OK, Now I am Ready For Fall

Before I can accept it’s fall and love the season for it’s beautiful colours, crisp days and woodsy smells, I have to mourn the loss of summer.

And this year I have been particularly sad to say goodbye to hot days, long periods of sunshine and a more relaxed pace of life.

But this weekend I have accepted summer is over and welcomed in fall.

It could be that this weekend was fantastic. The prediction of rain didn’t come true and instead it was blue skies and warmer temperatures.

Welcome fall.

Cinnamon Lovers Take Note

Finally there is a product out there that claims it has cinnamon in it and delivers.

I love cinnamon. When a recipe calls for cinnamon, I at least double it. I put cinnamon in my hot chocolate, cinnamon in my apple pies, cinnamon in baked goods and as I child I enjoyed it on toast.

You can never have too much cinnamon in my mind.

But apparently not everyone feels this way; particularly companies that claim to make cinnamon products but only but small amounts in.

I have not found a cinnamon raisin bread that actually tastes like cinnamon. I enjoy a coffee cake that claims it is cinnamon and while the topping succeeds, that cake does not.

But a couple of weeks ago, I discovered Oatmeal to Go Cinnamon Roll granola bars.
I was hooked after the first cinnamon bite and have gone through two boxes since.

Way to go Quakers.

It Must Be Fall

Because I am beginning to go into hibernation mode. I just want to sleep.

A Great Weekend For A Wedding

My brother-in-law got married on the weekend, and what a wonderful weekend it was.
The wedding was at Patterson-Kaye Lodge, a fantastic place for a weekend or weeklong getaway; kudos to the family who owns it.

The wedding took place on the beach, with my now sister-in-law arriving by boat. Of course, I didn’t notice this happening as I was busy chasing after two little ‘ring monkeys’ who thought running toward the water in their suits was much more fun than staying with their aunt and sister.

With toys and sand and little boys in the sand, the wedding, I am told, was as beautiful as the day – warm, but fall cool and lots of sunshine.

The reception was lovely, the food was fantastic and the details were perfect.

By 10 p.m., my guy was ready to go back to our cottage after an evening of playing with his new friends, and was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The next day included more visits to the park, more turns on the zipline and 45 minutes spent in the hot tub with his dad.

Congrats to the happy couple. And congrats for creating a beautiful wedding.

Weekends are fun

I love weekends.

This weekend we had a friend and her son over so my guy had someone to play with.

We also:

• Went apple picking. It's that time of year again. This year we are dehydrating them and I may try canning them, too.




• Dug up my neighbour's flowers and planted them in my garden.

• Went grape picking at the same neighbour's house. My guy liked using his shovel to bury the grapes in my garden.

• Played tennis, soccer with a hacky sack and went for a walk.

• Tried out our new slide courtesy of my brother.

• Made cookies for my brother-in-law's upcoming wedding (only 20 more to go).

• Made tomato sauce with tomatoes and basil from our garden.

• Napped, played, read and laughed.

Another great weekend.

That’s Dedication

I saw a man pushing a golf cart this morning. He beat the sunrise – it was only 6:30 a.m. Now that is a man who obviously loves to golf.

Now This Is A Haircut

I am not one of those women. I don’t need to spend a hour in front of the mirror before I leave for the day; I don’t need to spend a small fortune on the latest fashions; and I don’t need to have a shoe collection.

Before my hair was more grey than blond, brown and red combined, I rarely went to the hairdresser. But when I went, I went in with two rules – I am 37 years old and I am a wash and go kind of girl.

After that, I gave the hairdresser free rein – she could do whatever she wanted as long as she remembered those two rules.

Most hairdressers, in my experience, err on the side of caution, like they really didn’t believe me when I insisted I really wanted them to do what they want (they are after all the professional) and if I really hated a cut, it was hair and it would grow back.

In April when I got my hair cut (and my first colour), the hairdresser cut off half an inch. I told her I once had hair half way down my back and shaved it off and that, really, should could do whatever she wanted.

The end result of that day was a few inches off, no real style and highlights that looked exactly like my original hair colour including the grey.

I went to a new place Friday where I met Debbie, who could be my new favourite person.

Not only did Debbie understand my love of a wash and go cut, she explained to me why I shouldn’t have really short hair (it would make my giraffe neck look longer than it does already) and had a vision, which included chopping off a good six inches and razoring the rest. And the colour is beautiful. My roots were coloured by natural colour and the highlights include more red and blond.

I came out with a new look that actually had style and is – as promised – wash and go.
Thank you, Debbie.


Note: I attempted to take a photo of myself but it made me look old and tired. I do have some pride so I deleted those photos. You’ll have to trust that my haircut is great.

Poor Kids

Yesterday was the first day of school for kids in this part of the world.

For my little guy and I, it meant we had to get up earlier and be on the road earlier so I can miss the rush-hour traffic. As we were nearing the end of our long street, at about 6:10 a.m., I noticed a school bus.

Where are these poor children going to school that they need to be picked up at that ungodly hour? I hope the school is worth it.

Summer Vacation Recap

Summer vacation was great.

One week was spent camping with my family, which created great memories for myself and my little guy. He is asking to go again.

















New Room
My 'baby' now has a big boy room. The crib is down, the big boy bed is against the wall and a garage sale has added some needed storage to his room.