A Viewing

A friend's mother died at 86 this past weekend, so I attended the viewing yesterday. She was perfectly healthy and driving about until February when she discovered she had advanced pancreatic cancer. I decided to order sympathy flowers online and have them delivered to the funeral home. I was quite pleased with the process, it even prompted me to choose an appropriate message from its own list, should I be short of the right words (which I was). Here is the orchid arrangement I chose:



The deceased had surviving siblings including a 96 year old surviving brother who apparently still bowls! It seems that so much of the entire family had not gathered together for some time. Fortunately or unfortunately, it takes a funeral to bring people together.

Causes

This is Coreopsis flowering profusely in gardens here right now.

I just found out about Causes.com via this article. It got its start from Facebook. Under their 'Wishes' tab, users can donate birthdays, runs or any other personal moments to charity. It's for people who want to do some good instead of receiving personal gifts. It makes it easier to setup a fundraising page for an event.

Our mailstrike ended yesterday when the Post Office was legislated back to work. They said it would be about 2 weeks before things return to normal. It's surprising how dependent we still are on the mail. I'm waiting for K's new health card to arrive as well as L's new Costco card. And Mr. Toast at Hot Toast and Jam is mailing me a gift package. I've been paying a few bills online even though I haven't received the usual bill because I know they are due. All the companies have ensured that we know it's our responsibility to get our bills paid regardless of any mail strike. It did encourage me to sign on to a few sites to arrange paperless billing in the future. And we got mail yesterday!

Lying is good for you

Twice a year in our neighbourhood we have a 'no tag' day when you are allowed to put out an unlimited amount of garbage instead of the usual 3 bags every two weeks. I know people come by the night before and help themselves to various treasures. I thought these looked good enough for someone to take home, as opposed to being garbage. The second and third photos are different views of the same cabinet. What do you think? And no, I didn't take anything home, simply because I am wary of clutter these days!





I found this interesting article in one of the newsfeeds. It's worth a read:

The truth about lying: It’s good for you, trust us

Rent a Bike

We were downtown the other day and noticed you can now rent a bike at certain spots. Indeed, we saw a few people riding them about. There was several tourists snapping photos here and there and K thought it was interesting that Toronto is a tourist attraction. Just like how we snap photos when we're on vacation!

Sunday Sketches - Incongruous

Hello and welcome to Sophia's Sunday Sketches. I drew this from a photo I took in the neighbourhood. The sweater hanging from the sign caught my attention because it didn't fit the environment, so I'm calling this one 'incongruous'.

Please visit the other talented participants.

Sweet Saturday - Sourcream Blueberry Pie

It's time for Diana's Sweet Saturdays! I'm featuring a Sourcream Blueberry Pie.



I got this sourcream blueberry pie recipe from The Southern Lady. I adjusted it slightly to use 1/2 cup of brown sugar instead of 1 cup sugar and didn't do the topping either. Nonetheless, it was so delicious, it was hard to stop at one slice.

Let's go see what everyone else found sweet this week and please join us!

Paint Party Friday - Old Church Window

Hello and welcome to Kristin and Eva's Paint Party Friday. I drew an old church window that I photographed in my neighbourhood.

Let's go see what the other talented artists did this weekend.

Another Birthday

I liked the textures and colour contrast in this photo I took the other day.

I celebrated my birthday recently. It seems the older I get, more people remember. I had a lot of good wishes from friends and family. L got me some new gym shorts that fit perfectly, along with some age defying eye cream and facial moisturizer. I'll certainly use them! She also made me a beautiful card signed by M and K as well. M brought home a delicious ice cream cake that night.

K has final exams today, we are a bit stressed about Math, but we'll wait and see. I'm sure he'll do the best he can. I certainly know a lot of Grade 10 math, keeping the Alzheimers away!

It's funny, both the kids enjoy watching Judge Judy. It's not something I watch myself. L recently spent a fabulous weekend in cottage country with a bunch of university friends, despite all the blackfly and mosquito bites.

Cool Juke Box and Thank You for the River

The past couple of days have been so gorgeous, summer is off to a great start! All the plants seem to be blooming. I made a potato salad today without mayonnaise for a change. We'll have it with some barbecued strip loin steaks.

