I thought I'd share with you these cute chalk drawings I came across on a walk a few days ago. They made me smile. You rarely see children outside playing anymore. I realize it's a different world from the one I grew up in the 60's and 70's, but it's still hard for me to accept. We all spent the entire summer outside, roaming the neighborhood, stealthily exploring yards, spying on the houses we considered creepy, coming home only for lunch, supper and bedtime. In fact, our parents only needed to keep us in the house if they wanted to punish us!!

I found the article below on Develop Your Child. 


Am I just getting old or has something been lost?


If like me you grew up in the 60s and 70s, enjoy these memories…If you grew up in the 80s and after, simply imagine…

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paint. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. (Not to mention hitchhiking to town as a young kid!) On a personal note: my mother used to put me out to sleep on the front veranda in my pram and later playpen in a fairly large city (Hamilton, Ontario). As well, moms used to park their baby carriages (babies inside!) outside of department stores and go inside and shop...the carriages would be lined up outside against the building and no one thought anything of it..!

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times we learned to solve the problem.

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. My mom made us come home for meals...no fair! No one was able to reach us all day. No mobile phones. Unthinkable.

We played dodge ball and sometimes the ball would really hurt. We got cut and broke bones and broke teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame but us. Remember accidents? We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learned to get over it.

We ate cakes, bread and butter, and drank sugary pop but we were never overweight.........we had pleasure from our food rather than worrying about what we were eating. We shared one bottle of pop with four friends, from one bottle and no one died from this?

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, XBoxes, video games and all 99 channels on Sky Digital TV, video tape movies, surround sound, personal mobile phones, Personal Computers, Internet chat rooms........ we had friends. We went outside and found them.

Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. No one to hide behind. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law, imagine that!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years has been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to. And perhaps you are one of them.

* DISCLAIMER: I have been since 'informed' that these pics are actually x-rated! I plead ignorance...see my update here.

Today's Jewel:

"If you have the Moon, ignore the stars."

~ May 17/11 Old Farmer's Almanac ~

Mondays With Mireille

Greetings! It has been a beautiful day here, but sadly for the 7,000 residents of Slave Lake who have suffered an unimaginable loss, the sun is not shining. A terrible fire, fueled by the high winds we have been experiencing in Alberta the past few days, has destroyed a third of the town, situated approximately 3.5 hours NW of Edmonton.

I don't know about you, but we seem to eat a lot of eggs. Something we've noted a number times over the last few months. Partly I suspect because they are a great source of protein, very versatile and quick to prepare.

Asparagus Flan

This is the third time I've made this dish and I have definitely added it to my 'repertoire'. I have divided it in half twice and once made the full-sized version. Any leftovers reheat quite nicely the next day.

16 asparagus stalks

4 ounces bacon, coarsely chopped (I used turkey bacon)

8 eggs

2 cups milk

1 cup heavy cream (I used table cream 18%)

8 sprigs of fresh chervil, minced (I left this out)

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Additional ingredients (my tweaks)

3 shallots finely chopped and sauteed with bacon

1/4 red pepper finely chopped for color and sauteed with bacon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cut off the tough ends of the asparagus stalks (about 2 inches). Peel the asparagus (lower 1/3). Boil the asparagus in salted water for 5 minutes. Drain and let cool. Chop each stalk into 2- or 3-inch pieces.

3. Saute the bacon, shallots, red pepper in a nonstick frying pan. Drain on a paper towel.

4. Combine the eggs, milk, cream, and half of the chervil (if using). Season with salt and pepper. Pour the egg mixture in a 9x12 baking dish (full-sized version) or 9-inch pie plate (1/2 recipe). Sprinkle in the asparagus and bacon mixture. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, till the custard is set but not dried out. Serve immediately. 

Overall impressions: French Women Don't Get Fat must have a typo, as it states this cooks in 15 to 20 minutes. Not a chance. Other than that 3.5 frogs legs for this one.

How long will you live? Scientists have recently announced that they are finally able to answer that age old question by means of a blood test, which measures how fast an individual is aging, thereby giving a true biological age. What they are looking at are Telomeres; structures on the tips of all chromosomes which gradually shorten as we age. 

The real burning question now is... would you pay to know your life expectancy? If you answered yes, you may be interested to know that an over-the-counter test will soon be available. Critics (rightly) worry that this technology will open a whole Pandora's box of ramifications. Imagine how much insurance companies would like to get their hands on this data? Or potential employers? 

The good news is that it looks like we can proactively lengthen our telomeres through exercise, vitamin/enzyme therapy and stress reduction.

Expand this graphic for a closer look at Telomeres

If interested, more here.

A recipe for you later today :)

We are still experiencing high winds...tonight's forecast is for gusts up to 80 km/h...

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, 

we must carry it with us or we find it not." 

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Enjoy the rest of your evening

Who has seen the wind?

Neither I nor you:

But when the leaves hang trembling,

The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?

Neither you nor I:

But when the trees bow down their heads,

The wind is passing by.

Oh the plans of mice and men. Today was another very windy day with gusts up to 65 km/h. Thankfully it was a warm wind (SE) and we made it to 19C. As a result though, any yard work I'd planned had to be put on hold. We did manage to rake up leaves (between gusts) early this morning and then suck them into the mulcher, so the day wasn't a total write-off. It was virtually impossible to do anything else, so I spent part of the afternoon in my office (that's what I call my garden shed in the summer) drinking coffee and taking stock of the projects I'd like to complete in the next few weeks. It's hard not to feel overwhelmed, especially when your hands are tied for the day.

