Saturday evening on a Walk About!

As summer morphs into autumn, which is the most beautiful of seasons, my son and I decided to go on an evening walk around the property.  The leaves on the trees are just turning color, and gracefully falling to the ground.  Not much yet, but enough to let you know that summer is on its way out.
(click on any of the photos to enlarge!)

We spied...

The generator. Which reminded me that I have to call to have it serviced before winter.  In my part of the world, when the power goes out in the winter, as it tends to do in the most inconvenient and coldest day possible, it is always good to be prepared.  This generator has saved us many cold nights!

Then we spied...

The wood pile.  Andrew said, I piled all that wood in Spring.  I think we have enough for a nice fire in the fireplace.  There is nothing sweeter than having our cup of hot chocolate on those cold winter evenings all cosy in front of the fireplace.

Then we spied...

The wheelbarrow and shovel.  Reminders that we still have more cleaning around the property before winter!  Like, putting the garden to bed.  Still have some wonderful chard for juicing, yummy!

And I spied... Andrew

hiding here...

and there!

Then we sat by the pond and enjoyed the sound of the running water...

But the birds on the river were making so much noise....

I really wanted to take a picture of this beautiful great-blue-heron, who has been so brave as to sit in the pond durning the week watching the koi and perhaps feasting on the frogs.  (this photo take by hubby on Friday!)

The pond is beautiful any time of the day...

You can barely see the great-blue heron next to the rock on the river.

In the evenings the pond is especially charming!  This time of the year is perfect, no bugs.

It was also a perfect evening for  sailing...

 we spied our neighbor sailing the calm water with barely no wind.

I really enjoyed my walk-about with Andrew. Who incidentally takes great pictures!  As well, as being pretty photogenic himself!

Easy, Fun, and Uncomplicated!

I love summer. I especially love summer weddings.  There were two weddings in my family this summer.  Two very different couples. One, a young couple embarking on their first wedding and the other, an older more mature couple, going down the aisle for the third time each. These weddings were as different as night and day from each other.  One was at a high-end resort hotel and the other in a community hall.  One wedding was very formal and the other more casual.  But something they both shared was stress, one more than the other, but stress none-the-less.  And both wedding parties had their share of drama. 

The anticipation leading up to the big day is so palpable you can slice it with a wedding cake knife.  The optimism, excitement, anticipation, and some old fashion anxiety tied together with a pure happiness bow that sums up weddings in a nutshell.  A mammoth ball of emotions!

Are any of these emotions minimized if the couple is older and have taken the leap of faith before? I would say absolutely not.  Young or older, a wedding makes the world seem like all things great are possible.  A young couple and an older more experience couple both see the world through rose colored glasses and their emotions are reflected in that hue. A bride is never more beautiful as on the day of her wedding, don’t you agree? Her eyes hold the promise of a forever magical love.  

However, the stress of a wedding can result in the worst day ever for some couples.  It is my observation that the amount of angst associated with weddings can be correlated with the amount time to plan and the size of the wedding.  The longer the planning and higher number of guests, the greater the emotional ups and downs.  And more importantly, the more likely the couple is to continue with the wedding even if they have some reservations. There comes a point where there is no turning back.  However, at the end of the day, when all is said and done, the people who really count are the bride and groom.  Really, what is the point, do they really need to start off their marriage under such stressful circumstances? Even the weddings that unfold without a hitch are stressful until the I dos.  There is always a possibility that something can go awry.  


Still, committed couple should get married, and maybe the tasks associated with getting married will serve them well as they begin their journey together as man and wife.   

My advice is to keep it small and intimate. 

I remember my wedding day like it was yesterday.  I wasn’t nervous as I sat in my fiancé’s kitchen sipping tea, the sun beaming through the skylight.  We had plenty of time as we sat reading the paper.   The phone rang, his mother called to tell us she had our flowers and we realized we better get ready. 

