Ten On Wednesday

Here are 10 scents/odors I like.

1. Adam.

He doesn't wear the same cologne or use the same soap/shampoo but the ones he selects all smell really nice - fresh, not overpowering.

2. The smell outside right after a rain storm.

I think it's the dirt and grass scent I like.

3. The way carrots smell as they're pulled from the dirt.

I only like to eat carrots raw that smell like carrots, freshly pulled from the earth. Carrots in bags do nothing for me.

4. Eternity by Calvin Klein.

Both my Mom & I wear this fragrance. It smells different on everyone.

5. The smell of Crockett's paws.

Hard to explain. Dog owners will understand. It's almost like the smell of an old man on a parch smoking a pipe. Odd, I know.

6. The fresh fragrance of newly laundered pillow cases & sheets.

Nothing better. I get the best nights sleep right after laundry day.

7. The smell of diesel fuel.

My Dad was an Aircraft Engineer and when I was little, he'd come home smelling like diesel fuel before he'd go downstairs and scrub his hands in the laundry room sink with special soap.

8. Brewing coffee.

No explanation necessary. Some folks who don't drink coffee say they like the smell of it.

9. Men who smell of Irish Spring and Mennen Speed Stick.

These 2 fragrances for me are the epitome of manly clean & fresh.

10. Johnson's Baby Shampoo.
I've always used this on my dogs when I give them baths so it also reminds me of my dogs.

Apartment Redecorating Frenzy

Well, that is a bit of a stretch.

I went to Canadian Tire today to purchase a $5 toilet handle

and spent a whole....gulp.....$16 on a new shower curtain.

The toilet handle was a must.  Ours has been broken

for far too long. We were flushing the toilet with a pen!

I am pleased to say that I fixed it and it is now working perfectly.

The shower curtain has fulfilled my desire to redecorate for Fall.

It also has a 70's feel.

I had curtains almost like this when I was a kid except the circles

were more pink, purple & green.

Honestly, if Adam and I had an unlimited budget, our apartment

would look like a bungalow in the Hollywood Hills in the 70's.

Shag carpet, lots of browns and oranges and mustard

with funky chrome lamps.

Sort of like these awesome pictures found on google images:

 The photos for this room above & below are from:
http://stephenparisi.blogspot.com/
There is nothing I don't love about this room!


Call me crazy, but I'd LOVE a 70's kitchen with mossy green

appliances and counter tops covered in Tupperware storage containers.

Maybe even a funky wooden spice rack on the wall and this pattern below
wallpapered on one wall.

Pattern from http://www.retrotogo.com/

Of course we'd then need an awesome basement or rec room

that has walls exactly like this!

Photo from: http://www.interiorcomplex.com/

Until we are able to execute our vision, our  $16 shower curtain

will make me very happy :)

A Day of Labor and Toil

I got a very slow start to the day today.

I have a huge To Do List for the day.

This labor day will be just that for me.

In order to thoroughly enjoy the rest of the week off, I need to be

in a spotless sparkling clean, not just tidy, apartment.

I have the rubber gloves ready and I know I'll have sore knees

after I clean the washroom.

It bothers me that toilets are designed to be so difficult

to get around and behind and really clean.

I think we should have Japanese squat toilets.

Much easier to clean and we'd all have much better leg muscles!



Japanese Squat Toilet.



I have already taken Crockett for a lovely long walk.

It is perfect Pug weather today.

It's cloudy & a bit windy and cool.

All the old folks are wearing their thin jackets outside today.

I didn't take my camera on the walk as I wanted to stop for a coffee.

Holding a dog leash, a camera, a coffee cup with the task

of having to pick up dog poop at some point well, I don't have enough hands!

I did pick these off a tree!

These to me are something that takes me back to

Back To School time.  When I walked to school alone

I was almost always late because of how I'd stop to

play with acorns & pick up leaves to press in wax paper.

I need to go make myself a hearty lunch and just get on with my To Do List already.

As Fall Approaches

I love that September has arrived.

I love that Fall is just around the corner - Sept 23rd to be exact.

