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  • Late Spring Night

    Just finished my work shift and here it is 11 PM an still somehow light in the sky! A glass of wine..Shiraz sitting on front deck! aha the glories of late spring and approaching an summer!

  • Christmas Greetings...from my household to yours!

     

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    As we approach the celebration for Christians of the birth of the Christ Child, I am reminded of this Advent thought:

    In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1: 4,5 

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    No matter your faith background,imgres may we work together in global, national and personal realms,towards peace and NOT let the darkness  overcome it! images

    Thus on this December 24, 2014 DSCN8598

    Wishing all my friends here a Blessed Christmas Eve...

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    "'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
    not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse"  

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    .....except perhaps DSCN8693

    except my new cat Shiloh who is exploring the Christmas tree..

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    Or my grand niece, Evie, DSCN8663who was born on December 8, and here is 6 days old!

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  • Z is for Zinnias & the letter ZED or is it ZEE?

    WELL FELLOW BLOGGERS IF YOU ARE READING THIS YOU KNOW WE HAVE REACHED THE END!

    I bet we have all had some fun with our letters, here is abit more… Letter Z, floral design. See also letters in my gallery

     

    • Canadians and the British pronounce the letter Z, they pronounce it "zed" instead of "zee," as Americans say it. Why is there a difference between the pronunciations?

     

    "The nutshell story of zed? Zed entered Middle English from French representing a “ts” or “ds” sound, then came to represent the voiced sibilant in, for example, the word zoo.

     

    Because it entered French from Latin as zeta, it became zède in modern French, zeta in modern Spanish and Italian, and zed in English."

     

     http://www.billcasselman.com/cwod_archiv...

     

    • What about Scrabble? I mean, I count on that Z and those 10 points on a triple word score square.

     

    • What about ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ to indicate sleeping?

     

    • An April Fool’s joke that Z would be removed from the alphabet

     

    http://www.dailywritingtips.com/the-letter-z-will-be-removed-from-the-english-alphabet/

     

    • Zinnias  are annual flowering plants that belong to the family Asteraceae. Easy to grow and reliable, zinnias are bright butterfly magnets. images

     

    Plant zinnias! A packet of seeds will fill an area with gorgeous flowers in an amazing array of shapes and colors -- even green!

    Good video below on growing zinnias...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uTPFhQWZ2E

     

  • T is for Time Pieces

    Time in reality is mathematical, measured, seconds, minutes, hours, days, years decades, centuries m millenniums, eons, infinity..tick, tick. tick, a grandfather clock sounds with chimes, like the one at my mother in laws hallway, chiming on the hour and a short ding every 15 minutes. Pi_16693
    Oh those rich tones, majestic tall dark wood, heavy brass chimes behind etched glass panel, that every few days had to be pulled from the bottom to the top. Thinking of a watchmaker’s shop like the one in which Corrie Ten Boom grew up, or the very Canadian announcement at the top of the hour by National Research Council time signal. “The beginning of the long dash following ten seconds of silence indicates exactly 11 o'clock, Mountain Standard Time” heard every day since November 5, 1939 on CBC Radio.

     

    Now often the only clock ticking I hear is the whirring of the battery operated one in my kitchen.

     

    With the advances of technologies in recent years, the telling of time has taken many different forms, much of which I fail to understand. Included are digital watches, cell phones, ipads, and my Mac lap top that announces the time on the hour and often when I forget about it, such as the middle of a class lecture.

     

    We often would set alarms to wake up in the morning….those old, silver round wind up, bed side clocks with bells on the top; or small folding travel ones in leather cases and square faces, that we could prop bedside in triangular form AAAADPHphbkAAAAAAH654g
    and glance in the middle of the night, vaguely figuring out it was 5 AM from the position of the green. small arms and two hours before needing to rise. The pocket watch with the gold cover that my husband had as a railway engineer, finely tuned, and used to time all my contractions during labour with our first child.

     

    Now where do these exist except as antiques or in the bottom of jewelry cases.

     

    There has been always a watch band on my left wrist and I will miss it if not there looking at the white mark and summer tan lines. This simple digital watch, black and purple band inherited from my daughter, that is so familiar but beeps at 806 AM because I could not figure how to change it… BUT it beeps several times and usually reminds me that I am running late for work or need to be walking out of the house if I am to get to my Tuesday morning swim class. 723119-bigthumbnail
    “Late, get going!” it reminds me, but  I protest, “ there is just one more thing to do….breakfast can be carried in the yogurt container and coffee mug ready” Best of intentions but often chronically late..that is me and the changes of clocks and watches.

     

  • S is Spring Sunshine in Sidney by the Sea

    While Alberta and many other parts of Canada struggle with snow and rain recovering from a long winter, the pacific northwest is in full bloomin’ spring!  DSCN7368

    Spent this past week visiting family in Vancouver and Victoria BC, and just enjoy some of my spring photos! DSCN7449

    Here is what their official website indicates for Sidney by the Sea

    http://www.sidneybritishcolumbia.com/

    Sidney

    Aerial View of Sidney-by-the-Sea, Sidney BC

    Set amidst the natural beauty and unspoiled charm of the Saanich Peninsula, the vibrant community of Sidney-by-the-Sea is the gateway to the BC Gulf Islands and the US San Juan Islands. This bustling commercial hub of the Saanich Peninsula is blessed with majestic views of the ocean, the Olympic and Cascade Mountain ranges. Sidney is a tourist's dream - a friendly port with modern marinas and a multitude of unique galleries, gift stores, antique shops, restaurants, bakeries and coffee bars.

