Butterfly

The month of May was a very busy month for me.

Birthdays in my immediate family and in my sister's family was the cause for celebrations for most of them, I even got to the point of not wanting to see another cake smeared with icing and flames burning from the candles.   Social and other family gatherings took up several days of the month also.  I was feeling like a social butterfly flitting here there and everywhere.

Butterflies!! Back in the spring I went to a butterfly conservatory and told my eldest daughter "B" about all of the butterflies and the different stages of their lives in which they were in.  She thought it would be a great idea to research this subject a little more for her grandchildren.  She eventually went to a school supply store and ordered caterpillars and all of the supplies for these wriggling hairy creatures.   The caterpillars recently arrived, so caring for them  has now begun.  

Instructions, containers and food were all included in the kit.  The caterpillar's ate most of the food provided and  the pictures she sent me indicated some of them are now hanging in the  container in the chrysalis  stage.  The next photo will likely show all of them hanging, so now they wait for the Painted Lady butterflies to emerge.  When they do they are released into the wild to continue to cycle of life.

This past month we have had a mixed bag of weather, hot, wet, windy and thunder storms.  Also very humid conditions and then a risk of frost, which thankfully, did not happen in my area,  Today, it is raining, quite heavy I might add.

I am expecting all of the paperwork for my trip to arrive soon, so then I can start counting the days.  I have mentioned in the past, I am a list maker, so yes, all of the lists have been made, ready to check off everything.

All of the new bells and whistles on my car are taking a lot of getting use to.  The instruction manual leaves a lot to be desired for this brain of mine.  Just as most manuals for equipment these days, they assume you know most of what it is trying to tell you.  I have been driving for a lot of years, so certainly know how to do that, however, now every time I go out I concentrate of mastering at least one new function this car has.   My old car was a basic key to start, look in the mirrors for traffic etc, and was certainly made before the screen that shows everything but the heart beat of the vehicle.  I am loving the way this car handles, so glad I moved up to the modern world of driving.

Next week my quilting guild will be having our pot luck lunch to end our meetings for the Summer.  We usually have our meal and social gathering outside in one of our member's lovely garden, however, the weather looks a bit unsettled this week, so other plans might need to be made.  

That's all for now.

Have a wonderful day,

Cheers

Out of town

After a lovely weekend of a birthday party and a Mother's day tea, I am still on the move.

After being advised on Saturday, my new ride would be ready for pick up on May 15th.  A trip to the big city with son and DIL late on Sunday, now just waiting for tomorrow.

My old car has seen better days, it runs well for it's age, however, now I drive on my own, I wanted a vehicle I could rely on to get me there and back again.  So, a new car was ordered and then had to wait a considerable long time for it to be made and shipped to the dealership.

Not having purchased a car for a good many years, and being an old woman did not want to be taken advantage of.  Not saying I would be but, it did happened to me during a repair job on my car years ago.  My son has helped with this purchase, so feeling a lot better about the whole process.

We had a brief thunder storm and rain last evening, and it is dull grey today with rain threatening for most of the day according to the weather forecast, only consolation it is not cold.

Hoping it clears up somewhat for my trip home tomorrow.  Not a fan of driving on the very busy road I need to go on, plus there is a lot of construction on it too.   It is now construction season in Ontario.

Have a great day.

Cheers. 

 

Weekend

Monday, not much happened, it was a lovely day, so had a nice walk to the local park and back again.  In the evening I went to trivia night upstairs. Our team won, with not much help from me, I might add.  Those questions makes one feel that you do not know as much as you thought you did.  

Tuesday, another lovely day, so could not resist another walk to the park, the ornamental trees are looking beautiful, so had to take a photo of these.   I am sure you will agree they are a lovely sight to behold. 

Wednesday, had to go and take another look at the park, it was a beautiful sunny day, albeit very breezy.

Thursday, did a small shop to pick up some odds and ends of fresh fruit, veg and milk.   Also, cleaned out the inside of my car and looked for a birthday gift for a GGD, what do you get for a child that has more than she really needs?   So not being very successful with any ideas that were given to me, I have settled on money, I know its not very original idea, however, she can use it to get whatever she wants or it can be put in her savings account to further her education when that time comes. 

