And The Award Goes To.........

               Where's the sand?


Part of blogging can involve the receiving and acknowledging of awards. I do not ordinarily post about these but today I will, considering the source.

                 Here's some!


I received a 'Versatile Award' from Inger over at Desert Canyon Living. If you haven't visited Inger's blog, may I recommend it to you. One never knows what she will post. It is varied and very interesting. Plus, she has three dogs all of whom are a big part of her life.

Now the 'guys' will play with me here.


Inger has had a lot of experiences in her life and she shares them freely on a daily basis. They are well-thought-out posts and a pleasure to read.

But first I HAVE to bury this ball under Ron! Don't have a clue WHY!


Part of accepting this award is that I am asked to share seven things about myself that you would never have known (or believed!). Here goes:


1. I took piano lessons for seven years and you would never know it!
2. I cycled through the Rocky Mountains in the '80's, and lived to tell the tale.
3. Like Inger, I 'assisted' in demonstrating and 'occupying' the president's office of the university in which I attended in the late 60's. I knew we had something in common!
4. I was 'kidnapped'/abducted along with my brother when I was 16 for about 3 hours.
5. I have always felt very fortunate, even before #4!
6. I absolutely love living in Nova Scotia!
7. Meeting my husband, Ron, was the 'turning point' of my life.


There! Exposed! Where's the privacy! lol

Now to wash it off.


Blogging tradition states that I am now to award this to five other bloggers. Since I am a 'child of the 60's', I feel I can change that tradition. I really feel that I couldn't pick only five........anyone that follows me, I feel, deserves an award! That would mean ALL OF YOU!

That should do it! Now let's do all that again!


OK. That's the 'content' of this post....now to find some photos to fill in the gaps and not necessarily be related to this post whatsoever..........could it be the 60's that cause this somewhat 'laissez-faire' attitude?

It's A Start

We have had a couple of really good days in which to get 'a start' on spring clean-up in the garden.

Ron has been trimming the Weeping Willow for the past couple of years. As you may know, these trees can get very big and ours was heading that way. So a few years ago Ron scalped it. The correct term is Coppicing . Instead of cutting back to ground level, Ron keeps the cut high.

                   Willow tree with ladder.......
It doesn't look like much here, but in the summer dozens of shoots will have grown out of where it was cut and create a globe fan-like effect.

For all you Weeping Willow fans out there, you may be asking how we could do such a thing! Well, as I said the tree was getting pretty big and blocking a lot of sun from getting to other plants. Instead of cutting the tree down we used this technique. Besides we have a regular one growing in another area......that is until Ron gets his hands on it. He loves to prune, you see.

So when I noticed all these 'whips' from the Willow on the ground I thought I could use them effectively for the deck.......until they dry out and lose their colour.

I snipped off as many as there were and put them in this container for now......till I need it.


I thought it would brighten up the winter greyness of the deck....and it did I think.

So if you have a tree that you want to 'play' with and wish it was smaller, you can try Coppicing. It will not hurt the tree.....just change it's appearance.


It's a start to a never-ending, but embraced, task of maintaining and keeping a garden.

Out To Lunch!

This past Sunday after a long 'beach walk' and with stomachs that could be heard in the next county, we thought we'd get to Jane's on the common ASAP!!!

We were expecting a crowd but there were only about ten people waiting to get in. I put our names on the list and were told it wouldn't be too long. It was about 10 degrees C. and we waited outside. I started to look around.........

And saw this 'painted up' electrical/telephone unit thingie.

Never knew Jane's had 'take out'.

Ron waiting......

We only had to wait for about 15 minutes before my name was called to come on in! Glad it was only us two, as groups of three and four seemed to take longer to get a table.

We were taken to the little room off the main one.

Had our coffees and chose from the menu.......

After the waitress described this soup, we couldn't resist! It's a pumpkin, squash and apple soup with feta cheese.....YUM.

This is a painting of Jane's and was on the wall opposite me.

While still savouring the soup and waiting for the main dish we took a few shots....again ONLY using 'manual mode' and no flash!!!

Ron wanted to get in on the action too!

The main course arrived. Ron had his fav....eggs benny and I hada  free range Nova Scotia pork burger with blue cheese.

Look at this! No wonder Ron likes it so much! This is starting to make me hungry.........

While waiting for desseret to arrive, which I'll describe in a second, I took this pic in the men's bathroom.

OK, you will have to use your imagination for this one! You see, we noticed what the table next to us had ordered for dessert.....gingerbread drenched with rum sauce and a dollop of whipped cream and I knew I needed to try that one out! Ron declined but made sure he got an extra fork to assist! And the above was all that was left before we realized we hadn't taken a pic of it. Trust me, it was DELICIOUS.

So a good brunch at Jane's again.....always a reliable choice when going to Halifax. Gee, I ought to be 'working' for them.

Contemplative Monday

I am speechless today as I contemplate the loss of life in Japan.

The scale of the destruction is unimaginable. 

The survivors will be changed forever.

Sunday's Selection

Sometimes we can forget that music can come in different forms and sounds.


Hope you all have a great Sunday.

Retro Saturday

It has been a while since I've gone 'thrifting'. But on Tuesday past I was in the neighbourhood of one such shop and went in to check things out.


I found four items that I thought I just couldn't live without....I know, a sure sign! But admitting it is the first step! lol

The first one is this very 60's juice glass. I like the colours and the geometric designs. It was so filthy I thought at first it had been 'dishwashered'-to-death because it was cloudy looking. After some soap and water.......

This second glass, below, is larger than the first.......tumbler size, I'd say. I am pretty sure it is 50's and of the 'banded' variety. I just haven't seen one in these colours before.

Staying with glass, take a look at these. Of course, the blue caught my eye immediately. These too were pretty grubby but in very good shape with the exception of one of the 'glasses'.....it was very cracked and no good at all. The other four were perfect. 

This looks like a decanter set and I'll say for sherry. It probably came with a 'stopper' on top but that was missing in action.

It was made in Italy and was 'hand painted' which is obvious when one looks at it.......very fine brush strokes.

Just a note.......I have been experimenting with my camera. I am using 'manual' mode so I can 'get back into'using this. A few years back my old Nikon was totally manual and that's all I used. I want to have more control over the end product and the only way to do so is to use a manual mode.


I came pretty close to putting it in 'auto' mode because I couldn't get a clear picture of this next object.

This cute little character/yellow tomato/apple was made in Japan and it's intended purpose may have been to hold toothpicks or the like. I liked the colours.

It was good to get back in 'thrifting' this week. Maybe I'll do it once a month from now on.....

Busy Day Ahead

Boulder study, Tuesday 8 March 2011.


I have 30 minutes in which to do this post, have something to eat and head off to Dad's.

On the way I will pick up his order for 'Hot-Cross Buns' (it being Lent) at the bakery in which he loves to harass the sales staff.....thankfully they see right through his attempts at giving them a hard time.

When I get to his house I plan to give him a hair cut. It is getting a little 'shaggy' around the ears. I have been cutting his hair for a couple of months now. It is a lot easier for him this way than to go out to the local barber.

After the hair cut he will have a bite to eat and then off to the doctor for an appointment. I have a few questions for her as well. It was recommended that he have on-going prescriptions for a few things that may come in handy in the next year.

You see his mobility (his ability to move around on his own) is getting very limited and we, the family, are looking ahead to have in place a few things that we may need.

So today is a busy one and I better get my butt in gear.

I'm off.