I do love lovely things. I love to surround myself with lovely things. They bring me limitless joy as I admire their soothing and serene beauty.
What I am especially enamored of right now is this:
Ahhhhhh…
As soon as I saw this pattern for bedding on the Zara Home website, I knew I had to have it. And I wasn’t even going to wait for it to GO ON SALE. I know – I’m shocked at myself too.
I’d had a beautiful water colour floral duvet cover in my mind’s eye for several months already and was hoping I would come across one for real in the spring.
And behold, here it is:
My dream, realized. How lovely is this?
This spring I am planning on renovating another couple of rooms at my place, including my bedroom. So my new lovely duvet cover will eventually reside in a room deserving of its loveliness. Until then, it is the bright spot in an otherwise sad, scarred, closet-less, former office space.
My dog, Placeholder, is allowed to enjoy the loveliness too. Only because she is so well-behaved and a very clean sort of dog.
Meet my beloved Pink Floyd, purchased last August:
First (and last) time on the town dock. Kayaks and docks – not a good combo. I quickly learned it was much better to launch and beach Floyd a little further away, on the riverbank itself. ‘Nuff said.
Floyd and I go out on the ironically named Speed River.
Does this look like a speedy river to you?
My August/September ritual was to get up on Sunday mornings, pack a light breakfast and make a travel mug of tea, and wheel Floyd down to the river for a leisurely paddle and nosh before it got too hot. We usually ended up here before turning around and heading back home:
After the Black Bridge, the water got too shallow, even for Floyd.
Along the way, we would see things like this:
Waterlily
And this:
Cedar Waxwing
And this:
Egret
And this:
Swan
And of course, these:
Canada Geese
I can’t think of a better way to spend a morning. Or an evening. Or a day.
Hard to believe all this peaceful beauty is in my “backyard”. Pinch me!
This spring I purchased Floyd a little “sister”, yet to named. A bright green tandem (two person) kayak. So friends and family can come onto the river with me, instead of having to listen to my raptures about how wonderful it is out there.
I am looking forward to my first full season of this wonderful activity.
About a year ago Mizz J and I were invited to one of her colleagues’ wedding, on the island of Barbados. Not a destination wedding per se, as both bride and groom are Bajan – born, but we were both stoked to be going there for this event. We booked our hotel and tickets last March, with additional travel plan cancellation insurance, because my mom was struggling with her health already at this point so we had no idea what the future might bring.
Well, Mom came to my place to die last October…and we still had no idea if this trip was ever going to happen. Mom made it clear that if her wishes were to be heard and considered she would either leave us before the trip or a few weeks after we got back. She did not want to mess with our travel plans!
On December 18 Mom got her wish and 2 weeks later to the day, Mizz J and I were in the air on New Year’s Day, flying south. We went with mixed feelings and a sense of duty – to Mom, who wanted so bad for us to still go no matter what, and to the bridal couple, who were expecting us. After spending January 2 attending the nuptials, we were free to relax and enjoy. So that is exactly what we did.
Here is where I could be found every day……reading books and gazing at this (when not frolicking/swimming in it!)Check out the beachy hair!
I did not feel at all like exploring the island – which was kinda unusual for me, but attributable to all that had gone before, I suppose. We did book a catamaran excursion online a few weeks back, to swim with sea turtles and go reef-snorkeling, so that was all I did other than walk down to Oistins for a nightly fish dinner, and relax under my favourite palm tree.
Pardon the crappy disposable underwater camera photo. This is one of the beauties we all swam with.And this is the beauty I personally swam with!
We were sorry to leave the island but are committed to making a return visit. I would love to make this an annual event. It’s a wonderful slice of heaven. The weather was perfect – hot and sunny, tempered by just the right amount of ocean breeze. The hotel we stayed at was just our style. Small, quiet, friendly, laid back. We would have no problem going back there.
Slurping up Bajan ice cream AND Bajan coffee on our last day. Thought we would change things up from rum punch and Banks Beer…hehehe!
