This has been a strange week...one to reflect...to think...to ponder...life...and plan for the weekend dinner....prioratize....make lists....lists of things to make....to do....to read...to dream.

I have started 20/20/20/20...or maybe 30/30...you get the idea. This is 20 minutes of walking each day while plugged into my iPod so I can listen to my music. 20 repeats of abdominal crunches at any time during the day I feel like hitting the floor. 20 minutes of reading for pleasure. 20 minutes of knitting. Balance - and a gentle start.

I'll address the food and wine issues later...after the Thanksgiving feast!

I wasn't able to get a good photo of Jason at the wedding....so fun and so cute and now they are in Paris then London then Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Michelle and her girls

Bye bye Shirley you will be missed by so many

.....a picture of Shirley with Bryan in happier and healthier times....they did have a "thing"...Shirley would always give Bryan the run-around about his negativity!! It was fun to witness.

The message, of course, is...do it while you can. I want to visit Morocco, Italy - Venice & Tuscany, Nantucket Island, India, Paris again, let's just say the entire East coast of North America!

And I don't want to work anymore....I just want to pick money off the tree in the backyard and play and visit and travel and knit....ya right!

A wonderful weekend we had starting Friday night with the wedding of Michelle, our niece, and Jason....an overnight at a very good B & B in the city....Saturday being raining and we being tired, we went to St. Lawrence Market....shopped and came home - for a nap!

Today Sab & I and made pies...she took some pictures so perhaps they'll be on here soon...we made 2 apple pies and one apple crisp....Sab wanted to learn to make pastry from scratch..she did a great job....in fact, I'm going for a piece right now.

Michelle in her second wedding dress....beautiful tulle dress with train and beading.
Ahhhh look at that smile
The beautiful setting for the wedding, U. of T.

And...a picture of Jason...I had to go hunting for a pic of the groom and I nipped this picture and the next couple of wedding pictures from a bridesmaid album.

TIFF is over for another year. What a great holiday that is...5 days with my best friend, settling back into our hometown of Toronto; eating, walking, talking, shopping, movies - 6 of them, and seeing some "stars" as well....Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth, Jessica Beil, Deepha Metha.

Photobooth pictures from TIFF this year...fun.

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The highlight this year was Colin Firth!! Oh my...shy and adorable. The movie, a world premier, "Easy Virtue" was wonderful. I can't wait to see it upon general release. The set decoration and the costumes and Colin Firth doing the tango...oh yesssss!

A little shopping at MEC and I bought myself a very non-traditional colour for a winter coat. Last year the winter was long and dark and snowy and I was sick and tired of black and brown and dark blue, but mostly black. I vowed to wear colour this winter. Here is the coat I bought and here is a sample swatch of the colour - Aloe Green - there is also a nice fleece vest to go underneath and already have a windproof liner for winter.

Shopping also took me to Americo on Queen St. W. Oh my. A knitter's paradise for luxurious yarns. http://www.americo.ca/ . I couldn't decide what to buy and ended up with another skein of lime green alpaca and I don't know what I'll do with that. The pima cotton is soft beyond soft and I'm hoping by putting the two strands of light grey and darker grey together, I might be able to make a cowl/hood???????

My kids...all dressed up for a wedding - Adam was a groomsman

Silk & Cashmere scarf I made Sab for her graduation...soooo soft
The colours
Silk scarf I made myself that has little sequins affixed to the yarn..it sparkles when the light hits it.
Ryan and his treasure

I'm trying out some new gadgets here in blog-land....blogs I like to visit often and books I've read. It's fitting that I'm doing this after Labour Day because it seems to be labour-intensive. Let's see how fast the lists grow.

It's TIFF time again.....just about this time next week my pal and I will be heading to Toronto for a little 4 day holiday. A little holiday that includes a premiere film with Colin Firth "Easy Virtue"...who will be there I might add. Jealous anyone?

Where did I go and what did I do on my little trip to Toronto yesterday?

