Soft Winds and Roses

Celebrating the wee milestones....

2011-01-26T10:46:00.000-05:00

I wasn't too happy the year I turned 30 .... it seemed so impossible! How could I be 30? I remember vividly when my own mother turned 30 and I thought that was some very strange and abstract age that only could be reached by extremely ancient (and quite possibly prehistoric) individuals! But somehow I survived and lived to turn .... wait for it .... 40!!! some ten years later. :)

Today the number 30 is one I'm celebrating, because I have now lost a total of 30 pounds.

It's taken forever. I had a complete hiatus from losing weight for the entire Christmas season ... which stretched on and on to encompass all Christmas celebrations around the world. ;) However, the good news is that I never gained back any of the 27 pounds that I lost before Christmas. Maintaining my weight has always been difficult for me, so I consider it a complete victory that I was able to accomplish this, but when January 5th hit and I realized it was a mere month until we leave for vacation, I knew I needed to get back into my exercise routine and see if I could lose some more weight.

I've been on my exercise bike every day since and although I have only lost another 3 pounds, I have lost loads more in inches and am feeling incredibly energetic and strong!

So Hip Hip Hoorah for 30! It's a nice number after all. :)

Shades of Winter

2011-01-23T19:52:00.000-05:00

I have always loved colour. When someone asks me what my favourite colour is, I always have to hem and haw and try to come up with an answer, because truthfully, I just love all colours! I remember in Grade 3 getting in trouble with my teacher because I coloured with too many crayons.

"Look at your sun," my teacher exclaimed in horror, "it's a messy swirl of orange and yellow and red! See how everyone else is making their sun? They are making them nice and neat, with a big yellow circle with rays coming out of it! That's the way a sun is supposed to look!"

But that's not the way the sun looked to me. I saw it as a big swirl of many colours and that's the way I wanted to colour it. And I didn't want my sun perched way up in one corner of the page, I wanted a big splashy sun that took over the whole page, drenching it in colours from edge to edge. I must have been a great trial to my very old-fashioned, linear-thinking teacher!

My eyes are still constantly seeking out colour. At this time of year, it becomes a treasure hunt for me to find as many colours as I can in the winter landscapes.

Sometimes I can find splashy bold colours, like the bright red of a male cardinal, sheltering in our rose bush.

Or bright-coloured snowsuits against a snowy white hill.

And a scarlet velvety sumac surrounded by evergreen.

At times the colours are much more subtle, like hidden silvery green moss, secreting itself behind a waterfall.

And the olive green plumage of the female cardinal, hunting for seeds beside a white-capped sparrow.

Or the fluffy russet ears of a furry squirrel, happy to find a peanut on a cold winter day.

Sometimes the colours look chillingly beautiful, like the icy blue of frozen water around a rocky outcropping.

And a hazy orange sky over a frozen harbour.

The colours can be shy and delicate, like this pastel pink sky.

But they can also be so warm and inviting, like this sun-strewn path that lights our way home.

And finally, colours can be so very bright and cheerful, like a warm, snuggly cat curled up on a red blanket in a yellow chair, waiting for our return.

(Yes, this is my Tiger, fully recovered and happy, 5 months after her near-death experience!)

Indescribable Snow

2011-01-08T13:17:00.002-05:00

It snowed this week for the first time this winter, a light one inch that has almost covered the ground and turned our farm so white. Today the sun is shining brightly and the air is mild so I enjoyed a leisurely stroll through our property. Whenever it snows for the first time, I inevitably think of an Australian family I met years ago when I was travelling through Europe. The children had never seen snow before and they were so disappointed that while they could get glimpses of snow high up in the Alps, they could not actually experience it up close. I was amazed to think they had never seen snow before and attempted to describe it, but quickly came to the conclusion that it is very hard to describe to someone who has never seen it for themselves.

Not even pictures can do justice to snow. Can a picture really capture the dazzling brightness of snow as it reflects the sun back into your eyes in millions of prisms?

And how can mere words or even a picture portray snow's lovely fluffiness and the way it caresses the plants on which it lands, like the softest of down comforters.

Or the way it can frost the top of a box like icing on a cake?

Can a picture capture the depths of the shadows that lie across its surface lengthening the most average of trees into veritable forests of stretching timber?

And still reveal how the snow delicately lines each branch as if an artist's brush has gently stroked over each fine detail.....

and then moved on to transform garden ornaments with a palette knife loaded with titanium white.

But it isn't just the look of snow that's hard to describe ... it's what the snow reveals - like the tracks of a hopping bird, foraging for food.

And the secret midnight dance of the rabbits as they court under the winter sky....

Or the path of a lone cat, stalking silently by with its green eyes focused on a mission only he can comprehend.

These are the messages found in the snow, the stories it whispers, the secrets it reveals. It covers the ground, but exposes so much more. Even the goldfinch, wearing his drab winter plumage, is more easily spotted when the rosehips have donned their winter caps of snow.

And the junko, practically unnoticeable in summer and fall, becomes a focal point with his soft charcoal feathers set against a white backdrop.

I have concluded that snow is indescribable, a miracle best experienced in person. Second-hand knowledge just won't suffice. I hope, wherever you are, you have the opportunity to enjoy a little snow this winter.

Crowding the Mushrooms

2011-01-05T21:30:00.000-05:00

A couple of years ago when the movie "Julie and Julia" came out in theatres, I knew I had to see it. Not only do I absolutely love cooking, but *obviously* have some interest in blogging as well, so I figured it would be right up my alley. Actually, it turns out I was rather disappointed with the movie - the plot line was a little boring and I really did not find the "Julie" character to be at all endearing ... she whined way too much for my liking and I often found myself wishing the director would just stick with the story of Julia Child's life and leave the flashbacks to "Julie's" life in the ditch. However, there is one line of the movie that has stuck with me. It resonated in my head as soon as I heard it. For some reason, it was one of those lines that you can instantly recognize for it's literal and metaphoric truth. So ... after that great build up ... here's the line in question:

Don't crowd the mushrooms!

It really does make a difference! Put too many mushrooms in the frying pan, and they just seem to get all mushy and gushy and don't saute properly. But, if you just scatter them in their sparsely, they brown up in such a delicious manner! The problem is, though, that I really don't want to take so much time when I'm preparing a meal. I want the maximum result for the minimum time investment. I want my mushrooms nicely browned, but I want to crowd them all together in the pan so I don't have to cook them in batches.

The same is so true of my life. I want results but I often don't want to slow down and invest enough time in a project, a relationship, even in myself sometimes (!) to get the results that I desire. I want to make a success of all that I attempt, but I don't want to spend time perfecting my craft so that I will be a success. I want my relationships to be deep and meaningful, but can't we just text meaningfully back and forth a couple of times a day and make a go of it? I want to manage stress better, but I don't always want to take the time to breathe deep, centre myself, and let go of the bad energy. I want short cuts, recipes that involve nothing more than 3 steps, 5 ingredients and one pan, and problems that can be resolved in the same length of time it takes to play a few rounds of Bejeweled.

Since "Julie and Julia," I find myself periodically taking a deep breath and reminding myself not to "crowd the mushrooms." With all the emphasis on "quality" vs. "quantity" that seems to pervade our culture, I need a constant reminder that there is no replacement for investing large amounts of time into the areas of my life that really count. Whether it is my own physical and emotional fitness, my relationships, or my work, the measure of my success will in a large way be accounted for by how much time I have invested. And the bottom line is that I am worth the investment. We are given 24 hours in each day. I'm determined in 2011 that I won't get caught up in "crowding the mushrooms" and racing around in those 24 hours, trying to fit so much in that nothing gets done properly. Instead, I'm going to invest enough time into my own well-being to ensure success.

27 - It's not a magic number, but still feels great!

2010-11-16T13:49:00.000-05:00

Twenty-seven pounds! Yes, I am very proud to report that after what appeared to be an endless PLATEAU of non-weight loss, I am finally down another couple of pounds, bringing my total weight-loss to date to twenty-seven pounds. This method of weight loss has not proven to be the "Speedy Gonzales" method by any means.

I'm hoping, however, that it will prove more like the case of the tortoise and the hare ...

And hopefully by changing my life-style in small increments rather than by following some radical diet plan, I will be able to keep the weight off once it's gone, and have a healthier lifestyle pattern.

So, here are 27 things I have been doing differently that are all helping me to have a healthier lifestyle, some of which are contributing to my weight loss:

1). Almost entirely switched from white flour to whole wheat flour.

2). Endeavouring to eat 80% fruits and vegetables and 20% starch and protein every day.

3). Trying to remember to DRINK LOTS OF WATER! (although I often forget this one!)

4). Walking every day - a brisk walk of between 3 and 4 kms.

5). Drinking 2 oz of Noni Juice everyday. It tastes hideous but Dr. Oz highly recommends it.

6). Taking my multivitamin every day.

7.) Taking 100 mg of B6 every day.

8). Taking 25 mcg of Vitamin D every day - which, by the way, comes in the form of a soft chewy chocolate so I consider it my chocolate fix for the day. (Most days this works, although once and a while I feel the need for a bigger chocolate fix!)

9). Taking my EstroSense everyday - a herbal blend that includes calcium, green tea extract, indole 3 carbinol (an extract from cruciferous vegetables), sulforaphane (broccoli sprout extract), turmeric (curcumin), milk thistle extract, rosemary extract, and lycopene (tomato extract) - all of which is supposed to do wonderful things for me.

10). Sneaking veggies into everything! Especially having veggies ready to snack on around 4 in the afternoon when I suddenly feel at my munchiest. And trying to get the most "bank for my buck" with veggies in that I'm trying to focus on those veggies that are really crunchy and satisfying to chew.

11). Eating an apple a day. Yup, I know it's simple. But it has really become something I look forward to as an extra treat during the day.

12). Taking my metamucil once a day ... maybe this TMI, but the thing is, I have struggled with irritable bowel syndrome for most of my life and this really helps. Also, it's supposed to help lower bad cholesterol so it seems like a good idea to take it.

13). Wear bright colours every day. The thing is, I love colours and it cheers me up to wear bright colours. Maybe this sounds weird to stick this in here on the list of healthy life style choices, but if wearing a bright colour helps me feel better about myself and my day, then I figure it's a very inexpensive, painless way to help myself.

14). Making myself find something humourous every day about my life. Seriously (or actually, not seriously!), I sometimes forget to take a light-hearted approach to life and laughter really is great medicine! So, I'm trying to focus on the funny side of life more often and I'm sure I'll lose weight by exercising those laugh muscles! As a result, I am finding myself noticing more funny and peculiar things that come across my path during the day and I take great delight in sharing them with my husband so we can both have a good laugh at the end of the day. Like this hotel sign and the random weirdness of the picture ....

15). Eat less, exercise more. Yup, it really is that simple!

16). Think about my husband's needs more than my own. Once again, perhaps an unusual thing to throw on a list about healthy living, but healthy living does include mental health and one of the drawbacks of not having children, is that I can become a bit to self-absorbed sometimes. It's really good for my mental health to think about someone else's needs. It also makes it much easier to do my daily tasks (like laundry, house-cleaning, and washing dishes) with a cheerful attitude when I look at them as ways to help Mr. Magnolia's life become easier, rather than just chores that need to be done.

17). Okay, I admit it, I'm pretty much stumped at #17. I can't really think of too many other things - except maybe to repeat the DRINK MORE WATER one since that seems to be one I have to constantly repeat to myself. Maybe by the time I've lost 50 pounds, I'll have come up with 50 inspiring things to help with my healthier lifestyle. But for now I guess I'll have to stick with 17 .... unless perhaps, I include one more ...

18). Take time to celebrate the victories! Yup, whether it's another pound lost, or another day of positive thinking, I am taking time to celebrate the victories along the way. I am celebrating the fact that I am feeling stronger and healthier than I have in a long time. And even though I don't want to get all obsessed with numbers, I am celebrating that there are 27 less pounds now that I have to lose than when I started! :)

Marvelous Monday - A Bird in the Hand

2010-11-15T15:41:00.000-05:00

We have the joy of living quite close to a beautiful botanical garden - the Royal Botanical Garden in Hamilton, Ontario. Along with a number of exquisite formal and informal gardens, the RBG consists of 2400 acres of natural land, and 30 km of hiking trails. It is one of our favourite places to go to enjoy spring flower displays in the incredible Iris Rock Gardens and the Lilac Arboretum. But it is also one of our favourite places to go for a Sunday afternoon hike all year round.

We spent a glorious Sunday afternoon there last week. The sky was blue and the autumn leaves were still full of colour.

The particular hiking trail we chose that day runs along an inner harbour, so periodically along the way we caught glimpses of the water through the trees.

And at one point, the trail took us right down to the water's edge.

We saw lots of birds and animals, like this nuthatch, flicker and this noisy little squirrel who gave us quite a scolding for venturing into his territory!

And we had a great deal of fun feeding the very tame little chickadees who love to take seed right out of your hand!

You know the old saying "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" ... a great reminder to me to practice being content with what I have instead of constantly wishing for something more, or something different, or someone else's life that looks more glamorous than my own.

So this Marvelous Monday, I am especially thankful for Sunday afternoon hikes, for sweet little chickadees, and for all the other "birds" that are in my hand ... the blessings that are already part of my life that I sometimes take for granted.

"Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not;

remember that what you now have

was once among the things you only hoped for."

Epicurus, Greek Philosopher (341-270 BC)

Wordless Wednesday

2010-11-03T10:10:00.000-04:00

My sweet budgies are adjusting well to their "winter quarters" in my bay window.

Marvelous Monday - Wonderful Parks

2010-11-01T20:36:00.000-04:00

It's been several weeks since I posted a "Marvelous Monday" but I've been thinking all day about how much I'd like to write this one and finally now have a moment to sit down to the computer and blog away to my heart's content!

Yesterday afternoon, we spent some blissful time hiking in one of our favourite local parks. Short Hills Provincial Park is an amazing 1600 acre park filled with hiking trails, waterfalls, beautiful trees and peaceful meadows. Some trails are designated strictly for hikers while others are multi-use trails for hiking, mountain biking, cross-country skying, and horse-back riding. Though Short Hills is a favourite of ours, we often take it for granted instead of realizing what a treasure it really is. I'm so glad we have access to fantastic greenspaces like this. As my husband puts it, spending time in nature allows us to shake the "clinkers from our thinkers!"

Here are a few shots from our energizing hike on a brisk autumn Sunday afternoon:

“If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk.”

-- Raymond Inmon   

“Walking: the most ancient exercise and still the best modern exercise.”

-- Carrie Latet   

“When you have worn out your shoes, the strength of the shoe leather has passed into the fiber of your body. I measure your health by the number of shoes and hats and clothes you have worn out.”

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson 

“I have two doctors, my left leg and my right.”

-- G.M. Trevelyan   

“A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world.”

-- Paul Dudley White   

“My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing.”

-- Aldous Huxley

Down in the Depths of my Heart

2010-10-29T10:57:00.000-04:00

I've been so grateful for all the encouraging messages since I last posted. What a wonderful place "blog land" really is, filled with incredible people who truly know how to reach out in friendship and caring to one another. You really bless me!

So, some have been wondering how my journey is coming along. On the weight loss front, things are going slowly but good. I've been continuing every day with my walking and enjoying it tremendously. Had a few weeks where I hit a big plateau but finally lost another 3 lbs this week so that's good. And my faith journey is becoming a real adventure too. I'm amazed at how God is helping me to learn new things all the time and providing me with wonderful friends for comfort and prayer support along the way.

Do you remember that old Sunday School song "Down in My Heart?"