We've had a return of muggy weather today.

The weekend forecast is hot and muggy with rain.

I am looking forward to lovely fall days with turning leaves.

Orange is a color I really find soothing.

The right tone of orange of course.

I've taken next week off work.

I need a break.

I need to turn my brain and my alarm clock off.

I've added a few days to the long weekend.

We are going to spend time going for walks, lazing in bed talking,

reading, having breakfast together.

I'll start some knitting and try drawing some more.

I'm thinking of trying watercolor painting, we'll see.

I'm looking forward to not taking the bus or subway.

I know I'll wake up at the same time as I do everyday but it feels

so much better when you don't have to do anything.

I bought a new "vacation" book today.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

I have high hopes for it.

Another thing I'm kind of feeling the urge to do is

rearrange the furniture.

Adam hates that.

He likes things where they are.

I'll have to wake up extra early & do it while he sleeps ;)

To honor Autumn, here is some Keats (1795-1821):

                                 TO AUTUMN.

                                            1.

    SEASON of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
        Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
    Conspiring with him how to load and bless
        With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
    To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
        And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
            To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
    With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
        And still more, later flowers for the bees,
        Until they think warm days will never cease,
            For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.

                                            2.

    Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
        Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
    Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
        Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
    Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep,
        Drows’d with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
            Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
    And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
        Steady thy laden head across a brook;
        Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
            Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

                                            3.

    Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
        Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
    While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
        And touch the stubble plains with rosy hue;
    Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
        Among the river sallows, borne aloft
            Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
    And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
        Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
        The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
           And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.



Ten On Wednesday

Here are 10 of my favorite childhood reads, in no particular order.

1. Three Billy Goats Gruff - Norwegian Fairy Tale
I remember the Troll under the bridge. Things nightmares were made from.

2. Thumbelina - Hans Christian Andersen
I had an oversize hardcover book & Thumbelina was drawn with huge eyes.

3. Rapunzel - The Brothers Grimm
I had the Disney Read Along Book. With the 45rpm record. Where you turn the page when Tinkerbell rings her little bell, like this...ring ring ring.

4. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish - Dr. Seuss
Love it to this day!

5. Are You My Mother? - P.D Eastman
Being an adopted kid, this topic held my fascination.

6. Curious George Goes to the Hospital - Margret & H.A. Rey
He ate the puzzle piece & had to have an x-ray. Classic!
My Mom gave me the Complete Adventures of Curious George a few years ago for Christmas.  I still have my stuffed Curious George I got when I was a kid. 

7. Are You There God It's Me Margaret - Judy Blume
Standard preteen rite of passage.

8. Peter Pan - J.M Barrie
Remains one of my all time favorite stories.

9. Archie Comics
I always preferred Betty. Even as a young girl I didn't like Veronica. Funny.
I think it's great that my niece likes reading Archie Comics today. Timeless.

10. Little Golden Books
Who didn't LOVE Little Golden Books. I had a few that were all classic fairy tales. I still have them in a box. Books are one of the few things I kept from my childhood.

Very Cool Exercise

I don't remember how this came to me.

I am at least thankful that there is a name at the bottom of it.

I did this exercise & was able to pronounce all but 2 words and I

of course read it aloud in a British accent.

It is so much easier to speak clearly when you sound like

HRH Queen Elizabeth or Dame Judy Dench.

-  -  -  -  -  - 

If you can correctly pronounce every word in this poem, you will be speaking English better than 90% of the native English speakers in the world. After trying the verses, a Frenchman said he’d prefer six months of hard labour to reading six lines aloud. Try them yourself.

Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.
Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.
Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.
Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation’s OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.
Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
And enamour rhyme with hammer.
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
And then singer, ginger, linger,
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.
Query does not rhyme with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.
Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.
Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice;
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.
Petal, panel, and canal,
Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor.
Tour, but our and succour, four.
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, Korea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.
Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion and battalion.
Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
Heron, granary, canary.
Crevice and device and aerie.
Face, but preface, not efface.
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
Ear, but earn and wear and tear
Do not rhyme with here but ere.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.
Pronunciation (think of Psyche!)
Is a paling stout and spikey?
Won’t it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?
It’s a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.
Finally, which rhymes with enough,
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give up!!!
- B. Shaw



A Day in Pictures - Lots of Chalk

Today, I met my Mom for lunch & then we took a walk up to

Toronto City Hall Nathan Phillips Square to

see all the chalk messages for Jack Layton.