First I took the big blue ViVa bus to the Finch subway station. Yes it is a long ride to Finch, about 40 minutes longer than it takes to drive but the windows on the bus are huge allowing great views.

The subway REALLY needs some help, a bit of a spit and polish clean or a whole major redecoration. Honestly I don't think anything has been changed, improved and cleaned since I used the subway regularly about 30 years ago. I decided to get off the subway at Queen and walk north to Dundas Square; first inside the Eaton Centre from one end to the other and then outside. It used to be so much fun going to the Eaton Centre years ago but then the local Newmarket mall grew and grew and now has virtually the same shops at the Eaton Centre. We are not deprived. The only shops the Eaton Centre has that we don't, are those tres expensive and exclusive shops and I can live without goodies from them.

I shopped at H & M...yes we do have an H & M in Newmarket but I really think this one offered more variety. Can a girl ever have too many scarves? I don't think so. A quick walk-through "Forever 21" on the corner of Dundas & Yonge, showed that our new store is way better.

After that, I picked the movies for our holiday next weekend and decided to have lunch at the square, high up above, in Milestones. How smart of Milestones to put the single (or little double tables) right near the edge at the glass affording me entertainment. I don't mind eating out alone. I love to people watch and with the new scramble traffic light at this intersection, that opened that morning, there was lots of action and lots to see.

A fun day.

The summer is zipping by...and soon we will be into my most favourite season of all...autumn....fall...September - my favourite month...warm sunny dry days...cool nights...the 6th annual TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) holiday my pal and I take in Toronto...and golden colours

the boys from the 'hood all dressed up for a wedding (my boy is 3rd on the right) A fuzzy photo, but I do like how Daturas open up

Another silk fishnet lace scarf...still on the needles...this one has tiny little sequins attached within the yarn..subtle sparkles when the scarf moves.

A boy and his bike!

The costumes! Oh my Julia's costumes were beautiful. The hand painted dress you see above was my favourite. Cinematography was exciting and the sets...oh I could drool.

www.bridesheadrevisited-themovie.com

My new shoes.....Dansko "Professional" clogs...and I have to say they are one comfortable pair of shoes. The arch support is wonderful, there is a big fat toebox that fits my big fat toes perfectly, I slip them on and immediately my feet feel better. Despite their appearance they are surprisingly light. At my post-op check-up, 7 weeks after having both my knees partially replaced...the doc said "good shoes, good support, high arch - like my shoes - that's what you need"! If a surgeon standing for hours on end finds these comfortable, I thought I might too. And I do.

Ryan's Grad picture!

He wouldn't do the cap and gown ceremony "thing". His diploma arrived in the mail and what better time for a photo.! Ry was more excited about finishing the motorcycle safety course two weekends ago and passing his test yesterday.

Oh boy...a motorcycle!

Aren't these pretty? New chocolates from Laura Secord. From left-to-right was (hehehehe note: "was" past tense) white chocolate with cardamom and cinnamon. I was surprised that this one was a disappointment, maybe it was the white chocolate. In the centre was lime and pepper (I think) and it was good. More lime would have been nice and it had a hot after-bite! My fave was the chocolate on the right and I can't remember what this one is called "African somethingorother" and it was good.

I'm having so much fun...turning into a bit of a technogeek - for me anyway. On the Boxing Day sales LAST year, one of Bryan's purchases came with an iPod Nano. It sat and sat and sat in the box and I threatened "If I learn how to use it...it's mine".

Seven months have passed and the pod is mine all mine. I have been filling it with music, my favourite music. Fun. Fun. Fun.

I've gone back in time...way way way back into the '60's which was a great time...The Beatles, Carnaby Street, King's Road, Mary Quant, Portobello Rd., mods & rockers and absolutely anything London! It wasn't until 1970 that another friend and I got to visit all these places. Although the early '70's weren't quite like the '60's it was still great fun to be there.



