The Cottage

Today we headed out to a cottage in Northern Ontario, what could have been a 3 1/2 hour drive turned into about an 8 - 9 hour drive. We took the scenic route. I was the navigator... hmmm I wonder if this had anything to do with it?

I'm not thinking so, my step-sister turned where she 'felt' we should turn, not where the map said, either way we got to where we wanted to be and I took a few photos along the way. 

... somewhere in Northern Ontario

Relaxing in the evening by the campfire

 and watching the sunset over the lake, makes for a relaxing evening. 

BRB

It's been a long day and we have an early start in the morning so tonight I'm not going to post, this weekend we're spending out at the cabin so I'll be back on Monday and then I'll catch up on my posts. I'm almost going to have a technology free weekend, I'll still have my cell phone with me but I won't blog from my phone.  I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Brantford Ontario

 "Brantford is sometimes known by its style The Telephone City, as a former city resident, Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone on the community's outskirts and conducted the first distant telephone call from the Brantford to Paris Ontario in 1876. It is also the birthplace of hockey player Wayne Gretzky (number 99), comedian Phil Hartman, as well as Group of Seven member Lawren Harris"

We went out for a walk, toured the town and it's a pretty place. The parks are beautiful with an assortment of statues, this one captured my attention. 

In a plan to revitalize the downtown core of Brantford there's been a lot of improvements, this old building caught my eye; it reminded me of something off of Coronation Street. (Yes, I used to watch that show, but in my defense it was with my Grandmother who loved that show!)

There's a fair amount of churches in this town (city) and I liked the way this one looked once the sun began to set.

I'm sure there's tons more to see in Brantford, 
we were on a walkabout and I enjoyed the stroll; it's a nice place to wander around aimlessly. 

Niagara Falls

 Niagara Falls are the three waterfalls which straddle the international border between Ontario, Canada and New York, U.S.  The town itself is like a year round carnival; there's wax museums, house of horrors, paintball, mini-golf, tons of restaurants, to name a few things, and a giant Ferris wheel. I took one look at the Ferris wheel and thought why not? Well other than my fear of heights...I could only imagine the view of the falls from up in the air. 

 I was right the view was stunning, but I'd noticed the tourist boats on the water near the falls, I thought a person had to be insane to get that close to the falls...after a wee bit of thought I realized I've done some crazy things in my time, so yup I found myself on the boat. 

The boat ride was totally worth it! 

It was breathtaking to see such a sight. 

I totally understood the need for the plastic jackets, the water is so powerful. 

This is where I got a bit concerned, we had entered the abyss. I could hear the water gushing all around us, it got dark and difficult to see anything but the whirlpools of raging water. I was hoping to feel the boat turn around.  My heart was pounding in my chest, I rationalized that I'd paid for this trip and this wasn't the way I'd wanted to die... so I turned my focus back to my camera silently hoping the boat would turn around. 

After a short eternity I felt the boat turning, my heart slowly returned to it's normal rhythm and there it was, the promise of the rainbow. 

 

 If you're ever near Niagara Falls, I highly recommend the boat tour of the falls... you'll feel totally alive after this trip! 

Dover Beach

I left home at the ungodly hour of 5:40am to catch a flight out to Ontario, the flight was good but I must not have been too tired as I only slept for about 20 minutes.  I arrived in Hamilton, Ontario at 12:30, their time, the actual fight was about 3 1/2 hours, minor in comparison to flying to Australia.

It's absolutely beautiful here, we toured around for a bit, came to my sisters home, then went for a bit of a walkabout at this place...

There are quaint shops here...

as well as plenty of other shops and places to eat, we weren't hungry so passed on the restaurants. What I loved was being near water again...

It was a beautiful day and who knows, I might find my way back down to Dover Beach again before this adventure is through.

Here I Go Again

I'm packed and ready to board the plane to Ontario, my flight leaves at 7am so I have to be up by about 4:30... this makes for a short and sweet post! I'd best try to get some sleep in, I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day, fun but long! 

