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.)
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)…
Old style windmills (still around and some still working)…and now new style windmills, much more abundant and definitely working:
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.
And we really enjoyed being together with family and experiencing Dutch culture and everyday life.
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.
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!
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.
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.
Here are some of my favourite shots from the wedding day:
The joy of the day for us was very evident!
All of our honoured guests!
A creative pose, suggested by our wonderful photographer, Jillian Bolender of Focused Photography:
Here’s more inspired shots:
The wedding flowers were so beautiful…..
The honeymoon was supposed to be only for a couple of days, but we found ourselves having so much fun, we extended it for 10…..
Our first night was at the Village hotel where we had our dinner and reception:
Then we went to the Little Inn, in Bayfield:
Home of the best sunsets in the world, according to National Geographic:
After that, we stayed in Elora a couple of nights, at the Elora Mill Inn:
Then we were off to Niagara on the Lake, to stay at one of the top 500 hotels in the world, right in our backyard (so to speak). Who knew?
When we saw the dragonfly lamp in the corner, we knew we were going to take the room, no matter what the cost (and it was pricey, but worth it!):
Even the pool was opulent:
We had our first B&B experience, in Maryhill (definitely not the last!):
Yummy yogurt parfaits, followed by caramelized french toast…..
We went back down Niagara way again….this time to the Falls themselves (view from our room at Embassy Suites):
We did the typical tourist things….the Maid of the Mist boat ride never gets old:
After coming back home for a week, we were off to Dubuque, Iowa for a work trip (we called it part of the endless honeymoon…). With an unexpected quick tour of Chicago when we missed the flight to Dubuque (thanks to American Airlines) and had to rent a car to actually get there in time for my meeting…..
We definitely want to get back to Chicago for a visit!
Dubuque (below) is a beautiful town on the Mississippi River….worth a visit if you are in the area. The trouble with work trips is that there is very little time for exploring wherever you are, usually. Dubuque has many beautiful buildings, a rich history, and the National Museum of the Mississippi, not much of which we got to see….wah!
And now to start married life….for real! (And to FINALLY open our wedding gifts…I can’t believe we haven’t even had time to do so yet…..)
ALERT: posting contains wedding dress photos. Dear JD, please do not read any further!!!!!
Or this:
…As I attempt to capture the perfect sunset photo, while waiting for JD to finish up his shift at the City Golf Course he’s at this summer (he’s apprenticing to be a pro). There are worse places to hang out than at a golf course on a beautiful spring evening.
And it fits quite nicely! No Bulging Brides scenario for me, thank goddess. Just needs minor adjustments at the shoulder and hemline.
And I did something I swore I would never do:
Yes dear Blog, I not only tried on the veil, I loved it so much I bought the sucka. JD so wants me to wear a veil and I have been bucking him on this one….up until last night. When lovely Salesperson Sue said (despite knowing my supposed anti-veil stance), “Let’s just try one on, for fun – shall we?” I should have known resistance was futile.
I am keeping the veil purchase as a surprise for JD, so don’t tell him, OK?
So…not only am I a second-time bride with 2 grown kids wearing a full-on white gown with train, I am going to be wearing the traditional head gear as well. I expect to be struck down by lightning anytime now.
Or perhaps I will be run out of the chapel on a rail, like Homer Stokes in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
Sigh.
Can a tiara purchase be far off?
Clearly, the answer is: NO. When it comes to this whole bride thing, I seem to be subscribing to the “Go Big, or Go Home” mentality these days!
This is what Mizz Lucy and I woke up to on Feb 23rd – winter wonderland. Um, a little late, doncha think? I was hopin’ this would be winter’s (first and ) last hurrah, but we continue to get snow dumped on us as we head into March.
There was just so much good stuff on sale! What gives? Is it the recession? Or Wal-Mart Supercentres providing competition? No matter, it’s bargain-city right now, for those that have any extra cash.
When I arrived at the store it was fairly busy, but suddenly it seemed to just empty out. A store employee asked me if there was a storm brewing, is that why the store was devoid of customers? I said definitely, that it was nasty out. Someone else piped up that the women’s gold medal game was on (Congrats Canadian Womens Hockey Team on your Gold! Smoke ’em if you got ’em. Oh yeah, you did….Ha!), and also Survivor. (Is that show still going on?!?!? Haven’t they run out of deserted islands yet?). It was certainly a good night to get home and stay home, whatever the reason.
And now this morning, this:
I got up nice and early, planning to walk Mizz L as usual, and then have time to do an upper body workout. On the way back to the house, I laughed at the absurdity of hurrying inside to lift dumbells to the instructor on the DVD when I had a driveway full of snow I could be lifting instead! So I made things easier for Edward by clearing a path to the street. Shoulda brushed him off before I cleaned up the driveway though….
And now tonight I get to do it all over again ‘cos it’s snowing and snowing hard and heavy. However, things are looking up for next week. Temps in the pluses for most of it. Yay!
On a completely different subject: I’ve been tracking my weight loss for the past 3 weeks and I’m averaging 0.9 lbs lost per week. At this rate I will lose 26 pounds by the wedding date. Not too shabby! I developed a little Excel spreadsheet and even created a graph in it to help me track my progress towards this goal. I am delighted that I am seeing success with making just a couple of little changes to my lifestyle and being more mindful of everything I eat and how much I move.
Now to get back to snow shovelling. Wish me luck!
The title of this blog post reminds me of a joke we used to tell when we were kids. Tim Horton was a professional hockey player, who died in a car crash in 1974, but not before starting a highly successful chain of coffee and doughnut shops that still bear his name today.
Kid A: Did you hear that when Tim Horton died, the police found LSD in his car?
Kid B: NO! Really?
Kid A: Yeah, the back seat was filled with Last Saturday’s Doughnuts.
Anyhoo…..
My LSD stands for Long Slow Distance run. Yesterday I was hoping for 12 K, but only managed 7.5. Reasons: out-of-shape mainly, but also because it was STINKIN’ HOT (I ran in the afternoon as I didn’t have time to run in the morning). And an alarming new development – every time I did my requisite 3 minutes of running (I run 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes, routinely), my stomach and esophagus just started burning – very uncomfortable.
I’ve been having issues with acid reflux since the spring and am going for an endoscopy later on this month to check things out. Let’s hope this episode was a one-of.
Other than the heat (external and internal), it was a lovely run along the Toogood Trail in Unionville and reminded me of all the things I love about this time of year.
I love Queen Annes’ Lace, above. I love fields of goldenrod and milkweed, and seeing teasels in flower, below:
Canada Geese, Running through the Marsh:
Wild Purple Asters against Goldenrod, White Asters and Red Leaves:
I think this is called Joe-Pye Weed. I love it and want it for my garden someday:
Wild Cucumber, White Berries on Red Stems:
Mr. and Mrs. Mallard and a lovely little turtle:
More Mallards, paddling in the shade of a willow, and a Great Blue Heron:
Toogood Pond Trail:
