Covid cancelled our trip!

Hubby and I were booked for a trip to Eastern Ontario and Quebec for a friend’s milestone birthday and a chance to visit two grandsons at university in Ottawa, our capital city. Two days before leaving, we both came down with Covid 19. With two vaccines and two boosters, we caught the latest version. I gather it is more contagious and moves fast.

We spent days (when we weren’t in bed, sleeping) cancelling hotel reservations, flights booked, car rentals, train tickets and visits with friends.

Thank heaven for the vaccinations. It could have been a lot worse, but it still knocked the stuffing out of us. Very sore throat, dizziness, nausea, congestion, relentless fatigue. I have great sympathy for anyone who has contracted it.

Meantime, we have recovered. Have a great fall.

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!

We just returned from a road trip, got to see a bit of Canada out west. Lots of mountains

The road led through this rocky cut. Note the rain on the windshield. Yes, we travelled in a convertible, but couldn’t put the top down most of the time because it rained, poured, hailed, showered, sprinkled, pretty well the whole way. πŸ™‚
The rivers and streams we passed were swelling up to the top of their bank, like this one. Flood warnings out everywhere. The snow pack in the mountains was said to be twice as deep as usual, and because of the late spring, it hadn’t melted yet.

No, this is not smoke, that was last year (sigh). It’s fog, so dense you can barely see the mountain behind. It was a great trip. We saw friends, family and met new ones. Aren’t we lucky? Let’s take good care of this place.

Coffee cup

This little cup is a keepsake that we brought back with us from the Island of Rhodes some years ago. We much enjoyed Rhodes, very historical, lovely old buildings, and a nice swim in the Mediterranean Sea. The cup is lovely, isn’t it, and no, it’s not made in China. On the bottom it reads ‘Hand Made by Neofitoy Keramik, Fauraki-Rodos’. You can see the flowers are hand-drawn, even see the brush strokes. To give you an idea of the size of the cup, here is a picture of my husband’s hand holding it.

We hardly ever use them, but on occasion I have brought them out to have a tea party with my wee grandsons. We do that on the lawn so when the cups fall, (which they inevitably do) they don’t break. πŸ™‚

Six More Sleeps – Christmas festivities

Christmas is almost upon us. Our tree is outside, the trunk soaking in a bucket of water with sugar and Vitamin B. The lights have come up from the basement and wait in old boxes for the decorating to begin. I’m slow this year, can’t seem to get too organized. I did begin the baking.

Last year I made shortbread and chocolate oatmeal cookies. Then I found some paper plates, filled four of them (we have four neighbours on our road) half with one type and half with the other. Wrapped them in plastic, wrote a Christmas card for each house and delivered them. It was a year that looked like a celebration that was going to be isolated and I thought it would add some festivity to the season.

This year, there are eight neighbours to consider. One of them took the time to clear the ditch so the water ran into the culvert and didn’t wash out our driveway. One started parking his truck in a different spot so it was easier to access our road. One cleared our drive of snow last year, mentioning that the cookies were darn good. These are such good people, I feel blessed to add a little to their holiday celebrations. But it does mean more cookies. πŸ™‚

What is the celebration like in your neighbourhood?

The 7th Canon, by Robert Dugoni

This is an interesting story of people trying to do their best while being setup for crimes they didn’t commit. Peter Donley is a young attorney who has been cutting his teeth on legal work in his uncle’s practice. When a difficult case comes in concerning a young priest accused of sexual abuse and murder, Donley is on his own, as his uncle is in hospital. Great storytelling, characters with good depth, and a race to the finish. Well done. 5 STARS