... next post from Ontario! 

Sunday Dinner

Tonight the kids came over for dinner, I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday than with my children. We share some great food, a ton of laughs but before I know it it's time for everyone to go home. Someday's there just isn't enough hours in a day. 

It's so nice that the kids all kick in and help out wherever they can, it frees up some of my time to enjoy my company; that and my oldest son Shayne bbq's some wicked steaks!

 This is my beautiful daughter Michelle buttering the garlic toast to go with the steak and ribs which were delicious. 

I'm so blessed to have such amazing children, 
each one of them is extremely special to me for being exactly who they are. 

Wedding Blues

So I went to a wedding where I didn't know anybody but my adopted father, he's an awesome man and the father I've never had. I love him to bits and when he asked me to come with him to a wedding I agreed to go, a good friend of his was getting married. 

The ceremony was nice, it was a Catholic wedding, the type of wedding where the priest has known the family for the past 40 years. The reception was held in a Legion Hall, it was set up beautifully but the seating arrangements were a bit buggered up. The fella who is like a dad to me ended up sitting next to his ex-wife, that's not a problem at all, he's still good friends with her. I sat next to her husband and none of this made me feel in the least bit uncomfortable. What ended up making me feel a tad bit uncomfortable is when the grooms sister asked my friends ex-wife is his girlfriend drank wine... she was referring to me! Well me being me, I just let it slide and never said a word. After all what 76 year old man would be offended to have others think that he had a 49 year old girlfriend? The things I do for my friends I tell ya! 

On the way home I told my friend that I was quitting weddings, he's used to me and the odd things I come up with but he humored me and asked me why. I told him that it really sucks seeing couples who are so in love, then I further explained what I meant. The older couples who were on the dance floor knew their partner so well, they glided across the dance floor never missing a beat and were in perfect unison. Some of these couples even looked at each other lovingly after all the years they'd spent together. Heck even the bride and groom were together for 25 years and their first dance touched me deeply, 25 years and they were getting married, that's one of two things; Love or Insanity! ... you see all I've ever wanted in life is to have that partner, the one whom I would grow old with and be able to joke with and push him off his rocker, and both laugh about it. I've always wanted someone to travel with, to stay home and watch movies with, to laugh or cry with... and now as the years are ticking by I'm losing faith that I'm ever going to know anyone that intimately in life. So yup, I quit weddings because I don't need to see something I can't have just yet. 

My fairy tale Cinderella dreams are slipping away on me, I'm not saying that I'm giving up all hope, no way~ what I am saying is until I find someone to attend functions with other than my adopted father, I'm not going to go to anymore... I don't think.

There that's my yearly rant, now it's back to fun and no more wedding posts for a while, well unless my son or daughter surprises me one of these years and tells me they're getting married... then I'll show up with bells on and embarrass the heck out of them! lol

Bad Connection

I'm still at the farm but won't be posting my photos tonight, the connection is so slow it would take an hour to post two photos! Well maybe not quite that long, but long enough... that and I'm on a foreign laptop, of all things to forget I forgot my power cord at home. I'll be back home tomorrow, yup it was a short trip this time, so I'll play catch up tomorrow night or Sunday morning. I'm going to a wedding tomorrow, and nope not mine, so I'll see how late that goes.  

Have a wonderful weekend and don't do anything I wouldn't do...that pretty much allows you to do whatever your heart desires! ;-)

Cheers.

Risks

Take risks:  if you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise.  

~Author Unknown

Where would we all be without taking risks in life? I find without sticking my neck out that I'd be sitting at home, bored silly and I would lead a rather dull life.  

Take this turkey for example, if she didn't stick her neck out she'd be cooped up all day long in a dreary old pen... boring!