Friday,  a mixture of weather, clouds, sun and a few brief showers.   Spent, some time at the happy hour upstairs.  There are always snacks people bring in, I tried to resist, but must admit those chocolate covered cashews were delicious.  Chocolate is good for you, right? and I am sure I have read somewhere, the nuts are too.! 

So, here we are again Saturday, the start of the weekend.  This afternoon I go to the birthday party for A, she is five going on fifteen, that's why I had so much trouble trying to choose a gift for her.   My son and D I L will also be there, and I am hoping my son has more information regarding the arrival of my new car.

Tomorrow, Sunday, is Mother's Day here, and my two daughters, E and B are taking me out for the afternoon and then visiting a small local village for "high tea".  Looking forward to that.

Another busy week, and by the looks of my calendar next week will be the much the same.

Have a great day.

Cheers.

Signs

Many years ago, in the area where I live, there battles were fought between, the English and the French, English and U. S, Native people against all of those previously noted, plus others, I am sure I have not mentioned.   Where these battles were fought plaques and cairns have been erected by the side of the road which either give directions to visit certain places off the beaten track, or note the exact spots where these conflicts took place.  The plaques provide information as to the, who, what, where when and why information.  

I am mentioning this as the country side is dotted with a lot of these information sites, and during a ride yesterday with my ex, we duly noted some of those we have visited or stopped at previously.  However, as we made a turn in the road, I saw there was a new one.  Not the kind made of brass or stone as the others were but, with modern elements, of steel and plastic, held in place by cement blocks.  

Written on the black background, large red letters showed this.

AT THIS SITE,

ON APRIL 17 th, 1889,

NOTHING HAPPENED.

Who ever put it there must have had a good sense of humor, as I certainly did have a good chuckle as we drove past.  I should have taken a picture, but my phone has too many of this kind a photo, so decided not too.  

Have a great day.

Cheers

 

I can't believe

Where did that time go!   I cannot believe it has been so long since I last posted.   Life gets in the way, and time just flies by.

During my absence a huge transformation has taken place, the trees that were only bare branches are now full of green leaves, the varieties which are a little later to show their leaves are still quite bare.  The magnolias have been beautiful,  some heavy rain and wind dashed the blooms a few days ago, some of the later bloomers avoided that weather and I now looking quite lovely.  Red bud and ornamental flowering trees are now putting forth a great show of colour.  Lilacs are just starting to open up their flowers, saw some of the very dark purple ones yesterday, I am sure the perfume from them will soon be in the air.

Inside, my cactus which I though was a Christmas cactus, which is now confirmed to be an Easter cactus has been blooming for the past two weeks, the first time it has had this many blooms in all of the years I have had it.  It appears to love this new home as much as I do.  My youngest daughter brought my April flowers on Thursday.  A little late, however, she and her husband have been very busy finding a new car for their youngest daughter, who is living and going to college a three hour drive away, so their weekends have been very busy.  

Doing all of the social activities I normally do, lunches with friends, happy hour, pot luck dinner, quilting meetings and trunk shows and a studio art tour.  Loved the art tour, artist's which use different mediums to make their pieces open up their studios for people to see their process and also some of their work.  I visited about eight of them during a day last month, painters, potters and clay artists the ones I was most interested in was, of course, the artists using fabric.  There were three on this tour, many questions were directed their way, so now going to use some of their "tricks of the trade" to apply to some new pieces I plan on doing.   

During the past ten days I had three great grand children celebrate birthdays, all of them in one family, so grandma is having a BBQ birthday party for all of them today and that is where you will find me this afternoon.  Next weekend is another GG's birthday, so going to my grandson's for that party.  

I have been waiting for my new car to be manufactured and to arrive at the dealership, it should be in my hands in the very near future.   Getting excited too, for my up coming vacation next month.  There is no grass growing under my feet, as the saying goes.

Our weather is typical April early May weather, shorts and T-shirt sunny and warm for a couple of days, then in the blink of an eye it is wet and cool and digging out the long pants and sweaters.  The evenings are getting longer which I really like, time to sit outside and enjoy the evening and watch the sunsets.

