Beautiful

The counselor that I work alongside of has this beautiful doll which I have fallen in love with. The details and materials used in making this doll are unbelievable. What is so awesome is that this doll was a gift of appreciation. What a wonderful, from the heart type of a gift.

Work in Progress

It was another dark, overcast, dismal day but I still planted the shrubs I purchased yesterday. I knew that this planter was big but never realized just how huge it really is, what you see here is about 1\3 of this planter.  I'm going to have to buy at least another 4, maybe 5, shrubs. I'd like a few creeping vines and a few other perennials to fill it in, a real work in progress. 

I can picture this bed in a few years, I'm hoping that it's going to grow to be what I have imagined, if not oh well, what I'm doing with it beats the grass and weeds which filled this planter. 

Ugggh, Monday already when I get up, back to the same old routine, the good thing is that I'm that much closer to finishing up my practicum. :-)

What to do on a Rainy Day

Well it's another rainy weekend here at the farm, at least it's not snow! I started my day with planting a few shrubs and once they were planted I thought a hot tub would be nice, I was right, it was fantastic! 

After preparing a stew and leaving it to simmer in the crock pot I went for a drive to the nearest Wal-Mart which is an hour away. It was a nice drive, I got to see plenty of deer and a few ducks swimming in a small wayside pond.

I bought a back seat full of plants which are mostly shrubs (flashbacks from last year have entered my mind... yikes!). I'm hoping that this year my plants will stand a chance, there's no turkeys or chickens to eat them, and no donkey. I'm pretty sure that the farm dog and the rabbit know better, or at least I hope so!

Now I'm hoping that in the morning I'm not planting in the mud but if I am oh well, a little dirt never hurt anyone!

To The Rescue

Today when I arrived at the farm Herb was out working in his shop so I went out to say hi, camera in hand naturally. I was browsing through his shop looking to see if there might possibly be some type of treasures out there and sure enough I found this old fancy box. Needless to say I'm going to go and rescue this box, clean it up and see if I want to keep it out here at the farm or bring it back to the city with me. It's fun having two homes to play with I've decided, there's never a dull moment or a lack of photo opportunities.

Have a wonderful weekend!

No Complaints Here

I don't dare complain at work or if I choose to I most certainly won't take my complaints to the supervisor! :-)

My Special Day

Today I had an awesome day, thank you all for the birthday wishes. I had a busy, productive day at work and after work my boyfriend met me at my place, he came to the city to take me out for dinner. The restaurant we went to, the Sawmill, is well known for their fantastic prime rib and they lived up to their reputation tonight... it was delicious! The following photo is in the restaurant, a very nice place to dine.

 Herb not only drove over two hours to come and take me out to dinner, he also bought me a beautiful gold bracelet, I love it! 

Life is so interesting, I used to think that I was spoiled, I no longer think this way. My new belief is that I am blessed, extremely blessed within my life.

  

Have a great evening everyone!

Wishing Well

I love this wishing well that my niece bought me for my birthday, she's such a thoughtful young lady. I am waiting until I know it's safe to hang this beauty outside but I couldn't wait to show off my wonderful gift. I know that it will look much better hanging outside and that I will get much nicer photos of this planter outdoors but just for today I'm so happy with this delightful gift no matter where it's hanging.

Thank you Cheryl, you sure know what Auntie likes! :-)

A Glimpse Into My Day

Tonight after viewing tons of photos I shot today I am down to three and can't decide which one to post, so here are all three. I'm so excited to finally have flower photos to post, the first photo is a planter I put together this weekend. I really like the colors.

The second photo here is the bleeding heart plant we have planted. I noticed today as I was cleaning up the flower beds that this plant is budding and has a few bleeding heart flowers on it, this excites me... I know it doesn't take much to excite me these days!

And the last photo is one I shot in a small town not to far from Edmonton. This here photo looks like something out of a movie to me, it's totally not something that one would see every day here in this neck of the woods. I love the scene, and the car suits this home. I'm guessing that this is where the priest lives, it's right next door to a huge Catholic church that I'm sure the entire town could easily fit into. 

Well that's a part of my day. Thanks for stopping in and I hope that you have a great day/evening!

New Tractor

Today Herb went to work on his new tractor he bought at an auction Thursday night, he wanted to bring it home today. He told me what it was but I know nothing about tractors, what I do know is that I couldn't help but laugh when I saw his new tractor and as he drove around the huge circular driveway. The huge grin on his face was priceless. I love this tractor, it's a 33 Massey Harris and from what I can gather it's a 1952 or possibly a '53... but then again what do I know about tractors?  Here's another photo for a closer look. 

