Happy New Year

When the clock strikes 12 may your passage into the newest year bring you into your best ever!!!!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

Bubby's house and the tree. He's so happy that tomorrow the eve will be here.

A Basket

Each year one of hubby's clients brings him a huge basket of selected goodies. He seems to like the way hubby helps him save taxes. What a kind gesture. Here's a snap of the one that just arrived. It's under the tree and Buddy is smiling. He loves this time of year. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays  to you all. 

FUN

During the holidays we love to drop by our neighbours' homes and celebrate with them even if it's just for a brief moment. That's because it's fun.

 Do you spend time with your neighbours?

Soft and Fluffy

It's St. Nicholas Day today and the weather here has brought us the gift of our first snowfall.

It's very loose and covers everything in such gorgeous white piles. Now I'm really feeling like the festive season is here. Time to get ready for a lot of fun. But first we'll need to dig out the snow shovels. 

Wishes of Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Here's hoping you are able to spend some joy-filled time with family and friends. I am thankful to have met you here and wish you all the best as you make time to celebrate.

Crisp

As the leaves fall the light has more of a chance to filter through the trees and shrubs. Recently, during my long walk, I had a chance to reflect on the upcoming winter season and how much I used to look forward to the cold crisp days. I concluded that I still love this time.  

Custom Made

Custom made in 1977.

Knitting was one of the ways my mom and my aunt created gifts for the festive days. My mom's specialty was to create sweaters that used up all the left over bits of wool. She always created such interesting patterns. This sweater was knitted for Buddy years ago and it has survived. My knitting skills never matched theirs. I prefer to sew or crochet. But lately I rarely make things and I miss that. This year I shall change that and create a framed photo as a gift. That seems like a project I can handle and even enjoy doing. Have you got a gift project?

Bared

The leaves are almost all on the ground. This tree is nearly ready for it's winter sleep. The colour of the sky appears cool and crisp. Sleepiness is heading our way as winter approaches.

It's Coming

Halloween is over and Christmas has been launched by the stores and the media. This photo of 'cats' stuck in an evergreen shrub reflect my sentiments of displeasure at being pushed and pulled by all the commercialism that has become the norm. We are lured into spending and made to feel guilty if we do not deliver the the goods on a wish list. Pressure?
I love the holiday season and plan to bake and make goodies but I will limit the shopping to one specially selected gift per family member. The fire taught us some better values. The 'cats' can be found at the damaged home still awaiting repair.

Flight

Today, while sitting in my hotel room situated under a flight path to a runway at the busy main airport, I reviewed the pictures I recently took while on a walk in my local neighbourhood where there's a smaller airport . These photos were taken just minutes apart. Smaller does not mean less busy. In fact Canada, with it's small population, has the second highest number of airports and flight schools in the world. Maybe it's because there's lots of empty space??

As I shot these I wondered if the pilots above me could see each other. I know they can talk over their radios. I stood there awhile and reflected.
It must be an exhilarating feeling to be in control of one's flight.

Fire

These are pictures of the fire that occurred in our home that still stands waiting reconstruction. The area shows the worst destruction of the home. The first pic shows a ceiling in the garage which is the floor of the room in the two next pics where wooden sheets were laid to cover damaged. When you look at the wall studs, charred bricks behind them, does it make you wonder how this could be possible?
Buddy and I escaped through the now boarded up window. We were in the room when the smoke moved in. I took Buddy to the window and opened it so he could breath. Seeing a neighbour on her front lawn, I asked her to call for help.

This room used to be Buddy's bedroom. Located on the second level, it is over the garage and not directly connected to the basement where the fire began. And there is a problem here. It should not have burned so badly. The builder had not properly followed the building code of sealing the basement properly. 
To date we are still negotiating to get this place fixed. Each builder who sees the house is giving us conflicting and different options, making the process a tougher one. We had hoped it would be under construction by now but the process for the best solution continues.

Notes of Beauty

Here are beautiful trees that make us want to paint them.

October is so colourful.

Cool and Crisp

It was a perfect day for an October photo op at the ponds. Cool and crisp air surrounded me and the afternoon sunlight added a brilliance to all the colours that bounced around me.

   Hues of yellows, oranges and red are popping up everywhere.

The reflection of the sky on the pond creates a stunning shade of blue. 

The structures depicted are a combination of a century farmhouse and new suburban growth. Their setting seems so rural with a dirt path winding through their neighbourhood.  

Wagons and Fairs

What would the world be like without the discovery of wagons? I have fond memories dating back to my earliest years. I used see farmers at this time of year hauling their harvested crops. Horses pulled their load. I remember the milkman delivering our daily milk in the beaches area of Toronto. He used a horse drawn wagon right up to the late 1950's. I reflect back on those days as I stare at this wagon ornament on my ledge. I wish it were filled with a huge bouquet of local fall flowers. Currently it holds this Burbury container filled with a harvested product that I'm not very fond of. But I love the man who owns it and that matters the most. He shares my passion for wagons. During our old farm days he used to let us take turns driving the tractor that pulled our very used and old hay wagon through the fields with us on it.. He would guide Buddy when it was his turn at the wheel. They were a great team. They still are.  

