A Fall From the Past

Our daughter Jenny at age 3...that was 30+ years ago in Whitby Ont...she is now living in Toronto ...a stay at home mom... married with 4 children, a very cool husband and a dog named Holden. She is not only my daughter but also one of my very best friends...I am so lucky!

Found

inside a library book...is it an apology for a late book? is this a pregnancy due date?

Bye the way the book found it in is

The Death and Life of Great American Cities

by the late Jane Jacobs copyrite 1961

What My Mother Wrote

While visiting at my parents home last weekend my mother gave me a letter that she had written to her best friend. She wrote this 3 days after I was born while still in hospital. Her BF Barbara was living in BC at the time and was expecting her first child about a month later.

The letter made me laugh because of my mothers encouraging words to Barbara... I will tell you one thing that it is easy as pie to have a baby, there is nothing to it at all...just relax and bear down hard when you have a pain...you will sail through with flying colours...

Apparently I was born 16 days early...March 16...guess I should have been an April fools baby! I had idea!

Bye the way Barbara went on to give birth to 12 children, my mom stopped after 3!

Stratford Docfest

Looking forward to the the upcoming Docfest in Stratford next week October 22-25...love love anything to do with film. What a plus for Stratford to have a festival like this.



http://www.docfeststratford.ca/

Serendipity

Yesterday I picked up a book that my husband had brought home form the library a few weeks ago.

Poem A Day 366 Poems, old and new, one for each day of the year

Edited by Karen McCosker and Nicholas Albery

At random the very first page I opened was page 340, what I found was Suzanne by Leonard Cohen! Now how strange is that? Leonard is my beloved...poet...musician... an incredible human being. Of all the pages in the book that is the one I opened and it is the only poem in the book that is written by Leonard.

Today I was compelled to open the book again and came across So We'll Go No More A-Roving written by Lord Byron. Well I had no idea that Byron was the author of those words. I only know them from a selection on Leonard's Dear Heather album! I recognized them immediately and was thrilled. To think I had been enjoying Byron all along without even knowing!

Fall Crocus

as I was practicing depth of field I needed to catch these flowers at the Festival Theatre...nice on an October afternoon

Sunday Afternoon

For some reason I have not been out with my camera in the last few weeks. The weather has mostly been cool and rainy which is not the best for the camera. There was a reprieve this afternoon which I decided to take advantage of. My mission was to get a great fall pic of a lone tree...there was not one to be found so I just played. In spite of my cold hands and a little rain I had a great time!

After viewing the pics on my computer I decided to photoshop to get a black and white version of the river pic. Not sure which I like best!

Three Sisters

Last night I attend Chekhov's play Three Sisters at the Tom Patterson Theatre here in Stratford. First of all let me say I enjoyed the play, had never seen it before. Lots angst, kind of philosophical, bits of humour here and there.

I am not going into a review here but just want to record my experience.

During intermission the lady sitting next to me asked if I had read the play. I said no but I planned to read it in the near future. She then proceeded to tell me the whole rest of the story...what happened to each and every character...I was hoping she would stop...I did not want to appear rude so said nothing. I then asked her if anyone ended up happy. She proclaimed "Oh no it is Russia after all!" I did enjoy the last act even though there were no surprises...oh and this woman had an American accent!

Happy Birthday Dad

Today is my fathers 81st birthday! Last year we had a big celebration when he turned 80. This year I won't see him until Thanksgiving weekend when we will celebrate again. Sad that we live 3 hours apart but that is the way of families today.

I took this pic during a visit, when I came into the dining room he had taken his watch apart with a little knife to rewind it because the stem was missing, just sitting there so patiently in the morning light.

My Fabulous Grandchildren

One of the marvels of getting older is the timely arrival of beautiful new members of your family...Grandchildren...little people to love and nurture and who love you unconditionally. I am thankful everyday for Melaina, Gabrielle, Isaac and Madeline!

music I am loving at this moment

http://www.paolonutini.com/

I love this fellow!

promises

Today is actually a work around the house day...more known to me as domestic drudge...so I do a few house things then get sidetracked with music, journal, papers etc that I should be putting away...but then again who said I should!