So if any of you tractor buffs can help me out, what year is this? All I know is that it's old but it's new to Herb, it's red, in pretty good shape for being so old and it runs! :-)

Antique Car Run

Today there was an Antique Car run from Fort Assinibone to Barrhead, it's an annual event in this neck of the woods. Unfortunately we didn't realize that this event was today, we just happened to be going into town this afternoon for some bedding plants and seeds for the garden just encase it ever stops snowing and/or raining. Fortunately a few of the vintage cars were still parked on main street in Barrhead and I had the opportunity to snap a few shots. This 1928 Ford was by far my favorite, I love the color. 

I wonder if the old fella who owned this car wished as he drove away if he could drive back in time, back to his youth when life was much more simple and apple pie tasted like apples... just a thought.

Finding the Sun

Today was a cold, dreary, rainy day in Edmonton. Immediately after work I jumped into my car, stopped off to pick up a few groceries and headed out of the city. It poured most of the way to the farm but once I neared the farm the sun was shining. I cranked up my music, stepped on the gas and drove into the beautiful sun. After a quick late dinner I got in the hot tub and let go of my tensions, this weekend is going to be fabulous rain or shine. Finding the sun doesn't necessarily meaning looking outdoors, sometimes I find it from within and oh what a feeling! 

Have a wonderful weekend, if the sun isn't shining outdoors in your world, do yourself a favor and find something which makes your heart dance... trust me, you won't regret it!

My Daughter, the Artist

 

This painting came about due to me not knowing what to buy my boyfriend for his birthday which was today. What does one buy for someone who has everything he could possibly want in life? 

I got to thinking after seeing an amazing painting that my daughter did for her apartment that this type of a gift would be wonderful for Herb, after all the walls are freshly painted and bare waiting for me to come and add life to them. I asked my daughter if she could do a painting of one of my photos I shot of sunola while I was traveling through Saskatchewan with Herb last summer to his niece's wedding.  This here painting is what my daughter the magnificent artist did. I am extremely impressed with her work, the colors will match the new furniture and fresh coat of paint in the living room. I'm excited to see this masterpiece hanging over the fireplace, I hope he like it as much as I do! 

Thank you Michelle, you're brilliant!

New Cafeteria

 

Today I was back at the college for an integration seminar, I've only been away for about 3 weeks  and already there's changes. The cafeteria which used to be on the 8th floor has now been moved down to the basement level, it's a brand new place with all new equipment and it's so clean. I never used to eat at the old cafeteria, not a chance! Today I almost wished I was hungry, I wanted to check it out but settled on a piece of banana bread and a bottle of water. The new cafeteria is  an awesome concept with computers lining the side walls for students to use, plenty more tables, and it's so nice now... sure just as I'm leaving the college... ahhh such is life.

So Sweet

Yesterday I received the sweetest gift, my son and his wife bought me my first official Grandma mug from my beautiful granddaughter. I just love this mug and will treasure it for years to come. Thank you baby Elyssa, I love you too.

Carpe Diem

What a day today was, oh what a day! It's surreal to me that today I received my (mock) diploma, three years ago this was just a dream. I've pushed my way through immense fears, slept very little, did the tests, wrote the essays and have passed up on a lot of different things I would have liked to be a part of but today all of this was forgotten about. My biggest decision today was what color lipstick I wanted to wear, or was my make up to dark... oh ya and then there was the fear of tripping while walking across the stage, but all turned out extremely well. 

I am now a graduate with my diploma in Social Work, I still have about a month left in my practicum and if all goes well I will have most of my summer free then hopefully I will be a University student with one more grad to look forward to in 2012! I have learned that anything in life is possible if one wants it badly enough, if you can dream it, you can be it! Carpe diem... seize the day!

Girly Girl

Today I pampered myself compliments of my children who all pitched in and gave me a wonderful afternoon of pampering. Now generally I'm not a girly girl who does the nails (both hands and feet) and dresses all fancy but what the heck, tomorrow I will be graduating with my diploma in Social Work and soon enough will be well on my way to earning a degree. You know what I've discovered?...I'm worth being pampered!

Happy Monday, enjoy your day after all this is going to be a once in a lifetime day. Monday May 17, 2010 will not ever repeat itself so take what you can from this day, share like you will never have another day such as this, love with all of your heart and laugh as though there is no tomorrow.  Know that today is an extremely blessed and special day.

Elyssa... my princess

Today I had the pleasure of going over to take photos of my granddaughter, I seem to have a wee problem though, I can't decide on just one photo so I'm bending the rules and posting a few.This top photo was a hard one to take, a new baby with no clothes on, needless to say that didn't last for to very long until she started telling us to hurry up and get some clothes on her!

It's unreal how much Elyssa's looks are changing, she's 10 days old today and already her features have changed considerably, she's such a little doll!

