Men Should Relax

Men Should Relax
Originally uploaded by Becky F

I came across this digital collage on flickr today and thought...perfect!

Serendipity again?

This week I have received 2 postcards from fellow postcrossing members, I am always axcited and thrilled when I discover a card in my mailbox.

The first card... lovely cathedral in Guadalajara in Mexico

Then today I received this card

Now I am in the process of working on an independant learing study of Anatomy and Physiology for Assessment. I do not like this course at all, I am determined to do it but had been thinking of dropping it because I do not have to do it..but now I have received this card and am thinking this is a message that I need to complete this course! I love this card!

 

I do NOT love this course!

Hemingway and Wine

This morning I finshed A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway.  I quite enjoyed this book, who cannot enjoy the romance of Paris in the 20's. I love his spare witing style, his use of dialogue, his moodiness and his love of food and drink.

His thoughts on wine:

"In Europe then we thought of wine as something as healthy and normal as food and also as a great giver of happiness and well being and delight. Drinking wine was not a snobbism nor a sign of sophistication nor a cult; it was as natural as eating and to me as necessary, and I would not have thought of eating a meal without drinking either wine or cider or beer."

Of course I do not drink wine every time I eat a meal but if I was a writer in Paris in 1920 I most certainly would have...sigh...

Revolutionary Red

Not only does Tom make the wine he also creates the label. This is a French Pinot Noir and is quite nice even though it does need to age a bit.

An Interview with Ian Brown

I am posting this link to an interview with the kind gentle Ian Brown, see previous post regarding the book

http://www.tvo.org/TVO/WebObjects/TVO.woa?videoid?62314347001

The Boy in the Moon

This week I finished the book The Boy in the Moon by Ian Brown.

I loved this amazing account of Ian and his son Walker.

Walker has CFC Syndrome which has left him severely disabled. Walker is mobile but does not speak; he intentionally hurts himself, has facial dysmorphia, leaving him with unusual facial features. He is unable to swallow food therefor he is fed via a tube in his stomach. He is incontinent and needs diapering. He requires 24 hour care and lived at home with his family until he was 11 years old, then moved into a group home.

The following is an example of what I loved about this book

Ian Brown met with a developmental paediatrician … he told the pediatrician that the family was planning to take Walker to a cottage on a remote quiet island, stating that Walker loves it there, it seems to calm him. He wondered if he could ever explain that to Walker.
Dr Wang comments

“not rationally but it seems that Walker already understands this.”

He goes on to say

“The Buddhists say the way to enlightenment, to pure being, is by getting your mind out of the way. I'm not trying to be trite, but Walker already knows how to do that. He is pure being. He may be developmental delayed, or moderately retarded, but in that way he is already miles ahead of us.”


What Ian writes

“This was the first time someone suggested that Walker had a gift the rest of us didn't.”

The group home is working out well for Walker. He has made friends. His father speaks of his caregivers and how they are all different but each one brings something special to Walker and of course he brings something special to each of them.

Parents of disabled children obviously worry about what will happen to these children when they are gone hence the reason for finding a home for Walker, a place where he will have an identity and a place where he will be loved.

This book moved me in so many ways.

I have had the pleasure and honour of working with a severely disabled and medically fragile young girl. I was able to see the love and commitment of her family, witness the concerns about the future. I fell in love with this girl very quickly, my time with her has ended due to the family moving away. I miss her very much. Soon I will begin a new journey as part of a team with a young disabled man who requires 24 hour care.

How timely this book was for me.

Postcrossing from Israel

Yesterday I received this vintage 1964 postcard from Danny in Israel, now how cool is that!

MS Walk 2010

my mom

me  my brother Tommy  my mom  Jillian  Ryan

Brittany

Jillian

On Sunday we did the 5K MS walk with my mom who has chronic progressive MS.  Tom and I have walked in Stratford in the past but this year our niece Brittany put together a Team Carmen event  in the Cobourg/Port Hope walk. It was a beautiful sunny morning...perfect for the walk downtown Cobourg and along the waterfront. The only one able to keep up with my speedy mom in her power chair was Ryan.

The `awesome’ blog is a huge hit: 40,000 Internet visits a day - thestar.com

The `awesome’ blog is a huge hit: 40,000 Internet visits a day - thestar.com

the joy of cooking

As I was enjoying a lovely day at home I decided to bake cookies to bring to a very special girl that I plan to visit tomorrow afternoon. I pulled out my very old Joy of Cooking cookbook, well 38 years old...it was the second cookbook that I purchased after getting married. The first was the Five Roses Flour cookbook which sadly is gone.  The five roses book literaly fell apart, I searched then ordered a new copy but it was just not the same.  I still have this one and the Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is just as good as I remember. I used a few chocolate chips but mostly I used a 70 %  cacao Cote d'Or chocolate bar copped into chunks...yumm

before and after

my son Aaron

Aaron has been staying with us for 2 weeks as he finishes off his semester at Waterloo. The top photo was taken Easter weekend, while he was reading on the patio. The bottom photo was taken today after his visit to Grotto Hair Studio here in Stratford. I love his new hair style...kind of retro!

                                  

the youngest member of the family

madeline

I am proud this photo! I love love doing portraits!  In my next life I will be a photographer of people for sure. The headband Madeline is wearing is actually called Madeline, it is from Nova Scotia but I did purchase it here in Stratford. The perfect prop for girls.

The Love of Reading

I am so enjoying A Movable Feast by Ernest Hemingway! This book is very visual to me, I can see every scene clearly and I just so...get him!

I love this:

When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be the happiest, The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.

When I read this I thought  "Ernest obviously knows me"!   This is exactly how I feel in the spring, about the happiness and the joy of a wide open day ahead with absolutely no obligations!

I am savouring this book and now thinking that those who are special to me are my hyacinths, daffodils and tulips!

Easter Weekend

jenny

son in law steve

melaina

gabrielle and aiden

isaac

madeline

aaron

How lucky we are to have this beautiful warm sunny weather for Easter weekend. Yesterday we had both of our children with us as well as out son in law and four faulous grandchilredn and even a boyfriend in the mix. We were able to sit on the patio, Gabrielle and her boyfriend Aiden had a walk downtown, Aaron and Isaac skateboarded, Aaron, Isaac and Maddie flew a kite. I had such fun with the girls taking crazy fun pics using a flowery headband as a prop as well as Grampa's hat.

A Movable Feast

Tonight I will start this book. I have tried numerous times over the last few days only to be interupted every time, the interuptions were mostly delighful ones, a phone call from my brother, a chat with my son, a walk to the river in beautiful warmth and sunshine.

I love the first few sentences, I know I will enjoy this book, love the writing style, love the era and it is Paris!

Then there was the bad weather. It would come in one day when the fall was over. We would have to shut the windows in the night against the rain and the cold wind would strip the leaves from the trees in the Place Countrescarpe.

It sound so cozy!

My plan is to follow along with the No Obligation Book Club on Real Simple.

It will be Ernest and I for the month of April!