Do you have a favourite tropical destination? Do tell.
This post is brought to you by sheer determination to get something, anything, written on this here blog before summer is over. OK, I know that technically speaking, there are still a few weeks of summer left. But who among us is that technical? We all “know” that Labour Day Weekend and the start of school (kindergarten to high school) is REALLY the end of summer.
Anywhoodle…
Since the last post in early May, I have lived through a kitchen/bath/laundry/roof renovation
New kitchen.
and solar panel installation, helped empty out my late father-in-law’s house to prep it for sale, helped arrange a wedding in my building for my lovely sister and new sister-in-law,
Typical family gathering. Inevitable descent into silliness. At Carol and Cathy’s wedding.
and completed my second-to-last MBA course. Oh yeah, and I completed another half-marathon race,
Niagara Fall’s Women’s Half Marathon. Just before starting out.
and took in a few rock concerts.
Rush at the Air Canada Centre.Cheap Trick and Peter Frampton at the Molson Canadian Amphitheater.Jane’s Addiction. BIG Music Fest, Kitchener.
This took me to the end of July-ish. I decided August was to be dedicated to more relaxing pursuits…such as spending time at various beaches and kayaking on the river a few steps from my building. This plan needed a kayak in order to actually happen:
I christen thee Pink Floyd.
I was also able to fit in a visit to the Canadian National Exhibition again, for the first time in practically a decade.
Mizz J eating a chicken waffle on a stick. Carnival food – usually disappointing and this was no exception.
Can’t complain about this summer. Got a lot done, and a lot of it was pure fun. The way summers should be.
This last course (Financial Management Accounting) was quite intense but also fun to do. For those who think math problems are fun, and I fully realize there aren’t that many of us out there. Ahem.
My next course, Marketing, starts on the 28th of May. Expect to spend 5 hours a week reading, the Study Guide says. Oh brother.
Er, I mean….oh goody!
Meanwhile, back at the Paleo Ranch….I am thrilled to report a loss of 10 pounds! I am aiming to lose another 10 by my birthday (end of July). This way of eating has been the easiest “diet” JD and I have ever tried. Our cravings have disappeared. We eat lots of satisfying, healthy food and don’t even miss the wheat.
And my acid reflux has disappeared, just as the blog-o-sphere said it would, immediately upon stopping wheat consumption. I was skeptical when I first read of people claiming that eliminating wheat would also take care of this problem. After all, (almost) all the medics, including my doc, say to stop the coffee, chocolate, orange juice, spicy foods, late night eating etc. etc. when having heartburn issues. Which I did, to no avail even while downing my nightly Nexium.
Now I have stopped the meds, drink as much coffee as I can st-st-st-st-stand, enjoy dark chocolate, hot sauce, oranges (never was a juice fan)….and can eat a big meal late at night if I choose to, and sleep like a non-colicky baby. No more heartburn.
Every weekend I make us a big batch of the coconut flour pancake recipe I perfected. Sometimes I use sweet potatoes, sometimes I use bananas, sometimes I use both in this recipe. Below is a picture of my Paleo Perfection Sweet Potato Pancakes.
So good with back bacon, sausage or what ever breakfast meat floats your boat. I’ve also made some fabulous morning glory muffins with almond meal, and today I made almond butter cookies.
Even if I hadn’t lost a pound, I would still embrace this way of eating just for the freedom from acid reflux.
JD is back working in the golf industry again – a local public course this year. Looking to be his best year yet in terms of job satisfaction. It’s in a part of the rural area surrounding the Village that I just love. And here’s the best part, every day when I go to pick him up, I drive through the back country roads and pass by: TURTLE TOWN!
Condo livin’ in Turtle Town?Turtles, turtles everywhere!
It’s looking to be a great, albeit busy spring and summer!