(If you want the lyrics for the whole song you can find them here in this children's song book: All the Child)

Lately, the words of one of the verses has come to mean something special to me. It's a bit of a tongue twister and if you know the song, you'll know that this is one of the hardest verses to sing, especially because as kids we used to try to sing it as fast as we possibly could without making a mistake on the words:

I've got the wonderful love of my Blessed Redeemer right down in the depths of my heart,

Down in the depths of my heart (where?)

I've got the wonderful love of my Blessed Redeemer right down in the depths of my heart,

Down in the depths of my heart to stay!

And I'm so happy, so very happy,

I've got the love of Jesus in my heart,

Down in my heart,

And I'm so happy, so very happy,

I've got the love of Jesus in my heart!

So WHY has this song become so meaningful to me now? Well, I've been waking up with panic attacks lately in the middle of the night. I'm not sure what's causing it but I've been waking up with my heart pounding and feeling horribly frozen in fear. One of my friends suggested that maybe I should get tested for sleep apnea because it's possible that this is why it's happening. My sister thinks it might be just a hormonal thing. But whatever is causing it, I don't like it! I wake up frozen in fear and so afraid that I'm scared to even turn over and reach out to my husband for comfort! It doesn't last long .... just a moment or so, but it seems like a life-time to me.

I've tried to "pray" my way out of the attacks and since I'm a very visual person, I have been trying to picture my way out of my panic. So I have been searching my Bible for various "images" that will help me to picture my way out of the situation. For instance, I thought about that lovely verse in the Proverbs that says that the name of the Lord is a STRONG TOWER, that the righteous can run into and find safety (Proverbs 18:10). The only problem I have with this image is that when I'm frozen in fear, it doesn't seem possible for me to run anywhere even if it is to a strong safe tower! I end up frozen in fear with this frightening picture of a little girl fleeing through the darkness, trying desperately to reach a safe haven.

So I talked to God and asked Him to give me the perfect visual to help me through the fear. I know He doesn't want me to be afraid, after all, His word says that "God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power, love and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). That's exactly what I want - power, love and a sound mind! So I prayed that He would help me .... and a couple of days later, this is the Scripture I read:

We know that we live in him and he in us,

because he has given us of his Spirit.

And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son

to be the Savior of the world.

If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,

God lives in him and he in God.

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

1 John 4:13-16

Yes, I've read these verses many times before, but suddenly I was struck anew with the fact that I don't have to go, run, walk, or flee anywhere to find God! He, by His great mercy, has chosen to live inside of me! He's right there in my heart with me through my most difficult moments! I am not alone. And that God who lives in me, is a God of LOVE! So even though I feel like my whole being is flooded with fear, a big part of me is actually taken up by the unconditional, unmatchable, unchanging LOVE OF GOD!

So for now, I am singing that little children's hymn over and over again in my mind, reminding myself that I really do have the "wonderful love of my Blessed Redeemer right down in the depths of my heart!" And I'm continuing to feel incredibly humble and blessed that God answers my prayers when I seek Him. He doesn't tell me to "buck up and get a stiff upper lip and get on with my life" ... instead, He has great compassion on me and addresses my fears directly by helping me to find the perfect Scripture that brings me comfort.

Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays.

Søren Kierkegaard

MIA but not Missing in Action

2010-10-06T12:18:00.000-04:00

Just thought I'd pop in today and explain why I have been MIA the last little while. Truthfully, while I have been "missing internet action" I have not been "missing in action!" In fact, the very reason I have been less faithful with my blog lately is because I have been more active in real life.

This past summer, I have really struggled with anxiety issues for the first time in my life. I am generally a very happy-go-lucky kind of person who has floated through life feeling pretty good most of the time. So when I started noticing this past year that I was becoming a real "worry wort," I simply told myself that I needed to stop worrying and make some changes and things would improve.

One of the changes I made was that I started this blog. In one of my first blog posts, that you can read about here if you are so inclined, I expressed the hope that I would start feeling better as the summer went on. And I did most definitely benefit from all of the sunshine we received this summer! I soaked it up and reveled in all that incredible Vitamin D. And blogging helped me to make new connections. I've met some wonderful encouraging friends whom I hope get a chance to read this so they know how much their kind words mean to me. But at the same time, my anxiety levels were not going down, but rather seemed to be getting worse.

I decided it was time for further action! And by action, this time, I mean literally ACTION! I did some research and came to the conclusion that at 43, my body seems to be going into that awful "perimenopausal" state that so many women struggle with. My hormones are a jumble, I'm having bad PMS, I've gained way too much weight, and it is time for me to take better care of myself physically. I wasn't sure where to begin to make things better, but I knew I had to starts somewhere. There are few things I knew had helped me in the past so I thought I'd start there. They are as follows:

- make sure I have regular meaningful quiet time everyday where I read a portion of the Bible and spend time meditating on it and talking to God.

- make sure I get enough sleep every night but not too much sleep. Get out of bed at 7 am every day!

- make sure I take a good brisk walk every day.

- make sure I eat regular meals that are healthy and supplement those meals with fresh vegetable juice made in my juicer.

- make sure I take my multivitamins, Vitamin D supplement, Vitamin B6 supplement and Estrosense supplement daily. (Estrosence is a natural health product for women. You can read more about it here if you are interested.)

As a result of the changes, I am feeling much stronger and healthier, both physically and emotionally. I am walking 4 kms every day and have lost 20 pounds. Although I know that I need to lose more weight, I am feeling like it is now a manageable task with reasonable goals rather than an impossible uphill battle that I can never win. My pattern of "worrying" is being broken as I am working to renew my mind through reading more of the Bible and disciplining myself to turn off the negative thoughts by handing them over to the Lord whenever I start feeling anxious. I picture myself handing Him all the things I'm worried about, and receiving a soft, fluffy comforter back in exchange. It's a visual that helps to remind me that He offers to give us peace and comfort if we will turn our burdens over to Him.

Daily exercise, eating proper meals, juicing everyday, spending quiet time with the Lord --- all of these things take time and so I find I am not always able to fit blogging into my schedule as well. But I will keep checking in here at least once a week, to keep you all up to date with my life, and check in to see how you all are doing. It's so great to know I am not journeying through life alone, but have many wonderful friends along for the ride!

Blesssings,

Ro

Marvelous Monday - Autumn Day

2010-09-27T14:59:00.000-04:00

Autumn Day:

Lord: it is time. The huge summer has gone by.

Now overlap the sundials with your shadows,

and on the meadows let the wind go free.

Command the fruits to swell on tree and vine;

grant them a few more warm transparent days,

urge them on to fulfillment then, and press

the final sweetness into the heavy wine.

Whoever has no house now, will never have one.

Whoever is alone will stay alone,

will sit, read, write long letters through the evening,

and wander the boulevards, up and down,

restlessly, while the dry leaves are blowing.

Translated by Stephen Mitchell,

"The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke" (Random House)

Ooooohhhhh ... doesn't that last stanza send shivers down your spine? Just feels exactly like an autumn wind has curled itself around me and breathed down my neck! And yet I love that poem, perhaps because it does get such a response out of me. And perhaps, because I really do love autumn!

So on this Marvelous Monday, I am thankful for this glorious season of beautiful vistas ....

of leaves turning colour....

of animals seeking hide-away spots for the winter ....

and bright orange pumpkins finding ways to escape the farm!

I hope you are having a glorious autumn!

Blessings,

Standing Still

2010-09-23T11:13:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I received the sweetest note in the mail from one of my aunts. She heard that I had been having a difficult time with my cats -- first Tiger, our shop cat was attacked by a dog earlier in the summer (she is now almost fully recovered but it has been a stressful and expensive journey) and then Kroompli, one of our house cats suddenly developed cancer and had to be put to sleep last week. My aunt sent me a kind note to encourage me and included this beautiful poem. I thought I would share it today with all of you. I hope it speaks to your hearts the way it speaks to mine. There are so many of you who are going through trials of all different sorts. I received an email yesterday from a dear follower whose mother has alzheimer's disease. It broke my heart to read how she is now parenting her mother, because her mother has become a child. And I know there are many of you who are facing other difficulties. I hope you too will have someone come alongside of you to encourage you with a little note, a sweet poem, or perhaps an unexpected hug.

Blessings,

Ro

If You Stand Very Still

If you stand very still in the heart of a wood

You will hear many wonderful things

The snap of a twig, the wind in the trees

and the whirr of invisible wings.

If you stand very still in the turmoil of life

and you wait for the voice from within,

You'll be led down the quiet ways of wisdom and peace

in a mad world of chaos and din.

If you stand very still and you hold to your faith

you will get all the help that you ask.

You will draw from the silence the things that you need:

hope and courage and strength for your task.

Patience Strong

Tea Time Tuesday - Don't Hide in the China Cabinet!

2010-09-21T12:27:00.000-04:00

It's Tea Time Tuesday again! Last week, I was so sad after the sudden loss of my dear cat that I just didn't feel up to participating, but I've looked forward to getting back into the fun today as a little "pick me up" in the middle of the week.

Once again I am so thankful for the gracious ladies who host these wonderful tea-themed memes and I am participating in the following tea parties:

Martha's Favorites
Rose Chintz Cottage and Inspirations
The Plumed Pen
Lady Katherine Tea Parlor
Artful Affirmations

Today I am showcasing a special little tea cup that is brand new to my collection:

Isn't it a sweet little cup? I think it must have been originally a child's toy as it is very tiny. The little bird on the handle is just so cute and very delicately fashioned. A truly whimsical little piece!

It was given to me by a very special friend as a birthday gift a few weeks ago. I have no idea if it has any market value ... the mark on the bottom of the saucer is almost illegible and all that I can read is "hand-painted" and then what looks like half of a symbol of some sort. But this cup and saucer have great value to me because they were given to me by a dear friend who is going through all kinds of difficult trials right now, yet in the midst of her struggles, she took time to think of me.

When I look at old pieces of china, it sometimes occurs to me that they are a little bit like us as women! We can be so delicate and fragile, and yet somehow, we endure the test of time. Think of all the opportunities that a really old tea cup and saucer would have had to break! How many times they may have been moved from one building to another! How many hands have turned them over, some hands frail with arthritis, others full of the klutziness of adolescence. And yet, these lovely china pieces have endured throughout the years, their exquisite fine details still intact, colours still vibrant, handles still in place.

And there is a dilemma to be faced with lovely china, isn't there? If we leave it safe in the china cabinet, surely it is less likely to be broken! And yet then it will never be enjoyed, it's prettiness will never cheer up another soul who would delight in the pleasure of sipping tea from the delicate cup and admiring the lovely pattern. And life is like that too ... we can hide ourselves away in the "china cabinet" of life, protecting ourselves from ever being hurt, but then we will never know the joy of sharing our heart with another soul, or reaching out in love to a needy friend.

So I'm particularly thankful for this sweet little cup and saucer today, because they remind me of a dear friend who hasn't stopped reaching out beyond herself, in spite of the fact that there are days when she probably wishes she could hide away in a corner of a safe china cabinet somewhere. My prayer for her is that she will make it through this trial without any "chips" or "cracks" and that she will know how very much she is appreciated by her friends.

"The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches,

but to reveal to him, his own."

-Benjamin Disraeli

Marvelous Monday - The Simple Things

2010-09-20T07:52:00.000-04:00

It's Marvelous Monday again, and today I am thankful for the simple things in life:

.... like the fact that I've been able to walk for half an hour every day with my Mum this week, enjoying the late summer farmland while getting back into a regular exercise routine.

Walking past the vineyards, we spot how the grapes are ripening so quickly this year.
Soon the air will be filled with their sweet fragrance that will surround us as we walk by.

.... like the beautiful birthday flowers from my husband that lasted and lasted, filling me with cheer whenever I saw their beautiful colours.

I still have 2 carnations left two weeks later!

.... like the colourful jars of relish and salsa I was able to can with our very own delicious garden produce.

I especially enjoy making this relish which is made to my late Grandmother's recipe. Reminds me of cheddar cheese sandwiches on crusty bread, made with a skim of home-made relish - the food of my childhood.

....and like the simple pleasure of enjoying a relaxing meal beside the water, watching the sail boats go by.

Mr. Magnolia and I enjoyed a leisurely meal at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Golf Course
on Sunday. The clubhouse provided an amazing view of the Niagara River where it enters into Lake Ontario, immediately across the river from Old Fort Niagara, New York.

Sometimes, we just need the simple things in life to remind us of the important things in life .... like taking care of our health, spending time with our loved ones, and finding time for rest and restoration.

Marvelous Monday - My Cat the Clown

2010-09-13T11:20:00.004-04:00

Today is Marvelous Monday yet my heart is feeling a little broken. This morning I took my little clown cat "Kroompli" in to the vet and had to make the difficult decision to say good-bye to him forever.

Kroompli stalks our Roomba

We have been growing increasingly worried about Kroompli for the last month. At first we thought maybe he was upset that Tiger (our shop cat who was a stranger to our house cats) was living in our sunroom. Perhaps this is why his stomach seemed to be upset. Then we thought it was because the little beggar managed to sneak into the mudroom where we keep our dog food and had a huge feast of dog food. Surely that would be the reason why he suddenly had severe diarrhea and an upset tummy. We took him to the vet a month ago and they confirmed after thoroughly examining the 18 pound monster that the dog food was probably the problem.

Kroompli investigates my flowers.

But then Kroompli began to lose weight. This cat who would eat anything became a very finicky eater. I tried different types of food and he seemed to perk up. But this past weekend, he suddenly took a big turn for the worse ... became very lethargic and looked like he was in a lot of pain. My husband and I checked him closely all over and felt what seemed to be a hard lump on his side. I took him to the vet first thing this morning and was told he has a cancerous mass on his stomach. It has appeared so rapidly that the vet feels it is an aggressive form of cancer. It was very obvious that he was in terrible pain so I made the decision to take care of him one last time by ending his misery.

Kroompli comes for a snuggle.

So today, on Marvelous Monday, though I am in tears, I am celebrating the life of a very loving pet who gave us so much joy over the 8 and a half years of his life. Kroompli was born to my mother's cat "Button" on March 22, 2002 - one of 5 of Button's first and only litter. He was such a sweet little kitten when he was born - all black and white patches, with his little ears folded down and his eyes shut. He was the runt of the litter and right away I knew I would take him. When he was 7 weeks old, we took him home and he quickly made himself at home, not only in our house, but in our hearts. I gave him a Hungarian name "Kroompli" (meaning potato) in the hopes of ensuring that my husband, who is of Hungarian descent, would be happy that I was bringing home yet another kitten. We were newly weds at the time but if I had known my husband better, I would have realized that it was a completely unnecessary gesture. My husband absolutely loves cats and he and Kroompli became the very best of friends.

Kroompli loved his basket.

The runt of the litter grew fast! Kroompli became a ginormous cat - the biggest cat we've ever had. And what a clown! He was an extremely playful cat who loved to lie on his back with his paws waving around in the air, begging to have his tummy rubbed. He loved food, especially people food, and delighted in pushing his big nose into our cereal bowls in the morning, hoping to slurp up some milk and possibly some cereal too. Kroompli loved to be snuggled and if he felt it was time for his cuddle, he would climb up on top of my computer and look at me with his beautiful big green eyes as if to say "Hello!!! I'm much cuter than that stupid machine!" And of course, he was much cuter, so I would stop whatever I was doing and scoop him up off of the computer and into my arms for a cuddle. And he would look up at me with those flirtatious green eyes even as I was cuddling him, as if he was smugly acknowledging that he had me wrapped around his paw, and I would always do his bidding.

Kroompli discovers our wide-screen TV

Kroompli, annoyed that I won't let him eat the gingerbread house.

