2018 SPSH - 3rd Link Up

This is our third check in for the SPSH 2018.  While we do not have a formal link in, I have listed all those that indicated they wanted to be "linked" in to their blogs for their SPSH finds.  If I have missed you, I apologize, just let me know in the comments that I missed you & I will add.  I hope everyone is having fun with the list.  Remember photos do not have to be taken or posted in the order of the list ...

A few of my recent finds:

#9 Looks Smaller Than You:  taken in Fergus, a man was fly fishing in the river:

#11 Pretty In Pink:  these were some flowers, a potted mum,  we gave to my foster Mom:

#12 Bell(s):  This is a bell found in our village, & it's got a history story.  Several years the county government decided to do away with all the one/two room school houses in our region of the county & make one large school for all the primary grades (kindergarten through to grade 8) in a central part of the area.  They took one of the school bells & installed it at the then new central school.  It doesn't ring but yet I feel it still rings out some history & stories of "remember when".

#15 Out of The Blue:  driving down a country road, this large blue sign pops up out of the blue,   turns out it is the back of a drive in screen:

 #20 Mellow Yellow; a double hibiscus from the university's greenhouse:

Alternate B:  A coupon; one of my favourite coupons to receive from Michaels crafting store - 55% off!!

 Do have a peak at what the other Participants, in no particular order, have found:
Ruth at: This West London Life
Deb at: Debs14
Eileen at: A Bracelet of Days
Maggie at: Farmer's Wife Day by Day
Melissa at: Daily Life - Bits & Pieces Cheri at: Scrap Dreams  
Amanda at: Amanda's Scrapbook Pages
Karen at: Random Reflections
Jane at: Nanny Jane's
Lady Ella at: Flowers of Progress
Leslie Chlingan: Once Upon A Time Happily Everafter
JoAnn at: Scene Through My Eyes
Karen at: Karen's 365 Photos    
Joy at: Joy Knitt - Today

Here's the list again:

1. The Rosiness Of Red
2. Stripes
3. A Framed View
4. Wings
5. Pedal Power
6. Glorious Green
7. An Unexpected Reflection 
8. A Pile Of
9. Looks Smaller Than You
10. A Field of Plenty
11. Pretty In Pink
12. Bell(s)
13. Equal Portions
14. A Trilogy Of Three
15. Out Of The Blue 
16. Something That Could Be From A Favourite Book/Movie/Song
17. Re-purposed
18. Currency; Coinage or Paper (the odd, the different, the beautiful)
19. Picture Postcard Perfect
20. Mellow Yellow

Alternate A: a shopping bag (not the store's plastic)

Alternate B: a coupon to use 

 

Take Three Thursday - Taking Flight; Not

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 1 - 3 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?  

Please have a wander over to see what these folks have noticed this week:
Melissa: Daily Life, Bits & Pieces 
Maggie: Farmer's Wife Day By Day 
Eileen: A Bracelet of Days


Another part of our Summer Manifesto included Planes.  Mr Man had heard about this demonstration of  the B29 Bomber being conducted close to us.

The demo included other WWII planes & Mr Man thought this  filled the bill of an adventure for S.M.  While I am not keen about planes, I must admit the information about the planes & their role in WW II along with the restoration of the planes was quite interesting.  

So this week my three plus one,  are the, shall we call them the bridesmaids of the main show.  

This is a Vampire

Mako Shark

Spitfire

L-29 Viper

See you all tomorrow in the 3rd SPSH Link In.

Me On A Monday - August 27th

Good morning to all & I do hope those celebrating a holiday today have good friends & fine weather to enjoy the last days & weeks of summer - well that goes for even those of us not having a holiday.

Last week in my Take Three Thursday I posted a photo & a little about one of our Summer Manifesto adventures.  I would like to share more of that visit to BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (Toronto).  BAPS =  Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, a worldwide spiritual volunteer driven organization dedicated to improving & fostering the Hindu ideals of faith, unity & selfless service.

