Share Your World – July 2, 2018

….thanks to Cee for creating Share Your World

Tell us about your first bicycle or car?

I got my first bike when I was seven. I remember it well. It was second hand, black and designed for a woman and an adult woman at that. It was so big that I had to stand to ride it. I think it took a couple of years before I could sit on the seat. We lived in a new subdivision and there were no sidewalks. The roads were gravel and a few nasty falls resulted in some road rashes and scrapes that required digging out little bits of dirt and stones out of my knees. It didn’t keep me from riding while we lived in Oakville. When I turned 10 we moved back to Toronto and I don’t know what happened to that bike. If my mother had anything to do with it she probably threw it out.

What fictional world or place would you like to visit?

I can’t think of one fictional place I’d like to visit. There are too many non-fictional places that are on my to do list of places to see. For example, I’d like to go to the east coast of Canada, British Columbia, London, Scotland, and then return to some of the places I’ve already been to like Germany, Italy, Ireland and the Netherlands.

If you could have someone follow you around all the time, like a personal assistant, what would you have them do?

I would like someone who is handy and likes to fix things and build new things.

What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week?  Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination. 

This past week a number of things made me smile. First I met a friend from high school and we had lunch together downtown. We see each other at least two to three times a year. She’s still working but she’s getting her head around the notion of retiring in the next year.

On Tuesday and Wednesday I volunteer and bake bread at Montgomery’s Inn. On Thursday I drove to Hamilton and spent the afternoon with my granddaughter. We spent most of our time together at the Hamilton Toy Museum. I’ve mentioned it before but the first time I went there with Winnie the place was closed and we amused ourselves on the grounds.

This time the museum was opened and we took advantage of all they had to offer. The place is divided into theme rooms. The first was an old fashion kitchen with lots of authentic bits of equipment that young children can safely play with.IMG_2978
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The next room is a harbour theme with fish and poles, a boat deck and costumes you can try on.
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The third room is a garden with fabric plants you can pull to reveal carrots and beets and the fourth room is the activity room with arts and crafts and an aquarium with gold fish and turtles.IMG_3004
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On Friday we had dinner at our neighbours house along with a few other neighbours. It was the first time in awhile that my husband actually felt well enough to join us. On Saturday I went to the Canada Day BBQ at the Lawn Bowling Club and on Sunday we drove to Hamilton again and had lunch with daughter #2, her husband and Winnie.

As you can see it was a very busy week with lots of smiles and things to be grateful for.

WPC – All Time Favourites

…..I can’t believe it but this will be the last photo challenge posted by WordPress

How do you choose your all time favourites from over 22 000 photos? I’ve managed to narrow it down to four but I’m sure that I’ll come across others that I like as much.fullsizeoutput_6f42
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A Field of Joy

…..in the eyes of children 

We hate them but children all over the world love dandelions, especially when they go to seed. My granddaughter is no exception.IMG_2229

In an open area next to my daughter’s house is a grassy lot that hasn’t been mowed in awhile. It is a haven for dandelions. Last Saturday my granddaughter and I went for a walk or should I say my granddaughter took me for a walk and she led me straight onto this field of joy.IMG_2216
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Share Your World – April 30, 2018

….thanks to Cee for hosting Share Your World

Do you use paper money? If so is your money organized sequentially according to denomination?

I do use paper money and I do use debit. I try to avoid using the credit card but when I do I try to remember to pay it off right away. I’m not alway successful. I can’t get my head around people who use their debit card for small purchases like a cup of coffee. Don’t they know that they add to the cost of each cup when they do that. Maybe they just have a better bank plan or maybe things have changed in that department and I haven’t kept up with the times. Time to visit my bank.

Anyway I do like using cash for smaller purchases and I organize my money by denomination in my wallet with a separate compartment for my change. Doesn’t everyone do that?

You are comfortable doing nothing? For long stretches of time?

Not really. I don’t consider sitting at my computer or watching TV as doing nothing, although some people might disagree with me. I get too antsy just sitting and doing nothing. I have to keep my brain working and even after sitting and doing stuff I have to get up and move around.

What is your greatest strength?

I think my greatest strength is my creativity and my work ethic. The latter is what my husband said which surprised me a bit because there are days where I feel very lazy. I also like to do things for other people and I can pretty much be relied on to do what I say I’ll do.

What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week?  Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination

Last week was pretty uneventful. I finished reading a wonderful book that I would recommend to anyone, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.IMG_1637

On Friday my husband and I drove to Hamilton to spend the day with our daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter. We signed the ownership of our second car over to them and went to lunch at a local sushi restaurant. Believe it or not it was at Winnie’s request that we went there. How many two year olds do you know that love sushi?14996c06_66b5_42d7_bf8c_83d0663fb737

Thanks to my husband who took this photo.

The other thing that did bring a smile to my face last week was the onset of some beautiful sunshine and warmer temperatures. Finally!

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Awakening the Plants

….thanks to WordPress for this week’s WPC ‘awakening’

Here in the northern hemisphere spring arrived a couple of weeks ago but the awakening of new growth has been slow due to the unusually cold weather. Today in Hamilton my granddaughter and I played in the backyard and even though the sun wasn’t out it was mild enough to be outside without hats, scarves and mittens. Miss Winnie loved playing with the puddles of water and digging in the mud and checking out the plants to see if any flowers were forthcoming.

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Of course there are a few patches of green sprouts emerging in parts of the garden and if I got close enough I was able to see the beginnings of buds on some of the shrubs. On our walk we also came across a small flock of pigeons in a bird bath…..something they haven’t been able to do in awhile.

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Art With a Toddler – Day 74

….365 Days of Art

Today I travelled to Hamilton to spend a few hours with my granddaughter and her mom and dad. I packed up a box of circles from my collection, some stamps, Washi tape, a glue stick and clear ‘cow’ tape. I also brought along a small book with blank sheets inside so that Winnie could have her own sketch book.

We sat together at the kitchen island and I opened my sketch book and we worked side by side so that I could demonstrate how to make a simple collage using bits of paper and tape. She need a bit of help with cutting the tape and using the letter stamps was a bit of a challenge but she got right into it and she added some detail to my example as well.

Here is my piece:

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Here is my two year old granddaughter’s art work:

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