A Funny Hat

There are some things in life that are so funny you feel obligated to share them with others. This morning I was watching Good Morning America and they had three financial experts they were talking to. At times the camera would zoom in on the face of the person talking but when the camera zoomed out what I saw made me double over in fits of laughter. I sat there and watched for awhile then decided to grab my camera and try to take a photo so I could accurately show the effect rather than just tell about it. By the time I got my camera turned on I wasn't sure if they would show this angle again or not but they did several more times so I got the three photos posted below. There is a winter weather advisory out in this area today so the little map in the upper right corner of the screen is showing the counties in western NC and upper SC that are affected. The camera angle and seating position of the lady in the blue suit was just about perfect for the map to cover her head making her look like she was wearing a funny looking hat. The camera operator for GMA would not have known this was happening since the weather map and advisory are posted over the screen by the local station. It was just too funny! Hope this made your day and you got a chuckle out of seeing it too.

English, Spanish or French?

Living in the USA we are used to seeing things written in both English and Spanish but in Canada it is written in English and French. Jamie and I enjoyed our trip to the grocery store and seeing all the products listed in French. Below is a photo of a stop sign in English and French.

Just One of Those Days

We've all experienced them... days where we feel like we've been sh*t on. Well today it literally happened to me! I took Millenni out to pee and just as we walked under the tree where I have several bird feeders I noticed something hit me right on top of my head. Instinctly I put my hand up there to rub it and when I pulled my hand away I noticed that familiar black and white creamy stuff... YEP, bird poop! ICK! Lucky for me it was only a small amount but still... oh well, I had to just laugh about it and clean up.

That Dirty 4-Letter S-Word

S-N-O-W... Just the mere mention of that word sends shivers over my entire body. Debbie, these photos are especially for you to enjoy. You accused me of bringing the cold Canada weather back home with me so thought I would share with you what it was really like.

This is downtown Morden, Manitoba, Canada. It is a small town, population around 7,000 I believe. Snow was scrapped from the main roads most of the time but some icy patches remained. Check out the snow banks along the sides of the street.

Jamie took this picture in Joey's back yard. The snow had drifted up on the trees and it did look pretty but I tried to stay inside as much as I could because it was bitter cold outside.

That's me standing in front of some Blue Spruce trees that were beautiful with the snow on them but I was so cold my teeth were chattering. Joey had just given Jamie and I the grand tour of the museum where he and Anita both work and we were walking back home afterward. They live a couple of blocks from the museum so they walk to work each day.

Jamie out in the back yard enjoying the snow... well I doubt she was really enjoying it, I think it was more like she was freezing her butt off.


Joey catching a snow ball that Jamie had just hurled toward him. This was at a nearby park in Morden where we went for a little walk in the snow.

Now go sit in front of a toasty fireplace and sip a cup of hot chocolate and think warm thoughts and be glad you live in a place where it never gets this cold.

Plug in the Car!

In Canada it gets brutally cold during the winter months. This time of year it is plenty cold enough for me but for Canadians this is only the Fall and it will get considerably colder as winter arrives. Temps of -40 are common during the winter months. In order for cars to start in weather that cold the battery must be plugged in to keep it warm enough to start. When we visited in April I saw many cars plugged in and failed to get any photos. This time around I made sure to get a photo of a car plugged in keeping warm.

O' Canada!

Not much time for blogging since we've been here and we are getting ready to begin our journey home so I still don't have much time but wanted to post a few photos. We arrived to the ground covered with several inches of snow and last night about 3 or 4 more inches fell. Jamie and I are leaving right after lunch for the drive back to Winnipeg. We want to do a little shopping (the US dollar is strong against the Canadian dollar right now so we want to take advantage of this and do some Christmas shopping before we leave). Our flight leaves around noon tomorrow so we are spending the night in a hotel in Winnipeg tonight. We've had a fantastic week here with Joey and Anita and most of all getting to spend the week getting to know Jaxon and loving on him.

just a few wintry photos taken from the house, that's our rental car covered in snow this morning

Anita, Jaxon and Joey

Jaxon... a cute little bundle of joy!

The Frozen Tundra

I'm heading to Canada early in the morning to visit my new little grandson for the first time. Looking forward to seeing him and also to spend time with my kids. Jamie is flying up too and we are meeting at the airport in Chicago tomorrow then flying into Winnipeg together. I dread the cold weather and snow but that's the price you pay to see your loved ones. I won't be having internet access while gone so there won't be any posts here until I get home but rest assured I should have lots to blog about and photos to post when I do return home. Until then...

Berry Mill

We took Hannah geocaching over the weekend. She always enjoys hunting for the hidden treasure and it delights us to see her light up when she discovers it. There are two old mills nearby and although we pass by them on a regular basis we never knew geocaches were hidden there. Today I am sharing some nice photos I took at the Berry Mill. There are remains of two large water wheels and an old saw mill located along the river bank next to the mill. This site was all grown up but just this summer we have noticed a lot of clean up going on around the mill and hope that means nthis site will be perserved as a historic site. I love visiting old mills and seeing the old water wheels.

Campbell Covered Bridge

I have blogged about this covered bridge before but this weekend we stopped by once again and the leaf colors were so pretty that I had to post this photo. This is the last covered bridge that remains in South Carolina. There were tons of people here, all enjoying the day just as we were. To read the previous post on this bridge click here.

Carl Sandburg's Home

On Sunday before we dropped Hannah off at her home we took a trip to the Carl Sandburg (American poet) home, Connemara, located in Flat Rock, North Carolina. We have been there many, many times when we lived in that area and decided to go again and take a little walk around the lake on a beautiful Fall day. The weather was perfect and the leaves were spectacular with the various colors in full display. We had Millenni with us and the walk around the lake was really nice and provided many photo opportunities. We didn't go up to the house or visit the goats on this trip, instead we just enjoyed the walk and the scenic beauty. We ran into friends who also live in the area. They were out walking their dog too. It was nice seeing them again and getting caught up. Hannah seemed to enjoy the day and we certainly enjoyed spending time with her.

one of the signs at the Sandburg estate

the Carl Sandburg home on an autumn day

Hannah stops for a photo op with the beautiful lake and colorful trees as a backdrop

our beautiful granddaughter

colorful reflections

Japanese Steak House

We had grand daughter, Hannah, with us for the weekend and decided to take her to a Japanese steak house for dinner on Saturday night. It was her first experience at one and she loved it. On the drive there she almost fell asleep in the car so she was a little groggy as we walked in. It didn't take her long to wake up once we were seated. Our chef was a talented fellow and he put on a wonderful show preparing the food. He certainly kept Hannah entertained. She loved the way he cut off the shrimp tails and flipped them into his tall hat and his shirt pocket. He then flicked on onto her plate. She giggled the entire time. She was amazed as the chef bounced an egg on his knife then let it break open and cook on the grill. She thoroughly enjoyed all of his fancy knife work and tricks and loved her meal. She even tried eating with chopsticks for the first time. That didn't go too well so she had to resort to using her fork instead but she sure had fun giving it a try. It was a fun night for all of us and such a joy to introduce her to something different.

Hannah's first attempt at eating with chopsticks

standing outside the restaurant as we were leaving