Stratford! What's in a name?

In this case the name Stratford congers Shakespearean visual memories; hence, the requisite picture of the Festival Theatre as it looked when we visited last Saturday. The sun was sinking in the west as we toured one of our favorite summer spots to see what gown it would wear in winter.

Here is a shot across the frozen Avon River of a dad and two kids frolicking in the snow.

As I drove across the bridge to tour the 'other side' of the river, I was stopped by a flock of ducks who waddled towards the car. I jumped out to get a picture, and

as I focused my camera, they moved ever closer. See the fellow in the centre sitting down? He seems to be inviting the others to join him.

Amazingly, they did. All of them found their own comfy spot right on the road in front of cars and plopped comfortably in the sun. That guy in the centre was quite the leader.

I backed up as much as I could and steered around these beautiful birds, but I was glad to have been stopped by them. To close off our delicious day, I tried a shot into the sun of the beautiful Avon. The shine in the distance is echoed in the foreground, an intriguing effect, I thought. See you in the summer, oh shining Stratford!

Covered Bridge of West Montrose

Today I continue our Saturday tour with shots of this amazing bridge at West Montrose, Ontario. It is quite famous as the only one of its kind left in Ontario. Here you can see our approach to it where cars have to take turns crossing as it is only wide enough for one lane.

The bridge is known locally as the Kissing Bridge because no one can see you inside so lots of kissing can go on. This shot is from the southeast side.

I decided to take the snowy road 'less traveled' and approach the bridge from the west. Imagine how happy I was to get these full sunlight pics. Frost's implication was right!

This closeup of the southern opening shows the historic plaque beside the huge gaping mouth of the bridge. What a difference a close shot makes.

At West Montrose there is an old general store, a bed and breakfast and lots of newer housing, most of it pretty grand. Below is a shot I just had to take of a private home visible from the south side of the Grand where I shot the bridge pictures. Ontario is full of these new age palaces. Don't you wonder what the heating bill is?

Tomorrow we move on to Stratford-on-Avon and I have a surprise for you.

St. Jacobs

Saturday my husband and I went trekking about in the blue sky and white snow bathed in brilliant rays of sunshine--just the kind of day to lift your heart! First stop was Paris where we had a couple of errands to run--beading, you know--and then off to old Galt for a lunch downtown. In the early afternoon we were in St. Jacobs, a lovely Mennonite-dominated community with just enough exotic flavour to attract shoppers and lookers to the downtown and to the market area south of the village. Below is the spot where we met two polite kids coming back along the river trail toting skates and hockey sticks--you can see the hockey nets in this shot--and we were transported to our own childhoods for a moment.

I liked this closeup showing the broad expanse of the river through the stark trees and the open water promise of spring in the foreground.


Here you see the back side of the famous silos of the once-flour-mill. Inside these silos are tiny shops made more interesting by the curved walls and the wonderful sense of reusing things rather than destroying and building new.

Sadly for us this red caboose ice cream parlour was not open but I thought it made a beautiful, bold shot of red in the pre-spring landscape.

In the tradition of saving the best for last, I now show you my favorite picture: This is taken from high up on a snow-covered patio which was waiting for spring. I just adore the dark brown sumacs morphed from their deep red of fall as a framing/enhancing facet of the picture. Isn't winter lovely on a sunny day?

From St. Jacobs we travelled to West Montrose, which exploration you can join tomorrow. See you!

Puzzler People

We are working on our website for Classroom Puzzlers and are having many breakthroughs. My husband is the architect/designer of the site and I am the proof reader comment-giver--hopefully extraordinaire. We both author the puzzlers. Our teaching background has been the thrust of this whole enterprise. Once a teacher, always...



Making learning fun is the thrust of the material, a natural extension of our life goals to just make everything fun. If a thing is worth doing do it in a 'fun' way. So many buzz words trigger the same idea, don't they? Check out the website and let us know how it seems to you.

Bringing these products to teachers, home-schooling parents, and the world at large is such a rewarding experience. We have been doing this for quite a few years, but this revamping to reach a bigger market and to keep our products current has been great fun. So far the farthest we have shipped is to Malaysia, which was an awesome achievement. We shipped the actual three-ring binders at that time but now can ship CD format. Very soon we hope to be able to have the pages downloadable from the web, but not yet. Check out our website and sign up for the free puzzles so you can see what I'm excited about. Have a great day!

