Natural November

You are probably wondering why I decided to use the word NATURAL for this month. Actually it all started with what I have decided to post this month.  I wanted to feature our beautiful province of British Columbia.  At this time of the year the sceneries are amazing. Although we do not have the same amazing fall colors like the province of Ontario, there are other great features of our province.  What is BC known for nature?

Vibrant rainforests, craggy mountain peaks, glacial lakes, and an expansive coastline make British Columbia a playground for nature lovers.

Now let me share some the recent photos I have taken during the last couple of months. Some are taken from our camping days and some are taken just from our living room window.  I hope you enjoy them and maybe someday you might find yourself exploring our neck of the woods.

One of my favorite sunset photo taken from our living room window.

Along Mt. Grady Drive

Middleton Mountain

Ellison Park Beach

Okanagan Lake

Ellison Provincial Park

This was featured last week on our local news - Sharbot Lake, Ontario

Overjoyed October

 As a last minute request our neighbors also our friends asked if we could dog sit their two dogs, Norman and Stanley.  They have a regular dog sitter but unfortunately she was unable to take them for that particular weekend. They are small bichon frise shih tzu mixed. Both Stanley and Norman are such easy going dog, very friendly and hardly barks. We had a couple of hours training and instructions. I am definitely overjoyed and hopefully they will enjoy our company.

Now this is the first month of fall and we are already seeing the colors changing.  During one of our walks, we saw all the fruits and vegetable that are almost ready for harvest. Of course I took some photos.  The following day the owners have harvested them.  I am guess they saw me eyeing their product and thought maybe it is best they gather them before the neighbors take them. LOL

I thought I would share a couple more photos that pretty well described the arrival of autumn.  I wish you a great Canadian Thanksgiving with family or friends. We will have a small get together with our friends as we give thanks for their friendship.

Sorry September

For those of you who are still following my blog, thank you for understanding. I really thought that I posted something last month.  When I realized that I have missed two months, then I felt really bad. Now I will make it up by posting some really great crafts and yummy treats.  Can anyone believe that it's almost fall.  Well, technically the 21st of this month, right.  It had been a busy summer for us.  We were able to do a bunch of camping with friends.  We were very lucky to have such great friends who actually organize these camping days.  They have done the research as to which provincial park we will go and we all get on our computer two months in advance so we can get our campsite.  We were all very lucky to get what we wanted and when we get there, everyone is close by each other.  Anyway, enough words. Here's what I have done for the past couple of months. Hope you enjoy these pictures.

A variety of bars that I have made for a get together.

A very yummy lemon pudding cake.

Our friend left this for us and we re upholstered it.

We decided to this one as well as the leather had a hole.

TURON, a Filipino treat with bananas, jackfruit and honey drizzle and toasted sesame.

My very first blueberry almond scones. It's a bit flat but still yummy.

My one and only day lily in our front yard.

My very first Hydrangea flowers that last for a month. Sadly, it's dead now.

I painted these bottles for one of our friends for their outdoor kitchen.

This set was for another of our friends for her bathroom decor.

The pillow dress I sewed for the daughter of my massage therapist.

Also for the same girl.

Gone too soon...

Fourteen years ago was the saddest day of my life.  Sometimes I just want to forget that something did happen to my son.  I still do not understand how I did not see the signs.  Most of the time I blame myself because maybe I was too busy and did not pay attention.  What kind of a mother am I?  How could I let something like that happen to my only son.  But after these many years, I still ask myself a lot of questions and to this day, I still do not have an answer.  Although I understand that one cannot grieve forever and that pain does lessen with time, I still wonder why?

Yesterday I was reading a book, and on page 12 there was the following quote..

Life must go on, if only for the sake of those who are left,

and, what is more, it is our duty to learn to enjoy it again.

For what do we regret for those untimely death, but the

opportunity to live with enjoyment? If we are able to give

proper meaning and honor to their death, and our grief,

we must enjoy the life we, and not they, are privileged to have.

