On My Own Time Line

It is the last weekend in January and I still have my Christmas decorations up.  It is not because I am lazy (or tacky), it is just that I really like the glow of Christmas Tree lights.  Plus the cat has a pretty cool hideout under the tree.

I'm taking everything down today, but thought I'd ask what your tradition is.  Do you decorate for the holidays? How long before you take everything down? Are you judging me for keeping mine up for all of January? When I was growing up, there were some decorations that stayed up for years, so an extra month is an improvement on what I was taught. We are a funny bunch!

Christmas Cactus - 2012/2013 Season

Our Christmas Cactus had its first bloom right on schedule this season, appearing on Dec 21, 2012.  Since New Year's it has produced more and more flowers, and today I officially declare it to be in full bloom for another season.  Good job buddy!!

It has been three and half years since it survived a near death experience, and it has recovered and grown to be very full and healthy. One of our goals for 2013 is to clone this little guy (actually big guy nowadays!).

 Happy New Year from the Christmas Cactus! :)

Breakfast For Dinner

Sometimes you just gotta have it...

Hot as Sun/Glasses

It turns out I have been collecting sunglasses over the past while.  These are the five pairs I have in the current rotation. One for most every occasion.  The pair in the upper left of the photo are my dominant pair, however the sunglasses I can find the quickest are usually the pair I wear most often.

How many pairs do you own?  Do you have a dominant pair? Are you enjoying the sunshine?

Bear Stardust

Gary Bear doing her best Bowie impression.  Also, I love the Hipstamatic App.

I Like What You've Done With The Place!

I visited the great city of Toronto yesterday to attend my beautiful friend Natalia's wedding.  The bus schedule got me to town earlier than needed, so I took the opportunity to explore the city I used to call home.  A spot I have been itching to check out, which happened to be a 5 minute walk from the wedding, was the Maple Leaf Gardens Loblaws.

I love groceries and I love grocery shopping, a trait I inherited from my mother.  I love checking out the weekly flyers, I love walking down the grocery store aisles, I love looking at all the possible foods I could eat! Or deals I could get! I just love the whole experience.  So my love of groceries coupled with some high expectations about the new Loblaws based on some photos I had seen, got me pretty excited to be on Carlton street in Toronto yesterday.  And my excitement and expectations were met entirely by what I encountered throughout my twenty minute visit!  First case in point: when I walked into the store I was greeted with the sites and sounds of an Elvis impersonator doing a show.  Amazing!!  And Like a good tourist, I took a bunch of photos!!

Elvis was just doing a show in the lobby. Obviously.

The place is gigantic and beautiful.  There is a full LCBO, a coffee shop, a Joe clothing store, and many incredible specialty sections.  Oh and just an entire regular grocery store as well.  I was completely overstimulated by the site of so many fresh foods and prepared treats, countless varieties of meats and cheeses - my heart be still till the next time I'm in the T-Dot.  Oh and they have free wifi if you want to surf the web while shopping. I loved it.

Wall of Cheese!  So many choices!!

Classy meals to go section.

An actual deli in the grocery store - did I mention the Loblaws is really big??

 Everything in the store is classy.  Even the signs that indicate what aisle you are in are classy.

Looking for ice cream cones has never been so upscale!

They also pay homage to the history of Maple Leaf Gardens with a giant blue maple leaf made out of the former seats.  It was a neat touch.

Go Leafs Go!

I live in a small town, so the other highlight for me was the variety of foods in the international foods section - and how inexpensive they were!! Next trip I am bringing some reusable bags and loading up!  Memo to Maple Leaf Gardens Loblaws: I will be back!

Have you checked it out?  What do you think?

Take It To The Woods

Yesterday John and I went out for an afternoon/evening camp out in the woods. Normally our camp out is near the end of winter/early spring, as the woods are more bearable then (less snow, warmer temps). Even though it is still the middle of winter, we've seen above average temperatures and barely any snowfall this year, so we got to enjoy an early camp out on the weekend.

I love the woods.  It is close enough to home that I'm not scared I'll get lost, and yet it is somehow completely removed from the madness of everyday.  My mind naturally stops thinking about the regular bullshit that normally plagues me, and instead focuses on what is around me.  The fresh air, gathering wood for the fire, the sound of the wind, the smell of the fire, and really thinking about what to eat next.  Did I mention that being in the woods is also an amazing excuse to eat copious amounts of hot dogs? My favourite kind is a Snackin' Dog; that is when you eat the hot dog directly off the roasting stick. I had at least three snackin' dogs yesterday.  Unfortunately I don't have any photos of my fire roasted hot dogs or sausages; they had no time for the camera and went directly into my belly.

The following are the photos I did remember to take throughout the aft/evening:

The awesome stick pile I gathered!

