using external suppor networks.
I have been doing a fine job of avoiding my doctor for the past year or so. Apparently this tactic is not sitting well with my doctor at all. I take my time and trouble to grace the office with my presence for one simple prescription refill. Note the one as I decided to eliminate the other two prescriptions as long as things continue to go smoothly. I feel reasonably well considering and don't have to deal with the side effects. It took a bit of persuading giving my reasons for stopping those medications but my doctor finally agreed to trust my judgement. Then, my doctor asked rather innocently whether I would like a flu shot. Apparently I'm considered high risk so should have the shot. Say what? Would I like a flu sho? What kind of question is that? It's not like I haven't watched This Hour Has 22 Minutes as to what's in that flu shot. I don't need more mercury floating around in my body given that mercury was one of my favourite childhood toys. Besides I'd rather have my eggs sunny side up instead of pumped into my arm via a needle 2 miles long! As a well informed patient I told my doctor 'no thank-you very much'. Well at least I got a chuckle followed with a 'you need to come in for a physical'. Well quite frankly I'm not a physical type person so I really don't need to be checked to find out if I am. I'm pretty sure my doctor could take my word for it that I'm not physical. But no, my doctor insists on clinical proof that I'm not physical so I ended up with an appointment for gathering all that lovely clinical proof via all kinds of inhumane pokes, prods and other insults too insidious to mention. On the day of the so called fact finding mission for signs of my lack of being physical I cannot eat or drink anything. Hey that should really help my cause significantly, don't you think? I will have to drag my poor old, weakens and immaciated body from the germ laden waiting room and I'll bet to add insult to injury I will likely have to stand on the scales and pee in a bottle not like I will have any pee without drinking anything before. I tell you my doctor has issues! I had best get a couple of sparkle stickers and a huge lollipop for this one...
My husband won two free tickets to see Carrie Underwood perform at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan on Novemeber 29! [Update: postponed to December 22] He was quite excited and so was I as it had been awhile since we have gone to a live performance. The last one we went to was Jimmy Buffet when we were in Florida a couple of years ago. The only downside to going to a live performance on a week night is the long commute that makes for a very long day. Still being tired the following day would be well worth it!
As things would have it our neighbours and us had our houses on the market at the same time. Theirs sold with a closing date of December 1 so the new neighbours spent a cold with snow flurries day moving in. In some respects I could not help wishing that it was us doing the moving and yet I'd rather move in the nicer weather. Moving is a lot of work made worse with inclimate weather. We haven't met the new neighbours yet. Hopefully they like their new house.
I am a wife, mother and grandma who enjoys the many aspects of homemaking. A variety of interests and hobbies combined with travel keep me active. They reflect the importance of family, friends, home and good food.
"I have called this principle, by which
each slight variation, if useful, is preserved,
by the term Natural Selection." —Charles Darwin from "The Origin of Species"
