Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy

Two days of sun. In a row. Wow.

We had a lovely day today at Blue Mountain.  We thought that our week day season pass might just be a donation this year; however, we got out today and it was great.

I never tire of the views over Collingwood and out over Georgian Bay.

It was the last day out for Himself as he leaves for Scotland on Wednesday.

And for atmosphere, here's John Denver singing: 

Thinking about happiness

I know that I keep going on about it, but the weather is terrible, yet again.  It's rained for the most of the day and it's still +5 and it's way after dinner.

I've been looking for something to cheer me up and found this site : Happiness Quotes Link

These are a couple of my favourites.  They are thoughtful and not as obvious as some of the others:

"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think.  Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.  ~A.A. Milne

AND

This is my "depressed stance."  When you're depressed, it makes a lot of difference how you stand.  The worst thing you can do is straighten up and hold your head high because then you'll start to feel better.  If you're going to get any joy out of being depressed, you've got to stand like this.  ~Charles M. Schulz

Proud Momma

My #1 and favourite son has been upgraded from 'trainee' to 2nd AC* in IATSE**

*Assistant Cameraperson

**The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (now you know)

Parking Problems

A couple of weeks ago Himself and I headed down to Toronto to spend the day shopping and dining out with friends.

Our new routine is to park at the Royal York subway station and leave the car safe and sound.  I hate downtown driving and parking is expensive and sometimes hard to find.  We had a helluvatime with the parking meter, but managed, and off we went to have a super time.

We stayed the night in our usual 'suite' (Thank you, Wendy) and spent the morning with "The Globe and Mail": Himself and Wendy do the crossword together (it's a sister-wife thing and works great) and I worked a couple of the other sections.

Quite incredibly, we couldn't believe the timing, in the Drive section, Andrew Clark wrote an article and shared his observations about parking meters: Click here to read "The Plague of Parking Meters"

I immediately wrote to the editor to share our story:

"I do apologize, Mr. Clark, as it was me at the Royal York subway station parking machine yesterday. I am from Duntroon, although on Planet Earth, we don’t have those machines (yet).  You may have noticed that I did let others more familiar with the routine go ahead (as I would let them ‘through’ on the golf course). I needed a ticket valid from 1 pm to 9 pm: 5 hours at $1 per half hour and then $3 flat for 6 pm to 7 am. Clear as mud. With spectacles firmly in place and stepping back after twice cancelling the transaction, my husband and I yet again deferred to a harried woman smugly brandishing her credit card. She muttered to herself in encouragement, “OK, magnetic strip down and to the right … press hours/time required … press 1400, press 1600 … 1700 … 1800 ... 7... 8 ... press, press, press, … what? $34!? But I’ll be back around 6 pm, TODAY!”  She grabbed the ticket and ran off declaring that she’ll claim it to expenses. We got away with only $4 overcharge and could have parked through to 9 am. The machine's 24 hour clock stopped at 1800 and then leapt forward to 7. We considered the con-undrum after boarding the east bound train; although we railed against it, we had it all in line by our destination."


Sadly, I was brushed off the editing room floor and dumped straight into the round file.  Stupid me, in my excitement I did not see that letters to the editor must be 150 words and I submitted 230.  Maybe next time.

Northern Flicker

Caught a glimpse of this guy in the trees yesterday. Today he joined the breakfast club on the deck.

I caught up with him after he left. That red dot in the back gives him away:

Our feathered friends ... and others

It bucketed down rain all day yesterday.  Then, within minutes in the evening, the temperature plummeted to -10C and it snowed a bit.  We decided on an at home day to catch up with ourselves ...

Background: when I moved up here (4 years ago now?) I realized that I would have to have a visual diversion or I would go crazy.  We live in a row house with no side windows and in the back the cedar trees were touching the deck (read: claustrophobia, so a couple had to go) and the front is a gravel parking lot ... not quite as bad as it sounds but definitely lacking in panorama views! So, I got some bird feeders and they have proved to be a great success as far as diversion goes.

Himself and I have had a difficult time concentrating on our tasks this morning ... there's been a lot going on!

The usual suspects arrived. Chickadees (and finches):

Juncos:

Bluejays:

Assorted Woodpeckers hanging off the suet:

And, glory be, the Cardinal!  We've gone to great lengths to encourage this skitty guy.  The new bird feeder has a special ring on it for him, black sunflower seeds are all over the place, and recently we got safflower seeds - Bingo! He's a key player now, although we do wonder where the Mrs is; in the past she was sent in to do the reconnaissance, but no sign of her this year.

Here he is with a safflower seed in his beak:

Then the thieves arrived in full force.  First they tried to get into the feed box (it is stored outside since the 'pantry moth' infestation - don't ask - it was bad ... whole other entry). They were too fast for me to get the pics of them at the strap lock, and they certainly tried their best (note:  the black squirrel chews at the plastic which I then stuff with steel wool - geez):

This one begged to come in ... NOT!

And then the show really began; it was all over in seconds.  The red squirrel first tried to climb the metal bird feeder hanger and slid s l o w l y down.  So, he leapt up and ...

Now, I must get back to my task at hand ...

Blue Monday

Indeed, above zero temperatures and no snow in sight. After holiday meltdown ...

So, we went to the Toronto Boat Show - Himself was delighted.

And the best part was this:

We couldn't get any closer to the front door at Exhibition Place:

To get to this side of Toronto, we drive through the sleepy bedroom community of Palgrave which has a great pond for pond hockey.  Last year there was a pond hockey tournament featuring 96 teams! When we drove by in the morning we saw a little boy and his dad just spending time together.  On our return, three rinks were cleared and being well used. 

