Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend

last weekend we celebrated our Thanksgiving with family and friends

On Saturday Kevin and I drove north to our daughters’ cottage where we enjoyed a delicious turkey dinner. Twelve of us sat around the table and consumed dishes that everyone shared in preparing. Of course there was more food than a person would normally consume in one sitting and the tryptophan from the turkey made us all sleepy.

To work off the meal half of us took a walk.

We stayed overnight and left around noon. It was a gorgeous autumn day and we decided to explore some of the farms in the neighbourhood.

We discovered Georgian Roots Flower Farm that is very close to our cottage on Christian Island. Andrea and Josie had heard about this place so we decided to check it out. It was established in 2018 as a cut flower farm.

After purchasing a bouquet of flowers to take home we continued with our autumn road trip. There were lots of pumpkins for sale along the roadside but we decided to stop at Harris Farm. It was very busy and clearly very popular with families. A new addition to the farm was a corn maze and the kids really seemed to enjoy it.

With an extra large pumpkin for carving and a few smaller ones for decorating we continued on our trip home. It was a perfect weekend.

Water, Water Everywhere – Pond and Fountain

yesterday we had the privilege of attending the outdoor wedding of our nephew and his beautiful bride

We were so pleased that the water that we did not experience was rain, especially since the forecast called for 60% rain. We arrived early to take part in the picture taking of the bride’s and groom’s family and as we watched the photographer do his magic with the happy couple you couldn’t help but notice the lovely pond and fountain on the property.

Thanks to Jez for hosting Water, Water Everywhere https://jezbraithwaite.blog/2024/10/07/monkland-canal-2-water-water-everywhere-240/

Celebrating the 100th College Royal

and my husband pointed out that we’ve around for over half of them

I attended the University of Guelph from 1971-75 and I met my husband Kevin there in 1973. College Royal is the annual open house that the university hosts in March. Many of the departments open their doors with displays and interactive demonstrations that highlight some of the work that goes on in the halls of academia.

One of the more popular attractions is the farming area that bring the public and farm animals together. The University of Guelph started out as an agricultural school but quickly brought in other avenues of study, such as Family Studies, veterinary studies, economics, hotel and food administration, visual arts, sciences, just to name a few.

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The last two photos show the cow that has had a portal surgically placed in her side to remove rumen from one of her stomachs. The rumen has healthy bacteria that is needed for some sick cows to regulate their own gut bacteria. It may seem cruel but the cow doesn’t seem to feel a thing when the demonstrator went in with her arm to fetch some of her good gut bacteria.

It was a beautiful day after the snow and rain stopped and we were able to walk around the campus to take in some of the sites.

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One of our last stops before going to the dog show was checking out the community art show. I had entered four of my pieces, just for fun, and was most delighted when I found a white third place ribbon on one of my pieces.

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At the beginning of this piece I mentioned that we’ve lived through more than 50 College Royals. We certainly haven’t attended that many but over the years we participated in quite a few. When the kids were little we took them there a couple of times and we went back when Andrea our eldest daughter attended the university and now our granddaughters are studying there and we’ve shown them around on at least two occasions.

Love is in the Air

leading up to, on the day and the day after Valentine’s Day

Everywhere you look there are signs for this special day.

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I’m not one for big, expensive fancy gifts. I’m more about the kind gestures and thoughtful cards with expressions of love. In the past my husband has hand painted me some fun cards. This year he posted a special card for our grandchildren. For me he made a very special dinner, with a cocktail before dinner and wine with dinner.

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…of course flowers

Macro Monday – Close-ups at the Winter Holiday Market

last Thursday the family and I went to the Distillery District in Toronto where the Holiday Market was still on

It was another wet and grey day but these close-ups with the rain droplets and bright colours cheered me up.

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