Banana Leaf Thai Restaurant

Tonight my husband and I decided to try a little Thai restaurant, newly opened in Woodstock. We have fond remembrances of our first introduction to this cuisine in Vancouver where we tasted a number of dishes with favorable results, and we keep searching for the spectacular yet simple lettuce wraps from that night. No one ever seems to have them.

Our waitress at the Banana Leaf was polite yet formal, extremely helpful but not obsequious. She answered our questions easily and suggested that two dishes would be ample for us. She was right. We ordered the Cashew Chicken and the Vegetable Fried Rice. The rice was my favorite but the chicken ran a close second. Unbelievably, we ate every bit of it. No take home bags tonight.

The restaurant is located at the rejuvenating west end of Dundas St. in Woodstock, Ontario, and is so new they don't have a website, a fancy menu, or pictures for me to display. What they do have is a lovely calm ambiance, helpful staff, accessible street parking and a soothing and welcoming atmosphere. I checked out the large table at the back and am already planning to bring a group of friends here for an evening. I think it will be spectacular.

And maybe I can talk the restaurant into putting lettuce wraps on the menu, or at least making them just for us!

A week ago my husband and I took the trip to Stratford to meet my sister-in-law, step-niece and others at a popular diner called Madelyn's for their famous Sunday menu. For about $7.oo you get 2 eggs, sausage or bacon, the best home fries I've ever tasted, two pancakes, two pieces of toast, coffee and juice. We don't drink coffee so got large size juices. And it is all very good.

This is the place where we used to meet Ross so often and, although he has been gone for two and a half years, the waitress asked for him and was shocked to learn of his passing. I guess he made an impact.

Oh, and they have banana cream pie which is wonderful according to my husband. Here is the pie. I made him wait until I got my camera out, focused it, and snapped the pie.

I was challenged not to eat too much food as it was all so good, but I left one egg, most of the homefries, 3/4 of the toast all on my plate. I did eat all the meat and the two pancakes before I realized that I wasn't paying attention. I was just eating as I socialized with the others. And that's a bad thing.

From Madelyn's we went to Cozyn's (pronounced co-sign, like the trig term) which is a delightful garden gift shop. It was all decked out for Christmas and at least one of the beautiful trees called my name. "Pick me, Elaine. Pick me." But I didn't succumb, knowing I had my own lovely tree all finished and waiting at home. In fact, we walked out of there without buying anything, a real feat of self-restraint, I must say.

We left the others still pondering their purchases and drove home together. For at least one of us, however, one picture still remains the highlight of the day.

Kind of like kids' visions of sugar plums dancing in their dreams! BTW he ate every last bite, but refrained from licking the plate. We were out in public, after all!

Three Best Things

I just read Beth's TBT post and thought I'd grab the idea for myself. So cool that Chelsea is singing! Three weeks till I see her again.

Yesterday we went for our walk about 4:30, before the daylight disappeared, catching spots of wintry sunlight. Chilly it was and I felt my legs freeze for most of the walk but I was elated to be getting in some exercise. When we moved here last year the same walk took us almost 40 minutes. Yesterday we did it in 25! And I didn't even seem to be breathing heavy. My body is a lean(er), mean (no!) walking machine.

In the evening we were faced with the same old television quandary--nothing we wanted to watch. I sat and scrolled down the menu until I got to the 70's or 80's and finally Commander-in-Chief jumped out. We loved that show when it premiered a couple of years ago. Geena Davis is awesome as the President of the United States and Donald Sutherland (Canadian--whee!) is a fully drawn villain as Secretary of State. We had an interesting hour before bed. Amazingly we didn't remember this segment.

But I haven't told you about the morning's pleasure which lasted me the whole day. I weighed in at another .8 pounds less than the week before. And that was after three challenging events last weekend. I was very happy and today the euphoria, resolve and drive to reach my goal still lingers. There is nothing that feeds my soul more than succeeding at something I've set out to do. And losing this pesky twenty-five pounds again is a prime target just now. I'm over half weigh (ha ha ha) now so must keep on track.

Bits and Pieces

On Tuesday, I wrote about my dread of weighing in at Weight Watchers but I made myself go anyhow. Guess what? I was down a pound. One tiny step closer to my goal. Now this just goes to show that I need to trust myself and not be second guessing all the time. How many of us get caught doing the same thing?

