Amaryllis Prep

I recently came across this picture of my three waxed amaryllis bulbs starting to bloom, several years ago.

The photo dates back to the year I purchased the bulbs - encased in gold-coloured wax. No watering was required, as I recall... An easy indoor garden!

The following spring, I removed the wax and potted them in soil. At this point I had to begin watering them.

When the weather turned warm, I moved the pots outdoors and kept watering them.

Then in fall I removed all the soil and the roots, and let the bulbs rest in a brown bag (in the dark) in our basement for several months. No watering. Then, in early December, I repotted them again and resumed watering. 

That winter, only two bulbs bloomed, although all grew healthy-looking leaves.

This year, I  plan to do the same again - but start them several weeks apart. This is the first bulb I've replanted.  I wonder how many of the bulbs will bloom this year.

Amazing Sunsets Are Hard to Paint!

For last week's Almonte painting session, I hunted for pictures of sunsets in my cell phone collection. I found lots of great memories! But I also discovered that trying to paint the majesty of  a sunset is a humbling experience!

This scene (taken in Erie in 2019) was the inspiration for this painting.

The blue clouds look more like mountains in my depiction ... and the sky isn't pink enough!

I'm a little happier with this attempt at painting another sunset...

But even here, the original (captured last spring as we drove  through Ottawa's Experimental Farm) is so much more powerful. It looks like a raging fire!

More practice needed! I feel like a true beginner, when I look at the sky and compare my feeble attempts to God's art in nature!

Doggy Wisdom

I haven't lived in a household with a dog since I was a teenager and still lived with my parents and my brother. Our dog "Moochie" - our family pet - brought a lot of laughter to our lives for many years. Thinking about her still makes me smile.

When I saw this list of things we learn from a dog, I thought it was worth sharing...

It occurs to me that this list doesn't totally describe Moochie - because she did hold grudges. After one particularly bad experience with a mailman, she was never kind to anyone wearing a postman's uniform. And she did "show her passion with gusto."

In searching (unsuccessfully) for the author of this, to credit them,  I discovered a lot of "doggy wisdom" out there. Our pets can teach us a lot about life!

I should add that I've been hunting in vain for a photo of Moochie. I know I have at least one. Then I remembered that my mother tossed out most of our pictures of the dog because my dad was inconsolable after she was gone.

As she explained it to me: When our daughter and son left home, he didn't shed a tear - but every time he saw a picture of the dog, he started to cry.

Moochie and my dad shared a special bond.

Walking Milestone

Yesterday I reached an exciting milestone on my virtual walk from Chicago to Los Angeles, along Route 66.

I reached the quarter way mark of my 3,670 km journey - I'm 25% done! It has only taken me 5 months!

I know I still have s long way to go... but getting this far makes me feel that completing the trek is within the realm of possibility!

I'm looking forward to heading south soon - to Tulsa, Oklahoma, a city I actually visited the summer my brother got married.

Reality and virtual reality are about to connect!

Learning Creativity

For a long time now, our little grandson has loved playing with vehicles (like his father did at that age). 

He also loves building things with Lego - an interest he must have inherited from his mother's side of the family... None of our kids ever took an interest in Lego.

But I'm really thrilled to see him develop an interest in arts and crafts! You'll never be bored if you enjoy making things!

(In the picture he's busy making a flying bat.)

Christmas Cactus

I don't really remember when I bought this Christmas Cactus. It might have been last year - or the year before. When I got it, its blooms were almost all gone... And it hasn't bloomed since.

Recently, I've been checking it for flowers - but haven't seen any new growth. Maybe I should add some fresh soil, I thought... so I repotted it.

It was then, pulling the plant out of one pot and putting it into another, that I noticed pink tips on some of the leaves. Is this the beginning of blooming?! Maybe it's actually going to have flowers this winter!

Last Week's Paintings

Thankfully the weather has been great - no icy roads! 

So I've been driving to Almonte for a weekly painting session that brings a dozen of us together to sit, chat ... and paint.

My goal has been to learn how to paint clouds - in their diversity.

My inspiration for these three paintings came from photos I took on our recent trip to Quebec.

I could sit and paint at home...

But there's a different dynamic when others are there, painting, too.

Toronto Saturdays

We're back to spending a weekend a month in Toronto, visiting our daughter.

It's only been a few months, but we've already developed a Saturday shopping "routine"!

First, we drive to Dixie Outlet Mall. We each have our favorite stores and don't need to stay long. (No pictures from there!)

Next, we head to Dundas, a small historic town that is part of Hamilton - to "Detour Coffee," where we always have lunch. (See photo above. It's worth the drive!)

Then we continue on to another small town called "Freelton" - now also part of Hamilton - to a charity vintage shop called "Rescued and Restored."

Our daughter follows them on Instagram, so she usually has an idea of what she want to buy...

There's lots to check out - so we tend to linger here...

