Icy stormy night..

Somewhere around 11:30 at night......sleepy, drifting, cuddled up to Hubby. Wind picking up outside our bedroom window, freezing rain knocking against the pane. A loud CRACK! Frozen tree branches hitting the roof before bouncing onto the ground.

"Who's walking on our roof?" Hubby asked sleepily.

"Santa's reindeer," I murmured, nuzzling the back of his neck.

Delicious sleep washing over me like waves. But something was nagging.

Go away!

Somewhere in the very back of my mind, I could feel something swimming through the fog trying to get my attention.

I was tired from all the Christmas busy-ness. Happy for the celebration and happy it was over.

Sleep was inviting, beckoning. Hubby was already in dreamland. It does not take him long...

The wind was howling. Did I leave a window open? Not likely in this weather. Something was still tugging at my consciousness. Would not leave me alone. I could hear "it" screaming. Screaming? Piercing shriek? An alarm? Yikes! Suddenly I was up like a shot!

No power! I should have known! That loud crack may have been a branch, but could have been a hydro wire snapping in the storm.

And no electricity meant no oxygen for Hubby. In a flash, I turned on the portable oxygen cylinder (which lies like a sleeping dog curled up on the floor beside our bed), popped the cannula up his nose and then took off downstairs to turn off that screaming alarm. I pulled the plastic tubing out of the now silent (and useless) oxygen concentrator, and reconnected it to a humongous cylinder hidden away in our dusty basement.

Fortunately, the oxygen company had just filled it the week before, so it would last the whole night through, if needed. While I was downstairs, I called hydro on the phone to find out how long this power failure would last. Then went back to bed. And changed Hubby's nose hoses (exchanged the smaller portable one for the long-lasting one).

Hubby was drifting off again, but by this time I was wired. I could not go back to sleep. What would happen if I did not hear that alarm?

I'd been taking sleeping medication over the past month, which would account for the deeper quality of my sleep; my brain sinking into sweet oblivion, instead of jumping at every little sound. But never, in the wilds of my imagination, did I think it would be possible to NOT hear that shrieking alarm.

If we had both gone to sleep with no electricity in the house, Hubby would not have woken up in the morning.

Guaranteed.

The wind continued to howl.

Once more during the night our power went off.

I connected nose hoses and machines and disconnected nose hoses and machines. And then did everything in reverse.

I did not get much sleep that night.

I Saw Three Ships...

I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing in,
On Christmas Day,
On Christmas Day,
I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing in,
On Christmas Day in the morning...

Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday Season filled with love and peace, joy and laughter.

I took this pic at the end of November on my walk around the yacht club. It was a cold and chilly day, but the sun was shining, making for a pleasant stroll. While looking out at the lake, I was quite surprised to see not only one sailboat, but three!! Who would be out on the water this time of year? Someone who doesn't mind a freezing wind whipping in their face - that's who! That Christmas song about "3 ships come sailing in" popped into my head, so I saved this pic to post now - along with the first verse of the song.

I was very disorganized this year and left everything to the last minute. Caught up in a swamp of baking, shopping, babysitting, and other responsibilities, I've hardly had time to sit down.

As well, my computer has been on the fritz for most of December. I'm not sure how much longer it will last - but such is life. Will get back to visiting and blogging after Christmas.

Thank you to all you wonderful friends who have emailed or stopped by to see how things are with hubby and me. We're fine. I appreciate your thoughtfulness and kindness.

My Name Is.....

Perfect Poinsettia! And I'm the Prettiest Christmas Plant in this home!

Oh Really? Well Ms. P.P., (pretty peculiar, in my opinion) my name is Christmas Cactus - Cute Christmas Cactus! And since I have Christmas in my name, then I'm the Best Christmas Plant in the house!







Oh well - you're not even red, like a true Christmas plant should be! (cute? ha. crazy is more like it!)

Pthhhhatt!









Oh yeah? Well just look at my shiny green pot. That makes me just as Christmas-y as you!








Hello? I just woke up. What's all the fuss?











Well, if it isn't Sleeping Beauty.
About time you woke up.





More like Rip Van Winkle, if you ask me.







Winkle. Tinkle. Sounds just like you, Ms. P.P. (not that I'd ask you anyway).






Well if it isn't Amicable Amaryllis just coming into bloom. Welcome! Your name begins with "A" - the first letter of the alphabet, so you're the 1st and that means the nicest!

Awwww, are you sure?








Absolutely!

First Snowfall...

For someone who doesn't like winter, I really get excited about the first snowfall.

Drab, bare tree branches, and boring brown left-over leaves are suddenly transformed, as if by magic! Feathery white powder covers those stick-like branches, making them look like ladies trying on lace petticoats (ha - there's an old fashioned word for you)!

Paths, stones, and front walks disappear - covered by a layer of white fluffy snow. We rummage through closets and drawers to find warm mitts and scarves. Frantically dig up winter boots from storage.

I had wanted to show my granddaughter how to make snow angels, but my plans didn't work out. And now (a day later) the snow has melted. But I'm not worried, there is no shortage of snow here in wintertime. One day within the next few weeks, we'll get a heavier snow fall and then I'll be teaching a course on "how to make snow angels". Who'd like to join me??

Open The Door..

Follow the squirrel...

Oh, maybe not - this looks like a ghost squirrel - his pic was taken in the mist. Ghost squirrels are known to do silly things, like this....

What?