We think that quiet and serious person over there who never cracks a smile has something wrong in her character or doesn't like us. She is so aloof that we wonder what she is thinking. And then when we finally get to know her we find she's really quite a nice person. Not aloof at all, just different. She is shy and takes a while to warm up to people. I have a saying that I read somewhere and adopted as my own. "I don't like that person. I have to get to know her better."

Someone sends us an email which reads pretty sharp and we think they are angry with us. Later we find out they just don't realize how cold email can be and they really didn't mean to convey angry thought at all. A few years ago a family member for months sent all his emails in caps until I told him that was shouting in email language. He never did that again. He just didn't know how we were perceiving his messages.

At this time of year, Christmas, there are many messages both phone and email, which go back and forth between my husband, my daughter and my son and I am not part of them. For years I felt a little left out until I finally realized they are planning something for me! Now I just smile and let them do their plotting, secure in the knowledge that they have something good in mind.

And now I must set about my day. First thing is to plan healthy, nutritious meals so that I won't be so worried come Tuesday and I will have left a tiny bit of myself somewhere else, not on the scales!

I Really Must Try Stopping It...

Sometimes I despair of ever being able to stick to my goals. Oh, I know that's a negative thought and I am mostly a positive person, but, really. I get frustrated with myself. I so want to be the person I am in my dreams. What do I mean?

Just now I am struggling in so many ways. Today is Weight Watchers and I have to weigh in once again and I know I haven't stuck to the plan--which is very good--for the last week. I want to, I try to, and then I just forget about the whole thing and scarf down half a bowl of honey-covered peanuts. Last night, thankfully, my husband took them away from me, as I had asked in one of our food conversations.

Eating isn't the only place where my will power turns into won't. I have been planning to finish a little sweater for my sweet granddaughter since the summer time. Well, actually since last March when her mother and I bought the buttons in Victoria's lovely little button shop. All I have to do is finish the last ribbed edge and sew on the buttons. The sweater is all put together except for that. Yet there it sits.

Every day I plan to do more editing of my manuscript in preparation for getting it published. I have wonderful friends who are reading and commenting and each time I receive their emails I think about how I'm falling behind on my end. And yet, I want to get this done so badly that I lie awake nights thinking about getting it published. I visualize myself getting the acceptance letter. I see my title finally decided and on the dust jacket. I feel the glow of pride in a job well done. But in the daytime I procrastinate.

One of my roomies from university, oh, so many years ago, had a sign on her wall that has stayed with me. Procrastination is my fault, it brings me endless sorrow. I really must try stopping it; in fact, I'll start tomorrow. I think of it and laugh, yet see myself.

And housework! Don't even get me started! I never met a broom I couldn't ignore, a layer of dust I couldn't avoid or a vacuum I couldn't use for a clothes horse.

The thing is, eventually I get everything done but not before hours, days, months of I shoulds. Well, it's time to give myself some positive self talk (see, I've read all the how-to stuff!) and do something. Anything. Just get up and get going. Well......maybe after I play another game of MahJong.

Doin' the Christmas Thing

Tis the season for getting excited about Christmas and this year we are really ready for it. So many new things to celebrate and old friends and family to celebrate with. Nature has hopped right on the bandwagon with a wintry wonderland out every window. I love it now but by March I know I'll be ready to taste spring.


Last week I made my carrot pudding, a family tradition from my childhood, and baked our usual dark Christmas cake. Of course we have already eaten a quarter of it. Just couldn't resist. The rest I have cooling and percolating out in the garage. This cake is better made ahead and left to age. Say, maybe that's the way it is with people. Now that I'm not so young, I tend to think so.

A few years ago I was smitten with the usual Christmas euphoria on the day I started my baking and a song just jumped into my mind. "Oh, I'm doin' the Christmas thing, doing the wonderful Christmas thing..." I ran to the piano, played it to get the key, and madly wrote the notes on some manuscript paper. As I worked on the Christmas cake, words just flowed and I made many trips to the piano. Amazingly the cake didn't suffer and the song grew. The next day I was singing at a church event and sang this joyful song even though I didn't have any of the parts done and had nothing written for my accompanist. I sang it a cappella and the ladies loved it. I was transported back to my wonderful childhood. Hopefully it will evoke similar memories for you.

Maybe I'll try to figure out how to record it so you can all listen to it online. Meanwhile enjoy the words, print it out and play/sing it, whatever you like. (Just remember it's mine.)

