Blogging Update...

I started this blog about a year after I retired. I wanted something fun to do in my free time - especially in winter, when I didn't get out that much. Later on, it became a daily activity.

Over the years, I've written about a lot of things - trips I've taken, food I enjoy cooking, family stories, flower gardening, quilting, knitting... and of course, life in Ottawa and ... the weather!

According to the google counter attached to my blog, yesterday's post was my 3,600th!

My most accessed blog post continues to be one about quilting... (with 8196 page views)

The second most accessed is still about indoor trees... (2004 page views)

The third most accessed one, entitled "Memories," was posted in 2010. Since then it has had 1829 page views.

The fourth, also posted in 2011, is a recipe for peach cobbler, with 941 page views.

And fifth, a 2011 post on African Violets, has had 830 page views.

Travel Deals

My older son loves to travel, so he subscribes to a number of "travel deal" websites. One that he uses frequently is YOWdeals.com, which lists cheap flights flying out of Ottawa.

There are deals out of other airports as well... Scroll down the web page... They are listed at the bottom.

Recently he found a deal to Hawaii - a place he's wanted to visit for a while... (A perfect place to visit during these winter days of ice and snow!)

Last year, he flew to Amsterdam for a short holiday - for about $200 return.

With our cold winter weather, I think I'll start watching out for "travel deals," too!

How Much Snow Has Disappeared?!

These days, when I walk over to an upstairs window and look out, my eyes always scan the thick layers of snow on the roofs - starting with the carport roof of our own house and the holes made by dripping melting snow...

The questions in my mind are always the same:

How much snow has melted? 

How much is left?

How long until it is all gone?!

First Sunday in Lent: a Reflection from Julian of Norwich

From time to time, I read something I want to share...

On this first Sunday of Lent, here is an excerpt from  Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love. I haven't read this famous fourteenth-century book yet.

I found the passage in Incandescence, a collection of readings by women mystics, compiled by Carmen Acevedo Butcher, and it makes me want to read more. 

This is what Julian of Norwich writes:

God wants us to remember we are His children. Hurt, upset, or frightened children always run directly to their mother and fling their arms around her... God wants us to do just that. We are to act like the trusting, much-loved children that we are.

Even if it is our own fault we are hurting, God wants us to come to Him and say, "Mother,... I've really messed up. Please forgive me..."

If we don't feel better all at once, we should remember our Mother is wise. God may allow us to cry for a certain time... [But] remember that what God most wants is our trust, as child to mother.

My De-Cluttering Obsession

This winter has been unlike any that I can remember... Instead of knitting and quilting, I have been going through shelves and drawers in our house to determine what objects "spark joy".

Deciding what to get rid of is always hard. We have emotional attachments to what we own. But when we ask ourselves if something actually gives us "joy," it becomes a lot easier. Getting rid of what no longer brings us joy is actually liberating!

Have an idea of what you want your home to look like, she advises.

Go through everything, and get rid of objects that don't "spark joy."

Then determine where to store the rest...

It will take about 6 months to do. Don't work at it every day.

I've been at it for about 2 months, and I still have a long way to go... Hopefully I'll check in from time to time to  tell you how it's going.

Personally I think I'll need more than 6 months... but we'll see!

Lion? Or Lamb?

There's an old saying: "If March comes in like a lion, she goes out like a lamb... And vice versa."

In other words, if March 1st has stormy weather, the last day of March will be mild and spring-like... And vice versa...

As weather-related proverbs go, I'm surprised at how often this one comes true...

However... March 1st wasn't stormy this year ... (These photos were taken on March 2nd... There is no fresh snow...)

But when I looked at the icy roads - and the piles of accumulated snow around us - the weather outside wasn't very "lamb-like" either!

So I'm hoping for mild end of March weather...

I know a lot of my neighbors are, too. We're tired of winter!

Northern Adventure

One of our sons has headed up north for a week for work...

He was told to plan for temperatures of minus 40 degrees Celsius - the wind chill making it feel like minus 50 degrees!

All exposed skin freezes, he told us... Then he showed us what he was planning to wear...

I haven't heard how he's managing or if it's as cold as he expected...

I checked out northern hotels - like the Beach House Hotel...

There's no snow in the online picture... It probably wasn't taken in winter... There seems to be daylight.

Right now there is eight hours of daylight per day where he has headed...

Even without snow, it still looks cold! (Can't say I'd be up for a winter adventure like that...)