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Showing posts from October, 2020

Snowy Speculations

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If I could paint, I would have tried to replicate the landscape very early this morning. Illuminated by the faintest hints of light and hours before sunrise, the cold, stark landscape lay completely still in its snowy blanket. Naked trees stood proudly and quietly against this backdrop, this palate of pure white an unforgiving place for any creature, big or small, to attempt to cross without drawing attention to its existence at this time. Even our ancient tire swing looked sleepy and droopy, suspended precariously close to the ground, as if the effort of hanging from a tree limb was too much for it. To the east, the only rays of light visible were the ones coming from the across the river, and even those seem hushed and muffled, like a child tired and murmuring not to wake them up just yet.  The young families down the road have gone all out with Christmas lights this year. Bright colours adorn the night skies and my neighbours even have a Christmas Cat and a Christmas Dinosaur that i
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Thanksgiving Dining

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We are celebrating our eleventh Thanksgiving at our home today. We moved in late October in 2009. At that time, there was no access to the east side of the house where most of the property is although we changed that shortly after we moved in by taking out some windows and installing a sliding door and deck. It offers some of my favourite views - the escarpment in the distance, views of the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge and the serenity of endless vineyards dotted by the occassional home or barn. What's not to like? I have always loved paging through magazines or watching shows where they feature outside dining spaces across the world. They can be simple little cafe tables or long elegant rows clad in formal white table cloths featuring the most beautiful dishes and glassware! That type of setting speaks to me and I love arranging something similar for our dinner guests when the weather permits. A few years ago, my mother was off on holiday in Germany and my father was by himself for T
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Moth in the Bed Sheets

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Growing up in a family of six kids, my mother would hang laundry out to dry as often as she could. This was of course a way to use less energy and save on utility bills with a large family. I remember bringing in towels that were so hard and crisp that they scraped your skin as you dried yourself on their abrasive texture. My brothers' jeans stood up on their own retaining the stiffness of human legs and the trademark indentation where the clothespins had secured them in place on the line. Our generation uses the dryer for convenience and ease. Out of the washer and into the dryer. Easy peasy! When we moved to our rural property, I insisted that I wanted a clothesline. My husband, who does nothing halfway, had custom metal posts made at his work that were approximately 20 feet high. These were cemented into the ground and a 75 foot clothesline was erected.  But that was not all. He built a platform for me to reach the line complete with stairs and railings on either side and a
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