Snowy November

This is a very unusual November. Usually we don't get snow of any account here in Ontario until December and often not much until January. I can remember many a year hoping for a white Christmas and not getting it. But the last couple of years have been snowy. So much for the planet warming up!

On Friday snow was falling all around. You can see the flakes if you look closely above our forlorn picnic table which hadn't quite made it inside with the rest of the summer furniture.

My teddy bear on the front door is drooping sadly from last year's snow. Time to do something to spruce him up!

Across the street the shelter for the mailboxes sits, empty and useless, while beside it the mailboxes still wait to be moved. Took months to get the shelter built, guess it'll be spring before we actually get to use it.

And on the back deck our useless barbecue waits for better times. (i.e. warmer) We never did get it running this summer. I think it is on its way to the dump.

But inside, cosy and cuddly warm, I wrap presents and put them under the tree, anxious to be ready for our first Christmas celebration on the first Sunday in December. Oh, I'm doin' the Christmas thing.

My Latest Read

Although I am a devoted and diligent reader, I rarely write about my books here. Today is an exception. While I have read most of Colleen McCullough's works--not all, regrettably--the latest was perhaps the most fun. The Independence of Miss Mary Bennett brought back the pleasures of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen's triumphs known to so many of us.

In her book McCullough takes us twenty years after the courtship of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy to a less-than-perfect domestic scene. The Darcy's are struggling with their relationship, Jane has had far too many pregnancies for her health, and Miss Mary Bennet is suddenly freed of her burden after caring for her mother all these years.

The story is a good length--467 pages--and I was delighted the whole time. Talk about an interesting mix! McCullough's writing and the Bennet sisters' interesting personalities, all wrapped up in the social mores of the times. This was a lot of fun, not the best read I've ever had, but great fun. Good for you, Colleen McCullough!
Oh, and I got it at Costco for a fraction of the price listed on the cover. :-)

Today, A Little Chuckle

Remember last year's Christmas tree? This year I was adamant that we would have a perfect REPLICA of a Christmas tree, rather than the real thing. You can see why. And you may even remember last year's sad post.

I have, therefore, decided to show you the sequel. First I'll show you a close up of the beautiful branches which look for all the world like fresh ones. Also, notice the brand spanking new tree skirt, first one I've ever bought. (Who says we get staid as we get older?)

And here's the tree itself all gorgeous and wonderful.

So wonderful I've shown a different angle. Ah, Christmas. Never mind that it is way too early.

And, finally, here is one of the tables from our Jewelry Show and Sale last Saturday. Of course you had to be here to see how these all looked up close.

And the connection here? I wanted to do some Christmas decorating for the Jewelry Show and Sale so put up my tree on November 2, a personal record for getting it up early. The strange thing is, we've really been enjoying it. Next week I'll probably put up the rest of the decorations so that we can smile happily until we go to Victoria for our first Christmas with our granddaughter. All sounds so good. Have to go make my list for Christmas cake and carrot pudding ingredients!

A Pittance of Time

One of my oldest friends sent me this link and I want to share it with the world since tomorrow is Remembrance Day. Turn on your sound.




Yesterday was the yearly church Remembrance Day Service in our new church and I can only remember one other time being so moved by Remembrance Day. I was in high school, with 1100 other students, dressed in my cadet uniform, lining the pristine halls as we faced the Remembrance plaques and the flags which always took centre position outside the main office. We stood absolutely silent and listened to the scriptures, the prayers, the trumpet sounds and the words of remembrance. I thought of my uncle Frank, and in my heart I finally realized what he had relinquished with his life when he was blown out of that fox hole in Italy before I was born.

And I felt the tears start.

Yesterday those tears came again as I took part in the music at church. The hymns have never seemed so meaningful. Our anthem was inspiring to sing. The organist's offertory was a medley of well chosen message songs, which he played by ear. Everyone in the sanctuary wore red, some more, some less, but all proudly displayed the poppy. My young nephew and another teenager read John McCrae's In Flanders Fields. And the sermon was a video which told of the 180 kilometers from Trenton Air Force Base to Toronto where our soldiers who have fallen in Afghanistan take their final journey--with their families--along Highway 401, Canada's Highway of Heroes(For those who don't know, this is the main highway which threads across Ontario, this small section of which has been named the Highway of Heroes.) In Toronto, the soldiers' bodies are autopsied and then released to their waiting families.