Kroompli poses as a Christmas ornament.

It's hard to imagine all that personality and life can simply end in one moment of time. I can't imagine that his life is over. This morning when I said good-bye to him, I told him that I hoped he would being seeing his brother Czardas soon - the beautiful black kitten we also adopted from his litter who later was killed on the road outside of our house. And I said a blessing over him too - because I believe God created my little cat, and that somehow, He will find a place for him in eternity. I hope that place is a sunny spot, where Kroompli can lie on his back, waving his paws in the air, and that someone kind and loving is there to lean over and give him a gentle tummy rub and whisper in his ear as I have done so many times, to tell him what a beautiful cat he is, and assure him that he brings joy wherever his paws take him.

Classic Kroompli pose - begging for tummy rub.

Wordless Wednesday - Stormy Sunset

2010-09-08T08:49:00.000-04:00

Follow Friday!

2010-09-03T07:11:00.000-04:00

It's Friday!!!! And this is a long weekend! Yeah! And it's my birthday on Saturday too so we shall have to see what Mr. Magnolia has in store (if he actually remembers that it is my birthday that is!) I love my dear husband but alas, he does not always remember significant dates without a little nudging from myself. So I just might have to give him a little hint later today! :)

Once again it's Follow Friday 40 and Over at Java's wonderful blog Never Growing Old, where Java always looks about 18 years old yet has the wisdom of someone much more mature! I love visiting her blog and encourage you to do so too as you will be enriched by her sense of humour, the great beauty tips she gives us, and the endearing way she has of sharing her life struggles with all of us.

And if you're visiting from Follow Friday, welcome to my blog! I love having visitors and if you take a moment to comment, I will pop back over and visit your blog as well (although it sometimes takes me a couple of days to do so!).

Today for my visitors, I am serving a lovely slice of "virtual" sponge cake, topped with fresh peach slices, raspberries, and whipped cream! Hope you enjoy it!

Have a blessed weekend,

Theology in a Tea Cup

2010-08-31T04:14:00.002-04:00

It's Tuesday again and time to link up with all those lovely tea parties that whisk us away to a gentler, kinder place, where the pot of tea is always fresh, everyone is on their best behaviour, and all the world's problems can be easily solved over a steaming cup of Darjeeling or Earl Grey. The only dilemma is whether or not to have a slice of lemon or a drop of milk!

Tea is being served at:

Martha's Favorites
Rose Chintz Cottage & Inspirations
The Plumed Pen
Lady Katherine Tea Parlor
Artful Affirmations

And of course, tea is being served right here. Today, my inspiration came from a poem that I recently read. I read it once, and then again, and then had to read it one more time. Actually, over the last few weeks, I've returned to it again and again, and I am still pondering the meaning.

All day long

She has been arranging our welcome:

Scouring down the house,

Sweeping under beds,

Pulling out the old crocheted counterpanes,

Shining glasses and tableware,

Dusting sideboards and picture frames.

Now she sits in a deep chair

Till we come crunching down the beeches

To the door.

Nice, isn't it? Sort of creates an instant feeling of coziness and love. You just know that when you arrive at that door, you are a welcome guest! But why has it caught my attention so deeply? Well, it's because of the title. Here ... I'll give you the whole poem one more time, but this time, I'll include the title.

God

All day long
She has been arranging our welcome:

Scouring down the house,

Sweeping under beds,

Pulling out the old crocheted counterpanes,

Shining glasses and tableware,

Dusting sideboards and picture frames.

Now she sits in a deep chair

Till we come crunching down the beeches

To the door.

Ah ... doesn't that title change the whole poem? I'm enthralled by the idea. I actually have no problem with the idea of God being a woman ... because I think God is a spirit being - neither male, nor female. I also think that since God created both men and women, both genders are reflections of who He/She is. Anyway, the poem really got me thinking, and this morning I began to wonder about something - if God invited me over for tea, which tea cup would She choose for me to use?

I decided on this one:

The pattern "Memory Lane" is by Royal Albert and consists of delicate blue forget-me-nots circling pristine white china. I purchased this tea cup and saucer as a gift for my Grandmother for her 80th birthday. Born in England, my Grandma was a great tea drinker and loved to drink her tea out of a fine bone china tea cup. I wanted her to have something special to drink her tea from, that would be particularly beautiful. When she passed away several years ago, the cup and saucer came back to me, and of course they really have become part of "Memory Lane" now because they always remind me of my Grandma.

But why did I chose this particular cup and saucer when I was thinking about that poem?

Well, contrary to mythological beliefs, all grandmothers are not sweet darling little old ladies who never do anything wrong! My grandmother had a temper. She wasn't perfect. She was human. And although I'm sure there are many elderly couples who have nothing but goodness and light to say about each other, my grandparents could raise bloody hell, if you'll excuse the expression.

One day when I was visiting, I happened to notice that my Grandma was using the Memory Lane tea cup with a different saucer. She explained, with a rather odd look on her face, that the saucer had broken. Looking at her hands, all gnarled and stiff with arthritis, I assumed she must have accidentally dropped the saucer and I decided immediately that I would get her a replacement. I mentioned my intent to my Grandad later that day. He told me Grandma didn't deserve a new saucer. Apparently they had a big fight and she had thrown the saucer at him and that is how it broke.

I got quiet for a moment when my Grandad told me the story. Then I looked him in the eye and told him that I was going to go ahead with my plan to replace the saucer. I said to him, "Grandad, love isn't something we give because it's deserved, it's something we give because it is the very nature of love." The thing is, I didn't love my grandmother less because she had temper. I didn't feel she deserved the tea cup and saucer because she turned 80 but didn't deserve a replacement because she deliberately broke it. I gave the cup as a gift because I loved her. And love isn't supposed to be conditional.

That's a lesson I learned, not from my grandparents, but from my God. See, I'd like to claim the idea of unconditional love as one of my own, but truthfully, I only understand a glimpse of it through the grace of God. When I read that poem, I think of how God so patiently waits for each one of us to come and spend some time with Her, eagerly preparing in advance for our visit, longing for the moment when we arrive. And She loves us unconditionally, each and every one of us, not because we have done something to earn it, but simply because God is love.

I am glad to say my Grandma eventually came to an understanding of that Divine Love. After spending the first 86 1/2 years of her life as an atheist, she became a believer in the last 6 months of her life. And the amazing thing is God didn't love her less when she was an atheist than He did after she became a believer. He loved her from the moment time began and will love her through all eternity. Because God is love.

(The poem "God" is one I discovered in a book called Irish Mist written by Father Andrew Greeley. I'm not sure if he is the author, or if it was written by someone else.)

Marvelous Monday - Life's A Beach

2010-08-30T09:48:00.000-04:00

As some of you know, I started writing this regular blog feature "Marvelous Monday!" to encourage myself on this day of the week, when I'm usually grumpy and annoyed that the weekend is over, to think of all the many things for which I have to be grateful. There's no antidote to grumpiness quite as effective as gratitude, so I figured I would take a little time on Mondays to "count my blessings" instead of moping around with the Monday morning blues!

I have tried to specifically be thankful on Mondays for things that don't only include weekend activities ... because really, if I'm only counting the weekends as blessings, then that just reinforces the whole idea that Mondays are to be dreaded. Today, however, I just have to say "Thank-you, Lord, for this amazing weekend!" Because this past weekend has been absolutely wonderful. The weather was perfect and the company could not have been better - yup, I got to spend some quality time with my beloved Mr. Magnolia!

Those of us in the Niagara Region are really quite blessed to live in an area with easy access to two beautiful Lakes - Lake Erie and Lake Ontario which are joined by the Niagara River, most famous for its stunning waterfalls at the point in the river where water flowing down from Lake Erie towards Lake Ontario, slips over the Niagara Escarpment and plunges down the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Where Mr. Magnolia and I live is only around 2 kms from Lake Ontario so we have access to that lake on a daily basis - but we are also very close to Lake Erie as well, so we often take the opportunity on weekends to make the short drive over to that lake. It's amazing how the two lakes have their own very distinctive "personalities" - actually, all of the Great Lakes are like that - each one unique and beautiful in its own way.

This past Saturday we drove a little further than usual, to one of my favourite summer-time beaches in Port Dover, Ontario. We started the day out by enjoying a delicious crepe breakfast at a new restaurant in Port Dover called "The Crepe House." Mr. Magnolia chose the "breakfast crepe" which was filled with egg, ham, goat cheese and roasted red pepper. I opted for the "summer fruit crepe" - a delicious paper-thin crepe filled with fresh blueberries, raspberries and peach slices, and then topped with a light drizzle of lemon curd and whipped cream. Yum!

Don't you just love the way Mr. Magnolia's shirt matches
the table cloth? :)

Port Dover is a really beautiful beach that is quite shallow for a long stretch out into the water, so it is very popular with families who have young children. With the temperature in the low 80's (27/28 Celsius), it was a popular day at the beach - not too hot but still hot enough to make the water very refreshing!

We didn't go swimming, instead we spent some time "people-watching" and walked out on the lighthouse pier where a beautiful breeze blew the humidity away.

From the end of the pier, we enjoyed watching the kite surfers

and the sail boats go by.

Then we decided to really "play tourist" and signed up for a one-hour boat ride of the river that enters Lake Erie at this port. The pontoon boat was a smooth ride and the Captain gave us a great oral history of the area while we road along up the river.

We passed the few remaining commercial fishing buildings left over from what used to be a thriving commercial fresh fish industry ....

And loads of waterfront mansions that are rapidly replacing the commercial buildings ...

Our lovely boat ride took us past a variety of watercraft from

luxurious yachts to wee little kayaks ...

And then past some turtles sunning themselves on a log, indifferent to the fancy, or not-so-fancy boats that might go by ...

After the boat ride, we enjoyed a leisurely drive home followed by a brisk walk with our dogs, and then a delicious supper, not at any fancy restaurant, just at "Chez Magnolia" with fresh veggies out of our own garden to compliment the juicy steak - one of Mr. Magnolia's favourite meals!

Definitely a day to remember with a heart so full of gratitude that there's not a speck of room left for the Monday Morning blues!

A Peachy Day at Follow Friday 40 and Over

2010-08-27T08:38:00.000-04:00

It's Friday again! The weekend is almost upon us and today is Follow Friday 40 and Over, a wonderful blog hop hosted by Java over at Never Growing Old. So hop on over there and check it out!

Today, I'm serving all of my visitors a special smoothie .... a peach smoothie! I've been making them every day this past week for Mr. Magnolia and myself. He has his own auto repair shop and works very hard. This summer has been an especially hot one and so I love to bring him a nice cold refreshing drink in the middle of the day.

The hot weather has been wonderful for our peach crop ... all that sunshine brings out a really high sugar-count in the fruit. To make my peach smoothies, I peel 6-7 good size peaches, throw them in the blender with a splash of orange juice, and a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream and voila! That's all it takes and we have wonderful peach smoothies to enjoy.

I hope you all have a "peachy" weekend!

The Butterfly Dance

2010-08-25T11:22:00.000-04:00

I've always been told that there is a silver-lining in most clouds and that good can come of even the most awful experiences in life. So I suppose it should be no surprise that there have been some surprisingly good things that have resulted from my dear cat Tiger's accident (for those who may be new to my blog and want the background story on Tiger, you will find it HERE).

Because Tiger was wild for the first 8 months of her life, and because she is still basically an outdoor cat, my husband has really encouraged me to take her outside every day so that she will have the "morale-boost" of feeling grass beneath her paws and being able to sniff fresh air every day. As a result, I too have been experiencing a morale-boost! Spending at least an hour outside twice a day, just squishing my own toes into the grass and sniffing fresh air of my own while I'm watching my little cat, I've found such a renewed love for the outdoors. So, I am truly enjoying the experience of sitting outside on our porch swing, or on a lawn chair, with one eye on my little cat to make sure she's safe, and one eye either drifting shut in the sunshine, or else watching the birds, bees and butterflies fly by.

And speaking of birds, bees and butterflies, yesterday morning as I sat with my cat, something amazing happened - something, I would have totally missed out on if I'd been inside. The butterflies began to dance! One after another, the butterflies began to arrive and soon our front lawn and the flowers situated there became landing posts for at least a dozen monarch butterflies. They danced in the air, they feasted on flowers, they drifted and spun around, only to land one more time for a banquet of flower nectar.

And there I was, caught in the middle of their dance, bubbling over with delight at what I was seeing! There were monarchs on my right and monarchs on my left, monarchs above me, and monarchs chasing down near my feet. And all at once as I began to laugh with joy, I discovered I was no longer a spectator, but a participant in their dance! They landed on my head and swirled around my face and danced off again to twist and twirl together in the sky.

For three-quarters of an hour I danced with the butterflies, me and my camera - because YES for once I actually had my camera with me at just the right moment! I'm convinced Tiger thought I was losing my mind. She looked at me quite cross-eyed when I returned breathless and enraptured to sit by her side. But what an amazing experience to be transported for a brief moment in time, into a butterfly's world! I don't know if the butterflies will be back tomorrow. I suspect they are getting ready to migrate and that is why they were so active today. But if I never see them again, I am so thrilled I will always have the memory of this butterfly dance!

This last picture has nothing to do with butterflies, it's a picture of the full moon rising over our house last night. I've taken it especially for Purple Cow to thank her for bringing the full moon to my attention and to let her know I really was thinking about her watching the full moon way over in Greece while I was watching it here in Canada. And who knows, a full moon is a rather magical thing, so maybe it is linked in some way to the magic of my butterfly experience today.

Tea Time Tuesday

2010-08-24T14:36:00.000-04:00

Well, it's here again ... Tea Time Tuesday over at Martha's Favorites, Rose Chintz Cottage & Inspirations, The Plumed Pen, and Lady Katherine Tea Parlor. Don't you just love a tea party, complete with beautiful china and beautiful friends with whom you can enjoy it?

Today I am showcasing a lovely little tea cup I picked up at a yard sale a few weeks ago. I have always been partial to pansies, so this cup immediately drew my attention where it was sitting amongst a pile of old china and glassware.

I really love everything about it from the shape of the cup, to the fluted edge of the saucer. And the colours of the flowers are so very pretty. You can imagine, I was quite excited to purchase a Royal Albert in perfect condition for only $1.50! (Have I mentioned just how much I love to go to yard sales?!)

I also found another delightful piece of china at the same sale. Unfortunately, it is not in perfect condition, but I fell in love with it anyway, and at 75 cents, I thought it was well worth the asking price. However, being a little bargainer, I asked if they wouldn't mind taking $2.00 for the cup & saucer and plate all together. I got lucky and they said yes! Never hurts to ask, does it? :)

As you can see, there is some damage in the glaze on the plate, but there are no chips or cracks and the design is really lovely. It's marked Royal Winton on the back of the plate and has a number 7 in gold. I'll have to do a little bit of research to find out more about the pattern.

Don't they look cute together? And just look at those sweet little treats sitting there beside them! You'd never guess, but they're actually little lipgloss containers! Aren't they adorable? I found them recently in a small boutique and couldn't resist purchasing them, with the intent of using them as a wee little gift for someone sometime.

There are actually four of them in the package, each one looking "good enough to eat"! They are made in England by a company called "Natural Products Ltd." and labelled "Naughty but Nice!" And why am I giving you so much information about these cute little lipglosses?

Well, because I just can't resist giving them away to someone, that's why! It occurred to me yesterday that I now have 100 followers. Definitely a reason to give something away. So, anyone who comments on this post in the next 7 days, will be automatically entered into a draw for these cute little lipglosses. And because I love to give things away, I'll probably tuck a little something else into the package as well, before I mail it off to the lucky recipient.