I think that Elyssa was paying pretty close attention and heard what we were going to attempt for our next photos! :-) 

What a fun, wonderful way to spend my afternoon. Today has been such a fantastic day... I am so blessed within my life and for this I am grateful.

Lets Play Ball

This morning at 7:45am I pulled up to work and parked facing this ball diamond, I was curious if it was used at all. As it turned out the clients where I work were all playing ball at 10:30 this morning and I had the opportunity to go out and supervise so I jumped at it. I ended up playing catch for about half an hour, at first I missed every ball thrown at me...after about 5 minutes I was even impressing myself! It has been many, many years since I've played catch but it's like riding bike. The only regret will be in the morning when I'm not going to be able to lift my arm and I'm sure that there's other muscles in this body I've forgotten about! Ahhhh such is life, now I wonder if I could ride a bike... hmmm think that I'll wait until this one passes before I try that one.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, the weather is gorgeous here, +21 today!

Slurpee Anyone?

Somebody drove away and forgot to take their Slurpee with them, or did they? I am almost wondering though if this was one of the gag Slurpees that you can buy which stick to the vehicle. I noticed two different drivers bring this Slurpee on the trunk of this car to the attention of those in the vehicle and even though the light had just turned red nobody from the car jumped out to grab their drink. I didn't get a chance to notice if they lost the drink once they turned so I guess that I'll never know if this was real or not but the good news is that I sure won't lose any sleep over this tonight!

THE Dress

After getting my hair done on Tuesday night it was quite obvious that my new red grad dress was going to have to be replaced so back out shopping for me. I had seen another dress I fell in love with and ended up going to three different stores, even after numerous phone calls, to find THE dress in my size. I was tired, I didn't feel like shopping but I had to get this out of the way, the countdown is on. 

This photo was taken at one of the malls I stopped off at, I love the mall with the recent renovations but this wasn't where I found my dress, I had to travel to another side of the city to find THE dress. Now with this out of the way I can get on with my life. Ladies I'm sure you can relate to this, guys... I'm sure that you've experienced this and if not, next time your wife or girlfriend is in search of THE dress, just be patient, she'll find it. :-)

(LL sorry but I'm chuckling right about now, thoughts of you as your four beautiful daughters were growing up just popped into my head!)

Lennie the Lizard

I tell ya my days are getting rather interesting, yesterday wild geese, today a lizard at work and now I'm wondering what tomorrow might bring! It was rather interesting what the owner of this lizard chose to do, he used his lizard as a part of a very valuable life lesson for the clients where I work. Even if the clients don't ever recall the message, I'm sure that they won't forget Lenny!

Met By a Goose

As I was driving down the driveway this morning at work there were two geese sauntering along, apparently these two geese visit every year. I thought that they might fly off but surprisingly enough they didn't, they are used the land and now I wonder just how close they would let me get. Hmmmm maybe one of these days I'll have to attempt this if I get another opportunity like I did this morning. I love where I work, I never know what I might see next, it's not everyday one gets to go to work and see something as beautiful as this goose. 

I'm going to have to catch up to everyone's blogs tomorrow night, it's been a busy night for me. I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday, take care and see you tomorrow the good Lord willing.

How I Spent My Mother's Day

I awoke this morning with full intentions on finishing up my school work after I put some banana bread into the oven. As the aroma of fresh banana bread filled my home I  had my writing on a roll when the phone rang. It was my beautiful daughter asking me if I wanted to go to an afternoon bingo with her friend and her friends mother... that was it, computer off, quick shower and away I went. I had a good time visiting, never won any money but it was all in good fun. 

After the bingo I went to find my daughter-in-law a small token for Mothers Day, she now qualifies! I found a lovely mug filled with assorted things such as tea and hot chocolate, it was pretty. Then I went to spend a bit of time with my son, his wife and my beautiful granddaughter. My middle child was working but he made the time to call me to send me warm wishes for a Happy Mother's Day.

In reflecting on today I know how blessed I am, I have three children who love me immensely, I  have my beautiful granddaughter and tonight I am one of the happiest Mom's knowing that I am loved and I have family to love in return.

Pretty in Purple

I finally have a photo of flowers, my own pretty purple flowers at that. I was out picking up a few things and fell in love with this perennial, it's a Campanula Get Mee. I'll have to keep it indoors until it warms up and then I can transfer this lovely plant into one of my planters, now here's to hoping that it survives until then. With the weather we've been experiencing it might not be planted for some time yet, but here's to hoping!

Yipee, my first outdoor flower I bought this year... I'm sure that there's going to be plenty more to come!

Alumni

In previous posts I've mentioned that I'm a part of the Alumni committee for the college I attend. We had started off this association from basically square one and the lady who is heading this does not mess around. Today we had the kick off for the Alumni association, on May 17th when each grad walks across the stage they will become Alumni of NorQuest College, this is all so exciting! 