This video told of the fifty overpasses along that stretch of highway, each one loaded with Canadians and Canadian flags paying tribute to the soldiers. We saw fire trucks, stopped on the bridges above with firemen standing on top, saluting the sad parage below. We saw single persons standing still and alone in honour of their fallen countrymen and women. We saw police cars parked at the side of 401, their officers standing alongside at attention.

And all of this takes a long time. It is over 180 kilometers to reach Toronto. The nation's traffic stops and waits, and pays tribute to Canada's heroes every time the bodies return home. We, as a nation, have now made the transition from being the post war peacekeepers of the world to warriors once again winning and losing on the world's battlefields. And whether we agree or disagree with Canada's role in Afghanistan, we stop and we pay tribute to those who have stepped up to help the rest of the world.

Tomorrow, take a pittance of time and remember.

Nature's Photo Shop

Today I am tired of looking at my last post as it comes up to my homepage, so I have decided to post some pictures from last July, just to have something nice to look at. The first four are from a park in Cambridge where my husband and I had a lovely picnic last summer.

We have lots of memories of this park from our younger days and going there was fun, except for the goose dirt all over the riverside. We had a tough time finding a place to spread our food.

I like tree trunks and taking pictures from different angles. The various barks are so interesting!

And this picture reminds me of two surprising things about our new condo: one is the water outlet is about 8 inches above the ground, just waiting for someone to trip over it and the other is the yellow ooze which appeared one morning. It is the consistency of scrambled eggs, has no odor, and grew to be about the size of a luncheon plate. After asking many people about it we still are no closer to learning what it is. This phenomenon happened twice but we haven't seen it since. Any ideas?

I guess nature has the bad with the good sometimes.

And The Little People Lost Again

Well, it's happened. The day so many people hoped and prayed would never come, has. On Tuesday night the Thames Valley Board voted to close the Norwich District High School, 9-3. This community has fought for six years to keep their school open, having rallies, bake sales--fundraisers of all types, putting up signs, taking out ads, renting halls for meetings, making submissions to the various committees of the Board. In short, they have worked tirelessly for the survival of their community school.

And in the end it was all for nought. Last Tuesday night the two representatives from Norwich Township stunned their constituents by moving and seconding the motion to close the school. I can only think that some posturing and plotting took place behind closed doors for them to betray those who had elected them. To me it seems they could have voted against the motion just to keep the peace. It would still have passed. And I'm sure they knew that before the vote was ever taken.

Now those of you who don't know the history or the record of this school probably wonder what all the fuss is about. You see, it is not just the small schools of Ontario that are being systematically closed, the students swallowed up by monolithic city schools. A way of life is being threatened. The very ability of parents to nurture their kids in their own setting is disappearing. These students know all the people in their community. Many of them currently take after-school jobs in the Norwich area. Others work in local businesses for school credits, gaining insight into the adult world around them. This link will be severed. And what of the businesses where these students spend their dollars at lunch and after school? They will be hurt, dependent as they are on the student market. I would not be surprised to see more than one forced to close.

Most importantly, the students will lose their community identity as they are bused to the various surrounding city schools and become small fish in big ponds. They won't even be all together in one other school. Their uniqueness will erode.

As a teenager I experienced this myself, riding an hour each way on the bus to Woodstock Collegiate. (Take about wasting time!) Don't get me wrong. I liked my school and am proud to have gone there, but I remember the outcast feeling we kids from the 'country' were made to feel. Being from the farm was not considered good. Never mind that my father was very successful both in farming and in local politics. We were still 'outsiders'. Less, in some way, than the city kids.

On the positive side, these students will have more course choices, particularly the ones who shy away from the maths and sciences. They will be able to take senior level Music and Art, Sociology-type courses--those courses for the more artsy types. And the math/science geeks will have more choice for their specialties. I only hope that Norwich Township's loss will in some way be mitigated by a broader education for our young people.

Shopping With My Husband

Sometimes I think we women are just plain nuts.

When we were on holiday a couple of weeks ago in Utah my husband, daughter and I hit the outlet mall armed with coupons and deals. None of us really needed too much so we shopped carefully, I think. Beth loaded up on the next sizes of kiddie clothes for Chelsea. I picked up a couple of grand baby outfits for our two (well, almost two,) grandchildren, and Ron got sweaters.