A Blip of Snow Hits

After two days of above zero temperatures--Celsius--that is, last night was cold enough that we woke to a wonderful bit of snow today. Heading out to the gym at 7:45 I mentioned to hubby that I'd have to take pictures when I got back. Imagine my shock when 55 minutes later we returned and the snow was fast dripping off the trees! I ran for my camera. This first shot shows how lovely the trees look with their fresh white dresses. And you can see the fresh dusting on the walkway beside the old shovelled snow piled beside.

Here is the front view, yet again, and I love how my burnt orange door pops. You can see that the snow came from the south as it is only on that side of the trees. Lake effect, I guess, as we are nestled north of Lake Erie, with Lake Ontario and Lake Huron cuddling our sides.

The side door to our addition--orange, also--missed the snow under the overhang but notice the fence and the trees behind. I love trees, don't you? They soften every landscape and are a photographer's dream. Well, sometimes a nightmare if they fall on your house!


Finally, you can see the pile of old snow on the driveway in front of the door so you know we have had quite a bit this last 4-5 weeks. I must point out, however, that this is getting more and more rare, our own personal global warming measure. The blustery, dense whiteouts beside 10-foot banks of snow are mainly in my childhood, and I really don't miss them. The change of seasons is very welcome, however, and there is nothing, NOTHING like a snowy landscape bathed in sunshine against a backdrop of cerulean blue sky.

The Pirate King

For some reason today my thoughts are on my brother, Ross, about whom I've written before. When you lose someone close, strangely you eventually move on and think your mourning is over, but I've come to learn that is not so. Every so often, when dusting the family picture (yesterday) or preparing to go skating (this morning) or seeing a 55 mph speed sign, I think of Ross.

Here he is many years ago with his first skating partner, Sherry. I loved this picture as it hung on our living room wall in my childhood home, and when Ross died I went looking for it so that I might have a copy. I scanned it in, enhanced the colour, cleaned it up a bit and Presto! (another Ross line) I have my memory chip.

Ross loved to go fast, driving, skating, talking, laughing--it was all fast. He once played that song "I can't drive 55!" for us on one of our trips, and ever after the line became part of our shared memories.

In one of our family musicals, The Sound of Music, Ross played Max and Presto! Change-0! became his hallmark from that show. I guess it was the gusto he showed in the role. And, of course, in Pirates of Penzance, he was the pirate king. His strong, athletic fighting, his sure singing of the song "I am the pirate King" made him really a king and he is still so in my heart.

The Secret is Out!

Today's blog is about positive thinking and the fascination that topic holds for all of us. A week or so ago, I happened to tune in to Oprah where I discovered much talk and kerfuffle about The Secret (pictured above) by Rhonda Byrne. Now, hubby and I believe very strongly in positive thinking. We have read and listened to Zig Ziglar and others, even taking part in a thrilling Anthony Robbins workshop in Florida a few years ago that had us actually jumping in the aisles. There was a time when teaching school was pretty tough and we would drive to school listening to upbeat music, timing the start of our "You're Simply the Best" CD so that we would arrive at the school fully charged and ready to tackle the world. That was a real growth period and we have never lost our respect and need for thinking from a 'glass half full' viewpoint.

We have embraced this philosophy so much that there have been times when we purposely avoided certain people because of the negative vibes from them or because we had to work so hard to keep the conversation upbeat and exciting, getting little in return. Some people are just too much work. You know you've spent an evening with people, only to come home and say to your spouse you don't want to socialize that way again.

These people pull you down and I don't think we are meant to be unhappy. We are meant to soar. Why do we like Josh Groban's "And I will raise you up on angels' wings"? Why did I write "I Feel So Happy"? Why do we love to dance to "Jailhouse Rock"?--I know, that's an oldie! The answer is we love to be uplifted, to be happy, to share that joy with others.

The thing about "The Secret" that is thrilling me so far is the idea that my positive thinking is bringing positive things to me. And this is not just an idea but those experts quoted in the book maintain a scientific principle is involved: like attracts like. We all learned that in school, right? So today I am going to reaffirm my desires. I am going to read "The Secret". I am going to open the floodgates of my mind to welcome in those things I need to be happy. Look out, world, I'm ready to soar!

