Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Buzzzzzy on a Sunny Day


Rain threatened all day today, so we stayed pretty close to home, but when the sun is shining we are out exploring our world. There are so many wonders waiting to be discovered on a simple walk around the block. This delightful bee and beautiful sunflower for instance - wonder-ful indeed.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Wish Come True

AC and I have driven by this Church/house many times, and every time we do I wish I could go inside and have a look around. Well, this past weekend my wish came true, as this house was one of the heritage buildings on the Open Door Tour in our area. About twenty different homes, churches, museums and galleries were on the tour, and we visited many of them, but this was our first stop. I could hardly wait to get inside and check it out.
Doesn't it look delightful? It was built in 1888 and was a Methodist circuit church until 1925, when it became a United church. In 1958 it was decommissioned and sold to a group with plans to turn it into a theater. Those plans fell through and the building sat empty until 1967 when it was sold to the Box family, who turned it into a home. In 1975 it again changed hands and has been in the Houlahan family since then. It is now up for sale again. Oh wouldn't I love to buy it!!!

The picture below shows a view from the inside, of the window you see to the right of the tree in the first picture. The smaller window on the far right of the first picture is the kitchen window.

Below is a view of the Great Room taken from the loft. The stained glass window in the above picture, is to the left of the fireplace you see in this picture. The loft goes all the way across the opposite wall from this window, and along one side of the room. It would be a great area for an artist studio, den, office, family room. The original stained glass windows area absolutely magnificent and the rooms are full of light. I loved this house, and it is for sale! Oh my, wouldn't I love to buy it!
The fireplace in the above picture was made with the stones from the original church spire which was taken down when the church first became a residence. The bell tower still stands though, and has one working bell in it. How neat is that? The wide-board wooden floors as well as the wainscoting are original to the church.

The next two pictures were taken from the loft to show you the wrought iron and wooden pew ends used to construct the stairs and the unique balustrade around the loft.



The picture below was taken from the Great Room, looking up at the loft. It is not the greatest view of the loft, but you can see the unique design of the balustrade.


The last two pictures are a view from the front door, and across the river from the Church/house.




Wouldn't I love to buy this house? Yes! Yes! Yes! I would have to win the lottery first though. One can always hope and dream, and I will do just that.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Joy in the Air

We took Smudge to the park the other day and...well a picture is worth a thousand words...
Things sure have changed since her first visit to the park just a few short months ago. On those early visits she wasn't quite sure she like the swings - at all! She held on for dear life, and we had to push her very gently. Now, the higher and faster the better. She squeals with delight as soon as we even get near the park, and never wants to leave.
Joy in the air indeed.

Smudge Lesson for the week - Face your fear and do it anyway. You might discover great joy in the activity you feared the most.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Colour coming

We walked to the park yesterday and noticed that a few trees were starting to get their colourful dresses out of the closet.

The water was as smooth as glass so was the perfect mirror for this fine lady to use while trying on her new red dress.
Smudge was quite impressed and so was I.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

View from Canoe Club

I know I posted pics of Smudge this morning, but I have these pictures from the weekend that I thought would be fun to share with you too.

AC and I often walk past the Canoe Club in our local park but we never ventured up the stairs to peeked in the windows or checked out the view from the deck. Last Saturday when we walked by, things were locked up tight and looked pretty deserted, so we thought it would be OK to take a closer look.

I'm glad we did. The view from the deck gave us a whole new look at the river.
Pretty huh?

Hambone

Colouring is getting to be a regular after breakfast activity for the Wee One. Smudge will sit in her highchair for quite a while colouring and having a grand time with paper and crayons before she lets me know that it is time to get DOWN!
She is getting to be quite the hambone though. She sees me with the camera and starts to ham it up.

What a cutie.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Walk at the Mill of Kintail

The most wonderful, fabulous, glorious September weather continues to grace our area, and AC and I are taking advantage of it. We set off for a hike along the paths at the Mill of Kintail the other day and enjoyed cool forest trails, and...

...open fields...

...then more forest trails.
And, you will notice we did it all sans coats. Yahoo!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Picnic in the Park

We had the day off on Friday, but the Sun was on duty all day so we took a picnic lunch to the park to soak up some of the sunshine while we munched our lunch. It was the perfect day for a picnic.
Not much colour at the park yet, but that will change in the next couple of weeks I am sure.The geese are very active down by the water's edge and are getting their flight plans all figured out.
We enjoyed listening to their chatter while we lunched near by.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Afternoon Walk with Grandpa

Every morning Grandpa and Smudge go out for a walk but Smudge rides in the stroller and Grandpa gets the exercise while Smudge gets the fresh air.
Afternoon walks are different though. Smudge actually gets to walk, and Grandma or Grandpa get to trail behind to hedge her in, lift her over curbs, steer her out of puddles, away from dogs, off the road, around thistles, and out of the path of whatever other trouble she might get into. And believe you me, she finds plenty! I love it though. She studies the gravel, feels the grass, touches the sidewalk, thumps the metal mailboxes, pats the tree trunks, admires flowers and weeds alike, stops to listen to birds, lawnmowers, cars, trucks, school buses, garbage trucks and anything else that makes the slightest noise, looks directly at any and every person who passes by, woofs at every dog she sees or maybe only hears, and delights in every breeze that ruffles her hair. What a treat to walk with her.