Most of the stores had deals and we took advantage. When Ron and I went into the Izod store for his sweaters, I took a look at the women's side. They had exactly the same sweater for ladies that Ron bought in quadruple. Great, I thought, and checked the price. Can you believe that the identical sweater in smaller sizes was ten dollars more? I was angry. Tempted no more, I dropped the lovely mauve piece and stomped out.

Why does this happen? Men's clothes are bigger, use more fabric/yarn, yet they are cheaper. A good bargain on a shirt for a man is $10-$20, and this is beautiful packaged goods, the regular price. A similar blouse for a woman is $40-$50, no packaging, just hanging on the rack. Now I don't really want the packaging but I'm trying to see why smaller clothes cost so much more. Could it be that women will pay anything to get that piece while most men really don't care? Do the stores see us coming?

And this morning I picked up the plastic tube of makeup I've been avoiding using because I don't like it that well. I read the small print on the front: "illuminating anti-fatigue foundation". What? It's going to keep me from being tired? It's going to put a halo effect on my face? Wow, this is really amazing stuff. I tried it once more and looked in the mirror at my skin. Was it "replumped"? Was it "radiant", with a "smooth finish"? Well, not so much. It was the same stuff that's been buffeted for sixty-plus years. A little tinted, maybe, with the brown spots muted, but really, it just didn't look replumped at all.

Of course, most of us don't like that idea of being replumped so maybe I should be happy and just head out to my weekly Weight Watchers meeting. On my way I'll think about the difference between men's clothes and women's. Could it be that things are just cheaper on Mars?

I figured it out!

After about 15 minutes of testing and trying, forgetting and remembering, searching and just plain screwing around, I figured out how to put my MS Publisher file into my blog. And here it is. Blow it up to read the fine print about the event my friend and I are having November 8th. Should be great fun.

Christmas Earrings

Trying to get good pictures of my jewelry is a constant frustration but these are not too bad. Here is a pair of Christmas tree earrings made with special Swarovski marguerite crystals in three sizes and separated with various spacers. They are so cute!

This pair is in Swarovski clear crystal with a red bicone accent. (The hands are mine.)

I took a picture of a group of earrings for the sale on November 8th. Note the pretty snowmen and the gold and green baubles.

The lime green earrings I made one day to match an outfit I was wearing that night. So cool to be able to do that. Of course, I have boxes of beads to choose from at a moment's notice; hence, the jewelry sale and the LOW prices. It's time to make room for my new imaginings.

Creations for Christmas

Last night I finished off three pieces of jewelry which have been waiting for clasps, etc. The pendant is a large rivoli studded with 4 mm. crystals and size 11 sead beads, which I repeated for the chain. I love it and went to my closet to see what matches. When I make beautiful things I don't mind if they don't sell at my sales.

The middle bracelet is a right angle weave pattern with browns and teal blues and matching sead beads. The clasp is copper which is so popular these days.

For the bottom bracelet I chose mauve crystals with brown Swarovski bicones. Wow! It turned out great. So unusual. Original, even.

Have to go and do some more beading!

Christmas Creeps In

Well, it's started. Families are planning just what shape the celebrations will take this year, some stores have put up dual displays of Hallowe'en/Thanksgiving orange along with Christmas reds and greens and my friend and I are having our Christmas Jewelry Open House and Sale. I love this time of year. So much promise, so much excitement, so much love. People take on a softer side, as they think more of others than themselves and smiles shine more readily.

I know, October is pretty early to be thinking of this but maybe my blog will be prophetic for some, adding to the global happiness. We could sure use it. Thinking of good things takes our minds away from the price of gas, the soldiers being killed in Afghanistan, the fact that my nephew is headed over there in March, the health issues many I know face...that list is endless. Best to have happy things to think on.

Beading is always a joy to me, the only down side being that I end up with way too much lovely jewelry. When my large drawer starts overflowing with beauteous baubles I know it's time to sell some. Well, a lot, actually. Last year I had a grand time inviting friends and family to my sale at rock bottom prices. This year my friend and I are pooling resources and having the sale here. (If any of you are close and want a flyer, I will email it to you upon request.) The date is November 8, from 1:00 till 4:30 at my home.

Following are some pictures of things we have for sale:

Next post I will put in pictures of some Christmas earrings, so cute you just want six pairs. In fact, I don't know how I can bear to sell them!