I tried another finger upon CN Tower shot and again, failed!



Mmmmmm dessert.

Me - Creme Brulee

Mom - Butter Tart



It's amazing the things you find when you walk inbetween buildings in Toronto.



These are some of the chalk messages written at

Toronto City Hall Nathan Phillips Square

to Jack Layton & his family.

It was very moving.



There are messages written in many languages.



Toronto City Hall. Where Adam & I got married :)



This message above was not too clear but it reads:

" Thank you Toronto!

Your support got us through

this difficult time.

With love, the Layton Family"



There were so many seagulls flying over head.

It was a beautiful sunny and windy day.

I got pooped on!

Supposed to be good luck.

At least it was my pants & not my head!



There was a constant stream of people.

Most with cameras and quite a few with tears in their eyes.

It's one of those events that just happened organically

and it's very special.

Manifesto for Social Democracy.

Today was the State Funeral for

Jack Layton

Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition.

Those who didn't agree with his politics, agreed

that he was a decent human being, a good man,
a passionate politician.

I realize I am lucky to be Canadian.

There is a political change going on here with the

almost disappearance of the Liberal Party.

Jack Layton was front & center in that change.

He inspired many while alive and by looks of things,

has inspired many more in his death.

Here is the letter that was realeased after his death.

The letter that Stephen Lewis mentioned in his eulogy as,

 "The letter was, at its heart, a manifesto for social democracy,"

Jack Layton

1950-2011

Jack Layton & wife Olivia Chow
source: http://www.thursdaynightmagazine.com/2011/08/22/jack-laytons-last-letter/

Dear Friends,
Tens of thousands of Canadians have written to me in recent weeks to wish me well. I want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughtful, inspiring and often beautiful notes, cards and gifts. Your spirit and love have lit up my home, my spirit, and my determination.

Unfortunately my treatment has not worked out as I hoped. So I am giving this letter to my partner Olivia to share with you in the circumstance in which I cannot continue.

I recommend that Hull-Aylmer MP Nycole Turmel continue her work as our interim leader until a permanent successor is elected.

I recommend the party hold a leadership vote as early as possible in the New Year, on approximately the same timelines as in 2003, so that our new leader has ample time to reconsolidate our team, renew our party and our program, and move forward towards the next election.

A few additional thoughts:

To other Canadians who are on journeys to defeat cancer and to live their lives, I say this: please don't be discouraged that my own journey hasn't gone as well as I had hoped. You must not lose your own hope. Treatments and therapies have never been better in the face of this disease. You have every reason to be optimistic, determined, and focused on the future. My only other advice is to cherish every moment with those you love at every stage of your journey, as I have done this summer.

To the members of my party: we've done remarkable things together in the past eight years. It has been a privilege to lead the New Democratic Party and I am most grateful for your confidence, your support, and the endless hours of volunteer commitment you have devoted to our cause. There will be those who will try to persuade you to give up our cause. But that cause is much bigger than any one leader. Answer them by recommitting with energy and determination to our work. Remember our proud history of social justice, universal health care, public pensions and making sure no one is left behind. Let's continue to move forward. Let's demonstrate in everything we do in the four years before us that we are ready to serve our beloved Canada as its next government.

To the members of our parliamentary caucus: I have been privileged to work with each and every one of you. Our caucus meetings were always the highlight of my week. It has been my role to ask a great deal from you. And now I am going to do so again. Canadians will be closely watching you in the months to come. Colleagues, I know you will make the tens of thousands of members of our party proud of you by demonstrating the same seamless teamwork and solidarity that has earned us the confidence of millions of Canadians in the recent election.

