…thanks Becca for hosting Sunday Trees
Sunday Trees – 224
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Category Archives: In the Neighbourhood
Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge – Sepia
Full Moon Over the City
….actually the moon was to the right of the city tonight
When I was out earlier this evening the moon was a beautiful golden ball sitting just above the horizon line with a wispy cloud crossing in front of it. I didn’t have my camera with me and when I returned home dinner was on the table. A half hour later the moon was much higher in the sky and the colour had changed from amber yellow to silver.
WPC – Seasons
….no two years are the same
This week’s photo challenge asks us to take photos of what the season looks like where we live. February in Toronto is usually cold and white. At least the two years before this one were like that. Today the temperatures were mild and the only snow came from the skating rink after being cleaned. Here are photos from two years ago in February at Col. Samuel Smith Park and today in the same place.
Sunday Trees – 223
Happy Birthday, Valentine’s Day and Family Day
….for my friend Maria all the good stuff comes together in less than a week
This week my friend Maria celebrated her birthday and was finally well enough to have company. She recently had her hip replaced (her second one) and didn’t recover as quickly as with the first one; however, this week she was finally receiving visitors. In honour of her birthday I decided to bake her some cookies and bought her a nice new mug, some tea and candy. I also collected some of my favourite novels that I’ve read in the past year or so and put them in a bag for her to pull out and read at her leisure.
Over at Life in Between my blogging friend, Jodi posted a wonderful recipe for Amish Oatmeal Raisin cookies and I was very eager to try it. The instructions were easy to follow and the recipe made four dozen very large cookies. My husband loves oatmeal raisin cookies and the only fault he found with these was that there weren’t enough raisins. Easy solution; just add more next time. I, however, found the amount to be perfect. This recipe is a little different from most oatmeal cookies because it has molasses in it and that’s why the colour is darker.
I packed a dozen cookies into a small disposable loaf pan and placed it inside a special translucent bag with hearts on the outside. I then placed them into a square basket that I had purchased and placed the other items (tea, mug, candy) next to the bag.
Before making my way to Maria’s house I decided to make her a card. I took some watercolour paper and watercolour markers and created a simple design to acknowledge her birthday, St. Valentine’s Day, Family Day and a speedy recovery.
In the end I had a very nice visit with my good friend. Her husband spoiled us with wine to start, a plate of cheese and then before I left he made us tea and we enjoyed some of the cookies that I had baked.
If the cookies interest you be sure to check out Jodi’s recipe over at Life in Between.
Cheers and have a wonder Valentine’s Day!
Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge – Week 6
…..we stopped to see what the dog was so distracted by and discovered a group of squirrels chasing each other up and down this massive tree
For more odd ball photos check out Cee’s blog.
Sunday Trees – 221
…..Becca Givens and I share the same passion for old trees
Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge – Lines and Angles
…..I love seeking out interesting lines and angles when I’m on a photo journey
For more interesting black and white photos of lines and angles check out Cee’s blog.
Back to Normal
….what a productive day!
Yesterday I started the day with a very long walk with my husband and Frances, our Super Dog. It was extremely cold but we extended our walk and when we finally got back home, I had already exceeded my goal of 10 000 steps for the day. We were suppose to go to Hamilton to visit with our daughter and her family but the plans changed and they were coming to us instead.
Time to clean-up. I started in the kitchen, moved to the bathroom and washed the floors. I was hoping to get to the living room but they arrived early. We enjoyed a simple lunch together and then they had to leave to visit family on his side. B’s dad had not met Winnie yet so we volunteered to look after Lucy (their Bassett hound). This meant a another walk, albeit a short one. When that dog doesn’t want to go any further she puts on the brakes and there’s no budging her.
When the two dogs settled into their own quiet spaces I decided it might be a good time to clear away the remaining Christmas ornaments that were piled on top of the coffee table in the living room and on top of the piano. I pulled out all the boxes from under the stairs and started to reorganize the stockings, ornaments, lights, candles and Christmas cloths and skirts back into their preselected bins. When I returned the boxes to their place under the stairs I must have hit my head at least three times when I was backing out of the closet.
Frances is enjoying the new ‘normalcy’
The only evidence that we celebrated Christmas and will probably be around for awhile
Once the decorations were all put away I vacuumed up any remaining pine needles from the carpet and washed the hardwood. I also decided to polish the piano. Seeing that I’ve haven’t done this in years the wood practically drank up the polishing cream. When I was done it felt good to get so much accomplished.
After I took Lucy for her ‘short’ walk I noticed the most amazing moon hanging over the city so when I returned home I took my new camera, set it on ‘hand held night shots’ and returned to the park, without the dog, and tried to capture that image. I posted a few of these shots on WPC.
Later in the evening, G and her husband and the baby returned. We spent some more time together. While B helped me with my camera and cleaned up my computer, my husband played with the baby. She gets stronger every time we see her and she desperately wants to crawl and loves to stand when you hold on to her.
I now know a little bit more about my new camera and I was given some very useful tips about keeping my computer virus free. I updated some of my software after our company left and I was able to write a post for this blog before I went to bed. By the time I did finally go to bed I had logged 17 000 steps for the day. Not bad. All being said and done, I had a very productive day despite a nagging headache. Wonder where that came from? Haha!
