Remembrance Day

Remembrance day is just a week away.
Have you bought your poppy a gesture of appreciation  to all the veterans?

I really feel passionate about this.
I go into the local small town grocery store and outside stands a veteran selling poppies. Inside the store not one of the staff had a poppy on. Men and women put their lives on hold, and some lost their life, so we could live in a free society. And here, we have business people not giving a damn. They don't even stop at 11am to give a moment of silence (last year). How dreadful.
I told the store manager what I thought, I was miffed just enough that I didn't care. Maybe I will write corporate office.

If nothing else I hope to spread this word and make a little difference in our otherwise thoughtless unapprecative world. Please show your support  and bring attention to this lack in attitude.

Autumn

I have always thought of the end of October, Halloween, as the defining moment when our autumn changes to winter. In the past, I would bring the cattle in from the fields and start to feed them hay and grain, they would not go out again till spring rains passed.

Actually, they would spend all winter out, but were limited to a corral behind the barn. They had the option to go in or stay outside, a door into an inside stall was always open. Cattle are healthier out than in, and love to be out. I have seen them stand outside with 6” of snow on their backs. They would only go into the barn to sleep and eat.

Seems like a long time ago that we raised livestock. Never had a digital camera in those days and a lot of memories were lost. Now I am a regular shutter bug and take pictures of every thing.

The winds of winter are nipping at our heels. It won’t be long and the nip will turn into a bite. We have not had a great autumn this year, it has been wet and cool but there have been sprinklings of sunny days. One such day was yesterday, and I made good use of it and took a trail walk.

Such a gorgeous day to be out and about enjoying the last hoorays of fall. There is a silver lining, the colors this year are more vivid and the trees have held their foliage longer.

I took my camera and went walking. As I stepped out the door I realized there was beauty in my own back yard. The deep yellows of Harliquin Maples were more brilliant from the contrasting rust of the Birch.

 
The reds of a Japanese Maple had its own glow from the early morning sun. I realized it should have been planted more out in the open where it would be more easily viewed. Live and learn, the tree was growing bigger than I thought and had been wrongly situated.

A lone rose peaked out of the trellis, giving a view of the beauty that would soon be history for another year. Or was it a preview of the year to come?

As I drove to the country trail where I would begin my walk, it was hard to not stop, periodically and take a few pictures of Autumns splender.

Corn fields awaiting the harvester have had several reprieves from the knives due to many wet days. Some of the corn will have to wait until the ground freezes before the huge machines can get on the ground.

    Rows of Cherry trees sit waiting to shed their leaves.

 I finally arrived at my walking trail. Know one else was around but myself and nature. What a glorious fall day.

Sparkling waters as I cross over a bridge.

And waterfalls in the distance.

 Seems no matter where I go, sooner or later I wind up down at the lake.
The fog horns will soon be silenced for another season.

The boats are put to bed for the winter and the Marina has become a ghost town.

The beaches no longer have multitudes of bathers but the odd hardy soul still walk the beach bundled against any raw winds off the lake.

 

The ducks will soon move inland in search of food.

They have been well fed all summer. It must be tough wondering where the next meal comes from.

 

I love the fall, I love Ontario.

As they say, "Ontario yours to discover".

Thanksgiving in Ontario

Well it is another year to be thankful, traditionally, Thanksgiving in Canada is the second Monday of October. This is a time for family to sit as one, and appreciate a great meal, giving thanks to the end of another bountiful season.

Fall fairs are in full swing right now; without a week going by that you can't find one somewhere. 4H club's showing off their prize winning livestock, vegetables, or baked goods and the sights and sounds of the midway, the smell of onions and hamburger patties being tossed around on a hot grill. The fall colors of trees are in full swing awaiting a hard frost and a windy day, to shed their canopy. A signal winters fury can now enter another stage of our life.

There is nothing more important in our life than to sit down to a table surrounded by family. Family values are important.
A traditional day such as Thanksgiving is one of those days, a day of fond memories.

My youngest daughter and her family have a beautiful home in the country, and space to hold our immediate family of 15.


Entrance.



Table is all set and awaiting the arrival of the rest of the family.



The Mom and daughter working like beavers in the kitchen.




Tania is a wonderful cook and hostess, everyone brings something. The good woman, and mother of our three beautiful daughters, brings the pies. This year it was apple, lemon and pecan which replaced a pumpkin by a vote of 2 to 1.



A couple of views out the kitchen window looking for those wild turkeys.



They won’t be in the pool but maybe the woods in back.



Oh! here’s the turkey.... Tom was hiding in the oven.
This turkey was the moistest turkey ever encountered; 30lbs of golden goodness cooked to perfection, a job well done....Tania.




Lets get him plated up. I’m hungry.



One of my most challenging feats is to get a good picture of the grand-babies, they usually turn their heads, put their hands up, or act like their mother’s when facing a camera. This year, I almost got a good picture.



Well I have had my pie. They would all win an award of excellence.
Apple would certainly rank as deep dish blue ribbon quality, but my favorite was the lemon.



This is where I take a break, “please keep the festive mood down, where is the couch”?

Everything about this day and this meal was perfect, except for two Grandsons that couldn’t make it this year.

Travels on the information Hi-way

Throughout my travels along the information hi-way, I have met people that go out of their way to do a kindness. Simple kindness, even though they may be a stranger, that I have never met.... accept maybe on a forum.

Forums are wonderful places to meet people. My first encounter with a forum was searching for gardening information and I settled on Garden Web that had a collection of friendly people. Since my business was plants, I had lots to offer to help others, and I also learnt a lot. A bunch of us met in Niagara Falls and also at a gathering at our house, and some.... through the power of internet email; I still stay in contact with many posters and we have remained friends for 12 years or more.

