A few pics

Time to get out those autumnal ideas!

Just spent a few hours in the garden. What a glorious way to spend the first day of fall among the chorus of chickadees. I want to say they were entertaining me while I was tidying up the yard but I suspect they were complaining I was too close to their food source. The gardens still look amazing altho looking a wee bit drenched. Too Too much rain and more tonight!! I can't believe I still have edible basil and parsley. Margarita pizza for supper tonight? Even tho I know it means winter is peeking around the corner I love seeing all the fall colours in the mums, grasses, ornamental cabbage, punkins, gourds and of course the changing leaves. The garden takes on a totally different personality at this time. Gone are girly frilly plants some turning the rugged colours noted for fall. Of course having had no frost and not too bad temps at night ( I think the coldest has been 6) there are still lots of impatiens and geraniums flourishing. Even these tender fellas are looking more rugged just thru sheer survival.

Well my girl is a married lady now. Saturday September 11 (yes we know). It was an absolutely fab day. Sunny and wonderfully warm. I think my Nana and my Mommy must have been in cahouts with Mother Nature that day!! After a year long collaboration with way too many people to mention --it was over. Holly was beautiful and I know we all think our daughters are beautiful especially on their wedding day but mine truly was. And yes Dan was a handsome groom! They make a striking couple. In October they are jetting off to Rome for their honeymoon.

Just recently my nephew, Scott, and his wife, Brandy, had a little baby girl --- Darla Mae!!

Iain has been in India for the past 10 days. Yes everyone left me the Tuesday after the wedding. My sister, Paula, my niece, Shanna, and my grand nephew, Chase were here for the wedding and went home Tuesday morning then Iain left Tuesday night! He is home for a week then is off again to Korea but I am hoping it won"t be for as long.

Birthdays and Chicken Pox

I am officially 54! I had an awesome birthday celebration last nite. Iain took me to Merlot's restaurant (a revolving one in ottawa) . You spin around and see lots of the spots of interest in Ottawa. The waiter did ask if it was a special nite and I said no. I think Iain was a bit disappointed that i didn't want any fuss. It is events like this that his extrovert Leo personality comes thru and my Leo/Virgo cusp comes thru. I had a yummy wild salmon with cous cous and Iain chowed down on a rack of lamb with whipped parsnip. O ya we also had a Quail's Gate pinot noir--- mmmmmmmm. I had my requisite creme caramel that was infused with lemon and ginger. Iain had a chocolate lava cake (it was served with vanilla ice cream so I am suspecting the cake was a vehicle for the ice cream). He said it was good but mine was better (I love you my Jeffrey). I am also officially one of the cool kids now too. The hamster finally fell off his wheel on my old phone and am now the proud owner of a blackberry. I LOVE IT!!! Still learning but I am figuring it out.

Iain is off to Texas today but he made me pancakes for breaky. I also got an awesome 70's CD. They just don't make tunes like that any more. So I am on my own for a few days. Tonight I am celebrating with some proseccco and a pizza. Tomorrow morning I plan on getting up early and getting the back deck stained so maybe not a lot of prosecco!!

Holly's fiance, Dan, is suffering this wkend with the chicken pox!! From the sounds of it he is hurting pretty bad. Holly has had them so I think she is safe. If you are reading this Dan --- thinking of you and hope you feel better soon!

Iain's BD

Iain's Wing Ding

Trying to download pics from the party but they don't seem to want to download. Keep checking back and I will keep on keepin on :-)

Date Night in Ottawa

Did some shopping, walked the market taking in all the sights and smells (raspberries and basil my favs), supper @ Stella, then off to the Ottawa River for a sunset cruise!

Frizzy Humid Hair

Tuesday afternoon and I am sitting with a fan blowing on me watching the Netherlands and Uruguay kick a little ball around. I spent an hour outside this morning culling earwigs and giving my poor hanging baskets a drink. Gave the house a good clean up so now I can relax and enjoy this heat.This is what I like this hot humid stuff and I am getting it. Just looked at the humidex and it says 45!!!!!!!!!!!
I am now on Facebook altho I really don't see what all the fuss is about. Maybe if I was 30 years younger I would be more excited about it. Altho I have made contact with a friend I haven't seen in probably 25 years.
Our poor little frogs are desperately trying to keep from drying out. I haven't seen them the last couple of days but have heard them so guess they are ok. The cats are spending the days stretched as long as they can possibly get their bodies.
Lots of salads and crystal lite. I have decided to cleanse for the next couple of weeks so no booze! Sure could use a crisp glass of pinot grigio.

Whaaaaaaat!!

The Habs have traded Halek?! I have nothing more to say other than Tiger has a love cub?!