To my fellow Quebecers: On May 2nd, you made an historic decision. You decided that the way to replace Canada's Conservative federal government with something better was by working together in partnership with progressive-minded Canadians across the country. You made the right decision then; it is still the right decision today; and it will be the right decision right through to the next election, when we will succeed, together. You have elected a superb team of New Democrats to Parliament. They are going to be doing remarkable things in the years to come to make this country better for us all.

To young Canadians: All my life I have worked to make things better. Hope and optimism have defined my political career, and I continue to be hopeful and optimistic about Canada. Young people have been a great source of inspiration for me. I have met and talked with so many of you about your dreams, your frustrations, and your ideas for change. More and more, you are engaging in politics because you want to change things for the better. Many of you have placed your trust in our party. As my time in political life draws to a close I want to share with you my belief in your power to change this country and this world. There are great challenges before you, from the overwhelming nature of climate change to the unfairness of an economy that excludes so many from our collective wealth, and the changes necessary to build a more inclusive and generous Canada. I believe in you. Your energy, your vision, your passion for justice are exactly what this country needs today. You need to be at the heart of our economy, our political life, and our plans for the present and the future.

And finally, to all Canadians: Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one - a country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity. We can build a prosperous economy and a society that shares its benefits more fairly. We can look after our seniors. We can offer better futures for our children. We can do our part to save the world's environment. We can restore our good name in the world. We can do all of these things because we finally have a party system at the national level where there are real choices; where your vote matters; where working for change can actually bring about change. In the months and years to come, New Democrats will put a compelling new alternative to you. My colleagues in our party are an impressive, committed team. Give them a careful hearing; consider the alternatives; and consider that we can be a better, fairer, more equal country by working together. Don't let them tell you it can't be done.

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic.

And we'll change the world.

All my very best,
Jack Layton

Praying Mantis

I was in Finch Station this afternoon on my way home walking from the bus

to the subway.  My left hand brushed up against something on my left hip.

I grabbed it, looked at it, screamed & dropped it right on the floor.

It was this critter who was half the length of my hand.

I'd never seen one up close & personal before.

A Praying Mantis.

It almost looked like a twig.

Where the heck did it come from & how long had it been attached to me.

I will say, that ever since I have had the creepy crawly itches.

You know, after you brush an ant or bug off yourself, you are extra sensitive

and itchy for the rest of the day.

The last place it needed to be was on the floor in a subway station so I went into

my bag, grabbed a piece of paper, caught it & brought it home

to release back into nature.

I had to watch it for a few minutes first.

Very graceful.

Very inquisitive.

Very creepy.

Easy to see why so many creatures from scary films

have been inspired by this little critter.

I posted another shot as my Project 365 photo of the day.

10 Questions

1. Have you ever eaten a crayon?
No, but  the Wright's dog Taffy used to and we'd see her white poop in the park with bits of crayon in it that looked like colored chocolate chips.

2. Are you wearing socks right now?
Nope. My feet are under my desk resting on my flip-flops.

3. Are you hot?
Nope. I'm in my jammies and I have the fan on.  To answer this question another way, no. I was not the type of girl that was described as hot. Cute maybe, not hot.

4. What was the last thing you had to drink?
I'm drinking orange juice right now. Minute Maid Low Acid. Really tasty.

5. What is your favorite animal?
Dogs and Sloths and Giraffes.

6. Worst injury you've ever had?
I broke my collar bone when I was 13 or 14 years old.  The most painful part was in the ER when the obviously overtired MD tried to put a brace on me that was way too small.

7. Ever go to camp?
Yes. Brownie/Girl Guide camp  - loved it. I wish I'd gone to summer camp more. I love the movies Meatballs when I was a kid.....are you ready for the summer?

8. Do you need to do laundry?
Yes. This weekend we need to do the sheets & blankets. I love sleeping in a freshly laundered bed.

9. Do you collect anything?
No. I don't like clutter and I don't have enough space. One thing I buy more often than I should is notebooks. I love pretty paper, I love writing pads, and fancy notebooks.

10. What the first thing that comes to your mind after reading this question?
One does not simply walk into Mordor.