Ride a white swan

Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 5:25 PM

I found this photo on webshots...doesn't it make you want to climb up on his back wearing a gossamer white dress and let him fly you away with your hair blowing behind you? Such a fairy tale photo.

Bear on the loose!

at 1:04 PM
Excitement has been unfolding near my home this afternoon, we have a resident bear...the police have not captured him but they now have him cornered.

From the Toronto Star, May 28, 2008 04:31 PM
Dan Robson
Staff Reporter

A black bear has found its way into an unfamiliar territory.
After receiving various reports that a bear had been seen roaming around the streets of Pickering today, Durham police located the animal in a ravine near Glenanna Rd., close to Highway 401.
A perimeter has been set up to keep the bear from getting away, as police wait for officials from the Ministry of Natural Resources to remove it.
Reports about Pickering's newest visitor have varied from being a full grown bear as big as six feet tall and 300 pounds to a harmless and quite adorable cub, said Dave Selby, spokesperson for the Durham police.
So far, police say no one is in danger.
However, elementary schools in the area were taking special precautions.
Vaughan Willard Public School and William Dunbar Public School were not allowing any students who usually walk home to leave until a parent or guardian came to pick them up.

Cucumber Yogurt Salad

Sunday, May 25, 2008 at 12:12 PM

Mmmmm! Esra made me hungry this morning when I read her blog about cucumbers. You an read it here. She described a cold cucumber yogurt soup that she enjoys in the summer. I went searching for the recipe on the internet and found this one but it isn't soup. It is more like a thick creamy salad--I made it and just can't stop eating it. It is a good thing I made it with low fat yogurt. SO delicious, I hope many of you try it. My son came over for a taste and said it reminded him of tzatzikiwith walnuts...it isn't as garlicy as tzatziki though.

1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, grated or chopped finely
2 cups yogurt, drained in a cheesecloth (I drained mine with coffee filters in a colander)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
Juice of 1 lemon (I grated the zest and added that too)
3 tbsp minced mint
¼ cup minced dill
Sea salt and cracked pepper
¼ cup toasted walnuts, chopped ( I used all of a small bag)

While the yogurt drained for about an hour, (Esra says you don't have to drain it but I didn't know that then) I sliced the cucumbers thinly, spread them on paper towels and salted them to draw the water out. !/2 hour later, I patted the cucumbers dry and chopped them finely.

Then combine the cucumber, yogurt, garlic, lemon, mint and dill. Season to taste with the salt and pepper. Stir in the walnuts. Serve with warmed pita.

I used way more walnuts than the recipe called for and I am glad I did...they balance the tangyness of the yogurt and lemon so nicely. Not sorry I drained the yogurt because as you can see it is quite wet still.

Thank you for whetting my appetite Esra! I will be eating this all summer!

Cucumber Yogurt Salad

I Spy With My New Eye Glasses

Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 5:03 PM

After a visit to the optometrist a few weeks ago, I chose some new frames and I picked them up the other day. I have always come home with frames that were similar to my last frames but this time I made a real effort to choose something different. These are metal, like the last ones...oh oh...but they are a deep maroon colour, much darker than I have worn in many years. They are more square than I have ever worn too, and I kind of like the sides.

My health insurance doesn't cover everything on eyeglasses but every little bit helps. From $450 I will get back $200. I wear progressive bifocals, which freak me out when I go down stairs but for vanity's sake, they have to be progressive. I also got anti-glare which makes your lenses look thinner and anti-scratch. Pretty standard extras.

They also have sunshades that clip on by little magnets. Hmm...I wonder how long it will take me to misplace them!

How is your spelling?

Friday, May 16, 2008 at 7:45 PM
Here is a tricky test...and a good one too since most of us reading this, blog almost daily or at least a few times a week. My mistake was #2. Have a go at it, click the image to take the test yourself!

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets


Cake and Mulch

Saturday, May 10, 2008 at 4:05 AM
Glenn brought me a couple of pieces of chocolate cake he made this week. He wants to loose some weight and can't do it with chocolate cake in the house so he brought it over to make Mom fat. I was happy to oblige him. As I munched, I mentioned I could use his help shoveling mulch into bags at the garden center. So I finished my cake and off we went.

chocolate cake

Bag-your-own garden mulch is new to me. It was near closing when we arrived. Four girls stood around the cash doing nothing but I had to ask for service. I told one girl what I wanted, she pointed at the bags and asked me how many. I told her 4. She rang up $13 something with tax and we took the bags out to the mulch pile. While he was shoveling, Glenn noticed a sign that said $2.99 per bag (what I had been charged) or 5 bags $2.49 each. I could have had an extra bag free but the girl never pointed that out. I suppose I should have gone back into the garden center and made a complaint but I was tired.