Then we continue on to Guelph - where our daughter used to live. 

Some vintage store browsing...

Before heading to Terry's favorite Indian restaurant in Guelph... ("Diwa")

Then back to Toronto again!

New Favorite!

A few days ago, the family enjoyed a delicious meal at a new (to us) restaurant in Almonte. 

We had come to celebrate our grandson's birthday. 

The food was excellent. I had fish tacos for the first time. Dessert was cheesecake... (which I forgot to photograph).

Now I'm looking for an excuse to celebrate there again!

What's New?

Most days, I walk indoors in a large shopping mall... At the same time, Terry goes to the food court to read the news on his computer.

When we meet up again, Terry invariably asks me: What's new in the mall?

Well, I saw shoes that resemble ones I wore as a child.

Very puffy coats are on display - so winter must be here.

And Santa's cabin is ready - so he'll be here soon.

There's always something new!

Almost Done!

I just finished knitting this light-weight "poncho" that I started about 5 months ago. I bought the yarn and pattern when we stopped in at the Mary Maxim store in Paris, Ontario, en route home from Niagars Falls - where we had gone for a Frankie Valli concert. So the project has a personal history - as do many knitting projects... (where I got the idea, the yarn, etc.)!

It's made of a lighter weight yarn than I normally use, so I'm not sure if it will keep me warm at home in winter. Our house is kept cool.

The poncho is made of two equal-sized panels, sewn together, leaving a neck opening on top.

Having tried it on, I realize that the back is a little shorter than the front. If I made another like it, I'd make the back panel about 3 inches longer than the front - to make them sit equally.

My next steps are to weave in the yarn ends and to "block" the poncho. I'm hunting for instructions on how to block synthetic yarn. I don't remember ever learning how.

I'd like to make the edges lie flatter.

Birthday!

On birthdays, we think of parties and gifts...

But to those who were there at the time of the birth - it's a time of looking back in wonder, thankfulness - and joy! A new person has come into the world!

And the world is a different place!

Remembering...

I recently had lunch - by myself - at a vegetarian restaurant my daughter also enjoys. We used to come here once or twice a month when she lived nearby.

I've decided to continue coming on my own - because I enjoy the food. (Also because the DASH diet for hypertension recommends eating vegetarian.)

Sitting here, looking out the window - it suddenly occurred to me that this is a very significant place in our family's history.

The university across the street is the reason Terry and I moved to Ottawa in the first place. Had Terry not come here to study, we would no doubt have raised our family in another part of Canada, lived in a different neighborhood, and had different friends. So much would be different! But the university brought us here - and here we stayed!

A Time to Reflect

One of my friends recommended this book to me - "For Everything a Season," by Joan Chittister.

So I've started reading it. There's lots of food for thought, so I think it will be a slow read!

It's based on the well-known passage in Ecclesiastes: "There's a time to be born, a time to die..." and so on.

Already in the introduction, I've had to stop and reflect when the author says: "Adversity... gets our attention. But joy we take for granted... Joy we too often ignore."

Yes... Even the way we talk about them reveals this. We say "hard TIMES" and "MOMENTS of joy."

I've noticed - when taking my blood pressure - that if I think happy thoughts, like how lovely the flowers look, I relax and my blood pressure goes down. But if I worry and wonder why my blood pressure is so high, it goes even higher!

Time to pay more attention to joy!

Pink Ribbon Sky!

Yesterday I was treated to this "Pink Ribbon Sky" around 7 am, shortly after I got up.

The sun rose at 7:02 am and set at 4:32 in the afternoon - so we had 9 and a half hours of daylight. We have another 45 minutes to lose before we start to gain again.

I don't love it these early darkening days - but I do love waking up to the gift of a beautiful sky.

All Different

It's interesting to see how my children - and now my grandchildren - all have different interests.

There are, of course, similarities - like a love of watching Sunday afternoon football that Terry shares with our boys - as he once did with his father.

Several of is enjoy doing word puzzles - like Wordle and Scrabble.

When we get together for a meal here at home, we often play Scrabble after dinner, using the same Scrabble set that my mother and her friends used when she lived in an apartment nearby.

We are competitive when it comes to those games - and exchange scores!

But none - except my grandkids - have taken  an interest in building with Lego. I wonder if that interest comes from their mother's side of the family. 

It amazes me that my four-year-old grandson has the patience to build with the tiniest of pieces! He worked day after day on this Lego space ship launch pad, made from a Lego set that my sons (his father and uncle) had been given for Christmas, when they were 9 or 10. But they never took any interest in it.

Glad I kept it! The instructions are lost - just the picture on the box remains. He wanted me to help him make it (but I'm not good at Lego either)... So I told him he could do it any way he wanted. This is his creation. Not exactly like the picture - but I love it!

Since it's recommended for ages 9-12, I hope he'll continue enjoying these Lego pieces for years and years to come.