Hope you're all having a wonderful time visiting tea parties today!

Blessings,

The fragrance always remains in the hand that gives the rose.
Heda Bejar

It is possible to give without loving, but it is impossible to love without giving.
Richard Braunstein

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.
Sir Winston Churchill

Marvelous Monday!

2010-08-23T09:45:00.000-04:00

Oh, it has been a really crazy busy time here in the Magnolia household ... I apologize for getting side-tracked from regularly blogging last week and hope this week I'll be a little better at staying in touch.

Today is Marvelous Monday ... a windy cool day here in Southern Ontario. I'm not complaining though because we have been enjoying such a wonderful hot summer that I don't begrudge a few days here and there of cool weather.

On this Marvelous Monday, I am especially thankful for my cat's recovery! On Saturday, my little Tiger just seemed to turn a corner in her recovery and suddenly we looked up to see her walking almost 100% normal! She's still "wobbly" so Mr. Magnolia says she walks a little bit like she's had too much to drink, but she's actually standing up completely on her back legs when she walks now so she no longer looks like a raccoon when she walks. She has been only able to hold herself up about 3/4 of the way on her back legs up until now so she has been walking with a strange rolling, hunched-over gait. I can't begin to tell you the feeling of joy that flood through me when I saw her stand up totally normal on Saturday and start to walk with like a healthy cat! Every time I see her standing up properly now I get the same flood of joy in my heart. I really didn't think she would ever walk normally again!

So on this Marvelous Monday, I'm very grateful to all of you for your prayers and kind thoughts towards my cat, and hope that somehow each one of you will able to see a little miracle in your own lives, to give you hope and cheer your hearts.

Blessings,

"I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it."

Abraham Lincoln

Thank God for the Aztecs!

2010-08-12T14:48:00.003-04:00

I have to admit, although I am a Christian and I love to read fiction, I rarely enjoy Christian fiction. Honestly, I just find it is often incredibly insipid (think sappy stories about life on the prairies) or overly preachy (I'd just as soon go to church and hear a sermon thank-you-very-much!) and rarely do I find it an enjoyable read. However, I came across a book in our local public library recently that was categorized as "Christian Fiction" that had an intriguing title "Chocolate Beach" so I thought I'd give it a try.

Well, first off, I have to warn you that if you're looking for a really deep novel that will change your life, this probably isn't it! But, in it's own charming way, Julie Carobini's light-hearted approach was exactly what I was looking for in a book that I could read on a nice hot day, lying on my porch swing, enjoying the breeze and pretending the constant sound of traffic from the six-lane highway just a mere kilometer away was actually the song of deep blue waves rhythmically pounding on a golden sandy beach.

And though I wasn't expecting it, the book actually got me thinking deeply ... well, at least as deeply as one can think on a drowsy summer day anyway. The thing is, some of her points hit home, just not in an overly-intense way, but more in an "Ah, I recognize that in myself" kind of way. Like when her heroine, "Bri," realizes that she is spending more time worrying than she is praying, and when she gets all caught up in trying to change the exterior without acknowledging that the internal probably needs more tweaking. And of course, who can't relate to the notion of "break-up brownies" - that absolutely necessary "go-to-dish" for all those broken-hearted and in need of the ultimate comfort food?!

I won't give away the plot line, in case you all want to read the book, but suffice it to say that one of the external changes that Bri attempts, is to learn how to cook, and she starts by attending a seminar on cooking with chocolate. Smart cookie, eh? I mean, if you're going to learn cooking, you might as well learn how to cook something delicious and chocolately!

Being an avid cook, I found myself quite interested in the menu at the seminar: satiny chocolate soup, glazed chocolate potatoes, sumptuous chocolate chili and chocolate cherry fondue! Yum! What's not to like about that? I've heard of chocolate chili before and have been meaning to try making a batch myself, so after finishing the book - yeah, another good point is that it's a pretty quick read - I decided that it was time to attempt to cook some myself.

Now unfortunately, Carobini's book did not contain any recipes, so I went surfing the net and found a few to choose from. The one I landed on contained no fresh veggies beyond one onion! This just seemed really wrong to me - chocolate and chili are both soul foods to me, and soul foods just can't come out of a can alone! And right now my garden is over-flowing with fresh produce just waiting for me to slice, chop, and cook, so I switched things up a bit and below you will find the "tweaked" recipe I ended up using.

The result was an unbelievably satisfying spicy chili, with a subtle dark, earthy taste of chocolate that gave incredible depth to the dish. I am not 100% happy with the final result but I am now totally hooked on chocolate chili and intend to keep practicing until I have the perfect blend of ingredients. If any of you have a good chocolate chili recipe you'd like to share, please send it my way. As for "glazed chocolate potatoes" ... well, I haven't tried those yet, but they just don't seem quite as intriguing as the satiny chocolate soup that is probably going to be my next experiment! And in the mean time, I'm sending up a huge prayer of thanksgiving for the Aztecs who were smart enough to realize the value of chocolate! I can't imagine life without it!

Chocolate Chili Recipe:

Brown 1 lb of ground beef and 3 medium sized onions, drain any excess fat, put beef/onion in mixture into slow cooker.

In frying pan, with some heated olive oil, gently soften 4-5 good sized sweet banana peppers and 3 jalapenos that have been rustic-chopped. Once done, add to the slow cooker.

Rough-cut 5-6 medium sized fresh tomatoes. Add to slow cooker.

Crush 3 garlic cloves and add to the slow cooker.

Add the rest of these ingredients to the slow cooker and give the mixture a good stirring.
- 2 (15 oz) cans of diced tomatoes
- 1 (15 oz) can of kidney beans
- 1 (15 oz) can of black beans
- 2 tbsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. cumin
- some fresh oregano chopped fine
- 2/3 cup of semi-sweet dark chocolate chips

Cook on the highest setting of your slow cooker for a half-hour, then reduce to cook for at least 3 hours more. The longer it cooks, the more flavour will be released into the mixture.

Tea Time Tuesday!

2010-08-10T11:15:00.001-04:00

It's that wonderful day of the week when our thoughts turn to the refined notion of tea parties, lovely china, and good friends to share them with! Martha over at Martha's Favorites, Sandi over at Rose Chintz Cottage and Inspirations, Wanda Lee over at Plumed Pen and Lady Katherine over at Lady Katherine Tea Parlor are all hosting tea-themed memes! What a great way to meet new people and enjoy viewing the unique tea things that each person has so thoughtfully included in their blog.

Today, I am featuring two of my favourite tea cups. For some reason, I find myself always drawn to Aynsley china. If there are 10 tea cups to view at a thrift shop, my eye just invariably seems to go to the one in the lot that is an Aynsley! The two tea cups I'm showing you today are both the same Aynsley pattern, although they have different background colours, one being blue and one being pink. Apparently there are others available too, and I would love to add to my collection some day so I have one of each background colour.

I love the fact that while there is a small landscape on the outside of the tea cup,

the largest, most beautiful landscape is hidden inside!

The bluebell pattern is so lovely, a landscape pattern with soft blues and rose colours, it never fails to evoke the soft cool Spring days one would find in England. After emigrating to Canada, one of the few things my Mum missed about England was the long Spring weather. Here in Southern Ontario, Canada, things get hot fast and from one day to the next everything changes dramatically in the Spring. My Mum used to tell us stories of walking in a forest carpeted with bluebells and it always seemed the most magical of places we could ever imagine!

And speaking of cool Spring weather, we had a wonderful break from the hot, steamy summer weather yesterday, with the arrival of a sudden downpour. Even the cicadas stopped their incessant buzzing while the rain poured down in sheets, drumming loudly on the porch roof while I sat serenely on our swing, so enamored with the raindrops that I found myself setting aside the book I was reading so I could enjoy the spectacle of a rainfall. Once the rain had lessened, I snuck inside to grab my camera.

Follow Friday!

2010-08-06T09:32:00.000-04:00

Yup, it's the weekend again!!!! Yipee!!! And that means Follow Friday 40 and Over is happening over at Java's Never Growing Old blog. If you haven't checked out her blog, you really must. Her posts are incredible, her sense of humour wonderful, and she is absolutely inspiring! I just know you're going to love her.

For those of you who have been following the story of Tiger's attack and recovery, I wanted to give you a little update. For those of you who are visiting today, the "readers digest condensed version of the story" is that our shop cat snuck out one night a couple of weeks ago and got attacked by a dog resulting in significant injuries. Fortunately Tiger is getting stronger every day. She is using both of her back legs now, although she is only able to hold herself up about 3/4s of the way. She is walking .... well, sort of shuffling ... and able to hold herself up to use the litterbox now. All of these things are amazing when you consider what she has gone through. I'm starting to encourage her to walk more now that her wounds are healed, but she still has to be kept away from stairs or any elevation changes as she could injure the hip that was operated on if she jumped down on it.

My husband has made a little pen for her outside so she can enjoy the grass and watch all the birds, bees, and butterflies go by. I sit outside with her twice a day so she can enjoy the outside. I'm nervous of leaving her there alone so I stay with her - we frequently have dogs show up on our property and I think it would frighten her to death right now if a strange dog just suddenly showed up and she was in a little pen that could so easily be knocked over by a bouncy dog even if it had no intent to hurt her.

Here's a picture of the little sweetie in her "pen" - she loves to lie there and look up at the sky and sniff the grass and she walks around in her pen, shuffling her way from one side to the other.

I can't wait for all of her fur to grow back in so she will really look like herself again. If I take a photo of just her front half, and from the right direction so you can't see the area shaved under her chin, then she looks perfectly like herself!

Well, I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Blessings,

White Wednesday

2010-08-04T11:45:00.000-04:00

Out for a drive a couple of weeks ago, I spotted this door and just had to stop and take a picture. Simple and sweet, it called to me, causing me to wonder what type of people live there, laughing and crying, living and toiling, ordinary people no doubt - but hopefully they experience moments of great contentment as well, the kind of contentment that their door seems to symbolize.

"There are no words more simply sweet

than Home and Love."

Robert William Service

Following White Wednesday at Faded Charm Cottage.

Tea Time Tuesday!

2010-08-03T15:04:00.001-04:00

Well, it's Tea Time Tuesday over at Rose Chintz Cottage & Inspirations and Tea Cup Tuesday at Martha's Favorites. Can't wait to spend some time today checking out all the lovely tea cups that everyone will have posted! So much fun.

Today, I am featuring one of my tea cups that really isn't my favourite! It's just not exactly my particular taste, however, I wanted something a little bolder and wilder to showcase today for a specific reason.

My bougainvillea is blooming with riotous colour thanks to all the wonderful advice you bloggers gave me about keeping it alive and well.

It's just so stunning right now that I thought I would choose a teacup that would look great with those incredible blooms. But a delicate little tea cup just wouldn't do! So instead, I chose this one ...

It's bold and a little bit sassy and not really like my usual taste at all, but still I couldn't resist it when I came across it at an estate sale a few weeks ago.

On the bottom, it says "HAND PAINTED" and "MADE IN OCCUPIED JAPAN" with a crest that says "TRIMONT CHINA" in the centre. I have no idea if it has any particular value, but I quite enjoy having it in my collection and it's bold yellow colour and big design just seemed to match the vibrant colours in my bougainvillea.

Here's one last look at the saucer ...

Quite something, isn't it?

Blessings,

May Flower:

Pink, small, and punctual,

Aromatic, low,

Covert in April,

Candid in May,

Dear to the moss,

Known by the knoll,

Next to the robin

In every human soul.

Bold little beauty,

Bedecked with thee,

Nature forswears

Antiquity.

Emily Dickinson

Marvelous Monday and Marvelous Mum!

2010-08-02T12:01:00.001-04:00

Once again, it's a beautiful sunny day here in Southern Ontario, Canada. Today is "Civic Holiday" and so my dear Mr. Magnolia and I are enjoying a lovely long weekend.

Here's a peak at the delicious breakfast we had this morning - blueberry pancakes topped with fresh strawberries, with a side of lean turkey breakfast sausage. Yummy! We love eating out on the pool deck but to keep our coffee piping hot, I serve it in these handy "mason jar" mugs with screw on tops.

But although I love having breakfast with my husband, that's not what I'm posting about today!

On this Marvelous Monday, I want to post about my Marvelous Mum! I'm chuckling as I write that because she would think it was so corny if she knew I was calling her that, but truly she is quite wonderful. There is something so special about having a mother who is also a friend. I hear from some of my friends about how much they dread getting together with their own mothers, and I just feel awful on their behalf! Imagine missing out on that special friendship that is carved out of years of mutual nurturing and the intricate layers of knowledge that can only come from so many shared experiences. I also have friends who have lost their mothers, and wish they could have just one day more to share the joy of the unique friendship that is shared between mothers and daughters. So I have learned not to take for granted my relationship with my own mother. My life is so enriched by our friendship.

My Mum is strong and vulnerable, matter-of-fact and whimsical, abrupt and compassionate all wrapped up in one. Before I was five, she taught me how to read, how to tie my shoes and the names of a hundred birds or more. By the time I was ten, she had taught me to love God, love others, and love myself. She introduced me to books and the world of literature, so that I would have a life-long love affair with reading. But she also taught me to love the sound of a well-read poem, to enjoy closing my eyes and listening to the rise and fall of a skilled orator who could make the words on a page come alive. She taught me to appreciate nature and find joy in the simplest things around us. And she modeled loyalty and honesty so that I would know that these are character qualities worth developing.

My Mum is still teaching me but now I am teaching her too. Our relationship is no longer that of adult and child, but rather two equals. We share many things in common and yet have discovered over the years that we are in fact, quite different in personality. Our relationship has waxed and waned at times as life circumstances have sometimes kept us farther apart, then brought us back together again. At two years of age, I knew I needed my Mum. At twelve, I wanted to believe I didn't need her at all but secretly feared I couldn't live without her! And now that I'm forty-two, I find myself realizing that while I don't need her in the same way from decade-to-decade, yet I will always need her in some way regardless of how old I get. She will always be my Mum and so I recognize that I will always want to protect her and be protected by her.

Here's a picture of my Mum I took last week,

beside the beautiful sunflowers she has grown.

So on this Marvelous Monday, I am especially thankful for my Mum and the wonderful friendship we enjoy. I thought about finding some sentimental quote to end this post, but truthfully, my Mum would probably laugh hysterically if I found something sweet and cloying. So, I found this one instead, which is definitely one she would enjoy. She is, after all, the type of mother who seems to prefer ragamuffin children who are mischievous and have a propensity to play in mud puddles. No wonder we get along so well.

"My mother had a great deal of trouble with me,

but I think she enjoyed it."

Mark Twain

Still/Be Still My Soul

2010-07-31T15:36:00.000-04:00

Through my newest follower, Pam over at Live Laugh Love with The Pondering Princess, I discovered a new Saturday blog hop - one that I was so blessed to discover. What a great way to share music that is particularly meaningful to us!

The challenge of the blog hop hosted by Signs Miracles and Wonders is to post a song that has encouraged your heart.

This particular song (or should I say medley) is one that I came across about a year ago. I was in the middle of leading a Ladies Bible Study on worship and the particular chapter we were studying was based on Psalm 46:10 - "Be still and know that I am God." - I've found this to be a difficult thing to do at times. My heart wants to keep striving, struggling, worrying, working, testing, proving, fighting, attaining, competing, grasping, forging, pushing, moving - all action words. But to be still and rest in the knowledge of who God is? Oh, so very difficult at times. But the peace that comes from resting in His strength, and letting Him do the work is incomparable. I picture myself leaning back with utter trust in the strong arms of my Heavenly Father, believing He will hold me, guide me, and sustain me.

