Spiderman Halloween Preview

Our recent trip to Victoria meant taking a few pictures.  Here are the highlights.  This lovely red bush bordered the walking trail we took every day to pick up the Times-Colonist for Ron.  Don't think we have these orange-red-flowered bushes in Ontario.

Chelsea was excited to see the fields of pumpkins growing so we stopped the car and I caught Beth.  Was she thinking of stealing one?  Later we bought Chelsea's choices: a 7-inch diameter, a 4-inch diameter and a small gourd.  What can I say?  She loves small things.

Beautiful fall flowers adorned this fence line across the road from the pumpkins.

I've saved the best for the last--Spiderman!  Well, maybe Spidergirl.  Chelsea's dad came home with this awesome Halloween costume  one day.  Since we wouldn't see her on the actual day, Chelsea modeled for us.  Here she is climbing up the wall.  I think Grandpa would have liked if she had used her web-throwing capabilities and climbed up that way.  Too cute!

What is your favorite Halloween costume?  When did you wear it?

Down By The Bay in Huntsville

Well, actually it's not a bay but there were boats going up and down the channel as we sat outside having our dinner. Aside from the yellow jackets we were battling a couple of times, the ambiance was perfect. I took a couple of iPhone pictures. My unfamiliarity with my phone is hardly noticeable at all. Lovely shot of Ron, though.

We're here for his conference and I'm tagging along, using the time to write, revise, blog, tweet, FB, link in, go for walks and watch the leaves turn these lovely fall days.  Here is the lovely writing spot I have here.  Hard not to be inspired.

 And the leaves are turning early this year, the lady who just cleaned my room told me.  Lucky for us!

From here we're off to visit our daughter's family and that means our granddaughter, too.  Life is sweet, isn't it?

Great Lakes Helicopter and Me!

Okay so we finally used our coupons to go to Great Lakes Helicopter near Breslau last Friday evening.  I insisted on sitting beside the pilot and couldn't get the smile off my face the whole trip.  That's about 15 minutes of non-stop flying and smiling.  Ron and Donna liked it, too, but I think I get the prize for being over-the-top excited.  Here are some of the pictures.

 Our pilot, Alain Blais, looks like he is wondering if he should actually take this crazy trio up.
  Luckily, he did.  Here I am waiting to go.

 Ron was in the rear seat with Donna.

 She wasn't sure about this but did just fine and said she really enjoyed it.  Of course that was after we were safely back on terra firma!

 Who knew there was a new road and bridge going in not far from the Kitchener airport?  Now I know why the police can spot those nasty crops by doing their flyovers.

 If I knew what these dials all meant I might write about it.  I was just glad Alain was so proficient.

 The golf clubs were awesome from above.  Maybe this is Whistlebear?

 And we got many beautiful views of the Grand River, aptly named.  I was also surprised by how many beautiful trees we have.  You just don't see them from the ground.

After the ride we did dinner at Wildcraft, an excellent but pricey restaurant on King St. N. in Waterloo.  Great outing!

Five Favorite Pictures from Last Week

Okay, this first picture is shameless and gratuitous--I took it because it was lovely but can't remember where I was.  Description?  I have none. Pretty, though, isn't it?

Now this one is under the big tent at Singing Brook Farm on the final day of a week long camp.  The children present to their parents and other hangers-on, like me.  It is always a lot of fun.

This is an alpaca having a holiday at Singing Brook Farm during the summer camp season.  She is pretty and pretty friendly.  My grandson, Ben, loved feeding her fresh grass which he ripped out of the ground around her pen.

The alpaca's hair is very soft.  No wonder yarn is made from cuttings.

This little lady stands about three feet tall and keeps moving constantly.  I had quite a time getting any good photos!

Next summer the camp at Singing Brook Farm will be moving as Linda and Steve have sold their farm.  I look forward to the new venue although I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for this lovely 50 acres.  Bonne chance, Tempo!

Ontario is Cool Again

I  know, I know.  Talking about the weather is boring.  But Ontario's July was just too hot and August started out the same.  Here is a trio of pictures I'm delighted to display today as my windows are OPEN and the temperature is 22.5 deg. Celsius.  Yay!
First, my shoes in front of the OPEN door with the screen letting in lovely cool bits of breeze.  I walked at the soccer club track today but also walked home without passing out from heat exposure.

And the deck door is OPEN, too, for a cross breeze.

 You can see the flowers and shrubs outside but the amazing thing is the twisted OPEN window.

