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.

Cougler Family Sings Again

My husband and I treasure family above all else so when our daughter manages to make it here for a couple of weeks we are ecstatic.  In April, though, we were even more blessed as our son suggested we resurrect our quartet of years gone by and sing in church. 
On Palm Sunday, two days after Beth arrived back in Ontario, we sang Abide With Me.  Kevin videotaped the performance and put it on YouTube.  Mom would be proud to see the Cougler Family sing again.

Self-Portrait?

Thursday I spent a lovely few hours delivering flyers with my son.  No, he's not ten, but a long-time adult.  We took the time together in the car to drive around our county, visiting all the schools but 5.  He is president of the badminton club here and they are offering a logo contest.

Well, we had a grand time.  Most of the schools I could find but some we needed to use his iPhone GPS to look up.  No problem.  We had a lunch at a place in Tillsonburg which I remembered from my teaching days there--Ambrosia, it's called--and managed to circle about 90 % of the county where I grew up.

That night, I did my regular getting-ready-for-bed routine, taking off my jewelry and leaving it on my dresser till the morning.  And then I slept.  Not too newsworthy, eh?

The next morning I took a look at the jewelry on my dresser and noticed, for the first time, that I had worn two completely mismatched earrings the day before.  And I had gone all those places, done all those things, seen dozens of people.  And never noticed.  Obviously I don't look in the mirror too often.  I could never do a self portrait like Picasso and Van Gogh did.  I just don't look at myself.

Catching Up On My IPad

So here is a first. Tonight I am writing my blog post from my new iPad2 and I'm pumped. This is multiple-tasking at my best. (Of course I'm watching Dancing With the Stars so might miss a comma or two.)

What have I learned since I bought this entry into the Mac world? Scrabble is a team sport! Who knew?

Seriously, though, I have learned a lot of keyboard stuff which is different in this format. To correct a mistake I have to hold my finger over the screen until a circle appears. I place it to the right of the error and backspace it out. This is the only way I've found, unlike the PC format which gives delete or backspace. There are many little things like that which are gradually becoming easier for me.

My first test for the iPad as a word processor was at a writing conference at the end of April. Being a touch typist who needs a standard keyboard, I went right out and bought the add-on keyboard. It is excellent. As long as I had a table I used the keyboard but when I didn't I used the pop-up screen one. It is fine but slow. I had to watch the keyboard and not the speaker. Nevertheless, I managed quite well.

In the airport I had a lot of time to kill so tried out the Internet with mixed results. None of the problems were the fault of the iPad, just the airport connectivity.

Aps are the way to go, I've found, and kids' aps for the grand babies are fun. They don't cost much and are pretty creative. I found a drawing one that 2-year-old Ben loves. I like that it challenges him intellectually and is colorful and artistic. His favorite is the animals and the loaders he can paste into the pages. This kid can sit and create for 25 minutes at a time. Pretty good for a two-year-old.

All in all, I'm happy with the iPad and the aps I've got so far, as well as the how-to book I had to have. I like to hold that old-fashioned paper thing in my hand sometimes just to remember how we used to learn.

Time Just Fritters Away

So, this morning I had lots of things on my list: remove nail polish (it's a mess.), tidy kitchen (ditto), make salad for dinner, read Ruth's thingey for my critique group in London tonight, edit 25 more pages of my manuscript (getting close to the end!!!!), Twitter a bit, Facebook some, and write a personal blog about social networking. I did the first two and then got caught up on Facebook.

People really do respond when you ask them to be friends. I was totally enthralled with everyone's story and engaged in some twitter-type banter with friends and relatives. Fun.

And now there is only one more hour to be called morning; I have so much to do in that hour. First, I'll stop responding to Facebook notices. Then I'll get this post done. Finally, I'll finish my reading for tonight. That should take me up to lunch and all of those things are a pleasure.

Another task that took me away from my list was making picture CDs for Chelsea and Ben, my two grandchildren. I had to fawn over each picture, of course. They are the sweetest kids in the world, don't you know?

And the phone keeps ringing. Ron is not here today so I get to answer all the calls. Not that I mind. Being at home all day necessitates connections with the world and even though the phone is one of the older ways of being social, it's still my favorite. Nothing like hearing the voice.

Videoconferencing via one of the many methods is great, too, especially when it all works. This makes distances just shrink right up. My granddaughter and I have even developed a way to hug when signing off. It's not nearly so good as feeling her in my arms, but it's a great substitute. Would that she were living here. When is that time travel thing coming anyway? Beam me up, Scottie!

BTW, what better way to fritter time than watching this beautiful sunset on Vancouver's harbour when I was out there for my conference.

Spring Signs in My World

I always look for the crocuses. These adorned our walking path along the Avon River in Stratford a couple of weeks ago. Out of all that blah comes LIFE!

This lovely black swan is housecleaning, totally oblivious to my camera.