A Week In Utah

My husband and I have just returned from a lovely week in Utah where daughter Beth, (Shades of Bliss) and granddaughter Chelsea joined us for some fun and sun. The first couple of days there was snow, surprising both us and the flowers outside one of the Mormon buildings across from the famed Tabernacle in Salt Lake City.

Inside the Tabernacle we heard the Sunday morning radio broadcast, the Wednesday morning organ recital and the Thursday evening choir practice. Here is the wonderful organ area on Sunday morning:

The area behind the organ changes with the music throughout the performance. I particularly liked the blue below.
They have a full orchestra seated in front of the choir and the director stands way out in front. At the practice he was miked and we could hear all of his directions to the choir and the orchestra. Wonderful. Joining this choir takes quite a lot of work but, my, it would be awesome to sing with such a group.
We also took a trip out to Great Salt Lake, although it was a little cool for trying out the swimming in salt water as my brother-in-law suggested. I dipped my hand in, smelled, tasted but discerned nothing special until the water dried on my hand. Then my skin was salty.

Somewhere along the way, my husband trekked into Salt Lake City on his own for a chance to do some ancestry digging using the LDS resources. He found that there are over 4000 places around the world where people can tap into the historical data stored by the Mormons, one of them quite near us. Ah, the value of computers to shrink the world.

Below a favorite picture of Great Salt Lake again:

We had a wonderful time with our girls. Chelsea is becoming more a person all the time. At 7 1/2 months she is a going concern, full of smiles and belly laughs. She kept us quite entertained. Beth was kept hopping as Chelsea popped two teeth while with us, ahead of the game with that, too. I have posted pictures on the web but keep them only for family as I am not comfortable putting our baby out there for the world. That protective instinct, I guess.

Now we wait a couple of months to visit Chelsea for her first Christmas. What a present!

Family Frolics

Sunday was our first ever Family Reunion, replacing our gigantic Christmas get-together where we rented a hall and had a dinner catered for over 80 people. Time for a new twist. We were all invited to my sister's farm where she and her husband raise Belgian horses and garden up a storm. The cool day was lovely although once the sun went down the group around the fire got larger and larger. Here the young and not-so-young are thrashing about picking up wrapped candy. My two remaining aunts, both in their eighties, strike a fetching pose for the photographer. Since this picnic is replacing our Christmas party, Aunt Helen wore her Christmas sweater. So much fun, she is!

Here Dan discovers the joy of holding his cousin's baby girl. He actually put her to sleep!
Steve, Jacquie and Hugo share a laugh at me trying to get a candid shot of them.

Brian and Adam try to solve the problems of the world, while in the background the picturesque barn and white fences sheltering Belgian horses provide the perfect setting.
Against the barn the last flowers of summer fight bravely on.

Steve hitched up the horses and took people on rides for a couple of hours, a novelty for young and old.
And here Linda poses with them all for the picture. She is happiest when basking in her farm's delights, especially when showing it to visitors. And rightly so.
My husband and I posed for a picture in the photo spot set up especially for the purpose. Throughout the day, many took advantage of it.
Here my nephew, Nathan, and his nephew, James, posed for me.
I stayed from two o'clock till almost 9 that night and still didn't get to have long conversations with everyone who attended but it was a wonderful day. Monday I was still glowing as I uploaded my photos to my Kodak Gallery and shared them with family. These are the best moments in time.

The Pain in Politics

I just happened to catch up with the Yarn Harlot's blog and found a stinging rebuke of Stephen Harper knitted into the fabric of her collection. Awesome. Someone who was astounded about Harper's suggestion to cut funding to the arts and who took the time to castigate the man's politics.

Too often we make a passing comment about the frustrating nonsense which eats up politics and then go on with our lives. I think the politicians count on that. It's a free country, we've been told our whole lives, and we can take part or opt to let others shape our world. Too often we do the latter.

For years I was an ardent reader, thinker, debater of the nation's business, yea, even the business of the nation to the south of us, but then I got tired. I am a person who sees a problem and immediately thinks of how to solve it. Guess that's some of the teacher genes coming in. Anyhow somewhere along the way I came to the sad conclusion that I can't change everything (The Serenity Prayer) and my life is happier when I let most of the world go on its way without my comment. I am ashamed even as I write that, but it is true. And for my time remaining on earth I have chosen to be happy in my small world rather than beating my head against the mountain of things I cannot change in the bigger world.

Kudos to those like David Suzuki or Al Gore or Mother Teresa or many other lesser knowns who have made names for themselves because of their selfless concern for a world wider than their own sphere. And thanks to those who run politically. We do need them, thankless job though politics is, and some even reward our trust.

