Card Making

I am one of those persons whose mind is always in overdrive creating, designing, observing, and thinking about making things. Most of it never comes to fruition, but on occasion I surprise myself. This post is not one of those times :oS. This is crafting pre-meditated by my friend C. She is a Stampin' Up consultant, and I'm her devotedly addicted customer :o)! C makes a creative evening very simple and oh-so-fun! We learn new techniques, but she enables us to concentrate on the techniques as the items needed for our cards are mostly pre-cut.

Here are the cards from the last two sessions I have been to...

I can't decide which one is my favorite...

Scented Cleaning

Long before I became a blogger, I diligently followed Pleasant View Schoolhouse. I literally went back and read Anna's posts from the very beginning. I was intrigued with her life and her posts. Anna once told how she makes her cleaning days more enjoyable. I happily adopted the idea.

I still don't love cleaning, but I do love the smell that cleaning my home invokes -- at least when wiping walls and floors.

In your bucket of water, add whatever unscented soap you may or may not use. (I use Melaleuca Tough and Tender). Then to that add some drops of essential oil. I like to use various scents from the Body Shop that I picked up at a pre-Christmas sale. They last forever, and I can pick and choose the fragrance to suit my mood. It really does make cleaning, well, almost enjoyable :o).

Coffee Shops

If you know anything about Canada, you know that the big Canadian icon that keeps our country running is Tim Hortons coffee. Our family too, has had a long love affair with Tim Hortons. However, it isn't so much for the coffee as it is for the convenience. (We do love their cookies though!) When traveling through Canada, you are pretty much guaranteed to find a Timmie's, as it's affectionately called, in any town big enough to have a main street. This makes it perfect for traveling with young children. You can have a bathroom break and a snack, and give the kids a little exercise too -- you just have to watch out for the loooong line of cars going through the drive thru.

Lately though, partly because the children are getting older, our tastes are changing. I am the only coffee drinker in this house, and I'm becoming a bit of a coffee snob. The bummer is when you become a coffee snob, you pay the price for it too. Have you ever had the pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks? Oh my, it is good, but the price tag that comes with it a hefty one!

In our small town is a café called Minglers and we have fallen in love with it!

You can not only get coffee, but fair trade coffee, and other delicious drinks, as well as very healthy and delicious meals. To top it all off, Minglers has the best buttertarts I have ever eaten in my life!!

If you are ever in the area, drop us a line and we will introduce you to a Mingler's buttertart -- and some coffee or tea too! Delicious!!

Lately when we travel, we keep our eyes open for other locally owned cafés, The White Rose is one we went to on our way up north to visit with friends.

What an interesting spot. We had chocolate orange fudge with our coffee/hot chocolates there.

This is what drew us to try the fudge:

After hiking through the bush and enjoying the beautiful waterfalls, our friends took us to The Frog Pond. It's another locally owned coffee house in their nearby city.

What a delightful place! In the summertime, it even opens to the outside with a big glass garage door like thing that lifts up.

Don't they both look delicious!? The top one is a pumpkin pie latte, and I'm not sure what the Engineer's is -- either a hot chocolate of some type or a cider. He flip flops between those two drinks -- never coffee.

Do you  have a favorite place or hot drink? I'd love to hear about it!

Walks in the Woods

We have enjoyed several walks in the woods these past few weeks. It has been spectacular! Come along with us and enjoy some of the beauty we have seen...

The oak in our own backyard.

Walking in the back forty near our home -- just Bub, Maverick, and I...

The back forty  is predominantly Carolinian forest as indicated by the young tulip trees in the above photo.

An old sugar shack. It was last used in 1999 according to the still readable newspaper inside.

Shot up cans for collecting maple sap.

Landslide!! :o)

My baby boy looking all growed up :o).

One of the five falls in and around Owen Sound, ON

On the river in Owen Sound.

1000 Gifts

I have been continually amazed at how beautiful autumn is this year. Usually the month of October begins to get iffy. We can have cold and rain for a few days and then warmer and sunshine for a few days, and on the cycle continues until November where it truly does begin to get blah.