This song is a reminder of all of that - and a reminder that I frequently need! Hope it encourages your heart today.

Blessings, Ro

Follow Friday!

2010-07-30T11:52:00.000-04:00

It's Follow Friday 40 and Over again over at Java's Never Growing Old blog. It's been a busy week but a great one! Here are a few photos to give you a little glimpse into some of the things happening here on the Magnolia acreage.

Our garden has been producing like mad! We have cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, beets, zucchini and radishes coming out of our ears! I love having fresh veggies in our garden and Mr. Magnolia and I are enjoying loads of fresh salads and stirfries. Yum!

Our flowers are also loving the hot, steamy summer weather we are enjoying! This mandevilla vine has doubled in size since I purchased it. We have a hummingbird who loves to come and feast from it's trumpet-shaped flowers, but he's very camera shy and I haven't yet been able to spot him when I had my camera ready. Silly little hummer! You'd think he knew exactly when I have my camera and when I don't!

The sidewalk leading from our front door is graced by lovely hydrangeas and rose of sharon, all of which are blooming beautifully this year! I love to sit on our front porch in the evening and look out in this direction which faces west, so I can enjoy the lovely sunsets.

And speaking of sunsets, I was lucky enough to catch this beautiful sunset this past week. We live across the road from a winery which has converted a lovely old home into a restaurant. I couldn't believe the incredible colours that lit up the sky behind the winery this past week! They are actually to the south of our property, but the sunset was reflecting back from the west all the way around the winery property. Made for a very picturesque moment!

If you are visiting from Friday Follow 40 and Over, I hope you have enjoyed a little glimpse into my life here in Southern Ontario, Canada. My wish for you today is that you would have a few moments this weekend, to enjoy a sunset of your own, or perhaps to stop and smell the flowers, and appreciate the little things of beauty in your own life.

Blessings,

Marvelous Monday!

2010-07-26T11:51:00.002-04:00

It's Marvelous Monday! And on this beautiful Monday morning, I really do have a lot to be thankful for. This morning, I am especially thankful for the power of encouragement.

I have been so touched by all of the encouraging notes and messages I have received as I have been going through this difficult time with my little cat Tiger. Words cannot express how much it has meant to me that so many of you have taken time to express an encouraging word.

It has always been my desire to be an encouragement to those around me, but I have found it to be very enlightening to be on the receiving end. Your words of encouragement have been like little gifts of hope - hope that things will work out okay, hope that we will get through this, and hope that we are doing the best we can in the situation. The encouragement I have received from friends, family, and fellow-bloggers has been like a breath of fresh air to me!

Knowing that so many of you are going through much more difficult and trying times than I am right now, yet you took the time out of your own struggles in order to encourage me, is very humbling. So on this Marvelous Monday, I want to say a BIG THANK-YOU to all of you for your encouragement. I hope I can be an instrument of encouragement in your lives as well.

I'll leave you with this little video clip - it's only 3 seconds long and you'll have to turn up your sound to listen to it - but I think it will make you smile. It's a little snippet of Tiger having a cuddle with me the other night. As she was snuggling with me, she was purring her little heart out! It made me wonder what the function of a cat's purr really is! Perhaps with mother cats, it's to help calm her kittens, kind of like a lullaby, but since male cats purr too, it can't only be for that purpose. I wonder if a cat's purr is a form of encouragement too - encouraging the one who is purring and encouraging the one who is listening. There is nothing quite so peaceful is the sound of a cat's purr that creates such an atmosphere of serenity, security, and love. I think my little Tiger's purr is letting me know that she is very happy to be alive and is going to be just fine!

Roller Coaster Ride!

2010-07-24T20:22:00.001-04:00

When I was a kid, I loved roller coasters! Actually, I still do - but not the modern ones with the loopy-de-loop, hang-you-upside-down-from-your-neck kind of ride. No, I like the old-fashioned wooden roller coasters where you sat on a bench seat and where the ride had a couple of small hills, some twists and turns, and one great climb to a huge plummeting swooping downward spiral, all to the accompaniment of the rattling wooden track beneath you feet. Remember those? Those, my friends, were real roller coasters.

The Comet,

now at Lake George, New York,

in The Great Escape and Splashwater Kingdom,

has been restored to its former glory.

It found its first home at

Crystal Beach in Ontario, Canada

from 1948-1989.

Someday I hope to visit The Comet at its new home.

Growing up, we were lucky to live within a 45 minute drive of Crystal Beach, what was then a vibrant theme park and home of The Comet. Awww...The Comet - my favourite roller coaster ever. I dreamt of the day I would be tall enough to finally ride that coaster, watching my older siblings with a mixture of piercing envy and hidden fear as they tumbled wind-blown and happy at the end of the ride. When the day finally came and I was tall enough for the "big people" rides, I was ecstatic! And The Comet was everything I had imagined and more! I can still remember the butterflies in my stomach as we rode that big hill, clicking and clacking up the track. And then that brief second pause at the top, when the whole world seemed hushed and the laws of gravity stilled for just that second, before suddenly we were plunging down, down, down to the bottom, mouths open with glee, hands flung in the air, hair whipped back till we arrived breathless at the bottom, feeling somehow like we'd conquered a mountain or soared across the seas.

The problem with roller coasters, however, is that they aren't so much fun in real life. Do you know what I'm talking about? Days when your emotions are dragged all over the map, soaring to great heights, plunging to great depths, until your whole being feels stretched beyond repair and so very exhausted.

Right now, we are going through "roller coaster" times here in the Magnolia household. A big part of it is the ongoing saga of our cat Tiger but of course, there are always other things going on as well because let's face it, life doesn't stop just because you are faced with a mini-crisis of one type or another. I'm being pushed beyond my normal comfort zone to do things I wouldn't normally chose to do and that in itself is a stress. I'm not good with "medical" things at the best of times and suddenly I am having to deal with a cat that needs medications five times a day, a bandage that has to be changed daily, wounds that have to be cleaned twice daily, a feeding tube that has to be used to feed the cat 3-4 times a day, and physiotherapy that I'm supposed to be giving her 4 times a day.

And obviously my cat isn't exactly enjoying this any more than I am! Ever tried to give physiotherapy to a tired, hurting little animal who has not in any way lost her ability to use her front claws? Not fun! She actually is being very patient, but she will growl at me with a warning and if I keep on going, she will swipe at me with her claws. But the vet keeps insisting that it is imperative that I stretch both her back legs out 30-50 times, four times a day. And giving her medication isn't exactly a picnic either! She foams up at the mouth because the antibiotic tastes bitter and struggles so hard when I try to put any of her meds down her mouth with the syringe. And all the time, I am very aware that she is hurting and I hate to hurt her any more.

Quite apart from the daily responsibilities of her care, is the fact that we have no idea if she is going to recover. One day we have a positive day where she seems to be improving, and then the next day, it's like she's gone down hill again. Up and down, the roller coaster drags us, from hope to despair. And I am left questioning over and over again, if I have made the right decision to keep this little cat alive.

The thing is, when we first had to make the decision, we didn't have all the facts. The emergency vet clinic we brought her to told us she had no fatal injuries, no broken bones, just one hip that had been pulled out of joint and some "unknown" damage to her other leg. They assured us that the University of Guelph Vet team would be able to assess her much more accurately and since they are one of the only two spots in Ontario where vet surgery is available, it seemed logical to take her there. At Uof G, the vets assessed her, even having a neurologist look at her, and they assured us that the "unknown" damage to her left leg was nothing to be concerned about. Her right hip needed to be operated on, but her left leg would be fine. They felt there was temporary swelling on her sciatic nerve on the left side and that given time, it would heal itself.

Strange thing: No one ever talked about the bite wounds themselves. No one explained that dog bites could be so deadly, that the small 1/2 inch punctures on the outside of her body could hide huge damage done by the way a dog shakes it's prey.

So, we authorized the surgeons to operate on her hip and clean up her wounds. Then in the middle of the operation, they called us and said:
a) the hip operation went very well!
b) but the bite wounds were much more extensive than we realized and her stomach has been punctured,
c) but we can sew her stomach up and it will be okay, we just need you to authorize more money to be spent.

So, we thought YES! sew up her stomach. I mean, they had already done the expensive hip surgery and it was a success! And they said if they sewed up her stomach it would be okay. So why not go for it!

It wasn't until AFTER the surgery that the vet called us to explain that she had extensive wounds on her back, part of her tummy had to be removed, part of the abdominal muscle had to be removed, and they were very cautious about whether or not she would even survive the night.

So, the good news is that 12 days post-surgery, Tiger is alive! But the harsh reality is that we have a little cat that has 20 staples in her stomach, about 10 regular stitches where they weren't able to use staples on part of her belly, a feeding tube, four staples under her chin where they attempted to put in some type of catheter but weren't successful, and two large stitched wounds, one on her hip where they did the surgery, and one on her back where they had to clean out a particularly bad bite wound, and plenty of little wounds that are about 1/2-3/4" in length all over back and hind legs.

According to the vet at U of G, she should be up and walking by now but so far, she is not doing much other than sleeping on her blanket. Our own vet feels that is ridiculous and that with normal abdominal surgery they usually don't expect the cat to be up and walking for 12-14 days and then when you consider all the other trauma the poor cat has endured, it is no wonder she wants to stretch out on her blanket and sleep the day away! But hearing such varying reports on her recovery is confusing and yet another part of the roller coaster.

My husband talked me into taking her outside today on her blanket. It was a great idea! She perked right up and began squiggling all over the grass, watching every bird as it flew by, and sniffing the grass with obvious delight. But it became clear to us that she doesn't seem to be able to use her left leg at all right now. She does stretch it out regularly when she is lying on her blanket, but obviously she can't hold herself up on it at all. And the right leg that was operated on doesn't seem to be much better at this point.

So we are on the roller coaster still - wondering from day-to-day what kind of a long-term prognosis there will be for this little cat. I spoke to the vet in Guelph yesterday, just clarifying a few details about her care. One of my questions had to do with her medication. The antibiotic and the stomach buffer have a specific end date on the labels, but the pain killers do not, so I wasn't sure how long I'm supposed to be giving them to her. He explained that she might need to be on painkillers for the rest of her life! This was one of those plummeting moments for me, because if she is going to be in pain every day for the rest of her life, I don't think it's fair to her to prolong her life.

Tiger is sitting up properly now on her blanket for a few hours every day. She is obviously getting stronger and feeling less pain every day. The bandage around her neck is where her feeding tube is attached to her. You can just see the orange feeding tube tucked behind her head in the picture.

My husband and I have talked this over extensively in the last week and have decided we will do everything to give her the best hope she can have for the next four to five weeks. But after that period of time has passed, if she is not able to walk on at least one of her back legs, or if she is still in constant pain, we will have to make the difficult decision to put her to sleep. In the mean time, I am going to do my best to take care of her medical needs, as well as spending lots of time cuddling her. And she certainly hasn't lost her purr! She stretches out beside me, tucks her head under my chin, and reaches one paw out to hold me, as if she is so thankful to know I'm there.

Last Sunday morning, I dragged myself to church feeling emotionally raw. I couldn't believe it when the soloist for the day opened her mouth and began to sing. She had selected one of my favourite hymns, one I hadn't heard for many years, and one whose words were particularly meaningful to me this week. Knowing that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us and loves each little animal He created, is giving me strength as I ride this crazy roller coaster called life. I hope the words minister to you as well. (I've been singing the song all week long, replacing the words "the sparrow" with "my Tiger" - it has helped cheer me up considerably!)

Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heav’n and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant Friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
- Refrain:
  I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free,
  For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Matthew 10:29-31 (New Living Translation)
²⁹ What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. ³⁰ And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. ³¹ So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

Follow Friday - Reach for a Peach!

2010-07-23T10:14:00.002-04:00

Yes, it's Friday! And that means it's Follow Friday 40 and Over at Java's blog Never Growing Old (one of my favourite blogs by the way!).

Right now we are in the midst of fruit season here in Southern Ontario. So if you're visiting today from Java's blog hop, or from anywhere else, I invite you to "Reach for a Peach!"

Sweet and juicy, freshly-picked, these peaches are the first of many to come over the next few weeks. Ours are not ripe yet because they are a later variety, but my brother who is a full-time farmer has a barn full of peaches, apricots, cherries, and plums right now. We've had an early season for everything so it's a little bit chaotic down at the farm, but I visited there yesterday and enjoyed being a spectator while fruit was being picked, brought in from the orchards, and packed up for market.

Funny story - when we were in our early teens, the Ontario Fruit Marketing Board came out with this "Reach for a Peach" marketing campaign - they produced masses of T-shirts that all farm kids were supposed to wear when selling fruit. Only thing was, apart from blazening "Reach for a Peach" across our breasts, there were also two strategically placed peaches on the front of the T-shirts! My sister and I were mortified (I was 12 and she was 14) and refused to wear them after the first week when we received so many rude comments from disgusting old men at market. So whenever I hear the words "Reach for a Peach!" I always chuckle a little bit now, and shake my head too, wondering who in their right mind thought that a bunch of innocent farm girls were going to feel comfortable wearing T-shirts like that!

But if you don't like peaches, then I invite you to "Reach for an Apricot!" because they're ripe and delicious right now too! We have 7 trees of them on our own property and half of them have been picked. In another couple of days the rest of the varieties will be ripe and ready to go. We are so blessed to live in such a great area for farming. My husband says that at this time of the year, it's a little bit like living in the Garden of Eden - without any annoying snakes slithering around! :)

An Award for Little ole Me? Why, thank you! blush

2010-07-21T21:21:00.000-04:00

Recently, I received two blog awards. I love getting awards! Seriously, I love it - probably stems from the fact that I was such an under-achiever growing up. My older siblings all got awards in school but I didn't get nary a one! I drifted through school, pretty much happy-go-lucky, with fair-to-middling scores in everything except math which tended more towards the lowest end of middling wherever that might be! So, if I really love getting blog awards now, it's probably in part to make up for my early lassitude.

Judith, over at Unexpected Gems decided to pass on to me the "One Lovely Blog Award."

And Robin, over at Your Daily Dose bestowed on me the "Beautiful Blogger Award."

The funny thing is that both Robin and Judith have blogs that I appreciate so much, it seems like I should be giving them the awards, not the other way around. You two ladies inspire me both in completely different ways. Robin, I so appreciate your honesty. It helps me remember my own frailties and faults and struggles in a way that reminds me to stay humble and recognize my need to not just "settle in" but keep pushing for better in my own life. Judith, you, on the other hand, help me to remember God's goodness, His love and care and grace in my life, in a way that helps me to remember the "peace that passes understanding" - that gift from God that comes not through my own work, but simply because of how wonderful our Heavenly Father truly is. So one of you seems to encourage me to keep pushing on, and the other one of you seems to encourage me to rest, but I appreciate both perspectives for their own unique place in my life.

So thank-you to both of you for passing along awards to me, and I hope you don't mind that I've decided to combine them both in this one post. My little recovering feline patient is keeping me very busy with her demands so posting has become a bit of a luxury at the moment.

The rules for accepting the blog are:

1). Thank the person who gave you the award
2). List 7 things about yourself
3). List 7 inspiring blogs to whom you would like to pass the award.

So, Judith and Robin, please consider yourselves thanked! It was particularly encouraging to receive these awards this week because it has been such a difficult week for me to even get to my blog. So thank-you for your kindness!

7 Things About Myself:

1). My eyes are not exactly brown, not exactly hazel, but sort of a tawny yellowish colour, but they change too depending on the light and what I'm wearing. My youngest brother has exactly the same colour eyes - if they happen to be the same colour at the same time as mine. :)

2). I am the shortest person in my family and I am 5'6" so I'm not exactly short.