I've done so much this year regarding getting involved with the college, I sometimes wonder how in the heck I managed to fit it all in. Once I get to University no more running myself ragged, I'm not going to join any committees or associations, I'm going to focus on my studies and that's it. I say that now... I just hope I am still saying this when I do get to University.. no, nope, can't do it, just no, too busy, no time, nah, you can't be serious... I'm practicing early! :-)

Visions of Pony Tails

I am amazed at how much hair baby Elyssa has, soon enough it's going to be pink satin ribbons to tie back my visions of pony tails. With her little toque on it was hard to tell she had this much hair, I think that this is so adorable! Mind you she could be bald and I'd still think that she was adorable... just cause she is! :-)

An Angel Sent From Above

This is our beautiful little angel which God blessed our lives with early this morning, she was born at 8:41am and weighed 7lbs 11ozs. She is vibrant and healthy and so adorable!  Elyssa is the name my son and his wife chose for my little princess. I fell in love the second I laid eyes on her and I didn't want to let her go once I held her! I am so full of gratitude right now, could life get any better than this?

I never truly knew the love a grandmother possessed until I held my granddaughter today for the very first time.

And Elyssa opened her eyes and checked out what all of the fuss was going on around her, then closed her eyes and rested peacefully knowing full well she is surrounded by love.

 Welcome to our world baby Elyssa and thank you for showing me what a grandmothers love feels like. I love you baby girl.

Merry Christmas... Again

Well this was not expected, not in my world and not on May 4th... every year when I least expect it to snow BAM from outta nowhere down it comes. Maybe, just maybe this will be our last snow of the year and things will get the moisture they require to continue to bloom... just maybe I'll be able to plant my garden on the May long weekend this year. Mind you this is Alberta where winter jackets are not packed away until June, even though it's tempting (mine made it from the front entrance to the back door) it's not recommended. All that was missing today were all the Christmas lights, we could have had Christmas again... I love Alberta!

Rainy Days

Tonight after work I went shopping, I wanted to get shoes and a handbag to go with my new grad dress, I got a shawl type thing instead. Then I was looking for something to buy for my granddaughters arrival into this world which will transpire on Wednesday but I couldn't find anything. Then I got this brilliant idea to go and try on more dresses, I almost changed my mind and bought a second dress but thought I'd sleep on it. Nothing was working and after two and a half hours of shopping I came out with one small bag and it was pouring rain outside. It was nice when  I went into the mall, I don't know what happened. It was just one of those rainy day sort of things going on I suppose, lazy, laid back and now I'm ready to crawl under my down duvet. 

Good night.... as I stretch and yawn!

Fixer- Upper

As I was getting ready to head back to the city Herb was intently working on his new truck he recently purchased at an auction. The truck is a 1979 Ford, as Herb calls it, a collectors item. The truck runs, the only damage is on the right side of this truck and as you can see Herb is focusing as he fixes yet another pride and joy (a newer truck to haul garbage to the dump!) I think that Herb buys things like this for something to do, he's always got something to work on be it restoring antique furniture, making things or fixing fixer uppers. And here I thought that it was only a woman's work that was never done... sorry guys, I didn't quite realize that you're "work" is never done as well!  :-)

This is NOT my photo of the day! It's OH MY BLOG!

Totally NOT my photo of the day and most certainly NOT funny Karen! lol  I was challenged yesterday by Fitcetera pick one thing from a list and post it... I'll go and fetch that list...

Thank you FITCETERA!

Here's the copy & paste stuff:

1. Get really excited that you got the coolest award EVER!
2. Choose ONE of the following options of accepting the OMB award:
(a) Get really drunk and blog for 15 minutes straight, or for as long as you can focus.
(b) Write about your most embarrassing moment.
(c) Write a “Soundtrack of your childhood” post.
(d) Make your next blog a ‘vlog’/video blog.
Basically, you’re talking to the camera about whatever.

(e) Take a picture of yourself first thing in the morning,

before you do anything else (hair, make up, etc) and post it.

3. Pass the award on to at least three, but preferably more, awesome bloggers as yourself.

Don’t forget to tell them.

  

Choice (a) was out, I don't drink; choice (b) just NO it's plain out to embarrassing;  choice (c)- me a soundtrack - nope; (d)... too much like work, to busy, I can find any excuse not to do that one.... so it's choice e and here it is. My goodness, it's a wonder my boyfriend even kisses me in the morning! lol  Ahhh what the heck, this is life and all in good fun! 

I'll think about who to tag with this one the drive home today, when you're least expecting it... you could be tagged, and NO sending them back to the person who sent it to you has to be a rule somewhere in fine print!  Enjoy the day everyone! 

The Beauty of Nature

"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God.

Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles." 

- Anne Frank

I couldn't have said it any better!