Smudge Lesson for the Week - you miss a lot when you walk around on automatic pilot. Take a walk today and stay in the now for the whole journey. What you see, hear, smell, taste, touch and feel will amaze you.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Strange Fascination

Looks innocent enough doesn't it? Just a little girl sitting in a chair enjoying a cookie and a drink. Right?

Wrong! This chair had to placed on the floor right in front of the stove in the kitchen so Smudge could watch the oven!!! Go figure. She loves to watch the oven, and when something is actually in it, she diligently keeps track of the minutes on the digital timer.
I happened to be cooking muffins on this day, and she watched every minute tick by on the timer. As much as she loves to watch Elmo, he doesn't hold a candle to the oven and stove timer. Strange fascination indeed.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

First Day at Play School

It certainly looks like Smudge is excited about going to Playschool doesn't it?
She didn't even take time to remove her hat when we arrived. She went right over to the first play table and made friends right away.
She and her new friend met up in a couple of the play areas throughout the morning and seemed to have fun playing together. Here they are in the Doll House section. I think Smudge is making dinner while Lance checks out the appetizer.

Smudge soon moved on to the Truck and Block carpet to check things out there.

Then it was time to take a break in the Library corner.
Next stop was the Dress-up area. She quite liked this Viking hat.
Oh boy, the painting table. Let's see what it feels like to get my hands in this paint. Maybe a taste is in order too. I don't think you would like the taste of that paint Smudge. It is a mixture of shaving cream and paint. Yuck!

There were lots of activities to keep her interest, but her favorite thing to do during her first morning at Playschool was...to push a little plastic chair around. Yep, she pushed this chair up and down and up and down and round, and round and round.
She was one tired baby when we got home from her first day at Playschool. Grandma was tired too as I followed her up and down and round and round and round.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Autumn leaves

The leaves are falling, and so am I...down on the job of posting a picture or two of Smudge each day for all her fans. Sorry!AC will post about our busy day on Saturday, so be sure to check out his blog later today. Pressure systems changing and the tail end of a hurricane sweeping through our area left me with a pounding headache for the last couple of days, so not much time was spent at the old laptop.

Weather and head cleared this morning, but I have no new pictures of Smudge to share with you. Sigh! I will try to remedy that today. Stay tuned.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Oh Boy!

The latest and greatest discovery.




I would say Smudge is having a blast with these new found delights.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

In Her Shoes

When we were getting ready to go out the other day I noticed Smudge's shoes beside Mommy's. I couldn't resist adjusting them a tad, and taking this picture.
As mother's and grandmother's we have to watch our step don't we. Little ones take everything in, and follow close behind; learning, learning, learning.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

September in the park

AC is posting lots of wedding pics on his blog these days, so I thought I would slip one or two of Smudge in over here.
Wonderful, glorious, marvelous September is here, and almost every day we enjoy a walk to the park at the end of the street. The geese are busy on the water and overhead, the bugs seem to have packed it in for the season, and the trees are starting to put on their colourful party dresses.
I love - wonderful, glorious, marvelous September. I think Smudge does too.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

More Girl's Night Out

More pictures of our Girl's Night Out. Enjoy







Ah, sweet memories. What a fun time we had.

Monday, September 08, 2008

Girl's Night Out

AC is sorting through wedding pictures and will be posting some this week. While he is getting those ready, I thought I would go back to the week before the wedding and post some pics of the events of that week.

The Saturday before the wedding we planned a Girl's Night Out for the A Team. The brides knew that we were going out for dinner, but they had no idea that a stretch limo would be picking us up for a big night on the town. They were so shocked, D3 was in tears and D2 was smiling from ear to ear. It was so much fun to surprise them.
The mothers of the brides relaxing in the limo, and toasting each other on a successful surprise. What fun.

D2, D1, D3 all smiles in the limo on the ride to the By Ward Market for a night of dining and dancing.
Waiting for dinner to be served.

After just one of these...

The mothers of the brides were ready to dance. And dance we did.
Then it was time for a break out on the balcony to cool off a bit.
Ah, almost midnight, time for one more dance...
Then it was back to the limo for the ride home.

Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun.