A Miracle We Take For Granted!

It’s a chilly morning... (-9 degrees Celsius / 16 degrees Fahrenheit)

As I look at my late November flower bed, with its dead stems sticking out of the ground...

Frost on the car - and on all the roofs in the neighborhood... in a few weeks it will be even colder.

It’s really a miracle to think that all these flowers will come back to life in about five months time, once the cold and snow are gone.

I’m so looking forward to it... But, if I think about it, it doesn’t logically seem possible... 

Why? How?

I really have no explanation! It’s a miracle!

Sunglasses!

When she was her brother’s age, my granddaughter was fascinated with my reading glasses. She always wanted to wear them...

Her brother hasn’t seemed to notice them... but he does like sunglasses!

In fact... why only one pair?! Why can’t I wear two?!

(Another small lesson he has to learn by trial and error!)

Taking Highway 7 Home

The last time we travelled home from Toronto, we took Highway 7 - a more northerly route.

It’s little shorter than following the backroads along the St. Lawrence River - or Highway 401 nearby. 

But not quicker, with narrower, winding roads.

We haven’t driven this northern route in 2 years - since planning around COVID entered our consciousness.

Highway 401 road stops would always be open, but we weren’t sure about the small town coffee shops along Highway 7.

A glossy film of ice had already formed on the many lakes and rivers we passed by.

The trees were bare - but the scenery was still beautiful.

Glad we came this way again. Hopefully life will soon return to “normal” and we’ll come home this way more often again.

Transitioning to Winter

Slowly the weather is changing... This was yesterday’s morning forecast.

Cloudy... cooler... damp ... with the possibility of snow.

It’s not just a weather change - it’s a lifestyle change, for me.

Those who love winter sports look forward to this change. But I have to look for ways to be active... indoors!

More reading, less walking... It’s my season of introspection... and art, as I look for the joy of colours - in quilting!

Fun and Games!

Grandma really enjoys hanging out with her grandchildren. 

While big sister Ivy and Grandma played with dolls...

There was still time for a game of “Where did he go?“

Where is he? I can’t see him!

Oh, there you are! You tricked us! You were hiding in your sister’s closet!

Birthday Fun!

We were able to see our two-year-old grandson the day after his second birthday.

We shared his delicious “Gruffalo” cake. 

Birthday balloons were still floating in the air...

Though they were hard to manage, he enjoyed playing with them.

Occasionally they broke loose... and got away! But that’s part of the fun - seeing them touch the ceiling. 

Unfortunately grandma couldn’t even reach them if the string broke off, too. That’s why it’s good to have a tall daddy!

Optical Illusion!

Didn’t know dad was in that movie…! one of my kids emailed me, attaching this screen shot…

I was puzzled… 

Is that Ryan Gosling?! It looks just like Terry… 

Are they making Ryan Gosling look like an old man in the movie? How is it possible that they made him look so much like... Dad! I replied.

Haha, no! I was reading about the new Barbie and Ken movie on my phone when dad suddenly FaceTimed - and his face  appeared in exactly this position. So I took a screen shot. I didn’t change a thing!

(Really?! Things like that can happen? I’m so confused!)

Goodbye, High School Art Project!

I’m finally saying “good-bye” to a high school art project made by one of my kids.

It’s been sitting on a basement storage shelf for around 20 years... 

If it weren’t made of plaster of Paris - which crumbles easily, producing fine dust, I’d have displayed it In the living room...

I like it...

But the artist who made it has become a “minimalist” who berates me for keeping so much useless stuff.

What else can I do but toss it - and other parts of the plaster art project?!

It’s hard to be the sentimental keeper of family history. Fortunately, Terry has a hard time parting with family artifacts as well. Though he may complain, from time to time, that we have too much stuff, when I pull things out to get rid of them, he usually protests: Why are you giving that thing away?

(I wonder what he’ll say when he spies this in the garbage...!)

New Cupcake Possibilities!

I don’t bake as much as I used to when there were more of us to eat it…

But I was recently inspired to buy a new cupcake maker - each cupcake the shape of a house…

It would be cute around Christmas time… using a spice cake recipe instead of gingerbread…

I’m looking forward to practicing with chocolate cake… (and muffins?)

Remembering Kindergarten Days

I came across these pictures of my older son’s K-4 class taking a walk down the street in front of our house. 

Our children all attended kindergarten at the elementary school that was located next door - where the college soccer field now sits.

Occasionally the class would take a walk down the street. In this picture, they’re looking for interesting leaves.

The third picture was taken a few months later on a winter walk. I have no idea what they were looking for on that walk.

I was always glad that their first school experience was in a building next door to our house.

Squirrels’s Nests

Our neighborhood has lots of squirrels... black, grey and small red ones. Some chipmunks, as well.

I don’t know where the chipmunks live, but the squirrels build nests in the trees around us - which can only be seen when the leaves have fallen from the trees...

Here’s one, in our neighbors’ yard. 

I find it hard to believe that those masses of leaves suspended in below-freezing air keep families of squirrels safe and warm throughout the cold months of winter!

How those things stay up there in windy days is a miracle!

Once squirrels abandon a nest and no longer maintain it - it soon falls apart and blows away in the wind!

I’ve seen that happen, too.

Remembering...

Today my younger grandchild is two years old!

It really doesn’t seem that long ago that he was born!

At the time, I was staying with the family.

Big sister Ivy and I enjoyed playing make-believe games together. She was three and a half at the time...

Then Jericho arrived!

Life was suddenly different... BETTER!

Such good memories!

And now today he is two!

Happy birthday, SWEET BOY!

Moving Along: My Top Down Sweater is Almost Done

Starting - and ENDING - projects are both exhilarating! 

I always start with great enthusiasm… and I don’t always finish what I start…!

But this time I expect to finish!

This is what it looks like now… Only one sleeve left to go!

What Exactly Does That Mean?!

I realize that every generation creates new words or uses existing words in a new way...

So I guess I’m dating myself when I wonder...

What on earth is “slub-knit”?

Or “voop neck”?!! (My spell check didn’t even know - it changed VOOP neck to COOP!)

Maybe I need to consult the Urban Dictionary! They’re usually up to date on the latest terms.

Well, they’re no help! When I looked up “slub” alone, they didn’t have the word on their list...

They don’t know what voop neck was either...

So I looked up “voop” by itself, and I’m pretty sure that isn’t what the t-shirt ad meant to say!

As a post script, I later asked my daughter about these two words. She informed me that slub knit means knit with uneven thicknesses of fibre in it, so the knitting would have texture to it. Maybe some pile, in fact. But she had no idea about “voop”!

First Snow!

Yesterday, I awoke to our first snow!

I’m definitely not ready for it... I need to hunt in the basement for my winter boots.

I’ve taken out my winter coat, hat and mitts... The boots are my last step in preparing the “essentials “ for the next four months.

But on a more hopeful note, this could all melt. Maybe it’s just a “warning”... to remind us that winter isn’t far away!

How Old?!!

Just when I’m starting to feel old...

I find someone to inspire me!!

I really needed to see this amazing woman and her tenacity to keep going ... and even get faster! I really need a role model like her these days!

Cooler Walking Weather

Yesterday Terry and I headed out for a walk - in spite of cool, rainy weather.

We weren’t alone...

Photographers were trying to get good shots of birds... 

This heron, looking for food, was a popular subject.

I also noticed ducks - and a few Canada geese.

As beautiful as birds are to photograph...

... my favourite nature subject is the sky.

Clouds are always so awesome! And constantly changing!