As I am sure, you my readers know I make quilts and am now doing some collage pieces, this is a cushion I made recently.   I have others which I will show in due course.

So with that I will finish my laundry.

Have a great day.

Cheers.

Hoping it continues

 Good morning!

We have sunshine again, three days in a row, and the temp is going up, just keeping the fingers crossed it will remain the same, and not revert back to some cooler winter type of weather.   It is still April so we can expect almost anything and everything.

Flowers are blooming, daffodils, pansies and cultivated primroses.  The forsythia is blooming also, which means the ground is getting warmer, that must be the reason for the dandelions too, which are attracting some early butterflies.  The magnolia and ornamental fruit trees are showing definite signs of forthcoming flowers.   Hoping it continues.    

On Thursday I delivered three of my quilting projects to a quilt show, which was held Friday and Saturday.  I needed to pick up the projects at a certain time after the show, however, I went earlier to see all of the beautiful works of art done with fabric, needle and thread.   Was not disappointed as the display of quilts was spectacular.   I was asked to help take down the displays and was more than happy to do that, as I was able to get up close and personal with those quilts.  

Sunday was the last day of the Masters golf tournament, I am not a golfer but like to watch.   This year all of the flowers on the course were out in full bloom, beautiful.  When I attended the Masters with my son and DIL several years ago, all of the Azaleas had bloomed early due to a very early Spring, so none of them looked as lovely as the ones yesterday.    Watched this year's with my ex at his house, after the winner had been given the green jacket, he cooked a steak on the BBQ.   He needs to know the reason why, soap and water, vacuums and dust cloths were invented or that will be the last time I visit.  There is absolutely no excuse as to why those things cannot be used.  Not a priority, I guess. 

Monday, Monday I go and get my income taxes done, I went last week, however, the young man helping me did not have enough experience to take care of the details in mine, another person will be doing it today.  Time is running out as it needs to be done by the end of April.   After that is done, it will be lunch time, then I am going for a nice walk to the local park it is just too nice to stay in.  

Have a great day

Cheers

Once in a lifetime

When I got up yesterday, it was cloudy and it had rained, Oh no, it is going to be a big disappointment for a lot of people.  Everyone was hoping for a lovely sunny day, the excitement had been building for days and days and now clouds.

As the morning progressed more blue sky could be seen and by noon hour, yes, lovely sunshine.  

All the preparations, extra policing staff, roads closed and some opened for all of the expected flow of traffic to converge into the area.  The special viewing glasses had sold out days ago.   Schools were closed,  restaurants opened early and I am sure stayed open late to feed and water the many people who were making a full day of  it.   Families made it a party/picnic day, and the television stations were running programs for hours on end to document this event.

Now, we wait.  The sun had a lot of heat in it and the temp rose to a high of 17*C  it could not have been any perfect for this once in a lifetime event.  And, we wait.

It's time,  the sun was not so bright as it was, over time, twilight, then it became darker and  darker, stars were shining.   It's cold, so cold I had to put an extra cardigan on.  Street lights came to life, and the birds stopped singing.  It's quiet, the workers putting up a nearby building had to stop doing their job.  It's so very quiet.  It's so very surreal.   

If this is happening in 2024 and we all know the reason why, it makes me wonder, what did people think was happening years and years ago when they had absolutely no idea.  I am sure they were thinking it was the end of the world.    So back to April 8 2024.

The sky was black but, in the distance it appeared to be sunset the sky was pink, orange and red.  Then very slowly it started to get lighter and lighter, no stars, all the lights when out and now sunshine again, and the temperature began to rise.

A total eclipse of the sun.  

Now, today April 9, 2024, the sun is shining again as it does, and it won't get dark until this evening. Everything is back to normal, children in school, people going about their normal daily lives, the birds are singing, construction workers on the job site working.  

All the photos have been viewed, and now the special viewing glasses have been stowed away as a souvenir of a once in a lifetime experience.   A total eclipse of the sun.  

Have a great day

Cheers.