We decided to elope and only a small group of friends were going to be in attendance.  I didn’t even tell anyone in my family until the night before, leaving them no time to fly in to attend if they wanted to.  Of course, I got the “speech” but really I knew it was because they had my best interest in their hearts.  The only people who knew about our plan were our cohort, out respective assistents who coordinated the event between our two cities.  They had the utmost discretion and no one was the wiser at either of our work places. Real loyalty. 

Honestly, I wouldn’t change a thing. We had a beautiful low keyed wedding.  I loved that we did it for us, (even if not a bit selfish), it was romantic and naughty sneaking around as we planned.  Although I admit, on the flip side, we robbed some family of celebrating this special day with us.  Still, we managed to eliminated all the pressures associated with having to please everyone, coordinating peoples' schedule, and not to mention the expense of a big wedding. 

And, we had money not spent on a big wedding to enjoy several exotic honeymoons in Paris, Hawaii, Australia, South America and Fiji over several years before Andrew was born.  So, I opted to forgo a big swanky wedding, and enjoyed instead a fansy assed eight course dinner at the Le Jules Vernes in the Eiffel Tower, Paris.  Dinner was spectacular! 

Our motto durning our short courtship was make it -  Easy, Fun and Uncomplicated!   Eighteen years later that is still our motto.  Wishing the newly weds an easy, fun and uncomplicated marriage.  

Summer Fun

I can't believe that it is August 1st. Summer is going by so quickly,huh.  Well, as usual July has been very hot and humid in Ontario, but I'm not complaining.  As long as there is airconditioning, the heat is good.

This summer we decided to holiday in Montréal, Quebec, and rented a lovely apartment in Pointe Claire. Pointe Claire is an historic village located on the West Island of Montréal.

Sometimes, a city holiday is just the thing to do, others go to the cottage for their summer holidays, but I enjoy what the city has to offer.  This particular holiday was the best of both worlds spectacular, tranquil setting, away from the city, but only a short commute into downtown Montreal.

Normally I don't see anybody first thing in the morning at home save for my immediate family. However, I was pleasantly surprised that I actually enjoyed being around people and seeing so many people out jogging in the morning. I saw people with dogs, on bikes and even rollerblades. I could see this type of lifestyle being quite conducive to a healthy lifestyle and just wanting to just get out doors and to get physical.

Not to mention, the scenery in Pointe Claire along the river is so beautiful. It really calls for people to come out and enjoy it. I don't know whether it is just because the weather was fantastic, scenery was perfection, or if it's just people were on holidays, but by and large everybody was quick with a smile.

This holiday unlike our previous holidays which are packed with sightseeing and activities from morning until night, this was really chilled. We spent a lot of time reading, dinning out, and basically chilling by the river. Sometimes it's great to just be able to slow down and enjoy being together as a family without the distraction of a hectic itinerary.

The highlight of the holiday was our last night. We went to Shakespeare’s Macbeth in the Park. The play was at the Mount Royal Cemetery in Montréal, what a wonderful place for a Shakespeare play. The cast was superb!

I brought the camera but unfortunately the battery was dead.  Thus, all memories are stored in our head and no app for downloading memories stored in our minds, yet.  I am certain that we will return to Pointe Claire and next time I will check that I bring a camera that I can actually use, ugh.

I'm Back!

I’ve been an absent blogger of late.

Although, I must say in my defense it has been for good reason. My elderly mother had an accident that resulted in her being in hospital recovering from broken bones. I, along with family members spent many days at the hospital late into the evenings. Mama, (everyone who knows her calls her Mama) recovered from hip surgery. She is a trooper no doubt about it. It was touch and go for awhile but somehow she found strength and continues to improve daily.

Andrew's grade 8 grad!