It was a time of Pattie Boyd and Twiggy. When I was growing up I had a good friend who hailed from England. Christine and I devoured any English magazine, especially teen magazines, that arrived frequently from "home". We became attached to this pretty model, Pattie Boyd who frequently modeled for "Honey Magazine" - a fab teen magazine from England. Once Beatlemania hit America, Pattie Boyd had a column in another favourite (American) magazine of the time, "16". Christine and I read every single word from Pattie's "London Calling" column in that magazine.


And here we are from back then (around 1964 maybe)...that's me growing my hair to a "proper '60's length" and Christine who has the required full "fringe".




I found this picture of Pattie Boyd, and was immediately taken back to that time...I remember, we studied these pictures and poses and clothes and hair and everything we could to turn ourselves into "London Girls". I had this very picture cut out and pinned on my bulletin board!





And then the movie was released..."A Hard Day's Night" and much to our surprise...look who is in the film and who eventually gets "my" Beatle, George. Beatlemania was at such a height at that time, that we lined up to buy tickets to see a movie that wouldn't arrive for a few weeks later! The movie house was packed, Christine and I were ready to scream with the rest of them. It was a crazy time and I loved it...did I say that already?And now, the newest book on my table is "Wonderful Tonight". I have just started it and already I don't want to put it down...I want to leave work, snuggle in my swing outdoors and read and read. I'm happy that this sweet model from the '60's now is happy and a succesful photographer and author. I'm not yet even into the book really but I have a sneaky suspicion that both of these men - George and Eric - treated her badly.

http://www.pattieboyd.co.uk/ credit for the photo of Pattie Boyd and the photo from AHDN can be found here....don't want to step on any toes.

The first year for this beautiful clematis to flower.
That same clematis crowns this copper garden angel - like a flower child.
A calm and cool little spot

A blue hosta and dark coral bells surrounded by ferns.

Around the garden

Sab's graduation, York U., Faculty of Ed.
Sab's proud parents and my boy
That's me and Sab...she will be a fantastic teacher!

It was a beautiful day today, Father's Day. After gifts were opened and supper eaten...cooked perfectly by son #2...the rain came. I love sitting under the protection of the overhang on the front porch and listen to the gentle rain.

I sit here.....

And this is the view from here.... Poppy...isn't it beautiful?

Double peonies beginning to open I love June...the garden is bursting...the weather is perfect (most days)...no wonder my grandparents named my mother June, born on a perfect sunny June day. Even today with my boys all grown up, I remembered today, the joy I felt in June...beautiful early summer days that were quiet and lush...a time to savour before summer holidays!

Free for all Friday
TGIF
Friday the 13th


I just learned that the Italians view Friday the 13th as a lucky day! I'll take that view over the "others".


I just won the bidding on a singing bowl on eBay. The sound is beautiful and deep...I think this bowl was listed as a "G" - Throat Chakra sound...it's a lovely sound and gives me goose bumps and is calming...........all at the same time. I have been bidding on bowls from this site for a few weeks now and always, the prices went way too high, especially when you factor in almost $20 to ship...but yesterday was my lucky day.

Happy Friday.

On another note....I was thinking about the dangerous, exciting and exhilarating things our (grown-up) kids do that scare us. It's the job of parents to worry FOR-EV-ER I think. L's daughter treks through PNG and travels to exotic areas of the world - Thailand, Cambodia, etc. ON HER OWN!! LM's son is back planting trees deep in the interior of British Columbia and then heading to Spain to learn Spanish and teach English. We worry constantly about our kids and up until now I thought I was "SAFE". That feeling lasted until my son #1................just bought himself a motorcycle!!

I pinched this photo from a blog I frequent http://www.bohemiangirldesigns.com/ and it made me think of my best friend. Here's "boho's" picture:

The theme around blogland on Thursday centres on love....and the picture above of course made me think of my bbf...here we are, oh about 45 or 46 years ago:

....and now..well, last year at TIFF:

I would love to drive 3 hours to squeeze my best friend's butt!