A Working Lighthouse Among the Ruins

….Christian Island still has a working lighthouse

At least once a summer I like to drive to the south west shore of Christian Island where the light house is situated. It is the oldest lighthouse in Georgian Bay, established in 1859. The first light house keeper was William Hoar and his son took over when he passed away. The families of the keepers lived on the island in a small house that was built next to the light house.

Today the light house is automated and the house next to it is in ruins. Over the years the light house has seen many changes. During World War II the lantern room was removed and the scrap metal was used to support the war effort. In 1965 the coast guard placed an automated beacon on top of the tower and in the early 2000s the lantern room was returned to give the tower its original look.

New Flower (August 11, 2015) – Climbing Hydrangea

….years ago I saw this plant in my neighbours garden and immediately fell in love

Little did I know how difficult it was to grow. Apparently you have to be very patient. It takes years for the roots to become established and only then will it start to climb. Now I’m having trouble training it to climb upward instead of outward over the walkway.

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Share Your World 2015 – Week 32

…..didn’t I just do this

Are you a collector of anything?

About twenty years ago I started to collect teddy bears. I wanted vintage bears or bears with a vintage feel but family and friends bought me all types of bears. It soon got out of hand and I didn’t have the space for more bears. I’ve asked people not to buy me bears anymore and I’ve even given some away.

What is your biggest fear or phobia? (no photos please)

I have two phobias. The first one is standing at great heights. I think the actual fear is the fear of falling. I could never jump from a plane or go bungee jumping. I don’t know where the second fear comes from. I’m terrified of bears. I’ve never had an encounter with bears. My aunt, who recently passed away, did buy me a book many years ago on bear attacks.

Do you prefer reading coffee table books (picture), biographies, fiction, non-fiction, educational?

I like looking through table top books but I love reading fiction.

Complete this sentence: If I Must Be Reincarnated, In the Next Life I Want to Be…

I can’t imagine being any kind of animal so I think I would like to come back as another person and probably as a woman again.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful to my oldest daughter and her partner for putting on a wonderful shower for our younger daughter, G and her husband. I came back early from the cottage to help with the preparations but the girls did most of the work. I made the lemonade and brought over the china cups and saucers for the coffee and cake and I purchased some nice disposable dishes and cutlery from Costco that we can actually reuse. I’m also grateful that my father and his wife made the trip from Oshawa along with my sister from Chatham. It was a bit of a family reunion and when I dropped my Dad off at the train station he told me that he had a wonderful time and felt like the ‘king of the world’.

The shower was a bit different from a normal baby shower in that we had a ‘taco bar’ that we had catered. We played a few games and people painted onesies with special messages for the new baby. There were about 19 people in attendance and almost the same number of people sent regrets because they were away on holidays. This is the one downside of having a shower of any kind in the summer.

This week my husband is having his surgery on his lungs. I’m looking forward to a full and speedy recovery.

For more Share Your World stories check out Cee’s blog.

Weekly Haiku Poetry Prompt Challenge – Must and Bust

….thanks to Ronovan for this week’s prompts, must and bust

                                                           August

IMG_5732It must be August

The fields glow with Queen Anne’s Lace

Ripe seed heads bust free

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Share Your World 2015 – Week 31

…..I’ll try to get this in before Week 32 arrives (tomorrow)

Would you rather take pictures or be in pictures?

I love taking pictures but every once in awhile I’d like to be in them. It seems that the photographer is hardly ever in any shots unless you ask someone to take a picture with you in it.

Where do you like to vacation?

I like to vacation at my cottage but I do like to travel overseas. A couple of my favourite places or countries are the Netherlands and Ireland. I’d also like to see more of Canada and hope to take a trip to the east coast in the near future.

If you had to describe your day as a traffic sign, what would it be?

Yield. I’m always slowing down and doing things for others before I can move on.

List at least five favorite first names.

Girls – Claire, Elizabeth, Michele, Emily (Emma), Abby, Andrea, Gaelan, Kate

Boys – Brendan, Michael, Mark, Christopher, Kevin

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful that my husband and our daughter, G, were able to come to the cottage for three days. It’s the first time all summer that family members have found time to visit.

The week is almost over but I am looking forward to G’s baby shower later today. I told you in an earlier post that I’d reveal the gender of her baby closer to her due date. Here’s a baby hat that I knit when I was up at the cottage. I bought the wool before we were told if the the baby was a boy or a girl. I chose the colour because I knew based on our genetic make-up and regardless of the sex that this would be a complimentary colour. I added a couple strands of another colour so that the public wouldn’t need to ask is it a boy or a girl. Is this enough of a clue?

IMG_5720For more Share Your World posts check out Cee’s blog.

Liken the Lichen

…..I’ve always been fascinated by this composite organism

Lichen is a dual organism composed of fungi living in close association with green algae. It appears as a thin crust on bark and rocks and grows extremely slowly. Some grow as slowly as 0.01 mm per year in arctic regions  and in more temperate climates it might grow  5 to 8 mm per year. Lichen can live for thousands of years.

At my cottage, up in the Georgian Bay area, lichen appears mostly on the bark of trees. I love photographing it up close.

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