Fall reminds me of wagons and farms and fairs. We will be going to the fall fair soon and we'll visit the wagons on display. It's a family fun thing we like to do. How about you? Got any wagon tales to share? 

Keys to Jamaica

Our keys are easily stored on this cute souvenir. We're planning a trip. We've been to Mexico twice and Buddy liked both places. Would he enjoy himself in Jamaica? Is it safe? Have you been? 

Friends brought us this. They went long ago. We are wishing to try Jamaica but the media has reported some  not so nice activities happening there lately. Should we believe them?

COLOURS of Fall

Buddy is thrilled at the changes in colours all around the pond. We like spending time together and sharing ideas so he helped to make the picture selections for this post. 

He wanted them posted extra large. He feels it shows off the beauty of the colours more. He hopes you will like his ideas. The red maple leaf photo is his favourite. Mine is the reflection at the pond. Do you have one?

The Blue Sky

The best part about blogging is the ideas it generates in my life. Taking photos of clouds came from Joyful, Snap That, a fellow blogger. The pictures were taken while I strolled along the pond this afternoon. Today's sky yielded a tapestry of beautiful cloud formations blended with many shades of blue.

There's an X in one of these. A plane flew by and was captured too. The lamp post adds a touch of familiarity but the blackbird that once sat on it has headed south. Fall is here. Can you spot the two photos depicting the same cloud formation? Have you read the HEIDI posts on my other blog? Link's at the top of this blog.

Yellow Finches

The feeder and watering hole (we created because bloggers gave us the incentive to) are visited hourly by families of yellow finches who trust us. These photos were taken from our deck today with a cellphone camera. Wishing for a macro lens for the Rebel. The original post of these finches appeared on August 2, 2010. Can you figure out why I posted a similar (even same title) on September 2, 2010?

Pits Nuts Stones

The tree is full of fruits. How gorgeous they appear. Mystery fruit until I took a challenge to learn. The fruit is that of a walnut tucked deeply inside just like a peach stone inside a peach. But it's not a cling-free stone variety. Could there be such a variation in walnuts?

How strange that we have so many labels for what's at the centre of a fruit; seeds, pits, nuts, even stones.

Walnut Tree

The walnut tree stands proudly by the pond. It has history but the farmer is no longer there to tell it. That is how it goes.

Hub o' Oak

Here's a glimpse at the oak kitchen table that has been the centre of our home life. For our toddlers there was a matching high chair that converted into a small rocking chair. It ended up in our family room until my niece had her boys and it was passed on to them. But our table remains firmly planted beside the kitchen. We all love being in the kitchen area. It did not surprise us when the more recent houses added family rooms merged with kitchens. Isn't the kitchen a hub of activity? It is in our home. And it's filled with lot's of love. Now you can see where a bit of Rosa's bounty landed, the oak hub and rightfully so!  

Rosa

Rosa's been growing  many things in her garden. Some of her bounty arrived over our common fence. She's  generous but sad that raccoons are picking her peached. These green grapes are the sour kind but a favourite of mine. The fresh basil is so fragrant and the tomato's such a lovely bright red. It's an odd shape. This composition was created on one of my favourite pieces of furniture. And that is???
P.S. Of course I checked for bug protein before tasting.Spiders love vines.  LOL

Prickly

Oh so prickly!
To err is to be human, right? Yesterday I was playing around with settings because I seem to have trouble commenting on Abe's blogs so I saw a comment moderator page for the first time. I tried to figure it out.  It has some options but I clearly did not get the point (pun?). The page showed my published comments. Options? Save was not in the list. Delete was. I presumed that I was being asked if I wanted to clear the page I was on and chose delete. And then I left the cleared page.
Oh so very prickly!!
I was horrified this morning when I was looking at the posts and discovered your comments were all gone. I do apologize. I feel very bad for hurting you. I made a mistake.

To err was very prickly.   

African Violet

This pretty violet sits on our rescued kitchen table where we used to eat with her. It is a flower that gets me smiling. Some were grown in my auntie's apartment and on birthdays we would get one. We weren't very successful at maintaining them so she just gave us a new one annually. It became a tradition. Now that she's passed we still love a violet. When we see one we all think of her. And we've learned to respect it and keep it growing. She loved to sing," You are my sunshine..." to us. We still smile when we hear it. Could she be sending her kind of sunshine on it and us too?

Surviving the Heat

It's too hot this summer!!! This planter sits on the deck. It's watered daily after the sun has gone down but the plants are just coping. And we can only enjot the space in the evening or very early morning. 

The buds are trying so hard to  grow. Will they blossom or just wilt? The heat is to continue for the next week. I'm keeping my eye on them.