A goose? Whatever, it's nesting and wouldn't let us get too close. Good job.

All the river birds were in pairs. That green head is just so striking.

And the runners, too, were trying out their spring shoes all along the lovely shore.

Here my friends and I were attending another Spring ritual--the annual spring luncheon of the Women's Canadian Club of London. We were delighted to hear Margaret Trudeau speak about her new book and her life.

Here she is signing my sister's copy of Changing My Mind. Love the title.

And, finally, the pride of the Avon sailing along in pristine glory.

Spring is here. At last.

Bits of My Life

The last ten days has been interesting. Of course my new iPad has been taking up my time. I've still got a lot of learning to do. Here it is with my tv adapter. Haven't got that little beauty out of the package yet. So much to learn.

And then there's the impending visit of our granddaughter and our preparations for said visit. Here we have another new purchase--a stool for Chelsea (and Ben) to use. We already had the potty seat.

Ron is happy to have a new vacuum cleaner. With this one he doesn't have to crawl around on the bedroom carpet with the hand tool in order to clean. This model actually works the way it is supposed to. And it didn't cost a mint! All good.

Oh, and one other bit. This morning I finished yet another version of my novel in preparation for the final final really final copy. Just have to do a final read through of the printed copy to check yet again. This writing is a lot of work, but I love it.

Webster's and Tew's Falls

Sunday we had planned to stay home all day but by 10:00 a.m. Ron was ready to follow the sun. We went along Highway 5 to Webster's Falls. Here Ron is posing before a stripped tree limb which overhangs the lookout at Tew's Falls.

I tried the same pose but he's a little taller.

I looked down in the gorge and saw lots of tired winter snow which had not melted yet.

Ah, the waterfall. Flowing fast and ferocious, it made a lovely insistent roaring noise which we don't hear on our summer visits.

I liked this shot of the water slicing out its own design in the gorge below.

Here is Ron posing on the newly renovated stone bridge upstream from Webster's Falls. I am glad this wonderful old site is being maintained so well.

The water slices down the stream and hurtles over the falls, a thrilling sight in spring.

Below, the water boils and stews before rushing further downstream.

On warmer days we have sat on the grass nibbling picnic foods with family. Today we settled for a picture of Ron in front of the explanatory sign.

What a lovely way to spend an hour on a sunny spring day. Just look at this one last shot of the waters running for the drop.


Webster's Falls and Tew's Falls

Opening Doors at the Soccer Pitch

On February first of this year I started walking regularly at our new soccer facility. While I was in Mexico experiencing Montezuma's Revenge, my husband signed up for a four-month walking pass at the soccer club near us. Well, it seemed funny to me to pay for somewhere to walk--what's wrong with outside?--but I figured I'd try it out.

Since then we have walked every day but three, even mall walking in Victoria when the streets were thick with ice. We have spurred each other through those 'don't feel like it' times and the results are surprising.

We have more energy. We are excited to start our day and accomplish much more than normal.

My writing is flourishing, my husband's various projects are getting done. I am making lists and actually crossing things off. And all due to regular, stress regular, exercise.

Here is a picture of the excellent track where we walk.


And there is almost always something interesting going on below. Soccer games using the full space, soccer-by-age using smaller fields, regular football where people have rented out the space and even rugby games.

The track is always clean, well-marked and airy as huge machines seem to exchange the air constantly. No problem of lack of ventilation chasing us walkers out.

Finally, designers put windows upstairs so that when we are walking we can see the bright sunny day, the lovely homes nearby, the purple and green playground equipment edging the outdoor soccer fields. I really look forward to my walk every day; in fact, I think it's time right now. Care to join?

Beaching in Victoria in February

Last week we got back from a two-week stay with our daughter and her family. Here are some of the pics from a cloudy, cool day when we were pushing the beach season. Grandpa has had many sand-castle building years to prepare for his role with his granddaughter. Here they are just getting started. Before long we had trenches winding over twenty feet. Chelsea loved them.



While they were building I turned my attention to the many others sharing the beach space that day. This couple were mixing dog-walking and coffee drinking. Looked good.


There was a sailing class in the bay, each boat doing its turns, heedless of the cloudy skies.


Yet another dog person had a thrower for tossing the balls to his two dogs. The dogs got lots of exercise. He was pretty laid back, ambling along in front of my lens.

I turned back to the builders and got this long shot.


We all went home happy that we had done the first rite of summer even though the actual season is far off in Australia or some place. Certainly not in Victoria this year.

I See Green!

Oh, how I wish that meant money, but no, it's grass. Look at the way the snow has receded.

And here you can see the rest of the complex today whereas two weeks ago

you couldn't. Also the snow is dirty above and clean below--fresh versus stale snow. I hate the look of old snow but am glad to see it melting. Today the temp is going to be around 8 above (Celsius). By tonight a lot more of this pile will be gone.

Time for spring housecleaning.