4 or 5 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 stalks of celery finely chopped

Dressing:

1 teaspoon of whole grain dijon mustard
1/2 tsp dried chives
3 tablespoons vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/3 cup of oil

Boil and drain the potatoes. Add the celery. Mix the dressing together and add to the vegetables.

All the former kindergarten teachers or those with kids that age might like the video below.

If you love music from the past, this is really cool!

This entry in the Water's Worth It! video contest (Canadian Wildlife Federation) is so cute! By kindergarten students at Hidden Valley Elementary in Whitehorse, celebrating the Yukon River.

Motherhood

This is a lovely video:

An American robin lays her four eggs in a hanging basket

and the home owners set up a camera to film the amazing results.

Self Compassion

I think it's the first I'm hearing of this term, I heard it being described on the radio the other day. This is how wikipedia describes it and here's a brief summary:

Self compassion has 3 main components

Self kindness - forgive your perceived shortcomings

Common Humanity - it's human to suffer/fail

Mindfulness - accept not suppress negative feelings

Self compassion is not to be confused with self-indulgence. Indeed, it can lead to mental health, wisdom, happiness and other positive qualities. It has benefits beyond self esteem.

Do you think you have self compassion? Hmm.

Sunday Sketches - Bus Stop

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there! We're having a gorgeous, summery weekend.

Welcome to Sophia's Sunday Sketches. I took a couple of photos while walking in my neighbourhood and I drew this 'bus stop' for you today.

Let's go see what everyone else did!

Sweet Saturdays - Blackberry Muffins

Welcome to Diana's Sweet Saturdays. I'm featuring blackberry/strawberry muffins I made recently when I saw The Southern Lady post a recipe for Blackberry Muffins. I happened to have blackberries and used some strawberries as well.

Please join us for Sweet Saturdays, it's fun!

Paint Party Friday - The Door

Welcome to Kristin and Eva's Paint Party Friday! I took a couple of photos while walking through the neighbourhood and decided to draw this one that I'm calling 'The Door'.

Time to go see what everyone else did.

Jack and the Beanstalk

This is wonderful if you have 5 minutes to watch:

Jack and the Beanstalk- as told by a two year old


And here's a sweet story I read in the newspaper yesterday:

Former student finds beloved teacher — at her convocation

Kids in Church

I thought these were cute, enjoy!



3-year-old Reese :
'Our Father, Who does art in heaven,
Harold is His name.
Amen.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A little boy was overheard praying:
'Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it.
I'm having a real good time like I am.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the christening of his baby brother in church,
Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car.
His father asked him three times what was wrong.
Finally, the boy replied,
'That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home,
and I wanted to stay with you guys.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One particular four-year-old prayed,
'And forgive us our trash baskets
as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Sunday school teacher asked her children as they
were on the way to church service,
'And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?'
One bright little girl replied,
'Because people are sleeping.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin 5, and Ryan 3
The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake.
Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson.
'If Jesus were sitting here, He would say,
'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'
Kevin turned to his younger brother and said,
' Ryan, you be Jesus !'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A father was at the beach with his children
when the four-year-old son ran up to him,
grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore
where a seagull lay dead in the sand..
'Daddy, what happened to him?' the son asked.
'He died and went to Heaven,' the Dad replied.
The boy thought a moment and then said,
'Did God throw him back down?'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A wife invited some people to dinner.
At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said,
'Would you like to say the blessing?'
'I wouldn't know what to say,' the girl replied.
'Just say what you hear Mommy say,' the wife answered.
The daughter bowed her head and said,
'Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?'

No more complaining

The Miami Heat lost the basketball finals on Sunday night and there are a lot of depressed fans around. Fortunately, I'm not a sports fan.

K and I had a near accident in the car yesterday morning in the busy rush hour while he was driving. We saw the big bus barrelling down just in time as I screamed. (I scream easily). All is well that ends well, not to mention it would have been our fault. I told him it was good experience but it made me appreciate having him around more. Sometimes it's frustrating and stressful working with him especially during exam time, but I'd keep doing it forever compared to having some harm come to him. So no more complaining, it's all about putting things into perspective!