June 29, 2008 

"You have left my life, but you will never leave my heart".

I can't believe it's almost June

 While visiting the USA last month, one of my friends ask me about blogging.  I told them that I am only doing it once a month.  So today, I decided to do one ahead for the month of June.  Haha, I haven't done a post since last year aka December 2021. Now this is a catch all of different topics that might interest my followers, is there anyone actually still checking this blog.  I hope so.  Just a quick recap.  January was cold. February, a lot of snow arrived and did not leave.  March it seems like we are going to get an early Spring.  By the middle of the month, I was out on the golf course with five layers of clothing but I was golfing.  April was hit and miss between sunny and rainy.  We decided to take our RV and head south.  We visited family and friends in Washington, Oregon and California.  I was lucky to get a chance to golf at least six times with old golf buddies (not old as in age but previous golf buddies).  We ate quite a bit of a variety of food and of course gained 3 pounds each. We returned to Canada and the weather was not as nice as in the US which was between 20 to 30 C.  But I am back to my very busy schedule.  Now I would like to share some photos I had collected during the last 5 months.  Thanks for stopping and hopefully you enjoyed this months post.

A beautiful sunset - a view from our living room - middle of January.

Also at the golf course, hole # 10

First week of April at the golf course.

Donut twist from Yum Yum Donut, San Jose, CA

A new favorite snack but not in Canada

Shrimp tacos for lunch at a Mexican place

Also from my friends garden.

From Phil's restaurant in Monterey, CA

From my friends garden in Monterey, CA

This season outdoor pot.

Happy Holidays

 It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  All the neighborhood are decorated and well lit.  The music on the radio has been playing a lot of my favorite holiday classics.  Which one, you might ask.  "All I want for Christmas is you" and of course the good old, "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas".  I started baking a couple of weeks ago and I am not done as I would like to share some of my baking to some of my neighbors, the garbage and recycling man and the nice lady at the post office at Shopper's.  Anyway, I wish everyone a very merry berry Christmas and a healthy but happy new year!

Cranberry Walnut Artisan Bread (no knead)

Lime macarons with purple yam cream cheese filling

Apple and Pear Tart

Kitchen towel for a friend's birthday

Almond Lace Cookies

Campfire set for a friend's son who is crazy about camping.

The S'MORES to go along with the set.

Our front year decoration. Rudolph is new this year.

My Christmas Flag which I made over 5 years ago.

Lemon Poppy Seeds Muffins with Lemon Rumchatta Glaze.

Overjoyed October

There were a few words that I could have used for this month but I opted to use OVERJOYED.  Why, you might ask?  Last week since the weather has been getting very cold, I decided that my last round of golf would be October 21.  Technically the golf course does not close for the season until October 31, but due to the weather condition, I had to cut it a week in advance.  I am overjoyed because I was able to complete 108 rounds of golf which began on March 17 this year.  We are very fortunate to be able to golf early but due to natural reason, some of the days were either too too hot (45 degrees celcius) or too too smoky due to all the fires in our area. One time I read in the news paper (that's right we still receive a weekly paper in our next of the woods) that if you go out during the smoky days, an hour outdoors is like smoking cigarettes.  It's was so bad we couldn't see beyond the house across the street.  I actually almost forgot that I was still blogging and couldn't remember if I had done a post for October.  Well, I have a few more days before the end of the month, so here this is my post for this month.  There are a few photos that I wanted to share.  Thank you to those who are still reading or following my blog.  I can't believe that I have been doing this for 10 years.  I really thought I was going to quit but I change my mind and only doing it once a month.   

One of our neighbor has this pear tree in front of their home.

It is so nice to see the Kalamaka Lake without all that smoke.

Definitely a sign of autumn,

A beautiful sunset from our living room window.

Some portuguese tarts and cassava with macapuno squares.

A friend of hours gave this to me this month and it had 4 blooms - now it has 9.