The second source was through a travel forum on Mexico. I stumbled across a site that provided lots information on a tiny island off of Cancun called Isla Mujeres. Back in those days it had a wonderful forum of people helping to understand why Isla Mujeres was such a wonderful place to vacation too. There have been other forums come and go and a couple still exist. Places like Isla Travelers Board or Isla Mujeres Info & chatter Board the boards have helped popularize Isla. Not a bad thing at all until, some of the Cancun type hi-rises started to put blight on the landscape.

Gardeners and Travelers are friendly people. I have had many offers, places to stay, places to visit and even small gifts. Pictures of family, pictures of homes and pictures of hobbies. A couple of friends also have websites. A dog that writes about life with humans is hilarious, The World According to Tedi B , A retired executive who writes a blog about Eating out in Cancun and my artistic friend in Florida has pages on his hobbies at Geezerman’s world but keeps changing hobbies, a gifted artist that has become more interested in building models. And then there is the JamQueen who just loves to make award winning entry’s in fall fairs, but has a love of photography also.
Meeting new people and making friends is what makes the internet so interesting. Writing keeps the mind active.

Some quality time in the north country

It was nice to get away for a few days with our friends Dianne & Murray.
A nephew(Greg) invited us north for a few days to his cottage that he has been building the last couple of years. Greg is also Dianne’s son.

Greg & Denise Cottage

Greg and his wife Denise are a wonderful couple and their two boys are some of the nicest kids a person may meet.

We spent some quality time on Greg’s lake fishing.

The bass were biting and we caught some monsters. Unfortunately I never had my camera in the boat.

It is a small lake and we caught and released 3 lb fish.

We also had tickets to attend a special event that was being hosted by the Shriners. It was a Surf and Turf cookout and was being held in the Georgian Bay's 30,000 island area.

Leaving Snug Harbor.

On the boat ride Murray discusses world events or the plight of the Canadian Loon?

Arriving at the Surf & Turf event.


Beef is on the Barbi.


Pickerel is in the fryer.

There was no shortage of food. Trays of smoked fish and smoked sausage along with veggies and dip just kept on circulating.It was hard to pace ones self for the main event.

We also toured one of the finest golf courses in all of Ontario, maybe even Canada. Murray’s son is the manager and made arrangements for two golf carts at our disposal. I at first thought, these are awful big greens, until I realized they weren’t greens but the fairways. Incredible golf course, if someone wants to loan me 50 grand, I will take out a membership.

Unfortunately, I left my camera in the car. After all it is only a golf course, see one you see them all. How wrong I was.
I did manage to take a picture of Drew's backyard.This wouldn't be too hard to wake up too.


As we bid the north country a fond farewell, we also had to say goodbye to Pedro. The smartest sweetest dog of the north.

Goodbye Pedro

and thank Greg & Denise and kids for the hospitality.

Graduation Day

Where does the time go, seems like yesterday that my own daughters were graduating from school. Now it is my Grand daughter that is graduating. By the numbers, we will have one graduation every year now for the next four years.

What a proud moment to see the loves of your life grow into adults. Looking back, I never had cameras and computers to document my own kids nor for some of the Grandsons. I getting better with age myself and managed to capture a few pictures that I like to share.


Chelsey the second oldest of 3 grand daughters(and my youngest daughter’s girl) had her graduation tonight a day after Fathers Day. What a present.









Sisters, Chelsey and Abby. In another 4 years Abby will graduate.

Cousins Chelsey and Caitlin who graduated 2 years ago.

Proud parents of Chelsey and Abby. Momma is our youngest daughter.

Gardening by Color

Summer has finally arrived and the gardens have sprung to life. The warmer nights make all the difference between so, so and lush growth. My garden has lots of color until July and then green takes over until fall.
First in bloom are the daffodils then tulips.



Followed by, garden phlox a low creeper and garden edger



Then the Irises, which I have 50 or so varieties of start to bloom. They are short lived but beautiful. At one time, I started collecting the 100 most popular Irises. All award winners at one time or another. They expand so fast, I decided it was a dumb idea. Who needs more work?


Peonies are in now but about to give way to the Asiatic Lilies.
I had a huge collection of Lillie’s at one time, but weeds have choked out my garden rows.



My pride are the climbing roses and Clematis inner-twineing on a trellis that hides a big old stump. It has taken me 3 or 4 years to get to this point.



The early months of spring we are busy with hanging baskets in the greenhouses. They are now all shipped out.




I should have some quality time to enjoy the rest of the summer, afterall, winter is just around the corner again.

My favorite Dancing Trio

The past week we spent a couple of nights watching our Granddaughters competitive dance group dance their hearts out for a packed theater audience. What spectacular performances by all the kids. They compete in ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, lyrical and in various age groups. At the end of the season they perform for parents, grand-parents relatives and friends, they really strut their stuff or should I say, dance their tootsies off. The fin-ally is the whole competitive team plus Dancing Dads doing a number that wins all the awards. Over a hundred on the stage at any one time. Beautiful.
We are so proud of our grandkids, I can’t help but blow my horn and show them off.

Caitlin our straight 'A' high-school student wants to be in the medical profession.

Chelsey a new teenager likes to explorer the world of bugs and animals. Says she wants to be a scientist.

Abby, baby of the family and this years award winner in Hip Hop. She wants to be a Chef already taking cooking lessons.

The three dance members together.

One thing I do know for sure, they never got their talent from me.