I’ll close with a recent picture of me, clearly showing the positive physical effects of my recent weight loss and of becoming a modern day cave woman:
The appliances are doing the cooking while JD and I hit the books:
Turkey sausage and escarole soup, chili, and brown rice cookin’ away! “Scuz my blurry photo please…
As you can see from the calendar, my daily step count is way down and there are GAPS, as in more than 1 gap in the calendar. It’s looking pretty sad as I try to fit MBA studies into my life, at the expense of movement. I don’t know how the gaps are happening. I could swear it’s only been a couple of days since I last logged my steps, then I go to my calendar and WHOOPS! It’s been way over a week. My step counter only keeps data for 7 days, hence GAPS are appearing.
Yet hope springs eternal here at Chez Dorm. Behold:
Manly-man push-up plan, courtesy of Oxygen Magazine
…is this beautiful Thanksgiving Day sunrise we witnessed on the way to the golf course to drop JD off at work. The weather for this weekend is outstanding for this time of year. Sunny and 26°C!
On the way to work…how lucky are we?Close Up of FarmThis will become my newest desktop image on my computer, I think! Or maybe the first pic, I can’t decide.View from Golf Course. Windows “on fire” due to rising sun.Another view from Golf Course, overlooking the City
Among all other things I give gratitude to today, I am especially thankful for our wonderful neighbours. Good Neighbour John not only provided us with valuable assistance and tools to help us patch and repair our driveway yesterday (a work in progress; we’re on day 3 after work today), but invited us to share their Thanksgiving supper leftovers with them. Sure beat gobblin’ down a sandwich at the side of the driveway!
Yesterday I went on an epic, sentimental condiment-al journey deep into the recesses of my fridge. At the end of it, I realized one very startling fact. My goddess, I have a crap-load of condiments. Here’s a sampling of what I found in my fridge:
Not one, not two, but three jars of almond butter? What the hell was I thinking? That I needed almond butter, obviously. And a bigger hard-drive for my memory…sigh.
Sambal Badjak that expired in 2004. (That I bought the last time my cousin Peter visited me, at a little shop in the Byward Market, in Ottawa. (Obviously hanging onto this one for sentimental, not condiment-al value – that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.) How this missed previous fridge purges, I can’t explain but really…I have cleaned my fridge a time or two since 2005, OK?
Red pepper jelly, 2 kinds of apple butter (regular and…drool…caramel), designer vodka-infused mustard, one lonely roasted red pepper floating in its jar, pesto…all things so tasty but that I (almost) never remember to eat or cook with.
Expired salad dressings – some bottles, mostly packets from fast-food joints. I always find these every time I clean out the fridge. I think elves sneak them in there, when we’re out. Yep, for sure it’s elves.
Flaxseed oil that expired in 2009. Probably didn’t want to throw it out despite the expiration because it was expensive. (Like that makes any sense at all, I know!!) Is this how hoarders get started?!?!
Humungous pimento-stuffed olives, from my martini drinking drinking days (prior to 2003!). Note to self: still look good, must remember to use up on pizza…
In my defense, they were almost all on the topmost shelf. You know, the one that you have to bend down to truly see the contents of. And, no doubt you’ll be relieved to know that most of the condiment jars did end up dumped and rinsed, and in my Blue Box for recycling.
So now I have a sparkling, mostly empty fridge – ready to be filled up with healthy goodies. And no big bottles of salad dressing!!! I think I’ll make my own from scratch from now on, just to prove that the elves are at work here.
New Topic – beautiful, bizarre bike:
Can’t really think of a good segue to these photos, except to say that perhaps elves were at work here too?
Anyhoo, I leave you with a shot of this awesome bike fiets we saw in Amsterdam during our May trip. Say it: “feets” (bonus Dutch lesson in this post, again no phlegm required!). We saw a lot of bikes decorated with plastic or silk greenery/flowers, but this one was OVER THE TOP:
Close Up of Fiets (bike) , with klompen (wooden shoes) on the “feets” . Note diminutive size of shoes. Who’s crazy-talkin’ ’bout elves now, hmmm?
Taken last night coming home from the golf course. (We actually stopped golfing before the sprinklers came on. Usually JD is ducking around the spray, trying to get a last hole in.)