     

    Sidney enjoys a moderate Mediterranean type climate with year-round mild temperatures, low rainfall and very little snow!

    Sea side walkways and fish market DSCN7442

    Sidney Marina complexDSCN7450 charters, moorage, rentals

    Fisherman sculpture sitting on bench

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    scenic waterfront walkways with purple heather in rock wall,DSCN7452

    Flowers well many....cherry blossoms in front of my sister's place, DSCN7395

    magnolia trees ready to bloom in many brilliant shades DSCN7358,

    clematis after the rain.DSCN7446

     

  • Apple cider and other fall activities..

    The trees in the river valley  are just starting to change color and with regret I still want o hold onto summer.

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    Today I rode the bike down Mill Creek ravine and

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    across the North Saskatchewan River,with the view of downtown Edmonton, note the motorboat and the tourist paddleboat.Met a friend at the Shaw Center and locked up the bike.DSCN6819

     

    My flowers in the yard are in full bloom and a few veggies as well.DSCN6744.jpg

    Apples, apples, apples..DSCN6763.

    As a member of a local fruit rescue group OFRE ( Operation Fruit Rescue Edmonton ) https://www.facebook.com/groups/231894110159342/?fref=ts

    Not only have been picking apples butDSCN6762 pressing as well. A bicycle powered press!DSCN6761 At the Devonian Gardens at the annual Fruit Growers Festival! We made fresh cider all day, gave out samples, sold some jelly, had many curious younger helpers and chatted with other growers.

    My own activities have included peeling,DSCN6756 dehydrating apples DSCN6755 and making some apple plum tarts. DSCN6758

  • Summer festivals!

    Good books need margins to be readable, thus so do we need our margins in our much scheduled lives to be in health and give to others....found this little free book stand on way to folk fest!

    Photo: Good books need margins to be readable, thus so do we need our margins in our much scheduled lives to be in health and give to others....found this little free book stand on way to folk fest!
     
    Last minute find of a weekend pass, practical new blue folk fest chair packed in car or on bike, hot weather, meeting new and old friends on the hill, favorites with musicians and new discoveries!

    Photo: Yours truly with chair, hat and sunglasses..quite a sight when I biked over!

    Photo: Gradually darkening sky on Thursday night...
    Photo: Think this was Feist...

     
    Photo: Friday included..9:00 PM Head and the Heart 10:05 PM Neko Case 11:25 PM John Butler Trio
     
    Dramatic end Sunday night, Four Strong winds "got us " with sudden thunderstorm... it was something else! Loreena McKennitt got through most of her set, with a few queries as to how many until complete. much thunder and lightning, very much matching the pace of her music...quite a mood actually...then it just poured! Everyone just drenched!

  • Moving On....??? Not really but need to see Xanga 2.0

    Decisions are not easy...I love to write and share my photos and journeys, especially the adventures into Nunavut, the Canadian arctic, and have been here since 2004. If it is time to move on, then so be it!

    Lots of love from Bonnie,   and my dogs...Dysis   and Nanuq!

    My writing blog is Northern Musings 

    or http://rlypayne.typepad.com/blog/

     

     

  • Day lillies...summer flowers!

     Do I write my journals in long hand? You betcha! My Flower note book dates from 1992, waterstained and faded but marking the changes in the yard and garden.
    Shared here  are also some lilies from my yard and from our church garden, where  I do some  work, and like the contrast to the clinker historic brick.

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    One quote from Henry Ward Beecher: "Flowers have a mysterious and subtle influence on feelings, not unlike some strains of music... they relax the tenseness of the mind and dissolve its rigor."
     
    Photo: Do I write my journals in long hand? You betcha! My Flower note book dates from 1992, waterstained and faded but marking the changes in the yard and garden. One quote from Henry Ward Beecher:
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  • HAPPY CANADA DAY....147 years and going strong!

     

    HAPPY CANADA DAY to all Canucks at home and those representing Canadians around the world!!!

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About me...

An Albertan & Canadian, definitely a northern gal. Social worker by profession, this blog has included some of my work over 10 years in Nunavut from 2002 on. Passionate about slowing down & taking time to appreciate the beauty of the outdoors or kindness in relationships as gifts & blessings; injustices against children in situations beyond their control; my faith; Nature, experiencing the outdoors whether cycling, walking. x-c skiing or gardening, my dogs, capturing on film God's beauty, experiencing life intensely & with the senses, richness of late afternoon light, wind in my hair cycling with my dog on a beach road, couching inches from an arctic flower or alpine lichen to capture it with my camera, insight of a student's new learning, a good conversation over a coffee.

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