In Another Time, Things Weren't So Different From Today

Remembering my maternal grandmother and how simple her wedding was. She was married at home, during a scarlet fever outbreak back in the 1920s.

After-Wedding Festivities

 The day after the wedding was hubby's birthday so all those from his family who had traveled up for the wedding met at a restaurant in Cornwall. Truffles Burger Bar was great! Everyone enjoyed their meal and it was nice to visit some more.

 Rounding out this month was Aaron's birthday and he and I enjoyed a lunch of sushi in Brockville.

 I tried my hand at a Key Lime Cheesecake and it turned out great! It definitely goes into the cookbook for next year.

                  We shared that meal with the new in-laws and a great time was had by all.

                                      The dogs however were all worn out after all the activity.

It Has Been Too Long, My Baby Got Married

 Life sure tumbles along.  My mom passed away earlier this year and just last week my youngest son got married. Life is full of surprises, challenges and good things too.

Good friend Ronna made the cake. My son's only request was that there be a black and a white VW Beetle on top of the cake. It was lovely AND delicious!  You can check out Ronna's cake blog HERE.  Thank you for being a part of such a special day.

There have been requests for me to take up this blog and continue to post so I will make a good effort to do just that. My mom used to check it every day and we would chat about whatever she read. With her gone, I rather lost my interest, thinking no one would be looking anymore. Thank you for stopping by.

Blueberry Picking @ Rubicon Farm

                          It was our annual trip to Rubicon Farm to pick organic blueberries.

 I spotted this neat looking fungus growing on a stump. Can you see the tiny tree frog in the lower part of the picture?

 It was a warm day. Very sunny. Marty and Joshua filling baskets with great big juicy blueberries.

                                                          Aaron working away.

                                                       Emma gathering berries too.

                                       It was a good haul. Thirty-two quarts of blueberries.

I picked 8 quarts of red currants. Removing the tiny stems takes a lot of time however they make the loveliest jelly! I had help from Jacob this year and that made quick work of it.  Rubicon Farm is currently for sale so if you would love to run an organic blueberry farm check it out HERE.
It is a beautiful spot.

Not Just Another Saturday

 They April showers bring May flowers. This May, although early on in the month, has brought record rainfall and in many places not far from us there is a lot of flooding.  And there is more rain coming.  The spring bulbs are up adding some lovely colour to these grey days.

 The chickens don't seem to mind a bit. Water in dirt brings up all manner of delicious discoveries.

 Early this morning, Joshua and his girlfriend came out for a day of adventure. The first Saturday of May is Merrickville's town-wide yard sale. It has been a few years since my last visit. I was determined not to miss it this year.  With all the rain there were still lots of brave sellers as well as a good number of buyers.  Not the usual numbers but still lots of folks walking and driving about.

                                 The rain just kept coming. There were lots of puddles.

                              This sign in the liquor store window made me laugh.

               Folks were very amenable to offers and little money was spent on today's finds. The box everything is in is a trunk tray. No trunk, Just the cool tray. I got some great vintage fabric remnants. Small prints.

                        Remember the "Little Souls?"  Just below is a Bennington pottery spittoon.

                A cute little doll's travel bed complete with a vintage "Sugar and Spice" doll.

                                       A miniature  building block set and a rubber stamp set.

                                            Some small vintage plastic flowers. The wee Poinsettias are in their original box.

                          My favourite find, a painting from the fifties. I like that there is no face.

 Not too long after I got home and changed into some dry clothes, Marty arrived with Jacob, after a week long drive from Edmonton.  It's been four years since he moved away. Back again, this time in hopes to find work closer to home.

Odelia was super happy to see her favourite "boy" again and Addy thought it was pretty cool to meet someone new as well.

You Know Your Children Are Grown Up When....

 You know your children are grown up when they send you home with fresh baked cookies they have made.

We were visiting son number three, who was just taking the last sheet of peppernuts out of the oven when we arrived. His place smelled lovely and the cookies were great!

I used to make these annually when the boys were little but they are somewhat time consuming and tedious, unless you have some company when it comes time to roll and cut and bake. It's been a long time since I have made any of these. You can see Marty's hand in the photo. He was pretty happy to find fresh cookies when he arrived!

A New Addition

                                             This is Abigail. She will be Abby for short.

                                                            She came home today.

                        Odelia is thrilled to know her and have a wee companion about.

                                   Dogo Argentino/Mastiff mix. Hopefully she will get nice and big.

                                                Gumdrop isn't at all interested.

Lots of time for sleeping and growing.

A Lot Of Red And Green with A Little Help From Friends & Family

 Hubby and I went away for a week to visit my parents. Son number two did a fine job holding down the fort and looking after the critters.
Joshua said he was bringing home his girlfriend this past weekend, so that meant it was time to "harvest" the Cayenne peppers from their plants drying in the guest shower. They are sporting some very festive colours.

 Upon return from our trip, Marty and I got to work cleaning and waxing the kitchen floor. After the furnace job the floor was quite dirty. Finally it looks all fresh and shiny again.

 This past weekend Marty changed some light fixtures for me. I found better ones at the local Habitat for Humanity. The new ones look fabulous!

                     Joshua put up some lights on the porch. It was a bright sunny Saturday.

                              Chantal was a helpful and welcome companion in the kitchen.

Then she got to work lending a hand in the hanging of the garlands. They are my favourite part of the holidays.

Odelia was so very happy to have her fuzzy blanket back. I had washed it so it was nice and fresh after being dragged all over the place.  How are your Christmas/holiday plans coming along?
More pics tomorrow.

It Was A Wet & Cold Saturday

 Saturday was wood splitting day.  It was also extremely wet and windy and cold. Typical.
On our way downtown I got Marty to stop the car so I could take a picture of the side of his historic Brockville home.  I love how the leaves have changed and you can see remnants of an old sign painted on the wall.

 A couple years ago the township took down two huge old trees which were rotting from the end of our lane way.  We got them to leave the pieces behind.  It was time to split them and put that wood to use.

                                        Some were a little easier to maneuver than others.

                                                   Some took two people to move.

                    We rented a vertical splitter so we didn't have to actually lift anything.

 Easy peasy.  Sort of. I only had to keep the cider hot and the stew at the ready for hungry men. I got to stay inside where it was warm and dry. Oh, I did have to listen to the endless whining from the dogs who felt they were missing out some kind of great fun.

                                            An unusual mushroom tucked beneath he leaves.

 We got a full cord of wood from those pieces of tree.  Good stuff!  I hope that you had a pleasant weekend too.