 Unfortunately for this bird one day she'll 
stick her neck out and it's going to be the death of her. 
So the moral of my story would be: 

If you're a risk taker, ensure you don't stick your 

neck out at the wrong times in life, 
and if you do, my suggestion is make sure the 
journey was at least worth it.

Hide and Seek

I went out tonight to capture a few shots of the stunning sunset, I got more than I bargained for. I was driving really slow down the back roads out at the farm and it's a good thing I glanced in front of me, too bad I didn't have my camera ready because I ended up playing hide and seek instead of getting a clear shot.

 This deer bolted right across the road, stopped once it was behind the trees and watched me, I don't think that it realized I could see it.

Naturally I didn't have my zoom lens on, I'd left it back at the house so I played hide and seek with this deer, it hid and I tried to get the shot.

I gave up, so did this deer. I guess it wasn't having any fun after a while and went to hide for good from me. Tomorrow's another day and next time I'll take my zoom lens. 

I Feel Pretty

Oh so pretty...

Okay, so I'm working on it.  Only one day done with these studies and now it's play time... gotta look good for play time. Last night yoga, tonight the hair, now to see what tomorrow brings my way.  I feel an adventure coming on, wait a second, every day of my life is an adventure and truth be told, I wouldn't have it any other way! 

Celebration Time

Today I went out for lunch with a few ladies I admire to celebrate moving on. One of the ladies is leaving her current position and venturing out to try new things. This calls for a celebratory luncheon in my opinion. 

We went here...

It's a huge establishment with the most delicious buffet I've had in a long time. 

After lunch we were treated to something special...

and the strawberries were delicious! 

There were two things to celebrate for me today... one was the celebration for my friend, the other is first thing this morning I submitted my final journal entry... I am DONE, FINISHED the requirements for this degree. I never thought this day would arrive, but it has and tonight there was no homework to do, no readings... so I went to yoga, I had to do something to work off the fantastic lunch! 

A Student's Dinner

What a day it's been, I never got out of my PJ's all day and spent my day writing, and writing, and writing. When it came around to dinner time there was no way I was even going to think about cooking, so I did what many students are known to do... 

 Yup, good old pizza as a stand in. Thank goodness
 I'm almost done with my studies; no more student dinners for me. 

Sunshine and Family

Today was a beautiful day, my youngest sister and two of her sons came to visit, we all chilled out on the patio for a bit. Her boys are so adorable; they're kind, respectful, huggable, and 100% lovable. It happened to be Warren's 12th birthday today, so a huge happy birthday to my 12 year old precious nephew. Last year before the teens buddy! 

Eddie is also totally adorable, I love his smile! Seriously could you say no to a face like this? :-)

Eddie showed me his six pack, he lifted his shirt and on the lower part of the inside is a six pack of pop... too cute. 

Yup, it was the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon, sunshine and family! 

Gettin' There

I've sure been busy lately; I've spent the last few days with Elyssa, which I've thoroughly enjoyed, and I've been busy trying to get this final paper done and wrap up this course. After I send in this final paper tomorrow I'm down to two journal entries, and one half hour interview which I have to transcribe and critique and this all has to be done by Tuesday. With everything else that's been going on the contractors have also been showing up and the basement bedroom is finally coming together as well. 

What looked like this a few weeks ago...

now looks like this

There's still a fair amount of work to be done, but it's gettin' there, as is the homework and soon enough this will all be nothing more than a distant memory... wait a second, this closet is huge... what was I thinking? Oh well, I'd best not be seeing things all over the floor anymore down there, now there's no more excuses! 

Rewards

Every year I complete of studies I reward myself with something. Today I almost finished off my paper, all 15 pages of it, all I have left on it is my final edits then I'll submit it in the morning. This puts me down to one interview, which I have to transcribe and critique and 2 journal entries of at least 500 words each. I can see the light! Not only can I see it I can take photos of it with my newest toy! 

