Cuba Day 3 Havana

Sunrise on the ocean, what a beautiful way to start my day! 

Today I went on a day tour to Havana, 

what an eye opener! 

Streets of Havana

I can't remember who this statue is, but it's huge!

We toured a Rum Factory...who would have thought 

from the entrance that this is where they make rum? 

There's nothing modern at all when it comes to the process...

except the bottles and labels I suppose.

This is what baffles me, this next photo is of the Parliament

Building in Havana...

Now isn't this a majestic looking building? 

Here's what's directly behind the Parliament...

Both the front of the Parliament Building as well

as the back of it are run down, dilapidated buildings. 

One can feel the poverty in Havana, it seeps out of

old run down buildings, especially in Old Havana. 

There's the other side to Havana as well like in most places, 

yet Havana is rich in culture. The people I encountered were
happy go lucky, sure there were some people begging, but
it was tolerable. 

Ernest Hemingway lived in Havana, he wrote The Old Man and

the Sea based upon an experience he had there. The bar he frequented

has named after him and they have a statue up in honor of him...

There's tons of old vehicles, the story I was told in regards

to there being so many old vehicles is that back in the day

when rich American's would visit Cuba it was easy for them to 

bring a vehicle with them. Many sold their vehicles before they 

traveled home and these same vehicles are on the roads today. 

Some have newer engines and plenty of work done to them,

yet some are still original. It was so neat to see all of the old relics. 

It's like out of a movie...

It was just about time to head back to the tour bus

and a torrential downpour struck. I was touring around

with three other Canadians and I told them that I was

going to make a run for it and there I was dancing in the rain

on the streets of Old Havana! 

June 7th side note - There's so much more I'd like to share, another time 
maybe. I'd like to get my blog up to date as I have another short 
trip out of the city tomorrow... ROAD TRIP coming up! :-)

Cuba - Day 1 and 2

Well where to start? Cuba is an amazing country and I did and saw so much that I honestly have no idea where to go with this post. I think what I'll do is take a few of my favorite shots and post them chronologically. Then maybe I'll do one final post on Cuba to cover it in a nutshell, with more of my favorites shots (I have tons of photos!)... here goes, I'll see how this transpires. 

The Varadero Airport

Entering the resort area

Stunning resort I called home for a week

A room with a view

Beachside which was literally a 3
minute walk from my room

Stunning! 

Taking in some rays...

Picture perfect! 

One of the restaurants where the buffet meals
were served, there was also three ala carte diners, 
and a poolside cafe.

Sunset on the beach. Today was a full, extremely impressive day.
 I was exhausted but a good kind of exhausted! 

Here I Go Again

Tomorrow I'm heading out for a week, off to Cuba this time. 

I've never been to Cuba before and have no idea really what

to expect on the other end, other than what I've read

online. Tomorrow I just have to finish packing, run a few

errands, have a nap hopefully and it's see ya later. I'm

leaving late in the evening and will be traveling throughout

the night. 

Wishing you all a fantastic week. I'll share my trip

with you when I return; I'll aim to keep track of my days,
correspond them with my photos, and 
 instead of one massive post I'll play catch up when
I return. 

Cheers. 

Tree of Life

Not only did my children ask me what I wanted to do for my birthday, 

they did what we always do and asked me what I'd like for my birthday. 
I was at the Farmers Market earlier this year and I saw some 

amazing wall hangings, I contacted the lady via facebook who 
does some astounding work, 

you can click here and find her site, 
and we discussed size, price, etc. 

Two weeks ago I went with my daughter to pick out colors
and placed the order; it was ready yesterday, 
just in time for my birthday. 

Here is the finished product:

My Tree of Life

I ordered this to replace a wall hanging my children bought

me approximately 16 years ago, I can't bear to throw it out

so I'm going to hang it at the bottom of the stairwell going 

to the basement. 

 Unfortunately the colors are off in this next photo,

 I shot it with my cell phone but I wanted to post it to show how well 

this goes in this area. Truth be told I'm too tired and lazy to go 

back downstairs to take more photos. 

This next one is true to color...

It's amazing how perfect this worked, I sure LOVE it! If you haven't

clicked on Wild & Wired, I suggest you take a look and see some of

the fantastic work this lady does. 

Where to start?

It's been an amazing day! A while back my children asked me what I 

wanted to do for this milestone b'day which falls on the 26th but

we celebrated a day early...

50 seriously? My goodness, where does time slip away? 

I thought it's a biggie so lets do something a bit

different. Instead of going out to dinner I thought lets get a party

 going and party we did! My daughter offered her home and they put

on a birthday party I'll remember for years to come. 

There was tons of food...

I LOVED this turtle! 

Family... (this is my daughter and oldest son, my middle son was 

the photographer and I was so busy visiting I actually forgot about

photos for most of the evening). 

  

Plenty of friends as well as family showed up and naturally

there was my precious little helper. 

Yup, it was an amazing evening which went rather late, 

but heck, I'm only 50, far from old so these late evenings

don't bother me one wee bit! 

A special thank you to each of you who helped make

turning this age a wee bit easier... it's pretty 

amazing what a whole lot of love can do. 

Yes I inverted the candle; denial... who me? ;-)

It's Lonely Out

It's been raining all day and there's something about the rain

which can make the world a lonely place to be.