Port Dover in Winter

Since I was a little girl, I have known that Port Dover is a wonderful summer place. Perched on Lake Erie, it is known for its Friday the 13th motorcycle events when the whole main street shuts down to cars and visitors park outside to be bused to downtown and the many events. But Dover is known for much more, not the least of which is the huge housing boom going on right now. Imagine getting your own condo or single family mansion overlooking the harbour. Below you will see the 'new' harbour as it looks in winter.

In the parking lot next to the lake hubby and I found five fishing boats all hauled out of the lake for the winter. Looking at the lake you can see that it is frozen a good way out, but there is blue water in the distance.

This is our favorite spot to linger on a summer's day, sitting on the rocks, listening to the lapping water, loving the peace. Today I quickly jumped out of the car to get the shot freezing my fingers all the while. Those cameras can get cold! And this tree is right on the shore so you can see how much ice there is.



Back at the main beach I snapped this lighthouse shot. Usually we walk out to it but today the wind precluded that adventure.

Another famous place at Port Dover is Knechtel's, where you can get yummy perch--the lake favorite--and chips and eat in or out. Decor is not what you go here for. It's the perch!

Here you see the side of a monument built to remember fishermen lost on the lake. Hauling in that snow-covered net looked especially difficult today!

Another Dover favorite is the Sandpiper leather shop where they make great leather sandals and many other things. Those white birds you see are actually attached to the building, creating a light and pleasing atmosphere and this shop dominates the street along the main channel.

The last shot is of the main channel looking towards land. You can see a large lake boat tied up alongside the channel. On a less windy and cold day this is a lovely spot to walk, listening to the seagulls scream and watching the various craft chug or putt in or out to the lake beyond. It is a place of summer.

My earliest memory of Dover is as a wee child visiting my aunt's cottage and posing for a picture with some of my brothers in our pyjamas, our sunglasses, and gob hats! (Those are the white hats that sailors wear with the standup brim.) And just like people, Dover has had its ups and downs. Now seems to be an up time with the many new housing projects sprouting and selling fast. Indeed, for much of the year the village is bustling with activity. I do love to go there.

Beading, and WOW!

First of all I have to say that these pics do not tell the story, but maybe my 'thousand words' will. I had trouble getting the colour to show properly here. The colours in the chain are the actual ones but my pics seem to make the pendant--with 27 four mm. Swarovski crystals--look somewhat brownish. It is not. The Capri Blue crystals are set with Delica pink beads and the effect is so much better than these pics. Sorry, but you get the idea.

Here I have tried for a closeup and you can see the way the beads sit up in the pendant part.

Finally you can see the Sterling Silver heart clasp I used on this. It is a lovely light silver colour and looks awesome. With 27 Swarovskis and sterling silver the price for this one has to be higher but it is well worth it.

I really have to find a better way to get pictures of my pieces as putting them on the web is frustrating when you can't see how beautiful they are. Any ideas out there?

Learning With Classroom Puzzlers

My husband--author, teacher, and consultant Ron Cougler--and I have taught for many years in one way or another, but mostly high school age kids learning Business Subjects, English and French. As teachers we experienced a common problem finding materials to engage students while actually teaching them what they need to know. Ron got the idea to make up games using course material and related material and the idea paid off immediately. His Law students enjoyed the Classroom Puzzlers Law Studies Edition that was his first collection, and we haven't looked back since.

Currently we have many titles we are updating, along with our website which has been under construction for quite a while--why does the list of things needing doing always seem so much longer than the time available to do them? Anyhow, we are revamping and transfering the data to CD for shipment, rather than the cumbersome binders of 120 pages we used to ship. At this point we have the following titles revamped:

1. Junior English (pictured above)
2. Accounting
3. American History
4. Computer Studies
5. Marketing Studies
These are on disk and ready to ship.

The other titles we are updating and revamping are:

6. Senior English
7. Introduction to Business
8. Canadian History
9. Economics
10. Entrepreneurial Studies
11. American Law
12. Canadian Law

We have CD versions of the puzzlers which we ship and then the teachers can open the Adobe version and print what they need for their class. We have found that our classroom puzzlers make happy classes. Students like to learn when it is fun.