I decided on the T2i for a few reasons, I compared it with the T3i and the only major differences are the flip out screen and the audio, right and the price difference. I don't take videos and I don't care for the flip out screen, what I love is this one is 18mp and very similar to what I was using, the Rebel XSi. The T4i is way too big so that one was out and the others, the price on them isn't quite in my price range YET. 

Good to the last drop

I spent the day with Elyssa while her Mommy and Daddy worked; I got there bright and early and fixed her breakfast. I turned my back to make a cup of tea and when I turned around I had to laugh, a picture perfect moment and Elyssa was so immersed in her task at hand that I had the chance to grab my camera... 

Good to the last drop! 

Yoga

Tonight I tried yoga for the first time ever. Before I went I was feeling a bit intimidated not knowing what to expect... like seriously, it's not like it's rocket science, or traveling across the world to a country where I didn't know a soul and stayed for four and a half months, nor is it like I'm entering my first year of studies, (that was nerve wracking) ... it's yoga. 

So after a bit of self talk, I packed up my gear and off I went. 

I was shown around the gym, I tried out some of the equipment and I think that I just may join this gym. It's time to get physical; after 5 years of studies my brain needs a bit of a rest and it's time to exercise the body. Gravity is taking it's toll, but I can remedy this with some determination, sweat and achy muscles.

 Bring it on Spa Lady, I can handle it!

Heck of a Deal

Last week when I went down to the Heritage Festival I didn't want to pack my backpack full of camera gear, it was a hot day and I knew that we would be doing a lot of walking. My smaller bag doesn't close properly so I went and stopped off at a Best Buy and I found a camera bag I liked, but they wanted almost $150.00 for it, I passed. After I returned home I did an online search, gotta love Amazon, and I found two different bags, one is a smaller sling bag and the other is a smaller backpack. For both I only paid under $60.00. I'm glad these arrived before my next trip, my camera and accessories will be so much easier to lug along now.

The two front bags are the new ones which arrived on my doorstep this morning, the old one, well I suppose I'll keep it, I never know when I may want to take along everything and then I'll need the extra space. I got one heck of a deal and it made my day today when I loaded what I'd like to take with me on my next trip and it all fit nicely.

Patience

Today was such a beautiful day I didn't even mind waiting for the train while on my way home. I had my iPod blaring, windows down, put my car in park and pulled out my P&S camera. Wouldn't you just know it, by the time I got ready to sit back and wait it out, the train had already passed by. 

Now why can't this happen when I'm running late?

Maybe there's some truth to what John Quincy Adams said:

"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect 
before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish."

Cariwest Parade

Today I went to yet another parade, this one was the Cariwest Parade. 

The music was loud and festive, the parade was colorful and what 
I loved seeing was the variety of ages participating in this parade. 

The wee ones, so adorable! 

 The not so wee ones, but totally adorable.

I can't even imagine how heavy some of the costumes are, they were colorful though. 

The not so young... way to go ladies! 

Vibrant...

And this final one I love... oops wrong photo! ;-)

Here's the one I meant to post! :-)

Yup, it was a beautiful day for a parade, the weather co-operated and I found 
this to be a wonderful way to spend a few hours on a Saturday.

In Training

Today was phenomenal, I spent the day with Elyssa and we went out in the world to see what we could see. 
 It was a great day for taking photos, so that we did.

"A grandmother is a little bit parent, a little bit teacher, 

and a little bit best friend." 

Author Unknown

Even photographers need a break every now and again. 

Love and laughter, what two better gifts to give to our grandchildren? It's almost a guarantee that we'll get them back in return.  I was blessed and had plenty of both spending my day with my precious granddaughter!  

I'm left wondering though who's in training?
  Elyssa is my first grandchild and she's teaching me so much about life, 
love, unconditional love that is, and how to be her "Grammy". 
What am I teaching her? 
Whatever I can through love, laughter and tons of hugs and kisses.
 I think that it's safe to say we're both in training 
and I'm loving every minute of it!