Take Notice Thursday: A Most Unwelcomed Visitor

In an effort to notice more of the ordinary in my life, I have decided to share what I have noticed this week in Take Three Thursday.  
The idea is to take photos that are linked some how; by theme, by colour, by date, by moment,  by points of view. There is no formal link in but please feel free to join in. What have you noticed this week?   
Have a peek at what others have found this week:
Maggie at: FarmersWifeDayByDay    
Eileen at: A Bracelet of Days

This week what I couldn't help but notice was the destruction of one of my finch feeders - that darn black squirrel.  Mr Man has threatened to trap & re-locate him, although I worry that it's too late in the season to move him into another territory.  Yes he drives me crazy, but I don't want bad things to happen to him, I just need him to stop being a destructive squirrel.

Part Of The Destruction

We have purchased a child's water gun to discourage him climbing up the feeder & moved the feeder more into the centre of the garden & away from the trees and/or fence used for launching purposes.  Bad Squirrel!

Memo, Mail & Me: It's Monday August 28th

Monday has rolled around rather quickly this week.  The start of the business week.  Do you consider Monday to be the start of your week or is Sunday the start for you?  For me in all my list making & planning it is Sunday that is the start of the week. 

This photo reminds me of the season as it is right now, the Summer rose embraces the Autumn coneflower.

Reading:  I just finished the best book I have read in years, "The Thirteenth Tale" by Diane Setterfield.  This was her debt novel.  There wasn't anything that I didn't like about it.  She captured a drama, a love story, a ghost story, a murder mystery, all into one marvelous book. I cared about the characters & I wanted more. I cried a little at the end.  I understand it was made into a BBC TV movie in 2013, which was not released this side of the pond.  This is a book that I am putting on my, dare I say, Christmas, wish list.  I will read this book again. I give it 10/10.

Visitor:  the easterly neighbour's new cat, Cleo came to visit & she was not welcomed at the front door by one of mine.  Sooty Paws was making some very aggressive sounds to warn this kitty off, who couldn't care less about all the growling. 

 

This is a better photo of Cleo, in my back garden; she was visiting my chipmunks! Again not welcomed & my chipmunks are all safe.  I do think she is very pretty.  Just after this photo was taken, she wandered into the westerly neighbour's yard, where their two large dogs made it very known she was not welcomed.

 
Mail:  more lovely birthday greetings in the forms of cards & postcards!    Lovely!

Discovery:  I found at the local farmer's market something I could have used as a kid - an egg apron!  Simple but an ingenious idea; rows of little pockets to put the freshly gathered eggs into.  These aprons were selling off the rack so quickly & I know a couple of the ladies that purchased are not egg gatherers, so I asked "why" - one lady said it was perfect for her daycare business to put bits & bobs in so they would be handy at all times; kleenex (tissues), bandaids (plasters), candies (sweets).  My favourite was the egg apron with the roosters all over it - that is funny!

Source: Internet

First Harvest:  this is the first of my heirloom tomatoes, I like the ruffles/ripples around the tomato & when cut they look so pretty. Oh the toasted tomato sandwiches I will enjoy!  I grow only one plant so not enough for canning.

And there are more to come!

August brings into sharp focus and a furious boil everything I've been listening to in the late spring and summer. Henry Rollins
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/henryrolli619066.html?src=t_summer

My Monday thought as I leave ... "August brings into sharpe focus & a furious boil, everything I've been listening to in the later spring & early summer."   Henry Rollins

August brings into sharp focus and a furious boil everything I've been listening to in the late spring and summer. Henry Rollins
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/henryrolli619066.html?src=t_summer

 

August brings into sharp focus and a furious boil everything I've been listening to in the late spring and summer. Henry Rollins
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/henryrolli619066.html?src=t_summer

Take Three Thursday - Take It Outside

In an effort to notice more of the ordinary in my life, I have decided to share what I have noticed this week in Take Three Thursday.  

The idea is to take photos that are linked some how; by theme, by colour, by date, by moment,  by points of view. There is no formal link in but please feel free to join in. What have you noticed this week?   