It's Snow Going Today!

Here is my favorite shot out my window but you can see it is much different than the summer ones. Here's another.


For the second shot I did a closeup of a tree in my neighbour's yard. The snow is not too deep on the ground yet but it is falling. If you enlarge the picture you'll see it. Apologies for their clothesline, which totally ruins our view, but it is environmentally excellent.

This picture is to the right a bit and shows up front our snow-covered flat roof which hubby shovels once in a while so the buildup is not too great. Last year he didn't have to do this at all and this is the first time this winter so the job is not too bad. Today is very cold, though, so you can see he hasn't finished. He is doing it in shifts.

The title, then, indicates how snow sometimes changes our plans. I had hoped to go to Toronto with a friend for a free noon hour concert at Roy Thompson Hall--Oriana is singing--but that is not to be. We'll be snuggling up by the fire and I'll be making a homemade soup or stew for lunch. Hubby says he is cooking me a Valentine's supper so that should be wonderful. I have offered to do a great dessert. So, it's snow going today, but that's good.

This is my, my, my beautiful Sunday....

Remember that old song? It's just one of those that come to mind every so often when I'm feeling joyful. Today we went with friends to two wineries near Sparta, Ontario and also had a late lunch in a quaint little nook in Sparta. The food was hearty and hit the spot on this chilly day. I had barley soup and shared a great chicken salad sandwich with hubby. The others had soup and a shepherd's pie. We were all happy with our fare.

The first winery--Quai du Vin--we visited was advertising a Valentine's adventure with crepes and chocolate fudge ice wine dip. We tried those as well as a few wine samples and came out with some yummy things, not to mention lots of new-to-us wine information. Our partners-on-tour were most interested in both the tasting and the information.

The second winery is smaller and specializes in fruit wines. In fact that is the only kind of wine they make, but the visit to Rush Creek Wines was a delight. In the pics below you will see what we bought at the two wineries: the chocolate fudge ice wine sauce, a dry peach fruit wine for hubby, a Niagara 2002 white, a black currant dessert wine (Cassis) for me, a raspberry wine vinegar and an asiago and artichoke dipping sauce for beautiful full-throated breads.

Lately we have discovered the wonderful taste of asiago cheese on breads so the last choice was a natural for us. Having tasted it there we are looking forward to serving it sometime soon. All in all the day was sunny with interesting and informative conversation, lots of laughing and fun foods for the palate. Beautiful!

Three Good Things Today

It seems some of my newly found blog people have already done this but I thought I would change the modus operandi slightly. I have added today since I really don't think I could pick only three good things over all!

1. Last June hubby and I were feted with a 40th anniversary party by our children. Guests were asked not to bring gifts but some did. This picture is of three children who are the recipients of bedkits (pictured in front of the kids) and the middle one was purchased in honour of our anniversary.



We thought this was a fantastic gift and were very happy to revisit our anniversary when last Sunday we received this happy photo showing the kit and three of the recipients with their donors' names on plaques in front of them. Thanks to Sleeping Children Around the World and thanks to Don and Shirley for this thoughtful and loving gift to us and to the child.

2. Having had two annoying tests over the last three months, today I learned that all is well in my innards. I was pretty sure it was but am relieved to have my opinion validated. Yes!

3. Hubby made a great pizza lunch for us and then we went for a drive to Woodstock to get his glasses' prescription filled. That is good in itself because his eyes haven't changed and are still healthy, but the beautiful sun-filled blue sky, dotted with safe, fluffy (not snow) clouds made a great example of pathetic fallacy. (Once an English teacher, always.....) For the uninitiated that is 'nature in tune with people's feelings', and because of 1. and 2. we were definitely feeling sunny.

Respecting Others' Traditions

The photo below comes from a visit I made with two friends to a monastery in Arizona a couple of years ago. Click on the link to see several pictures of the enclave.



We were quite taken with the beautiful, tall palm trees which lined the property, and wondered why such a simple-life-espousing group would spend the money to truck in these giant palms. The use of mosaics was prevalent throughout the property, from walls to floors to pictures, all radiating colour. Gold glittered on chandeliers and carved wooden furniture completed the luxury. The monastery was most interesting to visit.