Frog Blog

After putting the pond in and talking to a local botanist we decided to let our backyard create its own biodiversity. Within a couple of days we had 2 water striders and lots of little water beetles. After about a week we were up to 4 striders and now after 2 weeks we have a wee frog taking up residence. He is calling a lot so we are expecting the Mrs. any time.

Guiness' Workout

Glad to see the treadmill is getting a bit of a workout. I'm afraid I haven't been very motivated lately but it looks like G is!!

Random Garden Pics and Pond

Spending lots of time in the garden and yes I am feeling better. The fence is up and Iain got our pond in last week!

Cranky Gardener

After an exhaustive search this morning for the illusive shed key it was found. I spent most of the day in the garden digging and weeding and weeding and digging.

Feeling a wee bit cranky today looking at the neighbours attempt to put up a fence. It has been 2 weeks now and we are still looking at (refer to picture). We have absolutely no privacy -- their dog and kid figure it is just an addition to their yard and we have to wait for them to finish to get anything done in the pond garden. He told Iain the fence will be up this wkend!! Let's hope. G-R-R-R-R!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hoppy Easter

What a glorious way to spend this long weekend. Sunny and in the 20's. Yesterday I spent cleaning up the front yard. I could feel a wee pull on the old back so after pulling out the chairs from the shed I finished up, had a shower and relaxed on the deck til pussy cats beckoned me with their sweet meows "We are hungry"!! Iain has been away since last Friday golfing with "the boys" in South Carolina. I've managed to keep busy by doing some painting and just general busy work. Of course I have taken the opportunity to veg a couple of times. He arrives home on Sunday nite; is home for a week then off to San Antonio then a day or two after that he goes to India for who knows how long!
Tomorrow my 4 children are coming for dinner. I decided to prep something that did not require a lot of kitchen time. So today I made beef and cheese cannelloni to just pop in the oven about an hour before we eat. I also made a chocolate espresso sorbet that is quite tasty! Now I can enjoy pineapple mimosas on the patio with Holly and Dan and Siobhan and Will when they arrive later.
Now I only have one complaint about this Easter weekend. As you all know I am not a particularly religious person (insert tongue in cheek). However I do enjoy a good old fashioned religious C.B. DeMille epic. Perusing the list of movies that is on I cannot find one. Okay "The Robe" which is quite a good movie (who can pass up Richard Burton in a mini skirt) but it was on a week or so ago. And "The Ten Commandments" was on around the same time. Sorry not good enough for me.
Oh well enjoying my kids tomorrow will certainly make up for lack of epics. And the Sens have clinched a play off spot. I guess all really is right with the world!!

RIP

Sniff Sniff! The last of the goldys has passed away. Found him Saturday afternoon curled up on his side. The little guy must have been closing in on 10.

Fajitas and Family

Had all the kiddlys here for a mexican fiesta supper last Sunday. It was great having them all here which is quite the event in itself! The only downside was that mama had 1 too many margaritas and proceeded to almost lop the top of my finger off while chopping peppers. Then getting assistance from #2 daughter she did the same. Thank goodness for responsible Holly. She was able to bring everything together!

Long Wait

After nursing this orchid for close to 2 years I finally am getting more flowers. I am now inspired to purchase a couple more.

Snuggy Dance

Christmas Wrap Up

We started the season off with a cocktail party on the 19th. It was a lot of organising and work but so worth it. It was nice to see everyone dressed up and I enjoyed all the company. We do have wonderful friends!

A loverly Christmas as usual altho it was very strange not having the girls here for pizza Christmas eve. They arrived about 10:30 and I made them pizza then.

Slept til about 9 and then did our regular morning thing. G'ma was here too and I know she enjoyed seeing the girls and then Dan for dinner.

Not sure if I am embarassed or proud ----- but the girls and I managed to polish off FIVE bottles of prosecco during the day.

Iain took his mom home on Boxing Day during a terrible ice storm. Later in the day Robin showed up. The next day was the Carleton Place bird count day so we were up @ 6 and gone for the day. Iain and Robin went to Amherst Island the next day but I begged off that one. I needed a day or two or three to recoop from our holiday.

Spent a very quiet New Year's Eve sipping champagne and eating scallops and watching hockey.

Went to Sio and Will's for New Year's Day brunch. So nice seeing them. Holly and Dan were supposed to come but couldn't get themselves going

So now we are trying to get back to our regular schedule. Not an easy task. I have spent most of today organising all the Xmas stuff and there is a lot of it.

Oh yes I made a tortiere for the first time this year and it was quite tasty.I made a vegetarian one for Sio and am interested to see how she liked it. So two new things added to our Xmas celebrations --- a cocktail party to get things going and a tortiere for Boxing day dinner!!