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.