Maybe this is God's way of saying He wants

to spend some time with me. 

Country Girl

On the drive home today I pulled off to check my messages, 

I didn't have to, I was looking for any reason to stay 

in the country just a wee bit longer. I lingered a while, 

smelled the fresh air and inhaled the beauty. 

I turned to take one last look, got back in my car

and headed for home. One day I hope to live in the

country again, until then I'm grateful to be able

to sneak away to visit. The saying 

"You can take the girl out of the country, 

but you can't take the country out of the girl"

rings true with me. 

Doing What I Had to Do

I smile at some photos when I take a look at them, 

some even make me laugh, such as this one.

No keys? No worries as long as you have 

a piece of wire.  

On a more somber note, I did what I set out to do this trip back home. 

I hadn't visited my Mothers graveside since we buried her almost 11

years ago, it was time so I did what I had to do and went to 

pay my respects. My father is also buried here...

My father passed on when I was four and a half years old, 

I never realized until now that his birth date was July 29th, 

I knew his DOD was Sept. 11, 1967; that date has always

been embedded in my mind. 

RIP Mom and Dad, you're loved and missed. 

A photo of the cemetery; this is an old country site,
 one which after looking at this photo I
think that I'd like to plant a row of trees in the back...

The old wooden sign which marks the grounds:

In the right corner there's about 6 or so graves, 
2 of them are my parents and way over in the back
there's a few graves as well. 

The Journey Continues

I left the farm and headed further north today, it was a 

beautiful day for a road trip.

I traveled on a secondary highway, 

traffic was light and it was smooth sailing. 

Once I arrived at my destination the first thing 

unpacked was my camera, in the nick of time to

capture this woodpecker. 

Unfortunately there's a fire ban on, 

no fires for this happy camper this trip. 

All In a Day

 Today I headed out of the city, I wanted some of this...

I love being in the country, it feels like I'm

closer to God. I imagine in a way I am, there's

not much out here in terms of distracting the 

connection from the heart to the heavens. 

Generally most people have dogs in their back yard for friendship,

love, protection or what not... not at this farm. Here's the latest

addition to the farm...and yup, they're staying in the back yard

until their pen is built. No worries though, they're so small and 

the yard is huge (only worries are for whomever is 

going to be cleaning up after these animals and it sure

won't be me!)

Now some might think that I had my hand in training this wee horse,

 it has a huge attitude for its wee size; I think he thinks he's a stallion! 

Both horses need to be trained, now that I may have a part in

and then what? They'll both think they're Clydesdale's? ;-)

I must admit, they're adorable but after seeing these two horses in the 

back yard and after seeing chicks in the living room, I have to ask ... 

what next? Or do I really want to know? 

Rick, this one if for you... our crocuses are coming up nicely this year! 

All this and then some in one beautiful 

glorious day! 

On The Road Again

Another beautiful day in my city...

I was here, there and a bit of everywhere today but I 

immensely enjoyed the people I encountered; dropping off

a few things at my daughters for next weekends party; getting

my hair done, and coming home to pack up... road trip time 

in the morning! I love my road trips when the weather is

this beautiful... I turn up the tunes as loud as they'll go,

I open my car windows and let my golden brown curls 

blow in the wind. The taste of freedom sets in and ohhhhh 

what a feeling! 

This song just popped into my head. :-)

Oak Ridge Boys

Today was a full, fun, music filled day. The first part of my afternoon was spent

at the Metis Festival. Metis peoples from Alberta, Saskatchewan, The NWT, 

as well as a few other places gathered today to watch not only jiggers compete, 

but we all were treated to violin music played by children, teens and adults alike. I

learned that today was World Wide Violin day so in keeping with this I'm going 

to share one photo of a violin player. 

I'm having problems picking just one, but I'm going

to limit myself to one violin player. hmmmm

There's something about this fella that makes him

my choice of a photo to post tonight. 

Now if you noticed what I titled tonight's post you may be

wondering what in the heck does this Metis Festival have to do with

the Oak Ridge Boys. It has one thing in common, both involved music

and music I like makes my heart dance. 

So from the Metis Festival I headed straight over to a dear

friends, changed and got ready to take in a show. I got to

see the Oak Ridge Boys under a HUGE tent top! How

cool is that?

The final song of the evening was Elvira, the Boys

had everyone on their feet!

It's been a wonderful day and now I'm exhausted, I never

realized how tiring it could be doing something I love to do...

spending time with awesome friends and listening to some

mighty fine music. 

Sister's New Home

Today my youngest sister took possession of her 

new home, it's gorgeous! There was a few snags naturally.

Somebody forgot to inform the cement guys that the move-in

 date was today, they went and poured the driveway and sidewalks

this morning before my sister and her husband arrived.

This made moving extremely difficult, there was a ramp 

put up on the side of the house vs. going in through the garage doors. 

As it happens today is her husbands birthday, sweet birthday

gift! This room will be his to do with as he pleases, they have

his and her living rooms! Awesome concept. 

Congratulations Cat and Barry, wishing you all many happy years

in your new beautiful home.  Oh and Happy Birthday Old Man! :-)

(My brother-in-laws birthday is nine days before mine so every

year for eight days I get to tease him about how old he is, then

I catch up to him and have to hush up for another year!)