3). I was named after two aunts - my mother and my father both had sisters with my name.

4). I didn't get married until I was 34 and I really had no confidence that I would be "better" at marriage than any of my friends and relatives whose marriages failed. I thought marriage was probably going to be the hardest thing ever and got myself all worked up about it - and then discovered that marriage is the most amazingly wonderful joyful experience ever! I can't imagine life without my husband now and am so thankful for him. He makes every day so much better by laughing with me (and yes, sometimes AT me), by holding me when I cry, and being the best life partner day-by-day that I could ever imagine.

5). Some of my very best friends include my parents and my siblings even though we also can fight like crazy at times. Must be an Italian thing. :)

6). I really love bookkeeping. I know it should seem boring, but honestly, I just love taking the time to make sure everything adds up neatly and that it all falls into place where it's supposed to. Very little in life fits so neatly into columns, it's kind of a relief to work with numbers that belong in specific spots and can be ordered there by the stroke of a keyboard.

7). My name isn't really Ro Magnolia. That is a nickname that was given to me many years ago and stems from my maiden name. Maybe someday I'll share my real name but for now I just love the sound of "Ro Magnolia" - it has a certain southern belle kind of sound that I love and I have often thought I would use it as a pseudonym if I ever decided to write romance novels.

7 Inspiring Blogs:

I've chosen these 7 for such totally different reasons, but each one brightens my day with their posts - either by making me really think, or making me really laugh, or making me really smile, or even sometimes, making me just take a moment and breathe in a thing of beauty.

So to you 7, please feel free to collect either one or both of these awards. You deserve them! My life is enriched by your blogs on a daily basis and I feel like you have become part of my network of friends even though we've never actually met. :)

Never Growing Old
Fill My Cup...with Beauty
Bringing Pretty Back
Two Knit Monkeys
Life by Chocolate
Australian in Athens
Beyond the Kitchen Window

Tea Time Tuesday!

2010-07-19T21:54:00.001-04:00

It's Tea Time Tuesday again over at Rose Chintz Cottage & Inspirations and Tea Cup Tuesday at Marthas Favorites. Thanks once again to these lovely ladies for hostessing such delightful tea parties!

Where my dear "Mr. Magnolia" and I live in the Niagara Region, we are surrounded with lovely vineyards and quaint little villages, with only a half-hour drive to Niagara Falls or a one hour drive to Toronto. As you can imagine, tourism is a big part of our local economy and as a result, we are very lucky to live within an easy drive of a number of really special tea rooms that cater to tourists and locals alike.

A couple of weeks ago, I visited one of those tea rooms with two very dear friends. Located in Ridgeville, Ontario the Berry Patch is the sweetest little tea room you can imagine! It's situated in a converted barn, with a little gift shop inside, and all the seating for the tea room is on the lovely deep verandah!

There are many teas to select from and each person is served their tea in an individual china tea pot with a unique china tea cup and saucer. I chose a delicious Earl Grey Cream and found it to be an extremely smooth version of Earl Grey. I had a lovely pink tea cup to drink it from. Each tea drinker is also given their own little sieve to keep out the loose leaf tea.

They really do grow their own berries at The Berry Patch and my delicious scones came garnished with lovely plump fresh raspberries straight from the garden!

The gift shop has many lovely things to choose from and it was fun to browse. Of course there were lots of tea related items, but also some lovely hand-made jewelry and other "girly" things that were lots of fun to check out!

My friends and I had a wonderful "tea date," enjoying the atmosphere and pretending for a moment that we were back in a more civilized time, with no troubles too great that a "spot of tea" couldn't cure them! But we also had a true time of sharing and caring, something that is often done much more easily over a hot cup of tea or coffee. It reminded me once again of just how valuable real friendships are - in this case, our friendships have endured well over twenty years, through incredible life changes, difficulties and joys. I hope we're still drinking tea together when twenty more years have passed.

"Oil and perfume rejoice the heart;

so does the sweetness of a friend's counsel

that comes from the heart."

Proverbs 27:9

And just a little update on my dear "Tiger" - she is getting better every day! It will be a long recovery time for her but we think she is doing quite well. Thank-you to all for your prayers and positive thoughts! She sends purrs back in your direction, and we send our many, many thanks for your kindness.

A Message from Tiger

2010-07-16T09:36:00.001-04:00

Thank-you everyone for praying for me and sending me your love. I am getting better and want to go home! The vet says I have to stay at this hospital place until Sunday. My tummy is sore and I can't understand why my back paws don't work very well right now, but I still tried very hard to stand up to see my Mummy when she came to visit me. And when she said good-bye, I tried to struggle off of this silly rolling cart they had me on so I could go home with her, but the vet wouldn't let me. Mummy says I have to try to be a good girl and keep resting up.

The vet told Mummy that I was a very sweet cat. Mummy told the vet that obviously I am not back to normal because normally I am a feisty little tyrant. She told the vet that she will know I am back to normal when she hears that I scratched someone for being annoying. Mummy says I don't suffer fools gladly. I'm not sure what that means, but I think she means that I don't take guff from anyone. When I am feeling stronger, I will do my best to let the entire vet staff know that I am their superior in every way. But for now, I'm just getting lots of sleep and hoping that my Mummy comes to take me home very soon.

UPDATE!!!

The Vet Hospital just called and I can pick Tiger up today!!! Apparently she responded so well to my visit that she kept moving around after I left last night and they decided she would be much better off at home. I'm going up to pick her up around 4:30 and they will be giving me a 45 minute training session on how to care for her, change her bandages, give her physiotherapy, feed & medicate her through her feeding tube, etc. I'm a little nervous but very happy too. I know my cat and I think she'll recover a lot faster at home.

Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright

2010-07-15T09:45:00.000-04:00

Great report from the vet this morning! Tiger is doing very well. She is healing very fast and so this morning they were able to take out the drain on her stomach wound. They are lowering her dose of morphine based pain-killer and starting her on non-steroid anti-inflammatory medicine so that she will be more alert and also to help reduce swelling.

And I get to go visit her this afternoon! It's kind of funny that I'm going to be driving over an hour to go visit my cat for 15 minutes. But I'm just so thankful that I get to see her. I don't want her to think I've abandoned her.

The vet is hoping that while I'm there, we can get her to start trying to stand up. I'm bringing my camera, so I will try to get a picture of her so you can all see what she looks like - I suspect she will look pretty bizarre! But she's my little Tiger regardless of how strange she will look with tubes sticking out of her, hair shaved off and bandages all over. I can't wait to see the little feline!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers, purrs, and positive thoughts. I know it has encouraged me tremendously to know so many people are caring for her. And I do happen to believe in the power of prayer. In fact I really think God helped me find the little tyke when she was stuck up the tree and had no strength left to meow. I'm praying that she will get stronger every day and come home soon.

Tiger Update

2010-07-14T11:36:00.000-04:00

Well, Tiger my feisty little cat is apparently doing better this morning. That's the good news for today.

Last night we got a very disturbing call from the Vet Clinic to let us know that when they operated on Tiger, they discovered that her bite wounds were much worse than they had realized. Her little tummy was punctured! So her leg being out of joint was only a minor repair really, but the tummy had to be repaired too, along with the muscle that holds the abdominal cavity in place.

Honestly, if we would have known the extent of her injuries right from the start, I think we would have had the little cat put peacefully to sleep. She ended up last night with surgery to her hip, two drainage tubes from her two most serious wounds (one on her back, one on her tummy), stitches in her tummy wall and in her abdominal wall ... and then they told us that "of course, with dog bites, there is no guarantee she won't die anyway from infection!" However they never told us that to begin with, in fact they downplayed her puncture wounds and said her only serious injury was to her hip! And apparently they also put in a feeding tube because they were worried after all that surgery, she might not eat and then would die from liver failure because she stopped eating. : (

I was so overwhelmed last night after they called -- I just couldn't believe we had put that poor little cat through all of those surgeries and it might not work anyway! I felt kind of duped by the vets. They called in the middle of surgery to say the hip operation had gone very well, but after they had repaired her hip, they examined her bite wounds and that they needed permission to sew up her tummy. I'm not sure why they couldn't have examined her wounds first before doing the hip operation and called us right away. However, they didn't and we did give them permission to sew up her tummy. And it wasn't until after the operation that they told us they had actually had to cut away part of her abdominal muscle and that as a result, her intestines might fall out in the next day in which case she will die anyway.

But this morning, they called with good news, or what they are calling "cautiously optimistic" news - Tiger ate on her own so they didn't have to use the feeding tube and she is already trying to sit up and move her left leg that was operated on. All of her wounds and incision sites are clean looking with no sign of infection. She is in the animal equivalent of ICU so I can't go see her today, but they will let me see her tomorrow. The vet said she is on an upward swing, but warned me that with dog bites, she could easily spiral back down quickly so I shouldn't get to hopeful. The next 24 hours are critical.

I wish they had told me right up front that the dog bites were so serious. I wish they had examined her wounds before they did the expensive surgery on her hip. But most of all, I wish poor little Tiger hadn't escaped from the shop and run off on an "adventure" that has used up probably more than one of her nine lives.

She is a real little fighter though - how else could she have escaped with such serious wounds, managed to haul herself up a tree, and held herself there for hours until I could find her and rescue her? So I hope my little tigress holds on to her fighting spirit and gets through all of this. And our budget somehow survives! We definitely won't be going on a vacation this year after this expense, but if our little cat comes through it okay, I would rather spend the time at home anyway, cuddling the little bean and trying to keep her out of trouble! : )

Wounded Kitty Prayer Request

2010-07-13T16:22:00.001-04:00

Tiger hanging out at the shop several months ago.

Does it seem silly to ask for prayer for one of my cats? Maybe, but not to me - in fact I prayed all night long last night that God would help me find her because she was missing, and I'm convinced He helped me!

I had a lovely idea for a TeaTime Tuesday post today - all ready to go with pictures and everything, but I'm going to save it for next week. Right now, I'm going to ask you to pray for my beloved Tiger.

Tiger, our shop cat, was only about 10 weeks old when we discovered her and her litter mates out the back of my husband's automotive repair shop. Her mother was absolutely wild and would not come near us, but it was the most horribly cold snowy December when we discovered they were our "guests" so we began to put food out for them daily, to make sure they would survive.

Originally there were 3 kittens. One disappeared shortly after we discovered them. The two that remained grew up from little kitten-hood to semi-adult kitten-hood and seemed to be quite healthy. We fed them daily but they still would not let us near them. One day, when they were about 4 months old, their mother was killed on the highway in front of our shop. Shortly after that, the male kitten was killed in almost the exact spot. Tiger was left on her own, but still she wouldn't let me touch her. The great thing was that she would never go near the road, even from the time she was a wee little kitten. So at least I didn't have to worry about her meeting the same fate as her mother and brother.

Then, when she was about 6 or 7 months old, she started to go into heat for the first time. There were male cats everywhere! Howling, mewling, snarling, male cats appeared from every direction! I was actually caught between two of them fighting one day and got quite scared because they looked so mean! And yes, Tiger got "knocked up." But the good news was that with the help of all those hormonal swings going on in her body, she finally let me pet her for the first time. And soon, she would even let me pick her up and put her in my lap and hold her. She still had never been inside of a building, but at least we were making progress.

When her kittens (all 5 of them!) were born inside of a scrap tire behind our shop, I got to see them briefly before she whisked them away and hid them on me. But after moving them a few times, Tiger finally decided she would trust me with them, so by the time they were about 4 days old, I was able to start playing with them and petting them. When they were 8 weeks old, I took them away from her, brought them to our home and got them litter-trained, vet-checked, and found homes for them. The reason I took them away so soon is because a female cat will go into heat again about 8 weeks after a litter is born and I really didn't want her to get pregnant again! Now that she was so tame, I took her to the vet right away and got her spayed. Even though she seemed tame to me at this point, she still had never been inside of a building and was so frantic in the kennel at the vets that she tore the skin of her face trying to escape through the bars.

But when I brought her home from the vet's, I decided to take her right into the shop and from that moment on, she made it her home. She would go out side during the day and then come in for the night. Gradually she became more and more tame and pretty soon she would go for days without going outside. That was several years ago and she now feels that she owns our shop! She is a little leery around strangers but surprises us from time-to-time by befriending one of our customers that she has arbitrarily decided she will trust. Every afternoon at around 4 o'clock, Tiger knows it's her "bed time" so she usually goes over to the stock room door and waits for me to put her in there for the night. The reason we close her in there, is so that she won't set off the motion sensors for our alarm system. It's a decent sized room and she has her own shelf with her cat bed on it and her litterbox, water dish, and food dish. It also has a big window for her to gaze out of, and a small window that looks into my husband's office, so she can look in there if she'd rather have an "interior" view.

Over the last 6 years since we've tamed her, I have debated back and forth about letting her outside. Our house cats are strictly indoor cats because we live on a very busy highway, about one block from our shop. But because Tiger was so wild before, I decided that she would never be happy if I didn't let her go outside during the day. Also, during the summer months, my husband works with the shop doors all open to let a breeze through the building, so short of keeping her enclosed in that little shop room day and night, she would be able to get out whether I wanted her to or not. So far, it is has worked out very well because she doesn't go very far during the day and usually only goes outside for an hour or so at a time. And she seems to stay well away from the highway.

Last night, however, she escaped. My husband was working late and needed a part in the stock room. He went in shutting the door behind him, but his customer didn't realize there was a cat there and yanked the door open. Tiger scooted out of the stock room and out of the big garage door like a blur. I have no idea why she wanted out of there so bad, but the bottom line is she darted out and was gone like a flash.

My husband called me to let me know, so I went over to the shop and called her and called her, but she wouldn't come. We stayed until midnight trying to find her, wandering around all over our property and the neighbour's field trying to find her. Finally, we came home, sick at heart and very worried. I couldn't sleep all night and prayed and prayed asking God to help me find her. At 5 this morning, it started to get light out side, so I told my husband I was going back to the shop to try and find her.

I found her up a tree, severely wounded, but alive. It's a miracle that I found her and another miracle that she trusted me enough to back down the tree into my arms even though she was in intense pain and extremely frightened. The reason I was able to find her, is that she was in a tree up against the chain link fence between our property and our neighbour's and their large dog was barking furiously at the tree only about two feet away from it! You can imagine how frightened Tiger was! If she had fallen the wrong way coming down the tree, she would have ended up on the side of the fence with the dog!

We don't know if she was attacked by that dog or by a coyote, but there are bite marks all over her back and one of her legs has been dislocated. We rushed her to an emergency vet clinic this morning where she was medicated and assessed and then we rushed her to Guelph University Veterinary College where she is having surgery right now. The good news is that none of her injuries are life-threatening. The bites are being cleaned and drained and her leg is being surgically fixed - basically they are taking the ball part of her hip joint right out, which sounds awful but apparently is the best thing under the circumstances and she will able to walk normally once it heals. She has some nerve damage to her left leg as well, but the surgeon who examined her feels quite confident that it is caused by temporary swelling and in a few days should be better.

So please pray for my little Tiger, or if you don't pray, send warm fuzzy feelings in her direction. She's just one little cat, but she is such a special little one, as they all are, and is very well-loved by my husband and I. I know that God helped me find her, and it is amazing she survived being attacked, so I'm believing God will help her to recover as well.

Marvelous Monday!