Hello fire!!

Keeping the drinks and condiments cold!

Meat and Marshmallows!

Moon rising.  It was almost full and kept the woods bright.

Fire is kicking ass at this moment!

I'm trying to roast a marshmallow - that's it in middle of the fire.

Marshmallow caught on fire (as always!)

It got pretty dark and the moon got more beautiful.

End of the night fire - beginning to wind down.

Guess What's Blooming!

Christmas Cactus!!

I'm pretty sure every time this cactus makes flowers I will post a photo on the internet.

I love this plant. I love that it is 60+ years old.  I love that it is a survivor.  I love that it used hang in my Nanny's house and then in my family home growing up.  I love that it is a daily part of my life. I love how strong this plant is. It is bursting with new growth and is pretty much on schedule for it's Christmas blooms.  Blooming a week out of December? I would say this plant is right on time.  Way to go, buddy! xoxoxo

Georgian Bay Beach Report

It's Perfect.

Back in Bloom

We still have my Mother's Christmas Cactus, and it is doing exceptionally well.  In April of 2010 the Christmas Cactus successfully bloomed a year after almost dying.  Since then it has showed some wonderful new growth and it looks really happy hanging around here.

Just over a month ago, in early December, the Christmas Cactus began budding, but within a few days all the buds fell off.  I don't know enough about how plants function, but I'm guessing that it wanted to bloom in December (hence Christmas Cactus), but it just didn't have the power to do it yet.

This past week I started noticing buds again, and we had our first full bloom on January 21.  So who knows, maybe by Christmas 2011 it will be right on schedule!  As always with this amazingly tough, sixty-plus year old plant, I say: "way to go, buddy!"

The following are some of the Christmas Cactus flowers at various states of growth:

Baby bud.

Next size up.

Showing a little colour.

Getting long.

Full Bloom!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I celebrate secular Christmas - and in our family the reason for the season is food.  And more food.  And maybe a little more after that.  And don't forget snacking!

Whatever and however you are celebrating this time of year, I hope this season is full of love, family, friends, and happiness!  And food.  Lots and lots of food.

Gary getting into the Christmas spirit.

Total Eclipse of the Heart

I awoke drunk with sleep last night at 2:00am or so to step outside and check out the total lunar eclipse.  Half asleep, I struggled into my boots and coat, but I was still able to enjoy the majesty of the event.  The eclispe happens over a few hours, so I only glimpsed a portion of it, but it was cool none-the-less.  I fell instantly back to sleep and awoke again at 3:30am.  At that point it was in total eclipse mode with a reddish/orange hue.  Beautiful.

Here is the one (half asleep) photo I took with my point and shoot.  There are much better photos all over the internet today.

Lunar eclipse at 2:06am Dec 21, 2010 - view from the front yard

Picture Is Worth A Thousand Points...

I'm at my Mom's this weekend and she has been doing lots of holiday baking.  Yesterday she made her world famous Nuts and Bolts and today she is whipping up her equally delicious caramel corn.  Here is a shot of what goes into the "caramel".  Mmmmmmmm....

Mmmmmm... Sugar and fat... A winning combination!!

Backyard Explorer: Forest/Marsh Behind the House Edition

It was a beautiful sunny day out there today so we went exploring in the forest behind the house.  It is wonderful being outside at this time of year; the air is so fresh and the bugs are minimal.  The woods are wonderful too - I find bushwhacking to be really fun exercise!  Plus there are many neat and interesting places to explore in the woods.  Sounds like an adventure!

Sunny day on the marsh #1

Sunny day on the marsh #2

More marsh.

Look what a beaver did!

Good job beaver!

Here's another beaver take down!  And this is a big one!

Nice marsh reflection #1

Nice marsh reflection #2

Red Sky at Night

Beautiful sunset out there tonight.

Oro World's Fair Photo Round Up

Here's some highlights of the sights at the 2010 Oro World's Fair.  If you notice slight blurriness on the right side of some of the photos, that is compliments of my five year old nephew who put his adorable little fingers right on the lens.  Good thing he's cute.

The midway.

Caramel Popcorn was purchased here!

Local farmer's tractors on display.

Demonstrating how they used to saw logs back in the day.

My nephew Earl checks out a calf.

My sister-in-law won first prize for her 'Hungry Man Lunch' display.

The parade begins with a police escort and the fire department!

Oro-Medonte fire truck.

At this point the parade went to the dogs.

The crowd watches as the tractors join the parade. 

My brother driving my uncle's tractor.

The finale of the parade is the march of all the elementary school students.

W.R. Best was my school and I got to carry the banner in grade 7.  Represent!

The parade ends with the clumping of school children (a.k.a chaos)