Now the reason for my blogging about it today is that I still haven't come to terms with their treatment of women. Upon arrival all women were made to put on skirts over our jeans. There was to be no flesh showing and no pantlegs. Luckily the day was cool, as we had to have our arms totally covered. Scarves were handed out to the women and we were instructed to put them on so that no hair was showing and the monks actually inspected us to make sure we were properly covered. Check out the picture above for the effect of all these restrictions on us.

I liked seeing the monastery and learning about their lifestyle but I really resented being made to feel evil and dirty. It was as though the unclean ideas from history were being forced on us in the present. I am pretty tolerant of others' beliefs but I do expect the same back. I still wonder if I should have refused to go into their monastery as a sort of statement. Should we just accept or should we say "NO! If in honoring your traditions, I lose my own sense of self-worth, I will not do it." What do you think?

It's a Small World

Quite a lot of years ago we took part in a Lions' exchange one summer, accepting for two weeks in our home a 16-year-old Japanese girl named Tomoko Mori. Tomoko was a shy delight and we readily shared our lives with her for those interesting two weeks. I am not sure who learned more, her or us, but the experience was great.

There was the day we learned of my aunt's death and took the family plus Tomoko to Oakville for the funeral. Tomoko wondered if we didn't love Aunt Reta because we weren't weeping and wailing, and I assured her this was not the case. We just weren't really close. I've often wondered what grieving was like in Japan. Another day we went to a very special concert in the middle of the Grand River at Brantford. A lot of fill had been temporarily put in the river, enough to build on to the existing islands so that 50,000 people could bring lawn chairs and hear the Boston Pops Orchestra, directed by Arthur Fiedler one special Sunday afternoon. It was one of those life memory things--you know, the kind you'll never forget. And Tomoko was there with us.

For the first week or so Tomoko was very shy, always polite, enjoying a laugh, loving to play with our children, trying to speak English, but she remained very private. Eventually circumstances called for her to reach out. Take the day she was suntanning by our pool and got a sunburn. As I smoothed on suntan lotion I realized that brown-skinned people can burn just as we whities. Then came the day Tomoko quietly took me from the kitchen to the upstairs bathroom. Her frightened look told me something was wrong and when I got there I saw that the toilet was plugged. She was very shy about the fact that she had tried to flush feminine products down the toilet. Not to worry, I said, and we quickly solved the problem, earning her trust along the way.

Eventually our Japanese guest asked to cook for us. We said, of course, and she made a wonderful dish which, she explained, traditionally was served with a raw egg broken in the dish and the mixture put in with it. We said we'd love to try it and we did, earning points once again. Here is Tomoko eating her portion in a very relaxed pose:


All too soon it was time for us to take our guest to Port Dover and her next host home. She dressed formally in her beautiful Japanese costume and posed in front of the fireplace. We were enthralled.


I felt like a mother losing her child when we delivered Tomoko to her hosts. I knew they would look after her well, but I reciprocated her fierce hug as we said, "Good-bye." We never saw her again. We wrote for a year or two, she sent us gifts, I sent her books about the English poet Wordsworth as she was majoring in English at university, and then we never heard from her again. I don't know what happened and that fact saddens me. Maybe she'll see my blog and we'll connect again. It's a small world after all.

Memories light the corners of my mind......

Misty water-colored memories--so goes Streisand's wonderful song and so goes my day today. I've been working on my memoirs for my kids of the times from meeting my sweetie to somewhere when the kids were growing up--I haven't decided yet. I'll just give you one picture of my cuties as they used to be.




This is close to thirty years ago but they haven't changed too much. Our boy is still blonde and a happy person and our girl still smiles at life.

Writing is such a joy to me as a matter of course, but is especially so when I get to relive happy times and there are many of them. A few years ago I wrote the story of my life up to meeting my husband and self-published copies for my two children for Christmas that year. I'm not sure if their joy at receiving my work quite equalled mine at doing it but I hope in the future they will more appreciate it--when I'm gone!

And isn't that the hope of all writing? That one can leave a part of oneself to lessen the dreaded darkness of oblivion? I sure would like to be remembered, but mostly for good things. It really hurts me to think people might only remember the not-so-good things.

I guess the solution is to keep trying to do and say good things so that those memories of me will light my loved ones' minds after I'm gone.