And thanks to the Yarn Harlot, whose small voice packs a big wallop of sense. Hopefully Stephen Harper will read her and listen.

Once a teacher, always...

This afternoon I spend a wonderful two hours teaching two lovely ladies about digital cameras, computers and merging the two. We had a great time and they put up with my less than perfect knowledge, ending with them being more comfortable with their cameras, downloading photo managing software (Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Free Edition 3.2), uploading photos to share on the web and just getting up and going with their cameras. Fun.

If you are looking for an easy piece of photo software try going on the Photoshop website for a free download as mentioned above. You can put in many, many pictures from your camera or those already on your computer. The photo managing abilities are clear and simple. The photo enhancing capabilities are few but easy to use and to back out of if you don't like the changes. You will not find the manipulating abilities extensive but for a few enhancements, it is just fine.

I like the Kodak Gallery for uploading pictures to the web. Saves emailing pics and clogging up some friends' email accounts. (Those with dial-up particularly.) You can choose to share with the world or just with friends and family.

So maybe you'd like to get out there and upgrade your photo/computer skills. And don't forget the videos you can take of your grandkids for emailing to the world!

Mind Moments

This title may confuse some but my creative outlets are for my mind. Something sweet and lovely happens inside my head when I see, create and behold beautiful things. Here is a second bracelet completed in green tones with purple accents. I still like the blue one better but this is very close to the first one which I sold. How exciting that was! I showed it to a group of acquaintances and made an immediate sale. A few weeks later I met Katie in the market and she was wearing her bracelet. I had a nostalgic visit with my handiwork.

Also in this picture are earrings in progress. One is finished and the other is waiting for the silver earring wire to be attached. Tonight I'll do it.

She was short, plump, with blonded hair, a few spots telling her age, and laugh lines, her ready smile. Her eyes sparkled with every new idea and softened with love as she thought of her new granddaughter and expected grandson. Whenever she mentioned “her” Ron of 42 years marriage her voice warmed and her smile widened. On the surface she was a happy woman.

But underneath the loving-life persona lurked questions and doubt. Was there not more to life? She understood the lyric, “Is that all there is?” and continually looked for new fulfillment. She swam, walked, biked for a healthy heart. She read, read, and read some more for her mind. Ideas excited her, especially those which came unbidden as she thought about what she was reading. And then she expanded to writing.

Her first book was for her husband and two grown children, the self-published account of her childhood, growing up in a loving family of thirteen children on a farm in Oxford County. She inserted pictures, each one a song of her childhood. Her children were entranced.

Then she wrote a similar book of her love affair with her husband and their joy in raising their boy and girl. Again pictures prompted memories and she laughed and cried as she composed at the computer. Another popular self-published volume.

Her thirty-something son challenged her to write: “Mom, you’re sixty years old, in perfect health, with lots of writing skills. If you don’t write that novel now, when will you?” And so she started. And she wrote. She wrote of history, and love, of war and death, of babies and heartache. She wrote a novel of over 100,000 words.

Now she is stuck in a rewrite funk, trying to decide how best to bring this baby to its birth day. And she has put it aside for a few weeks while her life smooths out again and she regains the strength and, yes, the fortitude to persist.

And so I am here.

NOTE: The above is the bio I have written for my writing piece for our inaugural writers' group meeting tomorrow. Hope they like it.

Beadergirl is Back

Today I am inspired to write on my blog again. Why? Look at the bracelet I just completed this afternoon!

Here are a few things from the last few weeks, a beaded chain necklace, one with a Swarovski pendant, a dragonfly focal point, another Swarovski pendant necklace and a hemalyke choker. The possibilities are endless.

I got the idea to try some other medallions for neck jewelry using all Swarovski crystals. They are stunning. I think I'll use the chain stitch from the pic above to finish them off.

I also have fallen in love with the butterfly bracelets, a course I took last year. Here I've made them in black, blue, pink and beige, all fabulous.

Of course you noticed the other bracelets in the two pics. It is such fun to use memory wire and use up leftover beads, letting my imagination go wild. My friend taught me the bottom stitch in pink and black. It is somewhat heavy and I think I'll have to redo the clasp as I'm not happy with it yet.

All of these will be on sale along with hundreds more at our Christmas Open House sale on November 8. Should be fun!