Here's one corner of the mish-mash that my garden shed turns into each fall 

as we quickly shove everything into it at the end of the season! 

I suppose I could have organized it today, but I will be pretty much emptying it out shortly anyways.

Pulling my cherub out cheered me up a bit :)

My Hens have quite a few new Chicks

The poppies are coming along very nicely

The delphiniums are marching along

The peonies have just poked through - we are usually a few weeks behind Ontario, but we were pushed back even further thanks to the late winter storm we had in mid-April. 

The hops vines are insane, in a few weeks they will completely engulf our covered deck

I have two dwarf lilac bushes and they are happily covered in buds

This is Francis' cranky cousin Hemlock. 

I'm back inside now working on laundry - at least that will be done and I have my fingers crossed for tomorrow, but according to the weatherman we are slated for another windy day or two. Hoping your Saturday was a productive one. 

Today is World Naked Gardening Day!

So get out there everyone, but don't forget your sunscreen... 

and a flyswatter!

EXERCISE FOR PEOPLE OVER 40

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side. With a 5-lb potato sack in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax. Each day you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer.

After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato sacks. Then try 50-lb potato sacks and then eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb potato sack in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. (I'm at this level.)

After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each sack.

The world can be a scary place when you are only six months old. It has been very windy here the past couple of days and the howling wind and resulting swaying tree limbs, shadows and flapping tarps unnerved our puppy Emma so much that we had to cut short our walk today. She even seemed to resist going outside to do her business. This next video demonstrates how I think she saw things:

While I was there, I also found a few hilarious examples of fraidy-cats and these are the big guys... what chance does a teeny tiny puppy have?

No words of wisdom today, just pretty pictures from yesterday. 

It was a glorious day and we made it to +19C :)

I really love that my neighbor flies the flag year-round.

The Canadian flag always looks so darn happy!

I love garden centers, this one is within walking distance of my house.

It was so warm and delicious smelling inside.

Very tempting, but I think it's still way too early to chance it - we will have another frost.

My favorite flower :)

Great display

Emma :)

"Sweet May hath come to love us, 
Flowers, trees, their blossoms don; 
And through the blue heavens above us 
The very clouds move on." 
- Heinrich Heine, Book of Songs

A bit belated, but I finally turned the page...!

We are having a lovely May so far. I haven't had an opportunity to give everything in my yard a real good once over, but from what I can see, it looks like everyone survived our wicked winter. My vines are up over 1.5 feet and the delphiniums are already 6 inches. The only downfall of the season for me is that the creepy crawlies are now out and about.... so I thought I'd share this interesting story I stumbled across yesterday:

This is pretty scary!

Almost 50 million years ago, ants the size of hummingbirds roamed what is now Wyoming, a new fossil discovery reveals. These giant bugs may have crossed an Arctic land bridge between Europe and North America during a particularly warm period in Earth's history.

At about 2 inches (5 cm) long, the specimen is a "monstrously big ant," said Bruce Archibald, a paleoentomologist at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia who reported the discovery today (May 3) in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Though fossils of loose giant ant wings have been found before in the United States, this is the first known full-body specimen.


One living ant species, Dorylus wilverthi, has queens that reach the size of this ancient ant, though Titanomyrma was big all over while D. wilverthi gets its size from an abnormally swollen abdomen, Archibald said.

Archibald dubbed the new ant Titanomyrma lubei -- "titan" for its size, "myrma" for the Greek, "myrmex," or ant, and "lubei" for the fossil collector who discovered the specimen, Louis Lube. The burning question, however, was how giant ants ended up on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. 

The full story here if you are interested.


Also, you may have seen the story about a cat who was dubbed the world's loudest purrer (is that a word?!) The other day ABC news reported that Smokey is now officially the Guinness World Record holder. I love the profile below.

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.  ~Washington Irving

Since marrying and moving halfway across the country, I have spent very few Mother's Days with my mom, but she is here this year and we are having a wonderful time together. A few pics from our walk this morning and very shortly we are off to my daughter's who is preparing supper for us. I am feeling totally spoiled and loving it :)

It was quite breezy! lol

fyi: Mondays with Mireille is on hold for another week :)

Hoping you enjoy what's left of your day!

Every spring is the only spring - a perpetual astonishment.  ~Ellis Peters

Greetings! I'm back...:)

A few pics from my walk this morning. This pond is ten minutes from my house. Yesterday afternoon there were two Canada geese hanging about, but (of course) I had forgotten my camera :( I was amazed how close I was able to get to them, so I was really hoping they would still be around today...but alas they seem to have moved on. 

This little Red Wing seemed to be posing for the camera!

By the time I returned home it was already threatening rain and soon proceeded to pour buckets. I had been planning to clean up my yard a bit this afternoon, as it is in desperate need of a good raking - hopefully that will happen tomorrow. The quote below just about sums it up for today. 


In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours.  ~Mark Twain

Double Trouble!

It's Graduation Time!

Seems like only yesterday...
but our beautiful daughter Caroline

has her degree in Nursing :)

Right now I'm...

And...

Why you ask?

Are coming...!!

Will I pass inspection?

All in good fun, 

both my Mom and Mother-in-law are dears and we look forward to their visit.

See you all in a few weeks :)