That being said, life goes on. Because I was away I missed Andrew's grade eight graduation, Father's day, and hubby's birthday. I said to my son, sorry I missed your grad.  He responded, it's only grade 8, you'll be there for my grade 12 and university grads, those are the really important ones. He is so sweet!  I'll have to find a way to make it up to the men in my life. On the positive side, they were able to have some serious father son bonding time.

Being away from home was not all bad, it allowed me the opportunity to spend some quality time with my brothers and sisters.  While in Alberta it occurred to me that life there actually involves a lot of  staying up past midnight because the sun does not set until really late. I was in Alberta on the longest day of summer, June 21st. I swear, I could have played outside all night if I was not so emotionally and physically spent.

Now that the family crisis has passed and I am back in Ontario, I’d love to spend more time outside enjoying the summer. But alas, in Ottawa the sun sets before nine o’clock. Leaving me in the dark being consumed by blood thirsty tiny vampires (Mosquitoes).

Almost

Almost

Sitting silently in contemplation

expanding, contracting, no separation

deeper, calmer, oneness

inhale, ahh, blissfulness

awareness replaces tranquility

 vanished ability

one by one fleeting thoughts appear

as lightness disappear 

It's Green isn't it

Last week I was away and emailed hubby a list of vegetables I needed for green smoothies. By in large, he did a pretty good job with the list, with the exception of Kale.  Kale looks like this:

And this is what he bought, which is called green kohlrabi.

 I'm not even sure where he found it, never saw it before.  It is the correct color and leafy but I'm not sure if I can juice it.  How do I use this, do I just put it in a salad?

Stranger than Fiction

After twenty-five years Oprah ended her talk show by delivering an hour-long “love letter”.   I, with millions of others watched. 

She impacted many people either directly or indirectly.  I hate to admit it, no really. I really hate to confess that she had an impact on me in spite of my conscience efforts to the contrary.   If Oprah endorsed it, I would immediately walk away from it.   It was not personal to Oprah the person, I think she is a lovely lady, but it is more of a reaction to the industry that is Oprah. 

I am a type of person that abhors trends, groupies, or fads. The whole “Oprah craze" was way too cultish for my liking.  People were following her every word, liking her “favorite things” joining her book club, without a critical mind or second thought.  My point, if Oprah endorsement it you bet that it would go to the top.   This type of power given to one person goes against everything I believe.  Admittedly, that is not Oprah's fault. 

I think, there are two camps of people where Oprah is concerned, in one camp people Love her, and in the other people hate her.  Personally, I think hate is too strong a word.  Perhaps, they don’t hate her in as much as they don’t place her on a pedestal or think that her word is gospel.   I belong to neither camp.  I didn’t love her, nor did I hate her.  I felt she was so far removed from my life that she held no relevance to me.  That is, until the spring of 2008!

It began with a book gifted from hubby.  Horror of horrors, he gave me a book recommended by Oprah.  What was he thinking?  It sat untouched for a few weeks, and then one day, I picked it up and started reading. 

Intrigued, I decided to google the author and that led me to Oprah.   Oprah was doing her first online web course with the author, Eckhart Tolle.  I signed on for the full ten weeks.  But that is not the most interesting part. 

It was through the comments section that I met Carol who because we had so much in common became friends.  The crazy thing is, we were more connected than we could have imagined.  

Coincidently, she knew my niece who is living in Australia.  Furthermore, she also knew an aboriginal elder I visited on a previous trip to Austraila. In fact, believe it or not,  she lived right next door to him! Moreover, over two million people were on that message board and the messages where changing quickly.  How we ever connected, being from different time zones, in different countries, is beyond chance and incredibly Oprah facilitated it.   I had the good fortune to traveled to Australia that fall but my schedule was too hectic for me to meet Carol in person, it would have been heaven to have tea and cookies with her.

I blogged about it here but didn’t give Oprah credit for being the conduit to this amazing introduction. 

Indeed, life is a mystery.  Oprah, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.  Could we ever cross paths again and maybe this time in person?  Who knows, life can be stranger than fiction.