Taken with “Sunset” setting on my old Panasonic Lumix (still love it!!!)
This sunset was so stunning, JD and I weren’t the only ones stopping at the side of the road to take pictures. Even better than the honeymoon sunset at Bayfield (home of the Best Sunsets in the World, according to National Geographic), in my opinion.
Time at last to publish some photos of the trip I took last month to Holland, with my daughter and my mom. The purpose of the trip was many fold: spend time with, and introduce my daughter to her heritage, celebrate my mom’s 75th birthday and the successful end of her recent bout of chemotherapy, re-connect with my extended family (aunts, uncle and cousins), and just take a break from everyday life, of course!
(JD couldn’t make it this time due to work constraints, but we are looking forward to a trip to Holland together, hopefully in the not-too-distant future).
Because of space restrictions, Mizz J and I stayed with Peter and Adel in Amsterdam, and Mom stayed with her sister, my Tante Julia, in Haarlem. Even though we were apart, we did spend many days together visiting with family as the two cities are only a 20 minute train or car ride away from each other.
We did the tourist things, natuurlijk (naturally)…
Zaanse Schans
Old style windmills (still around and some still working)…and now new style windmills, much more abundant and definitely working:
New style windmills.Mizz J and a friend, Volendam.Museumplein, Amsterdam (of course!)Fabulous architecture, AmsterdamStatue of Hans Brinker, Spaarndam.
Statue symbolic of the struggle of the Dutch to reclaim (and maintain) their land from the water. Note: Hans has his whole hand, not just his thumb, in the dyke.
Organ in de Grote Kerk, HaarlemView of Haarlem and Grote Kerk from Vroom & Dreesman (Dutch department store chain)Overlooking Het Strand (The Beach) at ZandvoortMizz J photographing the shells in the surf, ZandvoortAfsluitdijk, North Sea on one side, Ijsselmeer on the otherDutch engineering, transforming land and water, 1933
And we really enjoyed being together with family and experiencing Dutch culture and everyday life.
Our gracious hosts, Cousin Peter and his lovely wife, Adel
Peter and Adel live in an airy, bright, spacious apartment in Amsterdam overlooking a canal. They couldn’t have made us feel more welcome and we loved staying with them. Adel treated us to delicious Indonesian home cooking and Peter spoiled us with a dish made of white asparagus with ham, eggs and smoked salmon – a more typical Dutch meal for this time of year.
Cousin Ton and Tante Julia, enjoying country living at Ton and Helen’s in beautiful Breezand
My cousin Helen and her husband Ton took a big risk a couple of years ago and moved from the city to the country, in order for Ton to set up his own business. Ton is a mechanical genius and of course, his business has become a success. They love their new life and what’s not to love? Peaceful, beautiful Dutch country village living!
Canal in front of Ton and Helen’s, BreezandTante Tineke and Oom Roel’s gorgeous tuin (backyard) in DriehuisMom enjoying a herring on the Cronje Straat, HaarlemOom Nan, far right, singing with the Zandvoort Mannen Choir
Each of my aunts,and my uncle too, belong to some kind of singing group, and perform regularly. There’s talent in the family, that’s for sure. I think that is pretty cool.
Oom Nan, Tante Tineke, Mom and Tante Julia (Helen and Ton cutting up in the background) Mom’s 75th Birthday Celebration @ Tante Julia’s beautiful place in HaarlemHow do you find your own bike in a pile like this? Outside of train station, Haarlem (and many more bikes behind me)Flower fields, flowers cut off to allow energy to be put into bulbs – Notice how flat the land isTypical street scene, Amsterdam…with Mizz J. Note the ubiquitous bikes.Another typical view of Amsterdam, city of canals
A lovely trip. Time spent with lovely people. Many happy memories and connections re-formed. Good times, good food. Heritage, culture, art, recreation and entertainment. Everything a vacation should be.
Cousin Peter and Mizz J, in front of Centraal Station (train station), Amsterdam