I did a quick check of the garden and noticed that a lot of seedlings from different plants have started popping up in odd places. So I gathered a few of them and re-distributed them all around the yard for about half an hour. I do this every year instead of buying new plants and it seems to work fine. The columbine are blooming profusely and look very pretty. Coneflowers, coreopsis, yarrow, violets, sedum, lavender, iris, propagate so easily. The alyssum plants re-seed every year. Some people don't like forget-me-nots as they can run out of control, but I like them.

I think I have finally perfected my beef stir fry recipe. (I know this because everyone is eating it right up). I always use top sirloin beef and it is very tender. No extra salt is required as the soy sauce makes it salty enough. I've posted different versions in the past as the dish evolves. My measurements are approximate so feel free to adjust as you please.

Ginger Beef Stir Fry

1 1/2 lbs top sirloin steak, cut into slivers
2 tbs canola oil
1 tbs dark soy sauce
1 tbs rice vinegar
1 tsp chili garlic sauce
1 onion chopped
1 thumb of ginger sliced
1 tsp corn starch
1/2 tsp sugar

Marinate all ingredients except canola oil.
Add oil to saucepan on medium heat, and the meat in small amounts. Toss each batch of meat for about 3 or 4 minutes until browned on all sides. You might need to add a bit more oil per batch. Place each batch into the serving bowl as it is done. Serve with white rice.

A Sunday Walk

I went for a nice Sunday Walk yesterday morning. It was pleasant and cool, requiring a light sweater. There was a young family out jogging together, all 4 of them. I moved aside to let them pass with a smile. On my way home, I saw a dad riding a tandem bike with his young daughter. I stopped in at the convenience store and noticed a mother with a young daughter and a toddler inside. The toddler was all smiles being pushed along in a ride-on car. "It must be nice to be that age, with not a care in the world", I remarked to the store clerk. He agreed, "Just laugh and cry...". I guess it was just that "family" kind of day.

I snapped a couple of photos to feature later on in this week's art challenges, stay posted!

And here's what I found interesting in the news recently:

Horrific LeMans crash goes viral on youtube. This is uplifting because the driver walked out of this terrible crash due to the design of the car among other lucky factors.

Frist Gabrielle Gifford's Pics Since Shooting. She's looking great considering what happened to her.

10 Personal Details revealed by Bill Gates

Sunday Sketches - Wildfire

Welcome to Sophia's Sunday Sketches! Today's 'wildfire' is inspired by a photo I saw in the newspaper of the recent Arizona wildfires.

Time to go see what everyone else did!

Sweet Saturdays - Greek Yogurt

Welcome to Diana's Sweet Saturdays. I read that it's healthier to add your own flavourings to plain yogurt instead of buying the flavoured kinds. I bought a tub of plain Greek yogurt and just added a touch of honey and a handful of sweet blackberries to it and it was simply delicious! This type of yogurt has no fat although it does have sodium.

Please join us for Sweet Saturdays.

Paint Party Friday - Poppies in Sunshine

Welcome to Kristin and Eva's Paint Party Friday. This piece is called 'Poppies in Sunshine'. I wanted to do some flowers in sunshine and I chose poppies because I liked the way I have seen them reflected through light.

Off to see everyone else's work this week!

Mid-life crisis?

One of L's friends told her he was at his family's dinner table recently when his dad told his mom 'I really don't like this dish'. The mom said 'but dear, I've been making this dish regularly for 17 years'. He said 'well, I was just being nice'. Think he's having a mid-life crisis? The son just burst out laughing, he couldn't help himself.

Have a look at this inspiring artist's video...he's really amazing. He draws city scapes in minute details from memory (being autistic).

Here's a cute dog surfing video for the dog lovers!

In other news, Google Releases a Stable Version of Chrome 12 web browser. Has anyone tried Chrome? Google is taking over everything.

Nice Guys

L is obsessed with this Kev Jumba youtube video. I think it's the sweetest version. Listen to the words carefully, there is a story to it! I've also included some other versions of it. These young men all met each other on youtube and have collaborated on this song which is also selling quite well on Itunes.

The interesting thing is these young men have become quite rich making these videos according to L's research. They have their own youtube channels with ads. If you make a lot of videos and get millions of hits for a lot of them, the royalties add up quickly. Kev Jumba will often donate a portion to charity and if he can end up donating $5,000 to a charity then he's making a lot of money. Times sure are changing and these kids are the future online entrepreneurs.