2010-07-12T11:30:00.001-04:00

My father-in-law was a hard-working man. As an immigrant to Canada, he spent most of his life working low-paying, long hour jobs in less than idyllic conditions. He was a lumber jack in British Columbia for a few years in the late 1920's, spent a few years in the "dirty thirties" working in Saskatchewan and Alberta for the railroad where he was part of a crew who manually repaired railroad tracks along miles of track that were scorching hot without shade in the summer and blistering cold in the winter. He also spent quite a few years in Sudbury, Ontario working in a mine where he managed to develop the "miner's lung" that would plague him for the rest of his life. In the 1940's he worked at the Massey Harris plant in Brantford,Ontario where farm equipment was manufactured and in the 1950's, he was part of the tunnel-digging crew that dug the tunnels for the "new" hydro-electric generating plant in Niagara Falls. He spent the last twenty or so years of his working life at a brick factory in an incredibly hot environment. His job was to shovel coal into the kilns which had to reach 1800 degrees fahrenhiet in order for the clay tile and bricks to cure. My husband estimates that during this time, his father would have shoveled 100,000 tons of coal!

When my father-in-law finally retired at the age of 70, he was at last able to spend time doing what he really, really loved to do ... and that was planting! I think perhaps that he looked back with nostalgia to the the first 15 years of his life that were spent on a little farm in what was then Hungary but is now Slovakia, tilling the soil with a donkey, immersed in small-town rural Europe before the first world war changed everything so dramatically. Or perhaps he just simply enjoyed the feel of soil on his hands but regardless of his reason, my father-in-law really did love to plant.

My husband says that every time he came home from work, it seemed like his father had planted something new! He planted fruit trees and currant bushes and hedges galore! All of which had to be patiently watered by hand from an old-fashioned hand pump, bucket by bucket carried out to keep those little seedlings alive. And for some reason, my father-in-law took a special liking to Rose of Sharon. As a result, we are surrounded by beautiful Rose of Sharon bushes.

So today, on Marvelous Monday, I am extremely thankful for my late father-in-law, who spent hours planting those beautiful Rose of Sharon bushes that now grace our home with such beauty. This past weekend, they all began to flower, their lovely big blooms opening up for the enjoyment of humming birds, bees, and butterflies and even the occasional human!

My father-in-law planted quite a few different colours of Rose of Sharons, including a number of bushes where several colours have been grafted on to the same plant. It's lovely to see all the different shades.

Some are deep pink, and others have a blue tinge. There are two different types of white blooms, the one above with the red centre, and one other that isn't open yet. It is a soft white colour with a buttery yellow centre. I think it's actually my favourite, but I do love them all.

When I sit on our front porch in the evening, resting on our swing, this is the beautiful view I get to enjoy.

And what makes it particularly beautiful is that although the Rose of Sharon are just opening up now, they will last for the rest of the summer and well into the fall, a wonderful reminder of my father-in-law and his love of planting.

Everybody needs a Man Friday!

2010-07-09T11:35:00.000-04:00

I read this quote recently:

"Only Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday."

How true! It's been a busy week but I've actually been able to stay on top of the bookkeeping and almost all the laundry is done. This morning I woke to discover our heat wave has broken and it's only 80 degrees. I'm actually going to miss the lovely, lovely heat, but I do think I might be able to get a little bit more accomplished today now that it is cooler.

If you're visiting from Friday Follow 40 and Over, welcome to my blog. This week I'd like to offer you a nice cold glass of sun tea.

It's been so hot this week, I've been staying refreshed by making batch after batch of sun tea. This is a glass of Earl Grey with lots of lime and a hint of sugar. But my favourite so far is a batch I made of Pomegranate Green Tea with lemon slices. Very, very flavourful!

I've also been spending a LOT of time right here:

It's been a perfect week of swimming pool weather with temps in the high 90's and a humidex that has put it way over the top into the 100's. We could not believe it yesterday when we saw that even the swimming pool temperature had risen to over 90!

But today is a rainy day, and as I said the temperature has cooled off ... perfect day for a visit with some friends, so thanks for stopping by!

Here's one last shot of last night's sunset, the gathering clouds were a good indication that rain was on its way.

White Wednesday

2010-07-07T08:23:00.000-04:00

It's White Wednesday again over at Faded Charm Cottage.

Here are a few of the "whites" that caught my eye this past week.

A white cottage on the edge of a sparkling blue lake (Lake Erie).

A sweet white colt rolling in the grass beside its Mummy.

Pure white water lilies in a pond full of frogs and dragonflies.

Marvelous Monday!

2010-07-05T11:23:00.000-04:00

Whew! It's a hot one today ... when I took the dogs for a walk at 7:30 this morning, it was already 90 degrees in the shade and there's 64% humidity, making it feel even more hot! Thank goodness I actually love hot, humid weather. But today, on this Marvelous Monday, the heat is making me extra thankful for two recent garage sale purchases:

The first purchase was an outdoor bathtub we came across. It's a small tub, carefully built into a nice wooden box with casters underneath. I think it was put together by someone who was a professional dog groomer and it certainly made me think immediately of my dogs. Perfect for these DAWG DAYS of summer!

Deezer, my Jack Russell, doesn't normally like to get wet, but with these hot temperatures, she has been jumping right into her new bathtub as soon as we get back to the house from our morning walk. She doesn't play in the water, just sits there in complete bliss and laps the water with her little pink tongue.

Bella, my black lab, ADORES water! She thinks the new bathtub is absolutely WONDERFUL! (although I think she wishes it was much, much bigger!) She could play for hours in there and loves digging around in the water and splashing me as much as possible in the process. : )

Our last garage sale find is also a wonderful treat in this hot weather.

Eventually it will find a home on our front verandah, but for now, it's tucked in a shady spot under a cherry tree where it's catching a light breeze. It was the perfect spot to enjoy my morning coffee today.

Day in the Country & Follow Friday 40 and Over

2010-07-02T11:12:00.002-04:00

Hey, it's Friday already! And once again I am participating in Follow Friday 40 and Over. If you're new to my blog, welcome! Please stay for a little visit. Hope you enjoy my post today - mainly a photoblog this time around. Every day, I post something different, but I do love to take photographs so I often share them here. So sit back for a moment, grab a cup of coffee or tea, and pretend you were with us yesterday as we ventured into the countryside.

Yesterday was Canada Day, so we had the day off. I tend to groan a bit when holidays fall in the middle of the week instead of giving us a long weekend, but it was actually so lovely to have a day off in the middle of the week and still have the weekend to look forward to.

We took a lovely drive up to Amish country, spent some time at St. Jacob's Farmers Market, stopped at a garage sale in the little village of Alma, explored the cute little shoppes of Elora, and had an early supper at Elora Mill Inn, on a patio, hanging over the gorge. It was a beautiful day and I just have to share some of my photos!

First a couple of shots from the Farmers Market. I couldn't resist taking this picture of these two Amish guys who were having such a good laugh while they were waiting to sell their maple syrup products. The second shot was taken because I absolutely love the vibrant colours of the fruits and veggies that are available at this time of year.

After we left the market, we went for a drive through the countryside.

Then we stopped at Elora Mill Inn for dinner. It sits on an incredibly beautiful gorge.

We ate on that balcony looking out on the water. The glass-topped table made it feel like we were hanging right over the water!

It was so much fun watching the kayakers run the rapids.

When the kayakers were done, the second act of our dinner show occurred when this lovely blue heron flew in for a fishing expedition. We watched while he patiently waited at the side of the river, caught one fish, and then waded right into the middle of the rapids and caught three more!

After dinner, we explored some of the little shoppes in downtown Elora.

And stopped for the very BEST ice-cream I have ever had at this little place. The ice-cream was organic and absolutely so creamy, it was INCREDIBLE!

One scoop of French Vanilla, and one scoop of Cappuccino - the perfect dessert to end a perfect day!

(Oh, and some other time, I'll have to show you a picture of the vintage rolling pin I managed to pick up at that little garage sale!)

Happy Canada Day!

2010-07-01T10:37:00.000-04:00

Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians. And what could be a better way to start off this holiday than a delicious breakfast of homemade Saskatoon Berry Pancakes smothered in lovely maple syrup! Mr. Magnolia was extremely happy when I served them up this morning. Hope you all have a terrific day, celebrating in your own unique way.

White Wednesday

2010-06-30T08:14:00.000-04:00

Today I am following White Wednesday at Faded Charm for the first time. Even though I am addicted to riotous colours of all sorts, I love the simplicity of white. It has an elegance and serenity about it that is very calming.

So last evening I set out on a treasure hunt to find things that are white, but specifically I was looking for items that evoke feelings of peacefulness and tranquility. The fact that it was a beautiful sunny evening with a soft summer breeze helped put me in the right frame of mind. And then suddenly, all around me, I began to spot things that are white ...

Teddy Bear Picnic

2010-06-29T01:09:00.005-04:00

It's Tea Time Tueday over at Rose Chintz Cottage & Inspiration and Tea Cup Tuesday at Martha's Favorites. Honestly, because of the wonderful blog hops these two ladies host, Tuesday is becoming one of my favourite days of the week!

But over here in my own blog, something special is happening ...

Cordelia Rabbit decided to throw a tea party for her teddy bear friends. Jeremy and Olivia are quite small bears. Cordelia told them they could have their very own tea cups to drink out of, but she would have to be the one to pour the tea since they are just too little.

Jeremy is a serious little bear. He likes to stand up properly even when he's at a tea party.

Olivia is much more mischievous. She was having fun rolling around on the floor and pretending to be a ballerina. Cordelia had to tell her to settle down and drink her tea before it got cold.

When it was time for the dessert plate to come out, nobody was surprised to see it loaded up with blueberries! Everyone knows that teddy bears simply ADORE blueberries with their tea.

But Cordelia Rabbit said she would prefer something a little bit crunchier.

Olivia thought maybe she would try the radish too!

It was certainly crunchy, but it tasted hot and burnt her tongue.

She decided that teddy bears really do prefer blueberries after all!

If you go down to the woods today

You're sure of a big surprise,

If you go down to the woods today

You'd better go in disguise,

For ev'ry bear that ever there was will gather there for certain because

Today's the day the Teddy Bears have their picnic!

The china teddy bears used in this "Tea Time Tuesday" vignette are very special to me. They were given to me by one of my brothers when I was only 4 years old. Originally, there were 3 little bears but unfortunately, one of them got broken along the way. Olivia has a little bit of damage to her orange polk-a-dot bow but, considering I have celebrated my 39th birthday a couple of times already, I'm really pleased that I still have two of my little bears after all these years!

The little tea set is one I picked up at a garage sale this past weekend. I've been wanting a wee tea set for a while now and was so happy to come across it - and happy to purchase a lovely Royal Winton plate at the same sale for only a dollar! Perhaps it will be featured in one of my Tea Time Tuesday vignettes in the future.

Marvelous Metamorphosis Monday

2010-06-28T11:17:00.002-04:00

It's Marvelous Monday again and today I've decided to participate in the Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, partially because I love the name of that blog (for obvious reasons) and partially because I am really thrilled with how my screened porch turned out.

For some reason that completely fails me now, I allowed my dogs the reign of our screened-in porch for the last few years. Here's a before pic:

As you can see, the floor was in BAD need of a fresh coat of porch paint. The furniture was completely geared to canine comfort (i.e. an old ratty rocking chair and an equally-old bench seat from a long-discarded minivan). The dogs loved having free-reign over the little porch but we were getting no benefits from it whatsoever!

Then, inspiration struck and I decided to convert it into a little reading room. You may have noticed a picture of it in my sidebar ... "My Current Favourite Reading Spot."

Last year I took these old wooden chairs that have followed me from apartment to apartment, painted them a sunny yellow and purchased new cushions for them. I hadn't yet found the perfect place for them, but they fit perfectly in their new home! (sorry there are no "before pictures" of the chairs - I could probably find some somewhere -basically they were dingy brown with strange red cushions.)

I fell in love with these miniature african violets at a local florist and thought they'd fit perfectly in my Chinese tea cups.

This past weekend, I've been working on some "finishing touches" for my reading room. Years ago I bought this little occasional table that had a cherry wood veneer. I've moved so many times, from apartment to apartment that when I finally got married 8 1/2 years ago, the poor little table was still intact but showing a lot of signs of wear and tear. I've been planning to do something with it for a while and finally got inspired this weekend. This is how it turned out:

I picked up a little decorative birdcage at a garage sale on Saturday. It was a horrid fuchsia pink! A little paint in a vintage green colour and some touches of antique white have transformed it into this lovely little addition to my sunporch.

For now I've placed one of the mini African violets inside, but I'm thinking a nice fat white candle would look great in there!

I also found this sweet little elephant at a garage sale and just knew he would look adorable underneath the gigantic leaves of this tropical plant!

I decided to redo the mailbox as it was an old worn, rusty brass. Since we get our "real" mail in the mailbox at the end of our driveway, this box is used solely for notes dropped off by family members and friends, so I thought I could get away with the "love notes" sign without frightening the mailman to death! : )

Here's a couple pictures of how my sunporch looks now:

So this Marvelous Monday, I'm thankful for a rainy weekend that allowed me to catch up on some little painting jobs I've been wanting to do, and for garage sale finds that never fail to inspire me, and for my own private little reading room that is so tranquil and a lovely spot to be, regardless of the weather.

Follow Friday 40 and Over!

2010-06-25T09:05:00.000-04:00

Today is Follow Friday 40 and Over blog hop day! I love this day and I'm so thankful to Java for starting it. I've met some of you lovely bloggers the last few weeks through this blog hop and hope to meet more of you today.

Now usually, I like to set out a little refreshment for my guests, perhaps a nice glass of lemonade, or a slice of pie. We can sit a while and visit and take some time to get to know each other, in a gentle kind of refined way.

Not today!

You see, I've been rather busy this past week taking care of this:

My mother is away visiting my brother in Greece right now. So I have been faithfully driving over to my parents' home twice a day, watering all of her MANY hanging baskets and flower beds, preparing meals for my Dad, and taking care of my Mum's sweet cat "Button."

Unfortunately, there are some projects at my own home that have been put off and put off and can wait no longer! So today, in between trips to my parents (my Mum comes back tonight, Hallelujah!!!), I will be tackling this job:

Yes, yes, I realize the flower bed in the background DESPERATELY needs weeding ... but today, I'm concentrating on mending and painting my swing which is dying for a fresh coat of paint!

So, I hope you drop by for a visit today, but instead of this:

I just might offer you one of these:

But I bet we'll have fun together anyway. And when it's time for a break, this is where I'm planning to head. Wanna join me?

If my Nonna could hear me now ...

2010-06-24T14:01:00.001-04:00

My Italian grandmother had a saying - well, truthfully, she had MANY sayings! - but the one I'm thinking about right now is:

"Primo non pensa, ultemo suspiro."

Not sure if I've spelled that right because I don't speak Italian, but basically translated it means "If you don't think now, you'll be sighing later." Or, in other words, if you don't think things through now, you will suffer later.

I want so badly to be able to communicate this idea to the next generation - only I don't know how. How do you take a body of knowledge, "wisdom" if you will, and package it up in some palatable form that a young adult or teenager will accept? Suddenly, I find myself feeling very old and at a loss to connect with my younger relatives. Was I ever that naive? That stubborn? That stupid? Okay, I freely admit to the stubbornness. I know I have always had a stubborn streak. But the stupid part? Not really - I did some stupid things, but I did them in a smart way. Does that make sense? I mean, I never went farther than I should have, never crossed a certain line into behaviour that would have put me at risk. I drank foolishly, but watched my back the whole time. There were times that I partied like there was no tomorrow, except, I always knew that there was a tomorrow! And that I had to go to work the next day, so I made sure I got just enough sleep to show up to work on time and even managed to be a hard-working productive employee.

