…thanks to Cee for hosting the Fun Foto Challenge
Something to look forward to.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Summer Scenes
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Category Archives: Memories
A Photo a Week – At Play
…thanks to Nancy Merrill for hosting A Photo a Week
My granddaughter and her second cousin got together last week and all seemed to go well as they chased each other around the room, giggling and laughing as they ran. That is until he caught her and accidentally pushed her into the wall. I could tell that it hurt and it took a few minutes of mommy cuddles to calm her down. The two cousins continued to play but the age difference of two years clearly affected how they played. My granddaughter is four and her cousin is two. She was fascinated with his computer game and he didn’t want her to play with it. He liked her stuffed toy but preferred to throw it around. I’m sure as they get older they’ll have more in common. Time will tell.
30 Day Creativity Challenge – Day 4
…..my attempt at free form poetry
Sisters and Cousins
Sisters
sibling rivalry
shared memories
some bad but mostly good
some forgotten
others not
separated by marriage and distance
reunited by an aging parent
and children
Cousins
offspring of the sisters
separate lives
because of distance,
circumstance and work
a longing for family connection
reunited because of their children
an unbreakable bond of love
Four generations; Dad, my sister and I, my youngest daughter and her daughter and my sister’s son and daughter and her daughter’s son.
Thanks to Rainee for hosting The 30 Day Creativity Challenge
Christmas is for Children
….of all ages
I was actually organized for the first time in my life and ready for Christmas Eve. Normally I’m still wrapping gifts as the family starts to arrive but this year I finished all my wrapping the night before and I got all my deliveries of baked goods to the neighbours done earlier in the day.
Our granddaughter came early with her Mom and she was clearly excited. We kept her busy with stories and watching Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Papa gave her an apron and chef’s hat so that she could help us set up the table with Christmas goodies.
Later in the day she helped her Mom wrap some last minute gifts that her Papa needed help with and brought them downstairs and set them under the tree.
When all the family arrived we opened our stockings and Winnie helped hand out the presents. It was a wonderful evening and as always we had way too much food. We’ll be bringing some over to our daughter’s place tomorrow when we celebrate her birthday. Her twin brother is in London, England so hopefully we’ll hear from him like we did on Christmas Eve, unless the second grandchild decides to come early.
Taking silly selfies with Auntie JoJo.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas or holiday celebration with family and friends this season. Wishing everyone all the best in 2020.
Carol
In Search of the Perfect Tree
….an outing with the family
Last weekend my husband and I drove to Hamilton to our daughter’s house where I picked up her family and we drove about 15 minutes north of the city to a Christmas tree farm. It was most definitely a farm with ducks, goats, cows, rabbits and a donkey.
We came fully prepared to cut down our own tree but as we explored the grounds we couldn’t find anything small enough to fit into our homes. My son-on-law always gets the biggest tree because their home has high ceilings but I was instructed to come back with a very small tree that would fit on a table. All the trees were over 10 feet tall and we could see that people had been cutting trees from the top. The only tree that we all liked had signs around it telling people NOT to cut it down.
We enjoyed the walk through the property so not all was lost but we were disappointed in the selection. We got back in our cars and headed up north for a few more kilometres, back to the tree farm we went to last year. We weren’t sure that it would still be open because the owners are into their eighties and told us last year that that would be their last year selling trees. Luckily for us they decided to open for at least one more year. The pickings were great and we all found our perfect tree.
We drove back to Hamilton with our treasures inside and on top of the cars. Back at Gaelan’s house we were treated to a wonderful lunch and afterwards Winnie and I decorated Christmas cookies.
Lens Artists Photo Challenge – Cold
…thanks to Tina for this week’s Lens Artists Photo Challenge
‘Cold’ photos of things to come. These photos are from past winters.
One Word Sunday – Fire
My Little Princess
…convinced our granddaughter to put on her princess costume that she wouldn’t wear on Hallowe’en
Most children love to dress up. Our granddaughter is no exception. On Hallowe’en, however, she decided that she didn’t want to be a princess. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem but her parents purchased this beautiful costume which was non-returnable.
Last weekend when we were in Hamilton for a visit we convinced Winnie to show off her Belle costume. Out came the wand, the necklace, the special shoes and the dress. The only part missing was the crown.
With any luck she’ll still be able to wear the costume next year.
Happy Hallowe’en
….a wet night but that didn’t deter the trick or treaters
The weather for Hallowe’en was suppose to be so bad that there were parts of the country that were talking about postponing Hallowe’en night. Here in Toronto it was decided to leave Hallowe’en as is. We all have memories of going out on rainy and sometimes snowy nights to fill our bags with sugary treats. Back in the 50s crepe paper costumes were all the rage and I remember wearing one on a very wet night. Needless to say the costume fell apart and I was covered in dye that bled from the costume.
We never get a lot of children coming to our door. We are at the bottom of the street and many of our neighbours don’t turn on the lights or are purposely out for the evening. There are about five houses that always make an effort to decorate the yard and/or put out a Jack o Lantern. This year was no exception but it rained very heavily for most of the day and well into the evening. There were brief periods of time when the rain subsided but it kept returning and later in the evening the winds really started to kick up.
The surprise this evening was that the children and their parents came out in droves. Many carried umbrellas, some were driven from house to house but most of the children walked. At first it seemed like Hallowe’en night was going to be a bust but at about 6:45 small groups of kids of all ages started to appear at the door.
Normally we only get 15 to 25 visitors on Hallowe’en but tonight we had a record number of 62. I ran out of chips (56 bags) and only had 6 chocolate bars out of 120 left over. The only downside is that there is no candy to munch on for the next few days, especially since we don’t have any young children living at home any more. In hindsight it’s probably a good thing.
Here are a few photos of some of the decorations in the neighbourhood.
Our pumpkin this year was a happy fellow and some of the kids allowed me take their photos.
Our granddaughter is posing next to her father’s amazing pumpkin. She was suppose to dress up as Belle and that’s why the pumpkin was carved in the Beast’s likeness. As you can see Winnie had other ideas and wore her Owlette costume from last year. My theory is that because her father dressed up as Spiderman she also had to wear a super hero costume.
You can see that it also rained in Hamilton but that didn’t keep Winnie from bringing in this large haul of goodies.
Friendly Friday Photo Challenge – Moving
…thanks to Amanda for hosting this week’s Friendly Friday Photo Challenge