Dinner

I am very lucky that my husband likes to cook! This salmon was yummy with a jerk sauce, roasted fingerling potatoes and asparagus sauteed in olive oil and garlic. Also Italian Ciabatta bread...lovely

me and my cat named Boo

This is an old pic taken at Niagara Falls probably the summer of 1972, the year I was married. We had a march wedding and of all the crazy things for our honeymoon we went to Moosonee on the Polar Bear Express...yes in MARCH!!! So in the summer of that year we decided to do Niagara Falls and of course I had to bring Boo! I guess being in Niagara recently made me want to share this memory.

my current read

One of the greatest pleasures in life is the joy of reading. I love everything about books...the content of course, the feel of the book, the cover, the scent, notes on the author, bookstores and libraries. As a young child growing up in Whitby Ont. one of my aunts was a librarian at the Whitby Public Library, I spent many joyous hours in that lbirary surrounded by books!

Currently I am reading Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood. I never cease to be amazed by her books. Her wit and imagination fascinate me. This book is dealing with a future gone bad but somehow includes a wonderful sense of humour. It is not a sequel to Oryx and Crake but there is some connection. I loved that book as well. I met Margaret Atwood at a reading in Bayfield a few years ago, she was delightful!



Also you can go the website of the book, events and a link to Margaret's blog at

www.yearoftheflood.com

Labour Day

When I had children at home I had a love/hate relationship with labour day. I was always sad to see them head back to school after lots of family time all summer, slower pace, holidays, picnics, beach time etc. On the other hand it was fun to send them off with expectations in new clothes carrying a new bag with new pencils and books inside.

Now that it is just the two of us I still feel strange when labour day arrives...the end of summer...sad...feel that I need to start something new, almost like a New Years resolution...make improvements of some kind. This Sept I think I will take a breather,sit back and just be and not worry about improving anything unless the mood strikes but I will not try to force it.

Niagara Falls

last weekend of the summer...we went off to Niagara Falls to meet up with Jenny, Steve, Melaina, Isaac and Maddie, missed Gabby who was uable to join us. Have not been to Niagara in at least 20 years. It has changed, exceeded our expections, loved our hotel deal at Doubletree by Hilton, beautuful hotel, very clean, nice pools and hot tub, outdoor lounges and an not too busy. Great dinner at Antica Pizzeria, yummy wood oven pizza, ribs at Tony Roma's, oops have fallen off the veggie wagon! Clifton Hill glitzy, rode the Sky Wheel, walked and walked, gambled at the Casino, no winnings, small loss but worth the people watching. Fashion must if you are young and thin...short... tight and black!

Street Photography

While sitting reading The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman I came across a chapter on street photography, it so speaks to me. I love it in so many ways, to try to capture and also to enjoy the work of others. Life...that is what it is all about...so I will post a few from the past

a beginning not an ending

Today is the first day of September...I have a love/hate relationship with this month. For me it has always seemed an ending, an end to what I enjoy most of all...summer...my love of sunshine and warmth, picnics, the beach, reading on the patio or porch, storms, clouds, night noises and on and on. Recently I have tried to turn September into a beginning but it usuallydoesn't quite make it for me. It certainly did in the two Septembers that my children were born...bliss. I will try harder this year. My problem really is the dread of winter so that fall is just a step into that long cold claustrophobic season.

On a brighter note I decided to create a journal page, have a nap in the sun and read on the patio. Now for a glass of wine, dinner and perhaps some star gazing as the darkens into night.

three bottles

Tom has been working on this wine for months now. He inherited all the equipment necessary for winemaking at home... last week we bottled and today Tom labeled...we now have 90 bottles of wine in our cold room!