Eclectic Tastes

Whenever I hear music from the 80's I think of the hours
that Ron, Mim (my sister) and I spent making 'tapes'
for our 'fitness classes'/aerobic classes.

In the early 80's we ran a Fitness Studio
in Halifax.....and it was a quite a lot of fun.

The music was great for this type of thing and here is a sample:

Enjoy your Sunday.

Saturday Morning Post

Things that caught my eye this week:

Literally TONS of blossoms on the Rhododendrons this year,

here are two of the bushes.

These two have settled in with the white Birch quite nicely.

Came across this remnant of a Robin's egg  along the beach trail.

New condo building in Halifax.....looks European in design.

On our only HOT day so far this summer (33 C), we took Sophie to this lake to cool off.

This coming Monday is Canada Day, a national holiday. Canada will be 146 years old!

Oh Canada!

'I have my eye on you Jim. Don't even think about it!'

A 'mural artist' at work in downtown Halifax.

This guy always catches my eye.

My girl.

Path leading to the bridge?

So many people died in the Halifax Explosion of 1917.

These plaques are on a memorial tower to commemorate this tragic event.

I caught part of the chimes one afternoon this week.

This is Lake William in the village of Waverley.

Last Sunday we celebrated my father's 97th birthday 
in this building which he now calls home.

Early morning walk on beach 
and this surfer whipped by to join his buddies already in the water.
Those three darker dots above his head would be them.

Catching a wave......

Hey, she tries to keep up with those other surfers!

Getting To Know Me

I have always been interested in my ancestry.....where did my ancestors come from?

So, about 10 years ago I set out to find out who they were.

I gathered as much information from family members as possible 

and put that into a good software program that would sort it all

into 'branches'.

I spent one summer going to local graveyards looking for

deceased family to get proper dates of birth/death.

I went on line and looked into local archives and records of deaths

of people with familiar surnames as mine.

During this process I came across 'bulletin boards' online

where people are also looking for family heritage and ancestry.

This proved to be invaluable to me as I contacted a few people 

who were directly related to my family through my great great grandfather

on my father's side, and one that was my maternal grandfather's first cousin.

This latter one lives in New York state and had volumes of information

he sent to me about my mother's father's branch of my family tree.

In the information, I found that my mother's surname, MacIsaac,

was originally Isaac a few hundred years earlier.

It was said that three brothers arrived in what is now Ireland

from the Middle East and spoke Hebrew. Their name was Isaac.

They married into that culture of the time and eventually (in a few generations)

were given the 'Mac' to add to their name Isaac

to become MacIsaac.

This designation was given to them by the MacDonald clan in Scotland

for the help they gave them in fighting the Campbells.

To this day MacIsaac's do not have their own tartan....they use the MacDonald one.

The former 'bulletin board' contact was a woman in Florida

who is a direct descendant of my great great grandfather's sister,

her name was Catherine. His was Theodore Cuvelier.

She had been looking for his grave site and I have been ever since.

He lived most of his life in Halifax and died here.

But his grave cannot be found.....yet.

I know where his wife, Sophia (yes, Sophie's namesake!), is buried

but he is not recorded as being there with her.

So the search continues for Theodore.

He was a character from what information I have gathered:

Left Paris, France in 1850 on a ship heading for New York City.

He worked his way across as a purser. 

He was 25 years old when he arrived in NYC.

From there he joined the U.S. Army and was immediately

sent to fight in the U.S./Mexican War for a year.

Then he deserted the army and headed for Canada.

A year later or so he arrived in Nova Scotia,

met and married a woman of German descent named 

Sophia Knickle.

They had about 14 children and raised them in Halifax.

He was a shoe-maker as were a couple of his sons.

About half of his children moved to the 'States'

and settled there. I have been in touch with one

'Cuvelier' family in Indiana.

So as you can see from my experience digging into

family history, you never know what you will find.

I found out that I have multiple ties and links to a number

of cultures and backgrounds,

French and Scottish being the prime ones.

I also learned of a link to French Acadians

and a Mi'kmaq (native to Atlantic Canada) link as well,

on my maternal grandmother's side.

I was and am fascinated by my discoveries and am still searching for

the 'guy' who deserted the army.

I'd love to sit down with him to 'pick his brain'.

Hippie Evolution

Before Paulette, one of the '1968 reunion' friends that was here last week,

left for Ontario we met with her, and her mother.

Alyce, Ron and Paulette. 

We met at a restaurant in Eastern Passage just outside the city of Dartmouth.

Paulette's mother, Alyce, is a hoot! And she provided the entertainment!!

Ron and Paulette.

Alyce is a Nova Scotian who married a man from Boston whom she met while working there.

So Paulette is an American as well as a Canadian. She used to spend her summers here

and that is how I met her back in the summer of 1968.

Ron's chicken club sandwich.

Her mom thought we'd make a 'good pair' and was hoping for the best!!

But to no avail....much to her disappointment to this present day!!

 Paulette and Alyce's clams and salad.

Paulette and I hit it off from the gitgo and become good friends

for a couple of years.....more like buddies than anything else.

 My fishcakes and beans.

As with the rest of the 'reunion' gang we went our separate ways

until about three months ago when a get-together was planned.

 We talked about the time when John, a deceased member of the group, and I hitchhiked

down to Boston in the summer 1968 to meet up with Paulette there.

It was an adventure just getting there...I tell you!

Two hippies trying to get across the border in 1968 was challenging,

to say the least.

The guy in yellow was just standing there and didn't mind at all.

Whole lifetimes have been lived since we saw and spoke to each other so many years ago,

but Paulette and I managed to pick up where we left off

in the hopes of rekindling our friendship.

And with the help of Alyce, I am sure she will do her best too! lol

Oh Go Play In The Corner !

And that I did yesterday morning as I looked up from my laptop 

and noticed all the colour coming from the corner opposite me.

These are flowers that our company brought on the weekend..

All the colours in the corner seemed to blend together nicely.

I love this time of year when I can get my favourite vases out to fill with flowers.

Chania from 'Razmataz' mentioned that she always cuts all of her Peony buds

and brings them in to bloom.

What a great idea, I thought. As she said they will last longer inside

 and not get beaten down by wind and rain.

So out I went and picked the first two peony buds I found

And added them to the cut flowers in the corner.

This way one can have their beautiful scent inside.

This arrangement also matched the Giclee (click) print we got in Cape Cod two years ago.

If you are interested in knowing what this process entails, click here.

As can be seen in lower-left of bouquet, one the Peonies (red) is opening up.

I will be outside today to look for more Peony buds to take inside.

Hope your summer  and winter ( Jean and Davine) 

has gotten off to a good start.