A great Canadian Tradition:

Winter ... or something

The weather has been bizarre here in Southern Ontario.  Temperatures have vasillated between  above zero (rain), at zero (freezing rain/wet snow), and well below zero (really, really cold - like yesterday at -16, now that's just silly). 

Last weekend Himself and I did a wee photo shoot around Devil's Glen.

Top of the main quad:

Looking down Paradise and towards chalets built in the trees:

Meadows was in pretty good shape considering (but no rollers yet):

Our snowmaking guys are the best and work around the clock when they have to.  Here's the terrain park getting a good covering:

Our black diamond runs are the real McCoy - check out the pitch:

Moi:

Looking down from the other quad towards the clubhouse:

Panoramic taking in Paradise side to side:

 Devils Glen Trail Map and other stuff  and Devils Glen Marketing Video

Hunkered Down

Winter Storm Report and a Christmas Past

I set up to file an Old Man Winter-Finally report and see that Daughter Jennie's latest blog post illustrates our quiet family Christmas: click here to view Our Family Christmas 2011

BTW: This year I "dry" brined the turkey: Best Roast Turkey Recipe

Hint: I advise finding a brining bag - makes turning the baby so much easier/cleaner. And didn't you love its little fluffy socks?

In the meantime, we've had a good ole dump:

I've enlarged the thermometer so that you can really feel it:

To my friends in Panama and Florida and the like ... ENJOY!

A Short Reflection

I've been looking through my blog site and am quite amazed to see that last year I wrote and published 42 postings!

What a riot.  I really didn't know what it was all about and am generally pleased.

I've also looked back to my intentions 1/1/11:

*Write what I think.  Well, that really didn't work out as I had imagined.  I continue to wonder what it's all about and on occasion I have written something vaguely thoughtful but for the most part I still 'mentally' write and observe and am reticent to publicly declare my opinions/ideas ... the world just isn't ready yet!

The blog is more of a travelogue which I enjoy sharing as I have friends 'here' and 'there.' The shortcoming is that it is one sided and I don't feel close to my friends from Facebook (I cancelled my account after it was hacked - absurd, I only had 13! friends but I really liked them and enjoyed seeing wedding/baby/holiday pictures).

I am stunned to see in my blog 'stats' that I had 1,381 'hits' ... GO FIGURE!

AND

these hits came from all over: Canada, UK, USA, Panama, France, Poland - I can account for family and friends, but how about Germany, China, Russia, and Netherlands, and not just one hit I might add - very cool indeed. I wonder if I may have kindred spirits out there .... Hello? Hello?

I only have one committed follower: my daughter, Jennie, Thank You Darling.  Be sure to check out her link on my page, "Well Shut the Front Door" she's very interesting and funny (unbiased, of course).

I had another resolution last year:

* Read. Stop watching mindless television and read instead. That didn't work at all - I have read embarrassingly few books and can only remember Tina Fey's, Bossypants, which is hilarious and cannot be read in public (unless you can laugh quietly and don't snort when you try to suppress it). 


I am (con)currently alternately reading Greg Mortenson's, Three Cups of Tea, and Diane Paddison's, Work, Love, Pray on my iPad.  And I have a real book (dog-eared at page 130) on my bedside table: Dan Hill's, I Am My Father's Son (personally dedicated and signed). I can't seem to settle in - not due to lack of interest, I just need to think about them.


I've looked through my iPad library and am happy to report that I have read more than I remember - why is that I wonder?
The Bolter, Frances Osborne
Poor Little Bitch Girl, Jackie Collins
I Feel Bad About my Neck and I Remember Nothing, Nora Ephron (I think that I need to read that  last one again)
Sex, Money, Kiss, Gene Simmons
The Family Fang, Kevin Wilson


Short yet eclectic list, that's for sure.


Now that I think about it I do remember reading these ... but I have no recollection whatsoever about:
Making Waves, Tawna Fenske
An Inconvenient Marriage, Ruth Ann Nordin


And I did start and simply could not deal with The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Steig Larsson.  No, I don't think I'll bother with the movie either.


So, not too bad but not great.


Mindless television?  I'm all about it. My PVR is full of Random Housewives, Hell's burning Kitchens/Nightmares, Tabatha - I love you and BTW the world needs you, clothing designers Project Runway madness, Amazing around the world Races,  abandoned Storage units the buyers War/battle over, and I will admit to worrying if I am a Hoarder - I guess not compared to that lot, and will my family feel the need to conduct an Intervention? - luckily not to date  ... not quite so mindless is The Good Wife, and the perennial Grey's Anatomy (I just can't stop), Revenge is a surprise hit, will Pan Am suddenly be revived? OK, as I am 'fessing all: I'm a diehard Judge Judy fan and I've known Victor Newman since he married Nikki (1982?). Enough already.


One last thing: the second season of the wonderful British ITV production, Downton Abbey, is starting on PBS this Sunday. So not mindless.


For the record, I'm not a total vegetable; if I can't daily download The Globe and Mail I do check out the headlines;  and once a week, I keep up with the Creemore Echo and The Oban Times.


Right, I don't have any deliberate resolutions/intentions for 2012.  Yesterday, I included several general ideas/thoughts one could keep in mind while on this path for a good, reasonable and meaningful life. Today I have been thinking of Jack Layton's last letter to Canadians; it is worth rereading, particularly the last paragraph:

"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."

Happy New Year

It's difficult to be inspired as the rain is pelting down on the skylights and the snow is disappearing in front of my very eyes.


This is, however, a good time to reflect:


“Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.” ~ Buddha


"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" ~ Eleanor Roosevelt 


“There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.” ~ Charles Dickens