Ottawa Brunch - With Visiting Family

Terry and I often go out for brunch with our kids in Toronto.

Occasionally in summer they visit us, too.











 

Then we discover interesting brunch places in our neighborhood.

Another joy of summer!

Planting Anemones

White anemones are among my favorite early spring flowers. (And they bloom twice - a second time in fall.)

Currently they are in seed...

So I am picking the puffy seeds and lying them on the ground in different parts of the yard.

Hopefully they will bloom next spring... (Or maybe even this fall!)

My Favorite Time of Day

Now that summer is here, my favorite time of day is the early morning...

I sit by an open window as the breeze flows in (before closing the window to keep out the heat of the day).

Sitting there brings back memories of childhood summers on a relative's farm... The air is fresh and cool.

Later I extend the moment by having breakfast outdoors!

An Interesting Experiment

During my working years I took first aid courses annually. One medical acronym I learned at the time is RICE... It stands for Rest / Ice / Compression / Elevation.

For years, if my children (or I) injured ourselves or had any kind of swelling, I would follow those four steps: Make them stop running around, apply an ice pack, wrap the injury with an elastic bandage, then have them elevate the injured part above the heart (to avoid further swelling).

However, a year or so ago, in an interview with the doctor who had created this acronym, I read that these steps are no longer recommended. In fact, the best way to treat a pulled muscle was NOT to rest it and ice it, but to keep using it as normal. It would heal much quicker that way.

A few days ago, I had the opportunity to try it out!

I was wandering through my flower beds, trying to find a place to put this outdoor sculpture I made a few years ago... when I slipped on a rock, twisted my ankle and gently went down.

Plants do provide a gentle cushion when you fall on them, I remember thinking as I sat there - then slowly got up, helping myself up by grabbing onto a plant!

But a few hours later, my ankle was sore. I lay down for a while. (A big mistake, it turns out: Rest did not help.) When I got up, my left ankle was swollen and I could barely walk.

What to do? Rather than ice the swelling and elevate my foot, I decided to keep moving. It was hard for a while, as I hobbled up and down stairs collecting laundry, wondering if my ankle would give out on me. But eventually the pain subsided and I forgot about my injury.

The next day, all signs of swelling were gone!

So... I've discovered that a better medical treatment for a sprained, swollen joint is to keep going, ignoring the pain?!!

(Now..., I'm not suggesting that for a broken bone!)

And I never did find a good place for that little plaque... Only now I'm afraid to venture through the flower beds for fear of slipping on a hidden stone! (One of my gardening techniques is surrounding plants with rocks to keep them from drying out.)

Just Dessert!

On Fridays Terry and I often head over to my mother's nursing home for their weekly summer barbecue.









 

It's a family event - a fundraiser for extra programs, like the music therapist who leads the choir my mother sings in.

Residents and their visitors sit in the garden and enjoy the sunshine...

One recent Friday, my mother decided she only wanted dessert... and juice.

You need to eat the main course, too, if you want to live to be 100, Terry admonished her...

I'll be here on this earth as long as God wants me here, she replied...
 
Then added: Dessert tastes better!

Living the Game

My adult sons still enjoy playing video games ... (Like this newly released Batman Game).

But games of imagination or "pretend" are also part of their world - though they're more elaborate than my childhood games of: "Let's pretend..."

Recently one of my sons - together with five friends - participated in a simulation game at "Escape Manor," in downtown Ottawa. The object is of the game was to escape from a locked room in 45 minutes.  Escape Manor has five theme rooms at varying levels of difficulty.

How was it? I asked when he returned.

We were so close, my son said. We were just figuring out the code to open the door when our time was up.

Their game room had been a cell block inside a simulated sheriff's office. Two of them had been handcuffed to the metal prison bars... Then the door to the room was locked.

The room held clues found in keys, books, notes and a computer on the desk. They had to escape the cell and the room to win... And they didn't want to leave their two hand-cuffed friends behind, so they had to find a way to unlock them, too!

What an adrenalin rush! Could they get out of the prison cell - and out of the room in 45 minutes?

Did you have fun? I asked him when he got back.

It was awesome!

Did you get any pictures?

We were too busy - and we were using our cell phones as flashlights so we couldn't use them as cameras at the same time.

(Flashlights?! I know a cell phone can be used as a camera... but as a flashlight?!!! I have so much to learn!)

Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day from Ottawa - Canada's capital...

Not all the celebrations will be happening downtown at Parliament Hill. My mother - and other residents - will be celebrating at their nursing home as well!

The decorations are up! Let the party begin!