...like turning water into ice! "What happened to the pond?"

Let's ignore the squirrel and take a look over there.....

Hmmm, nice mountain (um.. hill). Shall we check it out? See what's over there?


Let's take a boat....

Did not think there were any houses (um..cottages, shacks) over there. If you look closely, you will see a sign that says GAZ. I must be a gas station for motor boats. Nice having a telephoto lens.

But there are other boats on the lake (Lake of Two Mountains, for those of you who know my area). Shall we flag down this sailboat?

Let's see where the wind takes us....

Ah... this boat's going to church. Actually, that church is on a point of land in the village of Oka, where the monks make their famous Oka cheese.

These pics were taken last week. Wanting to explore a bit, I took the car down to the village and left it in a parking lot. Stepping out, the air felt rather chilly, but the sun was warm. I decided to take a long walk and see where I'd end up. Water always beckons me and so I ended up at the yacht club.

At this time of year, the club is deserted. Boats anchored for the winter. Club house empty. No one about, except for a few "walkers", some with dogs and some without. The weather was exceptionally nice for the end of November. But I was still surprised to see boats on the lake at this time of year.

November is coming to a close. It's been a warm and gentle month. Without snow......yet!

Let There Be....

Light! Ahem! Turn around please...

That's better!

Do you see the Magic Button? It looks like a Rainbow. Give it a push to open the door...

To enter a world of faeries....

Is this a flower? Or an angel?

I just love taking pics of how sun lights up a flower...

Ah ha! Sneaky grapes, just where do you think you're going?

Oh, you were climbing inside the bowl, not trying to escape!

Chrysanthemums perched on the porch, enjoying the last rays of afternoon sun.

I like photographing sunlight as it streams in the window, or as it lights up the landscape, trees, flowers, rocks. But it's proving to be quite a challenge (as most of you know), to take a pic with just the right light. Too much and it's washed out. No colour. Too little and it's dark. Still no colour. And on top of that, I've just found out that different computer monitors show colours differently. Eeks - how do we ever get our photos right?

Whatever - it's all fun. I'm enjoying my new hobby.

What would you do....

if the Universe handed you a cup of coffee?

About mid-morning, I head out to Tim Horton's drive - thru to pick up coffee for Hubby and I. We started this ritual years ago when raking leaves in the fall. Raking leaves was a days-on-end task. So we'd start out early in the morning and still be at it until supper time.

Of course, we'd take breaks for meals, or if the weather turned cold or wet. But most of the time we were lucky enough to have sunny, cool days in which to clean up our property.

Mid-morning we'd lean our rakes by the side of the garage, hop into the car and escape to our favourite coffee and doughnut shop. In those days, I'd even eat doughnuts too. Today, it's far easier to put weight on than to take it off! So, I skip the doughnuts.

The sun was shining brightly this morning, as I ran my errands and drove on over to Tim's.
"Two medium coffees" I gave my order, "one double-double, and the other one black with 2 cream on the side".

Now I'm very fussy about my coffee. I order it black (the cream on the side is for hubby - he luuuves cream). At home I put some homogenized milk in the bottom of my cup, heat it in the microwave for 25 seconds, and then pour in the coffee. I used to drink cream in coffee years ago, but now take milk. Not 1% or 2%, but the regular homo milk.

"Here you are," the lady handed me the coffee with a nice smile (the lady was smiling, not the coffee).
"Oh, you forgot the cream on the side", I reminded her.
"No, I put it inside the coffee."

"Eeks! Sorry, but it has to be black." There is no way I could drink their 18% cream!
"Oh, no problem." She handed me a fresh cup. "Why don't you just keep the other one."

I must have looked surprised.
"Really?"
"Sure, I'd only have to dump it down the drain. Give it to a friend."
"Thank you!"

Hmmm. Now what do I do? We certainly can't drink all this coffee. Who can I give it to? Do I stop someone on the street? I think not. But there is still a construction crew working on our water pipes over on the next street. Do I park the car, walk over and see if anyone would like a coffee? Well, they might think I'm crazy for one thing.
Or they might think I'm after one of the crew (ha ha....not!)

No, I don't think I'll do that.
I like passing on gifts, unexpected freebies, but maybe I should just enjoy this one. Bask in the glow of getting something for free. And then pass it on at a later date.

O.K., but we really can't drink all this coffee.

Alright, I'll tell you what (I was having this conversation to myself while driving home - good thing nobody could hear me), if the construction crew is near my house, where they can see me driving home (so they don't think I'm a crazy lady - they know where I live), I'll give it away. If there is nobody working nearby, Hubby will drink it later in the day.

Guess how it turned out?
Nobody was working near the house, so we (Hubby actually) got to enjoy an extra cup of coffee.

Now tell me......what would you do?

Mornings...

Some mornings begin with mist... Other mornings are clear...

Moon on a Stick. Ha! Looks like a marshmallow ready for toasting over an open fire!

Ah.. that's better.

Another morning, I caught Mistress Moon hanging out gossiping with branches and the last of the autumn leaves.

What are your mornings like?

Contrasts...

Empty... Full...

Half and half.

Dead...

Alive...

Pardon?



ALIVE!

(oh, sorry, I didn't hear you - ha, ha)

Half and half.

I couldn't think of anything to say about this last pic. I just liked the "aerial view", and the contrast of the pretty petunia still alive and happy amongst the dead autumn leaves.

As you can see, I love taking her picture.

Happy November!