Having air conditioning is absolutely necessary sometimes when the summer is hot.  And this one has been the hottest in some time.  The downside of central air is you start to feel like a caterpillar locked up in the pupa stage, longing to burst forth.  And today we can!

Strawberry Season's Bounty

 

 To be absolutely spot on the mark, I should have a picture of my fresh strawberry shortcake or my strawberry/spinach salad here under this title.  As it is, I have pretty jars of strawberry jam before it went into the freezer, and strawberry sauce, my own recipe.  It gets frozen as well.

This year in my part of Ontario, strawberries were amazing; in fact, as Sue at Red Barn Berries said, it's the best year ever.  And even though I don't usually freeze berries anymore, my husband and I did hull a few for these goodies.  Couldn't resist.  The jar we put in the frig to use is almost gone but the others are waiting safely in the freezer for that cold day this winter when we'll feel like a taste of summer.

I'm not sure when the best feeling of accomplishment strikes, when I see the freshly jarred berries glowing red on my counter or when I go to my freezer and pull out the fruits of my labours to enjoy while winter's winds whistle at the keyholes.  

My daughter carries on the tradition.  She made strawberry-fig jam with a friend, teaching yet another convert the benefits to both tummy and personal well-being of preserving summer's succulent treats.  And that's a good thing.  Martha Stewart would be proud.

Wild Beauties of Ontario--Weeds

Near my home is a bit of land waiting to be developed, but while it's waiting colourful flowers fill up the space.  Here is a self-seeded poplar tree, flanked by that wonderful shade of blue cornflowers.

I saw these a few days ago but didn't have my camera.  The next time I went by there was no blue in sight.  I thought I had missed them.  Then I realized that the early bird gets, not the worm, the flowers!

This weed is so pretty there is even a crystal pattern, very popular when I was getting married, called cornflower.  Of course the crystal misses the heavenly colour.

Vibrant tiger lilies always greet us beside every country road but this year they are more plentiful and a deeper colour.  I think our wet spring really served them well.  Now, we could stand some rain!  (Notice the rising corn behind the lilies.)

And further along my picture-taking route I found these beauties:  tiger lilies, something purple and something taller that is violet.  I could look up the names but to me they don't matter.  The beauty does.

Highway 401 has been planted with great stretches of crown vetch.  Here I found some along a country road.  It is so luxuriant I just want to lie down and let it cradle me.  As long as there are no bees, that is.

Little compact patches of this vibrant yellow clumping flower grow sparingly along the roads.  Of course this one was on a busy highway so I had to fight traffic to get these shots.  Worth it, though.

And here I've pulled back to show the distance shot.  Like a shot in the arm these bits of sunshine are.

After I got my pictures I headed for the garage to book another appointment to fix the thing we paid $500 to fix two weeks ago.  A sad way to end my beauty tour.

The Forty-Five!

Yesterday was our forty-fifth wedding anniversary and we survived.  All the little age references, the relationship jokes, the snide chuckles all blew away in the instant when we remembered, just we two, our lovely life together.

With sister, Linda, and her hubby, whose day was the day before, we took off for a mini holiday.  And we visited yet another sister starring in 2 Across in Port Colborne's Showboat Theatre.

Check out my review of Donna's current show and find out why she is in such demand as an actor this year.  Lovely time away seeing two sisters and having fun.

It's Time to Call it a Day

We're packing up and putting in the final minutes before we head for the airport. We stayed in a lovely, beautifully appointed B & B last night in Deer Lake, Newfoundland.


Even the lampshades were decorated! And the extra blanket in the closet was a colour coordinated quilt so that when we put on an extra blanket in the dark of night, it still fit the decorating scheme.



The bathroom was exquisite with a whirlpool tub over which hung this filmy flowered curtain. And not too many flowers. Just enough to enrich the decor.


Brass coloured fixtures, often too much in other schemes, were a perfect contrast to the dark blue walls. Made me think of our living room in our previous house. And this place, too, was offset with clean white woodwork.


Notice the ledge effect over the doors. This shelf was big enough to put small decorations on, but there were none. Perhaps that would have been too much.

I took these pictures with my iPad2 so that I could put them in this post but when I get home I'll have a few hundred to draw on for more blog entries. Farewell, Newfoundland!

Elaine Cougler

Winding Down

This has been an interesting trip to Newfoundland with every day some new piece of information or a delightful scene. The mountains of Gros Morne and the highway to and from L'Anse aux Meadows have afforded thrilling sights. We even saw a couple of icebergs as we drove towards L'Anse aux Meadows.