Have a peek at what others have found this week:
 Maggie at FarmersWifeDayByDay  
Eileen: A Bracelet of Days 


Over the last couple of weeks, we have been visiting other small communities that seem to have figured out how to invite visitors & make them feel welcome to sit & stay awhile.  One thing I particularly noticed was all the beautiful outdoor patios & not just because this is an item on the photo scavenger hunt.  Our little village is often bemoaning that there isn't any tourists or visitors.  One thing I think would help, is to have outdoor seating, cafe tables with chairs, an outdoor patio that invites visitors to linger (& spend money at our shops).  Right now our community is a drive through, people are either coming or going to the communities on other side of us.  

These are just 3 of my many favourites.  One little town had over 10 places to sit & enjoy a snack, a beverage or just a rest.

Street Side Cafe with clean matching table & chairs

Outdoor dining patio adjoining the B&B/Restaurant

Patio for a bristo

 

Memo, Mail & Me - It's Monday August 21st

Good morning & what a great Monday morning it is.  Time for a check in.

  Reading: Finishing book seven of my Harry Potter series annual summer re-read.  Still my most favourite book series. Each time I re-read the series, I pick up on something I had not thought about or really paid much attention to. 

Sad:  It was announced at church this past Sunday that our minister has decided to quit our congregation & return to his home province of BC (British Columbia), where his daughter & grandchildren still live. The search is now on to find a replacement, which I think will be very difficult.  Father M. was certainly a very relate-able minister & his sermons were of the quality that allowed no one to nap through!

Thinking: On several jaunts out last week through some very pretty countryside we were over whelmed with all the dead ash trees; trees that were once, 40 foot beautiful examples of a healthy tree, providing shade & a home for native wildlife.  The cause is that  horrible, nasty destructive Emerald Ash Borer.  I wonder is the horde from the east that Nostradamus talked about or is that from the Book of Revelations, is it this destructive insect.  One slip up of an import inspector's roster, allowed this insect to invade our trees in North America. They have (apparently) traced the insect's arrival in 2002 to one Asian cargo ship's untreated wooden pallets.  The  North American Ash Tree will be no more within 15-20 years according to the experts. This is why treating the trees is SO important, it gives the researchers time to find a cure.

Ash Tree Being Treated For Prevention of Emerald Ash Borer

 Doing: A wrap up of a year long online F/B workshop for The Artist's Way.  I have really worked at the morning pages & exercises which all were pretty revealing & opened up my crafting art thoughts.  I have done more new to me types of art in the last year than ever before.  I now need to work at continuing this openness to my crafting art.  I have signed up for two, new to me, art classes.  Who knows, maybe knitting or crocheting is a possibility!

My Sign That I Made

Worried: about Mr Man's eye.  At his last eye check up, it was discovered he has bleeding behind the eye (again).  We have a consult with the eye surgeon in Toronto (again). Not looking forward to that drive (again).

Lots of mail last week - birthday cards!

My leaving thought for the week is from Ferris Bueller's Day Off movie;  “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Take Three Thursday - Full & Lush

In an effort to notice more of the ordinary in my life, I have decided to share what I have noticed this week in Take Three Thursday.  The idea is to take photos that are linked some how; by theme, by colour, by date, by moment,  by points of view. There is no formal link in but please feel free to join in. What have you noticed this week?   

Have a peek at what others have found this week:
 Maggie at FarmersWifeDayByDay  
 
This week what I noticed was from last Sunday's adventure to discovering a new to us tea room.  This town had a lovely, friendly & inviting downtown area.  Some of what made it inviting was all the beautiful full & lush floral arrangements; lamp post hanging basket, huge cement planters along with some smaller planters.  There were also lots of table & chairs outside the cafes & restaurants, benches & lots of waste bins so that there was no garbage thrown about.  After tea, we wandered about for about an hour, just strolling up & down the street & window shopping.

Memo, Mail & Me: It's Monday August 14th

Hello & a good morning wave to all as we check in on this lovely Monday morning.

Reading:  The Lost Book of the Grail.  What I liked about this book was that it wove in some real historical things into a fictional, but could be real, novel.  It wasn't quite like a Dan Brown novel about grail searching & the plot had a few weak threads, but as a light general & quick easy read I would give it a thumbs up.  

Inspired By: a FaceBook group called Bash Your Scrapbook Stash.  It is open to anyone to join, you just have to ask & say why you want to be part of the group.  I have found a couple of layouts I am scraplifting.