L said the quality of the videos are so good now because as they make more money they buy the same quality of equipment as the real movie people and even hire producers, etc.

Anyway, enjoy the videos:

Nice Guys Kev Jumba

Nice Guys Niga Higa

Nice Guys Acoustic with Chester See

Creative Tuesdays - Store Front

Welcome to Mr. Toast's Creative Tuesdays! Today's theme is 'store front'. This is what I came up with. It was fun to do. I have a somewhat busy day today with lots of appointments, but will check in later. Have a great day!

Don't forget to go see what the others did for the theme.

Just Believe

I recently purchased this cute little plaque from Sophia at Blue Chair Diary
and it arrived safely in the mail last week and thought I would share it with you!





The other day I paid a bill in the mail with a cheque that I suspected I had forgotten to sign. So much for efficiency. Of course, it was returned for that very reason, so I hurried to the bank to pay it again, just before the due date. Simply maddening behaviour! Whenever I rush to do things, I always seem to mess up somehow. I won't blame middle age! My girlfriend told me that the banks will now accept online bill payments for other banks. So I will try that next time. The less cheques that have to be written the better.

The town summer festival was rained out for Saturday morning. My girlfriend and I braved the thunderstorm with our umbrellas and got a good soaking as we walked through the stalls that morning. The parade did take place and I should've taken a photo of the colourful clowns with their own umbrellas. It cleared up beautifully in the afternoon, so I'm sure the vendors were much happier too.

Sunday was just a beautiful day.

Sunday Sketches - Audi A7

Hello and welcome to Sophia's Sunday Sketches. I drew an Audi A7 that is being advertised a lot in the newspapers. I was attracted to its sleek, smooth lines. It's a $99,000 (CDN) car, I think, so not quite in the budget anytime soon! But it's just gorgeous don't you think? Let me include the real thing here, so you can really appreciate it. It's probably not a good idea to try to re-create such a precision vehicle, unless you're a real 'car' illustrator.




Time to go see what everyone else did today!

Sweet Saturdays - Fruit Cobbler

Welcome to Diana's Sweet Saturdays.


The Southern Lady recently published a recipe for 'yummy blueberry dump cake'. It looked so easy, I immediately tried it using the ingredients I had on hand. Here's my version, I loved it! Thanks Judy!

1 cup raspberries
2 cups blueberries
1 (20 ounce) can sliced peaches in juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 box Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake Mix
3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted


Rinse berries and pour into bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Pour peach slices and juice over the berries. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Spoon cake mix evenly over the fruit mixture. Drizzle the melted butter over all. DO NOT STIR. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes until top is brown and cake is bubbly. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream. Enjoy!

Paint Party Friday - The Spill

Hello and welcome to Kristin and Eva's Paint Party Friday. I'm calling this sketch 'the spill'. I was hurrying down the stairs the other day and a tub of yogurt spilled out of my hands and burst open. Yes, it's strawberry yogurt and it was a horrible spill, lol. What else could I do, I took a photo of it before I quickly wiped it up.

Let's go see what the others did today.

Drowning doesn't look like drowning.

'This enlightening article on what drowning looks like may change the way you watch your children the next time they go swimming.'

We're having wonderful summer weather this week. The step class instructor at the gym says her 91 year old father in law will be visiting for a week from the east coast. His 75 year old friend is doing the driving. It sounds as if they live in a wonderful retirement community with lots of friends and an independent lifestyle.

Yesterday a friend and I went for a walk and lunch to celebrate her upcoming 50th birthday, and we treated each other as my birthday is also coming up later this month. It was good to have a nice chat, walking with the summer wind blowing through our hair.

Senior Texting Codes

Welcome to the month of June! Wow, the year is just flying by.

I got this from Valerie at Craft Attack and thought it was just great:


ATD -at the doctor.

BFF -best friend fell.

BTW -bring the wheelchair.

BYOT -bring your own teeth.

FWIW -forgot where I was.

GGPBL -gotta go, pacemaker battery low.

GHA -got heartburn again.

IMHO -is my hearing aid on?

LMDO -laughing my dentures out.

OMMR -on my massage recliner.

ROFLACGU -rolling on floor laughing and can't get up.

TTYL -talk to you louder!