…how appropriate for this Good Friday
New Flower (March 29, 2024) – White Easter Lily
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Category Archives: Celebrations
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Final Holdouts for Hallowe’en
…even though the 31st was 10 days ago the pumpkins and decorations are still evident
This will be probably be the last weekend for Hallowe’en decorations. With Christmas fairs and church bazaars about to open their doors for the holiday season we will start seeing Christmas lights, door wreaths and lawn ornaments pop up all over the neighbourhood.
Hallowe’en Update
…just too much going on
I had every intention to report on our Hallowe’en experience last week but every time I turned around there was something else going on that took me away from the computer.
This year’s Hallowe’en was exceptional. I don’t really know why….it was a cold night and everything around here was last minute. Last minute decorations, last minute pumpkin carving and last minute decision to dress up. Maybe it was exceptional for me because I wasn’t here last year to open our door to the little ones (first time in 45 years).
On the day I quickly put out the few decorations that I had and I cleaned out the pumpkin. Normally I can’t be bothered to do anything with the seeds because no one eats them but this year I looked up a recipe and added a few more spices than I normally do. They were delicious and my husband and I and anyone who has come to visit has been slowly emptying the bowl of spicy goodness.
When Kevin returned from his dentist appointment he quickly carved out a Jack o lantern design and I put the candy and chips in bowls. Then I went upstairs to put together my costume. Nothing very original but I found a witch’s hat from the dollar store that I liked. I pulled out a black dress, black long sleeve shirt and a black shawl. The fun part was putting on the make-up. I was going for a more glamorous witch this year.
As it was getting dark I place candles inside the pumpkin and Kevin found some spooky music that he attached to speakers to broadcast from the porch. I was all set. Now it was time to wait for the first trick or treaters. Here was the first customer:
All in all it was a great night and we had a record turnout…80 kids. That may not seem like a lot to some of you but we’ve had fewer than 20 in some years.
Are You Ready for Hallowe’en?
…certainly people in my neighbourhood are
As much as I’d like to have more decorations for Hallowe’en, I was shocked at how much money people are paying for their spooky lawn decor. I thought I could find some items on sale yesterday but there was either nothing to choose from or everything was still regular price. Many of the decorations, especially the large ones, were well into the hundreds of dollars. Maybe I’ll check out the stores after the 31st and see if there are any deals to be had for next year.
A Fun Day at the Green Pig
…it is much more than a corn maze
Last year in September, The Green Pig Country Market in Salisbury, NB, burned down. Earlier this year the owners started to rebuild and when we arrived last week they had a great selection of pumpkins and a variety of squash.
After Winnie’s special birthday breakfast we drove to The Green Pig. I thought we were just going to a corn maze but it turned out to be much more. Apart from the market and the corn maze they had a great play area for kids of all ages.
A fun Day was had by all the rain held off till we got back into the car.
Happy Birthday Winnie
…my sweet little girl is 8 today
Our trip to the east coast has fallen on three days of celebration, Thanksgiving, Winnie’s birthday and her father’s birthday.
We started today with a special breakfast at Steve’s Diner in Riverview.
After breakfast we drove to The Green Pig to walk through the corn maze.
Later in the day we continued the birthday celebration with breaking a piñata, a sushi dinner (Winnie’s favourite food), opening presents and birthday cupcakes.
The Summer of the Raccoon – Thursday Trio
…with birthday gifts that will never let me forget
This past August, while I was returning Tober, our neighbours cat, back to his house for the evening I was accosted by a trio of raccoons.
It all started one warm August evening, when I headed over to my neighbour’s house thinking that Tober was right behind me. I had left our front door wide open and Tober was sitting on the porch. I called him over and when he wouldn’t move I went into the neighbour’s house and brought out a bag of cat treats. I shook the bag, hoping that the sound would entice Tober to make his way home. I saw some movement on the lawn and because it was already dark I assumed it was the cat. Upon closer inspection, though I discovered that the moving object was a large raccoon. I wrongly assumed that the raccoon would scurry away when he saw me but he or she was quickly joined by not one but two more raccoons.
When I realized that they were all headed in my direction I opened the treat bag and threw a small handful of treats down the driveway. As they gobbled up the treats I made my way for the front door of my neighbour’s house. It only took a nano second for them to finish the few treats and they came straight up the stairs onto the porch and put their paws on the screen door. I yelled at them, kicked the front door and nothing deterred them. I was at a loss as to what I should do. I knew that if I opened the door they would come into the house and go straight to the cat’s bowl of food.
On most evenings there would be numerous people out walking their dogs before going to bed but on this particular night there wasn’t a soul in sight. What to do? I found the land line in the house and called my husband. No answer. I knew that he probably didn’t recognize the number so I tried again but the phone had been off the charging cradle for so long that it died. I tried calling out onto the street and over to our house but no one heard me.
Luckily for me the neighbour, on the north side of the house was still awake and on his computer. I opened the window and called over. He looked confused because he didn’t know where the cry was coming from. I told him where I was and he looked out his back window. I told him I was trapped in the house. At first he thought I was joking but he quickly realized that I wasn’t. In a few minutes he came over, with his 7 iron golf club. He had no intention of hurting them but he thought they would run away as soon as they saw him. They didn’t. He nudged them with his club and made a lot of noise. They were stubborn but eventually they left the porch and I was able to get out of the house. He helped me get the cat back to his house and we parted ways.
A week later it was my birthday and unbeknownst to me my husband, Kevin had told everyone about my adventure with the raccoon trio. At the party he was very anxious for me to open my presents. This in itself was unusual but I decided to humour him and started to open my gifts. The first few were lovely, thoughtful presents and then all of a sudden raccoon themed gifts started to appear. After the first raccoon gift everyone wanted me to retell the story. Little did I realize that the rest of the gifts all had a raccoon theme. It was definitely a fun birthday and one that I will not soon forget.
This week’s trio is more a story than a photo challenge but one of the cards does have a trio of raccoons on it. If you have any trios you’d like to share just copy my link and post it into your blog. I’ll check it out and leave a comment.