Glenn did a good job packing those bags, they were so heavy! I couldn't manage them and was greatful he was there to help.




Picture Perfect - Gossamer

Friday, May 9, 2008 at 7:16 PM

This week's Picture Perfect theme is Gossamer.

What a sight it was that greeted Bernadette and I last week when we left the theatre where we saw La Boheme. There are two high rise condos across the street, at least 22 floors, maybe more...they were draped in soft cloud. It seemed as if the sky had softly descended.







Below, Bernadette under a red umbrella going to her car.





How Well Do You Know Me?

Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at 6:18 PM


I am shameless...lifting this right off Cheri's page. If you don't know the answers just take a stab. And if you post the questions at your blog, nudge me and I will answer.

My name:

Where did we meet:

Take a stab at my middle name:

Do I smoke:

Do I drink:

When is my birthday:

What was your first impression of upon meeting me:

What is your impression of me now:

What's one of my favorite things to do:

What is one of my favorite movies:

What is the best feature about me:

Am I shy,outgoing,a rebel or a rule follower:

Do I have any special talents:

Would you call me preppy, average, sporty, punk, hippie, glam, nerdy, snobby, or something else (what):

What is my favorite food:

If there was one good nickname for me, what would it be:

What's your favorite memory of me:

What is my worst habit:

If you and I were stranded on a desert island, what one thing would I bring?

Name 3 interesting things you know about me:

If we had one night together, what would we do:


Tip-toeing Through the Tulips

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 9:25 AM

My sister Karen's cat Charlie, moved in with them a few years ago. They didn't choose Charlie, he chose them. It was winter and Charlie kept coming around their door; he seemed to have no home. After a few days, they started to feed him, outside. Then it was cold so they let him camp overnight in the garage but soon he was coming in every night. They couldn't let him in the house because of her other sick old cat...but good old persistant Charlie kept hanging around and eventually even sick old cat got used to him. Then sick old cat went to kitty heaven and Charlie finally became top cat for a while and took over Old Boots position on the sofa. Then Cinder came and I think I have blogged about this before.

Charlie likes to find warm pleasant places in the sun to relax in...and here he found one. He had to tip toe though the tulips to find exactly the right spot to lie in.

He is snoozing in her front garden where he can keep an eye on the house and the street while catching some warm rays.





From his sunny bed, Charlie also has a pretty good view of the tree and the birds who visit but for some reason do not care to hang around very long.

Perhaps they
will get used to him too...just like everyone else at Karen's house did.




Got Milk?

Monday, May 5, 2008 at 7:20 PM

I was listening to CTV News tonight at 11:00 PM and they said that a McGill University research on 14,000 babies shows that breast-feeding increases the intelligence of your baby up to 7.5 points. This is the largest study ever done on intelligence related to breastfeeding.

Just testing

at 6:44 PM
IMG_3526

Mona's Friday Dare - Something White

Friday, May 2, 2008 at 2:44 PM
Every Friday Mona posts a dare to photograph something and she sets the criteria. This week it must be something white and you must take the photo yourself. This week's dare is easy for me because I have lots of white accents in my home.

Here is a small collection of soft critters on my bed. The curly bear on the right has a tiny blanket that says Bestest Aunt. My niece, Melanie gave it to me.


Actually , there is lots of white in my bedroom.



And below is a candle sitting on a scarf on my dresser. It isn't a real candle, it's battery operated. I prefer the real ones but this is white and I will keep it until the battery runs out. These candles were given out to all 1200 employees in February at our yearly All Employee Communication Meeting...the candles represent Candlelighters an association to help children with cancer. All our Friday casual wear tax is going to Candlelighters this year and there are a number of other fundraisers for them in the pipeline.

Below is my shower! It is so WHITE and crisp, it wakes me up! I love taking a shower in the morning.

Here is another white thing I love...just LOVE. Kathleen at work brought it back to me from Hong Kong. It is shiney white with a zipper at the top...I now carry it to work every day. It holds my lunch, and anything else I bring back and forth. She knows I love music...and I do love this bag.

And now I have one more thing to show you downstairs...in the kitchen . . .


This little ceramic owl sits in my kitchen cupboard and he has delighted me for years. I bought a few of them at the end of a bible study to give to the girls I had met with until Christmas one year. Over the years, I heard most of them were broken...dropped on ceramic floors but I was never lucky enough to have a ceramic floor so I still have mine!


Isn't he darling?


And that is how Mona inspired me with her theme this week!
White is my favourite colour!

If you would like to participate in Mona's Dare...post your photos on your page then post the link at Mona's site so everyone can have a look!



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