I didn't know what I wanted to be when I "grew up," but I was ambitious enough to push my way to the top in the job I had at the time. It may not have been my life goal, but I was going to prove to myself and the world that I could do it, and do it well. And I took a fierce pride in my own ability to maintain my independence, to save as much as possible, even though it was a small amount, loving that satisfaction of a job well done, a paycheck well-earned, and a small but growing savings account.

Nothing was ever given to me, I had to work for it, and even though I envied some of my friends their sense of entitlement, I liked knowing that I could rely on myself to survive. I know that we all dream of some day winning the lottery, but truthfully, I can honestly say I don't know if I would ever have the sense of joy over a big lottery win as I could possibly have over my very first pay check. I remember looking at with such a sense of pride, knowing I had sweat buckets in a hot kitchen, scrubbed out pots and pans and deep fryers, peeled an immense amount of potatoes, and put up with the worst kind of sexual harassment that could only have happened to a 16 year old girl in the 80's, since no one in the work place would ever get away with that now. That was life in a hotel kitchen back then, male-oriented, fiercely competitive, and full of all the foul language that Gordon Ramsay now makes millions spewing on TV. No, nothing was given to me, but I earned every penny and along with the pennies, came an iron core of determination and strength of character that have stood with me all these years.

I wish I could translate that for my young relatives to understand. I wish I could instill in them a sense of determination and an appreciation for achieving a goal that you have worked hard to attain. But those are things you can not gift to another person, they have to experience for themselves by working at it. And in the mean time, I have to sit back and watch ... and pray ... and hope they don't make irrevocable mistakes, by acting without thinking now, so they will end up sighing with grief down the road.

If I had a scanner, I'd scan in a picture of my Nonna so you could see her, but instead I'll have to make do with this old photo I scanned a couple of years ago, taken when I was 17 and apprenticing to be a chef. I'm in the first row, third from the right. Don't we look silly in our tall white hats? :)

Teacup Tuesday and My First Giveaway!

2010-06-22T13:20:00.001-04:00

Today is Teacup Tuesday over at Rose Chintz Cottage & Inspiration and at Martha's Favorites so imagine my delight when I came out of my house this morning and discovered these joyful little frogs having a teaparty!

Frog Number One had a lovely little teacup and saucer sitting beside him, but instead of sipping tea sedately, he looked like he was about to jump willy-nilly into the lily pad bath! If you look closely, you'll see that he even had a tiny little "tea sandwich" on his saucer, the kind of "tea sandwich" that only a frog can truly appreciate. Not cucumber, of course, but a very tasty bug!

Apparently he had his eye on the other "goodies" that were floating on an exquisite rose dish in the centre of the lily pad bath! Hmmmm ... I wonder what the provenance of that sweet little rose dish is!

One of the other frogs, was enjoying a "cuppa" with a delicate tea cup made of shell!

Those frogs were having such a merry tea party, that things started to get a little riotous!

The lily pad bath was swinging back and forth and I began to wonder what exactly was in those tea cups! I'm glad to say that everything has now returned to normal out by the lily pad bath. I suspect the frogs are having a little snooze to rest up from their wild morning tea party.

A merry heart does good like a medicine.

Proverbs 17:22

My First Giveaway:

Today I am announcing my very first giveaway! I'm so excited about this because I truly love to give presents. I've decided to have a giveaway in honour of my little frogs and the fact that I recently reached two milestones with my blog: 45 followers and my 50th post! I have so enjoyed finding my way around blogland and meeting so many wonderful fellow bloggers. The past two + months have been wonderful.

Now honestly, I have to tell you that the item I'm giving away has very little monetary value, but I do think he's rather sweet and has been a favourite of mine for a long time.

He's only about an inch long and the little lily pad he sits on is about 1 1/2".

So here are the rules if you would like to enter to win this cute little froggy guy:

1. Become a follower if you aren't already.

2. Post about my giveaway on your own blog.

3. Leave me a comment on this post letting me know you have done so and leaving a link to your own post.

I will put all of the entries into a hat and draw the winner on June 30th, so you have until then to enter. I will contact the winner for a mailing address.

Hope everyone enjoys a WONDERFUL Teacup Tuesday!

Marvelous Monday!

2010-06-21T09:23:00.000-04:00

It's Marvelous Monday again and today I am thankful for this teeny tiny bougainvillea of mine.

It's such a wee little plant, and since I brought it home from the plant nursery, it has dropped flower after flower! I don't think it quite likes the environment I've given it so I'm trying to decide where to relocate it in the hopes of getting more of those lovely bright pink blooms back.

But in spite of its insignificant size and somewhat miserable appearance, I still love my little bougainvillea because it reminds me of one of my favourite vacations to a lovely little island in Greece where the bougainvillea grows riotously and with picturesque abandon against blue and white doors...

And lovely stone buildings ....

And just around the corner of a twisting cobblestone passageway ....

And breathtaking in its beauty with the bright Aegean sun against the pristine white-washed walls....

And where my mother is right now, sitting on a sun-drenched terrace, hopefully enjoying a well-deserved break under the glorious bougainvillea for which my little plant will only ever be a sentimental reminder.

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T10:46:00.000-04:00

There are so many activities I am involved in at our local church, and I love them all, but honestly, one of my favourites is leading my Jr. Church class. Well .... there are days when those kids make me crazy and I feel like pulling my hair out, but honestly, I do love working with them in spite of those moments of chaos. For the last couple of years, I have been leading the Grades 4 and 5 class. Probably my favourite thing to do with the kids is a craft. It is sometimes challenging working with a mixed class at that age because the girls are usually much more advanced in their small motor skills than the boys are. But somehow, we muddle our way through and at the end of each class, the kids have something to take home and show off to their parents.

Today for Father's Day, we are making cinnamon scented air-fresheners for their dad's car or truck. I got the idea from an internet site and modified it to work with my class.

You start by taking a sheet of sandpaper and using a cookie cutter, stencil a gingerbread man shape on the back of the paper.

Then you cut out the gingerbread man, turn it over to the "sandy" side, and glue grated cinnamon on it. Well, the internet site recommended freshly grating cinnamon with a cheese grater, but knowing the kids I have in my class, I suspected there would be way too many grated knuckles. Instead I found this awesome product at our local dollar store:

It's cinnamon sugar with a built in grinder in the bottle, like a pepper grinder. Pretty much "kid-proof" - I'm hoping there is no way they maim themselves with that! I used a pipe cleaner at the top so it will be easy for the dads to hang it from their rearview mirrors.

Here's a look at the end product and I must say it smells delicious! Hope the scent lasts for awhile. (You'll probably notice it's sitting on top of our Father's Day cards that we're also working on. Under the "tie" which is made from scrapbooking paper, it says "Thanks Dad! U "tie" R family 2-gether.")

I'm off to church now, and hopefully these will be as easy to replicate with the kids as I'm thinking it will be! There are usually at least one or two surprises though so who knows! In the mean time, I hope you are all having a good Father's Day, spending some special moments with the important men in your life.

2010-06-18T07:33:00.001-04:00

Ahhhhhhhhhhh......It's Friday!

Friday is full of hope, the beginning of the weekend, when everything is still full of possibilities and opportunities and who knows what is coming! I hope you are enjoying your Friday and all the anticipation that comes with it, dreaming of a perfect weekend, with sunny skies and whatever else makes a perfect weekend happen for you.

It's Follow Friday 40 and Over again! I don't know what it means for you to be over 40 - for me it's been a bit if a surprise. I dreaded turning 40! I thought it would be all things horrible. But then it happened, and I realized that 40 is okay .... and maybe not just "okay" but actually pretty darn good!

If you're visiting from the Friday 40 and Over blog hop, welcome to my little corner of blogland! I hope you enjoy your visit. Today, I am serving all my visitors a piece of the first mulberry pie of the season. It's so sweet and tangy, I just know you are going to enjoy it!

So pull up to the table and grab a fork. Would you prefer coffee or tea with your pie?

What I Like About You ....

2010-06-17T08:53:00.002-04:00

Finding my way around the blogging community has proven to be an absolute joy. This morning I decided I would like to start a new blogging tradition, a regular "What I Like about You" post that highlights one particular blog that I have really come to enjoy.

Today's featured blog is: Farmgirl Fare

What I like about Susan's blog is pretty much everything! A baker turned farmer, Susan dishes up wonderful recipes, incredible photos, and little glimpses of her life on the farm.

Yesterday, I baked up one of her recipes, an Orange Yogurt Loaf that Susan recommended as a great accompaniment for fresh strawberries.

Here's a picture of my finished product:

It turned out to be an absolutely delicious, moist loaf that was just bursting with orange flavour! And it did indeed taste wonderful with fresh strawberries.

If you like to bake and try new recipes, or if you just want a regular "dose of cute" in photo form, you really should go over and check out Susan's blog. You will not be able to resist the sweet little lambs, gorgeous white fluffy Pyranees dog, or the unique faces of her many donkeys.

Sunshine Award!

2010-06-16T08:13:00.001-04:00

I'm so thrilled ... I got another blog award! I've been savouring it for a few days, just enjoying the sweet kindness of Dawna over at Hiccups in Time for granting it to me.

I particularly love that its called the "sunshine award" because who doesn't need a little bit of extra sunshine in their lives? Living in Canada, I particularly love sunshine because, let's face it, there are many long months of grey stormy skies and wet slushy snow that seem to last way tooooooooooo long. Sunshine is life to me!

As an aside, I've recently started taking Vitamin D supplements and I really recommend them. After about a month of taking them, I am feeling a tremendous boost in my energy levels.

This award has given a little boost too - a little boost of encouragement! So thank-you Dawna for thinking of me and passing along this sweet award.

The rules of acceptance are:

1. Put the logo on your blog.
   No problem there, I adore gerbera daisies almost as much as I love sunshine!

2. Pass the award on to 12 bloggers.
   Hmmmmm .... let me give that some thought.

3. Let the bloggers know that you have given them an award.
   Definitely will do that once I narrow the list down to 12. Really, you people all have such WONDERFUL blogs, how am I supposed to choose?

4. Share the love by linking back to the person who gave the award.
   Already did that but here she is once again! Dawna at Hiccups in Time  Thank-you Dawna!

So, now on to choosing the 12 bloggers I'm going to pass this award on to. I wish I could choose you all, because honestly, I have so enjoyed getting to "know" each one of you, benefiting from your creativity, insightful writing, lovely photography, and growing friendships. You are all such special people and having a little glimpse into your lives is something I treasure.

However, since I do have to narrow it down to 12, here are 12 of the many special bloggers I enjoy. Some I've known for a little while (little because I've only been blogging for 2 months) and others I've just recently "met", but all of them are proving to be special! Hope you enjoy visiting their lovely blogs.

Java at Never Growing Old

Heidi at Tales of Snow Drop Cottage

Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage

Carolyn at Aiken House & Gardens

Bertie at Bertie Meadows

Rachel at Three Butterflies and a Monkey

Elizabeth at The Crafty Charlestonian

Susan at Blackberry Cottage

Robin at Your Daily Dose

Rebecca at Rebecca Bakes Cakes

Sophie at Sophie Honeysuckle's English Decor

Gesine at Confections of a (Closet) Master Baker

Garage Sale Finds, Makevers, and Tea Time Tuesday

2010-06-15T08:32:00.001-04:00

I found this delightful little chair at a garage sale a couple of Saturdays ago and was happy to purchase it for $2. My husband was a bit mystified as to why I would want it. He wondered what I would do with a chair that has such a low back on it. I told him not to worry, I would find the perfect spot to use it!

I knew I didn't want it to remain in its existing state of drabness and when I saw what a lovely makeover Lili over at Fearless Nesting did with a small table recently, I decided I would use her ideas for inspiration in my own makeover project.

My first step was to give it a good coat of glossy paint in a buttery cream colour.

Next, I took fine sandpaper and sanded off areas where the chair would normally show some wear.

Lili recommended a wonderful site where you can download for free some beautiful vintage images, including the lovely tea rose she chose to decoupage to her table. Unfortunately, I don't have a colour printer, so I went looking at Michael's instead and came up with a piece of scrapbooking paper that reminded me of vintage wallpaper. At yet another garage sale, I found a remnant of material that I just knew would go perfectly with the chair and with the scrapbooking paper. I just love the mixture of chocolate brown and soft pink!

I debated different shapes that would go well for the decoupage and finally cut out a circular shape for the centre of the chair back, along with a few other pieces so it wouldn't look quite so symmetrical. I glued them into position and then applied two coats of high gloss modge podge. And here's the end result:

I'm so pleased with the way it turned out and the fact that it is just the perfect size to fit in our bay window as a neat little reading or occasional chair.

And before I go, here's another little garage sale find that I am extremely pleased about.

It's a very tiny little cup, a tea cup? or perhaps a demitasse? I haven't had a chance to do any research on it yet, but it's marked R C with a crown symbol and then Versailles Bavaria. It's absolutely gorgeous and in great condition although there is a small chip on the saucer. I have a tea cup collection and I'm so pleased whenever I find something unique to add to the collection.

The funniest thing was they wanted only $1 for it, but were asking $5 for a Hannah Montana key chain that was right beside it!!! I thought that was just too funny for words. Nothing against Hannah Montana, or against key chains in general, but I'm guessing my little Bavarian cup and saucer might be worth just a tad more.

And in honour of my new-found tea cup, I am participating today in Tea Time Tuesday at one of the most beautiful blogs I've come across, Rose Chintz Cottage and Inspiration.

Sandy has asked us to include an inspirational saying, quote, or poem. Here's one I thought would be perfect for such a lovely sunny Tuesday.

The Sun Never Says

Even after all this time

The sun never says to the earth,

"You owe Me."

Look what happens with

A love like that,

It lights the Whole Sky.

From the Gift of Haviz

Translated by D. Ladinsky

Soft Winds and Roses

Celebrating the wee milestones....

Shades of Winter

Indescribable Snow

Crowding the Mushrooms

27 - It's not a magic number, but still feels great!

Marvelous Monday - A Bird in the Hand

Wordless Wednesday

Marvelous Monday - Wonderful Parks

Down in the Depths of my Heart

MIA but not Missing in Action

Marvelous Monday - Autumn Day

Standing Still

Tea Time Tuesday - Don't Hide in the China Cabinet!

Marvelous Monday - The Simple Things

Marvelous Monday - My Cat the Clown

Wordless Wednesday - Stormy Sunset

Follow Friday!

Theology in a Tea Cup

Marvelous Monday - Life's A Beach

A Peachy Day at Follow Friday 40 and Over

The Butterfly Dance

Tea Time Tuesday

Marvelous Monday!

Thank God for the Aztecs!

Tea Time Tuesday!

Follow Friday!

White Wednesday

Tea Time Tuesday!

Marvelous Monday and Marvelous Mum!

Still/Be Still My Soul

Follow Friday!

Marvelous Monday!

Roller Coaster Ride!

Matthew 10:29-31 (New Living Translation)

Follow Friday - Reach for a Peach!

An Award for Little ole Me? Why, thank you! *blush*

Tea Time Tuesday!

A Message from Tiger

Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright

Tiger Update

Wounded Kitty Prayer Request

Marvelous Monday!

Everybody needs a Man Friday!

White Wednesday

Marvelous Monday!

Day in the Country & Follow Friday 40 and Over

Happy Canada Day!

White Wednesday

Teddy Bear Picnic

Marvelous Metamorphosis Monday

Follow Friday 40 and Over!

If my Nonna could hear me now ...

Teacup Tuesday and My First Giveaway!

Marvelous Monday!

Happy Father's Day!

What I Like About You ....

Sunshine Award!

Garage Sale Finds, Makevers, and Tea Time Tuesday

An Award for Little ole Me? Why, thank you! blush