We usually turn the furnace on sometime in October and it will stay in the on position until May. This year we haven't turned it on yet. Mind you, October is not over, but the weather forecast is for high teens low twenty degrees Celcius for the next few days, so perhaps we can make it all the way through October without turning the furnace on.

The trees, oh the trees! We have traveled quite a bit this fall and I continue to marvel at the colours. Remember my post last week about our "progressive" farmer? Well we've taken advantage of the open fields and walked through the back forest twice. The colours in there are incredible! As are the variety of trees! We're completely captivated by the beauty contained within walking distance from our home. We can hardly wait to see if it is filled with trilliums in the spring.

This week I am thanking God for:

a long

and most glorious autumn.

two long walks into our back forty.

continued sunshine and mild weather.

not having to turn on the furnace yet this fall.

a much anticipated visit with friends.

a long walk with said friends to see

two beautiful waterfalls.

watching salmon swim against the current to get back to their spawning grounds.

enjoying coffee with them while continuing to catch up.

quiet, uninterrupted chatting time with the Engineer.

children who are happy to participate in church life.

grandparents' who adore their grandchildren and look forward to having them over.

deliciously quaint coffee shops

that sell chocolate orange fudge.

class trips with ten and eleven year olds who are still so innocent

and excited about life.

watching a pup, his sister, and mama greet each other exuberantly.

a social worker who is working tirelessly to help bring our girls home. She is nothing short of amazing!

being able to participate in our church's revisioning weekend (or at least part of the weekend anyways :S).

a most awesome friend who pops by with a can of fresh coffee after I post about not having a single solitary drop of java left in our house.

excitement with Beans' teacher who is expecting her second child next month. Oh, but we will miss her at school though!

a three day week for the girls this week.

looking forward to going into the Big City on Friday with them.

Giving thanks to our precious Lord and Saviour for His gifts to us #'s 823-846.  If you would like to cultivate an attitude of gratitude, come join us at the gratitude community.

Friday Already Again!

 "Hallllloooo," says Maverick!

Well, there you have it, it's Friday already again! I can't believe how quickly a week flies by! As far as my weeks have gone since the children started school, this has been a quiet one. I didn't have to go anywhere all day four out of five days and I will confess, I was very lazy about getting dressed. It was pj's and house coat until well into the afternoon several days. Today it's just too cold. I'm in sweats, socks, and runners because I really don't want to turn on the heat yet.

Promptly on Monday, I made a list of things to do and have mostly stuck to it. My basement actually looks like a functional basement now. Oh there's still paper piles to be gone through, but I can totally see from one end of the room to the other without gunk and junk. I even (you may gasp at the shock of it all!) vacuumed and washed the floors. I don't think I've seen them look this nice since we installed them last year.

The editing of photo sessions is coming along, but I likely won't get caught up until November, and then I have two other projects to be working on. No wonder my vision is beginning to go :o). I spend waaaay too much time working at the computer!

Bub is home today for a P.D. Day (or whatever they are called). He and I will be trotting out to the garden this afternoon to harvest what is left out there. We had frost this morning. I'm not too sure there will be many growing things anymore now.

The Engineer and I are going to visit with friends up north on Saturday. I am really hoping that it hasn't snowed there! We've farmed the children out to both sets of grandparents, so it should be a nice relaxing day! What are your plans for the weekend? Wishing you all a blessed and fun filled weekend!

Tears Today

I hadn't realized until now how hard this wait is affecting me. I am currently blogging for friends who are in Ethiopia right now visiting with their new son. It's a strange feeling to log in to an account that does not belong to me and publish posts that I have not written. Today was court day for our friends. They passed with flying colours. What an emotional day for them though. I am so thrilled for them and can hardly wait to meet their new little guy. He is so precious!

I don't read their posts until I have published them, and today I just bawled and bawled. How long before we are on the other side of the world hearing those sweet words, "They're yours!" Please Lord, let it be soon! This waiting is so hard.!