Here is a picture taken on my iPad2 this morning as I sit in my hotel room catching up on email, my LinkedIn writing group and my blogs. Actually there are three with the tide out, each showing a different angle of the shallow bay for which the water and the hotel are named. The place is Cow Head!













I like the last one best.

Elaine Cougler

And The Beat Goes *%$# On and *&^%# On

Almost landed in St. John's. Almost, that is. We were down to 5500 ft. Figured we were good to land. But the plane's nose started to go up again and the speed numbers on my screen accelerated at a great rate. We were climbing.

The ceiling, they told us, was about a hundred feet, not enough to land. We were heading for Deer Lake on the other side of the island.

Nice, there. Almost sunny.

Sat on the ground for an hour.

Sat and sat. Stood for awhile. And sat some more. Lots of my parts were complaining.

Took off for St. John's once more. Had yet another water and cookie. Fastened seat belts for landing. And went down to 2000 feet, then climbed again. Circled at 3000 feet for more time.

Going down. Bumpy. Dark grey clouds. Land, trees---I think...we're.....YES. We're clapping. Down!

Taking Pics in NFLD

Today we did the Bonavista peninsula and I got to try out my iPad2's picture taking capabilities. So there I was in bright sunlight looking at this picture postcard scene on Bonavista's waterfront right after touring a Parks Canada National Heritage site. In the lovely seaside building all fixed up in the recent past, we got the table by the window as we're traveling before the big tourist push. Outside, lovely rich blue buildings beckoned on a promontory across the way and seagulls dipped and swirled above the near waters of the cove. It was wonderful and I took a bunch of pictures which I am sure will be very good.

Then I got an idea. Why not get my iPad2 out of the car and get a pic that would be easy to put in my blog tonight. Sounded so easy. My imaginative brain churning away. Here are the pictures:










I particularly hate the last one with the spectacular view of the car dash. And what about the large expanse of stony foreground with hardly any of the picturesque buildings in the background? Not nearly as beautiful as what I have for you after I get home. Sorry.

The problem was I could not see what I was shooting. The screen was 98% black in the sunlight. So much for that experiment. Kind of like taking your laptop outside and trying to see the screen.

Coming soon to a blog near you? Elaine's awesome holiday pictures of Newfoundland.

I'll Never Travel Again

So here I am on the plane waiting for the boarding process to finish. My seat belt is on, I've got my water bottle---paid $4 for it!---and my husband is well into his sudoku. We're heading for St. John's and screech. Not the sound, the drink. Well, I probably won't be having that. Isn't it the one with the worm in it? Or is that tequila?




Last night was a bit of an annoyance. We got to our hotel and found we weren't registered. Seems we got our online reservations for one about 10 minutes away and, no, that hotel wouldn't cancel us. We had to shlep all our stuff back into the car and decamp.

The second hotel was a disappointment. Only one bed and the bathroom smelled that distinct odor of too many drunks relieving themselves in the stairwell of a parking garage. Fun. Well we made the best of it and at 5 this morning woke to begin the airport trek. And here we are.

Best part of the day so far? It's fog and drizzle in St. John's.




Looks like somewhere there is sun. Ah, the day brightens.


And I leave you with one thought. Maybe I will travel again.



(Oh, and I love my iPad.)

Descriptive Modes: Words or Pictures

Okay, so I'm bored. And I have my iPad2. I tried to get a good shot of my window view, but this is the best.

Ah. Perfect time for description. There is a moving panorama outside the little ovoid square they call a window. A solid slice of beige, fringed with white froth lies atop a patch of blue. It gives me hope this early morning. Hope that the day will get better as we fly from rainy Toronto to St. John's ( where it's rumored to be foggy, as well.)

Back to the picture. It's changed!



What is that colour? Blue? Azure? Indigo? Lovely. And bits of cloudy fluff float effortlessly above a filtered earth.

Now we're out of the clouds. Little rectangles jigsaw below in brown, beige, and black patches. As the sun seeks its zenith, blacks turn green and forests border fields of winter wheat and early corn.




Little boxes float into view. Are they made of ticky tacky? From up here they certainly all look the same. I see our history down there with the rectangles pointing to the St. Lawrence. The seigneurial system divided the land so that every farm would have access to the lifeline of the mighty Fleuve St. Laurent. And Quebec and Ontario were then both part of la belle province. Plus ca change....




And change my window view has. White and blue. No wonder blue is my favorite colour. It just makes me stop and watch. And want to paint to make it mine forever. I might somehow forget so need to imprison this beauty. And remember that even if there is rain below as I land, this sunny wonder is up above.