Eating/Drinking:  As part of our Summer Manifesto, sipping our way around the area, on Saturday we tried to find & dine at one particular tea room but when we found it, turns out all those no trespassing signs were for the property next door & the tea room was actually in someone's living room; we said no & drove on to a not so local favourite.  Bristo Reverie  where we sat out on the deck & enjoyed drinks & late lunch while watching thunder storms roll around us.  And speaking of weather, on Friday night we had tornado warnings so we spent about an hour in the basement waiting for the storm to blow over.  Thankfully our region did not get the tornado but an area just north west of us did have a touch down.  Scary hour!

B.R.'s view from the deck; the pond is filled with water lilies in bloom

 

;

Nummy Num Good Summer Drink On The Bristo Deck

Thankful For: The next attempt on Sunday for sipping at a new tea room was much more successful.  It was about an hour's drive through some very pretty countryside into a little town that seems to have figured out how to attract shoppers & visitors.  We really enjoyed our meals at Taylor's Tea Room.  In 2006, the actors,  Robin Williams & Christopher Watkins dined here/there. The tea room is run/owned by the third generation of family.  Mr Man had the full English breakfast, I had the high tea tray.  Oh my goodness, for me it was the best scone I have had in years, I bought two extras to take home.  I may share.   Mr Man said his bacon was amazing.

Taylor's Tea Room

Enjoying:  Time by the water, which is one of Mr Man's favourite places to be.  We were just sitting & watching the clouds & people go by for at least an hour late Sunday afternoon.   It was a nice break in our drive home from the tea room.

Learning:  My boss is teaching me the reporting & invoicing functions for MVA patients (motor vehicle accidents).  Part of me thinks oh great, yippee more software packages to learn.  No wait, that part of my brain was being sarcastic.  Well at least it's not boring at work!

Hoping everyone has a wonderful week ahead.  My parting thought is from a chalkboard outside of the tea room:  Your thoughts become your reality, so be careful with your thoughts.   

 

Take Three Thursday - Swinging High

In an effort to notice more of the ordinary in my life, I have decided to share what I have noticed this week in Take Three Thursday.  The idea is to take photos that are linked some how; by theme, by colour, by date, by moment,  by points of view. There is no formal link in but please feel free to join in. Last week I entitled my post as Take Notice Thursday, which was more by accident than design.  I liked it, it felt like it was more inclusive.  What do you think?

What have you noticed this week?  Have a peek at what others have found this week:
 Maggie at FarmersWifeDayByDay  
 Karen's Random Reflections

This week what I noticed was, we have some up the street neighbours that could have what some describe as a sense of humour or a wild sense of garden design.  They had a large pine that for some reason them decided to de-branch entirely but leave the main branches & trunk.   I'll let you decide if you think it's humour or garden design.  Mr Man does not think it's funny or good garden design.  The rest of their garden is quite lovely, very well kept.  My question is, will they replace Tweety with an Elf On the Swing at Christmas?

 

Memo, Mail & Me: It's Monday August 7th

Good Morning & greetings on this holiday Monday.  In this part of the world, it's known as Civic Day although I think Toronto refers to it as Simcoe Day.  No matter it's a holiday & a quick check in from me.

Canada 150 Rose of Sharon

Thankful: that Saturday's miserable weather day which included gusting winds, did no real damage, just knocked a few things about.

 Reading: Inheritance From Mother which is a translation from Japanese to English.  There are several very notable thoughts about dealing with Mother / Daughter relationships.  I didn't love this book; liked some parts of it; found it very wordy.

Inspired by: the beauty & details of a butterflies wings.  We have been trying to attract Monarch Butterflies to our gardens for several years & this year seems to be the year our efforts have paid off.

Learning: more of the workings of my blog platform; Blogger.  Like so many other bloggers, I am wondering where I'm going with it, how I can make changes, make improvements . More to learn yet.

What Made Me Chuckle:  As southern Ontario Canadians, we know only too well that winter is coming.  This highway is actually called James Snow Parkway but someone thought to rename it & it stayed this way for almost a day before the powers to be changed it back to the official name.  Boring ...

 Hope everyone has a marvelous day & week ahead.