The outside of the temple & outer buildings;  24,000 pieces of stone assembled in 18 months; 1,500 craftsmen hand carved with 400 volunteers in 1 million hours of service.  In was inaugurated in 2007 & is built to last over 1,000 years.

The clouds are like the breath of God

The Haveli (wooden) front doors is entry to the Mandir & Haveli, you take off your shoes immediately & there are cloak rooms for men, cloak rooms for women, with little shoe chubby holes.

The Haveli built using intricately hand carved teak wood reflects the traditional India craftsmanship.

Inside's architecture - remember this ceiling is put together without nails or screws, just joinery puzzle like.

Murtis - Divine Images are enshrined in the inner sanctums of Mandir & are ritually infused with divinity & are the focus of worship in Vedic tradition. The coloured lights changed from purples to blues.  It gave the interior quite a sense of reverence.

Two rituals we were able to take part in.

From The Internet

Arti is one of the most important ceremonies of the Hindu faith.  It is a form of a prayer offered in greetings & thanksgiving to God where devotees are reminded of God's glorious presence & providence.  The tradition dates back thousands of years to the ancient temples of India.  Visitors must adhere to separate sitting arrangements for men & women during rituals.  After the very happy clapping & finger bell ringing, a plate with a candle for blessings & financial offerings is brought around.  We watched how others dealt with the flame - you cup your hands around the blessed flame,  then touch your eye lids & face to wash the blessings over you.  Of course the financial offering is optional. No photos allowed during the service.

After the ritual in the main part of the temple we were guided downstairs to participate in the Vedic ritual.  Abhishek is an ancient Vedic ritual where water is ceremoniously poured over the murti of God amidst the chanting of holy mantras to honour God & to seek blessings.  The first thing you must do when entering the room is wash your hands, then take a brass cup of blessed water & stand near Abhishek Mandapam & pour the water over "her" head as you say your prayer for blessings.

From The Internet

Take Three Thursday - Planes Trains & Automobiles

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 1 - 3 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?  

Please have a wander over to see what these folks have noticed this week:
Melissa: Daily Life, Bits & Pieces 
Maggie: Farmer's Wife Day By Day 
Eileen: A Bracelet of Days 
 
This year's Summer Manifesto was themed with Planes, Trains & Automobiles + Boats.  The boat portion I wrote about in this post:
Summer Manifesto - Boats 

The Automobiles (drive) portion was that we drove to two places I had wanted to tour for several years now.  

The first one was the Hindu Temple just outside of Toronto, BAPS Shir Swaminarayan Mandir.  It was spectacular.  The grounds had beautiful, full & well tended gardens.  Inside was breathe taking architecture.  In the temple area, (pictured below) not a single screw or nail is used, all the stone, marble & granite fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.  In the other areas it is teak & mahogany woods (all building codes adhered to).  There is a large museum telling the history of Hinduism; fascinating.  We were allowed to take part in one of the morning rituals - such a welcoming group.

 The second drive out was to Paris, Ontario 

The Planes portion of our Summer Manifesto was more a Mr Man adventure than mine, as anything to do with planes has me in a near panic attack mode.  Still I pursued with him.  I focused on the history of each plane, the details, kept in close as to detach from the flight ideas.  The highlight of the demonstrations was the B29 plane.  This plane is the type that delivered the H-bomb to Japan in WWII, which was one of the ways in ending WWII.  You could purchase tickets to be one of the 10 "guests" onboard for a half hour flight.  Ticket prices started at $1800.00(USD).   Thankfully Mr Man was not enticed ...

B29 Bomber Plane - a real one!

Don't forget SPSH link in on the 31st - next Friday

Oops - SPSH Link In Date Correction

Just so no one (other than me) is confused.  The third SPSH link up is next Friday, August 31st.  

Sorry for any panic or confusion.  My nimble fingers sometimes have a mind of their own ... I'll say no more.

Me On Monday - A Birthday In Paris

Good Morning -  I will be around to catch up with you all later today.

Yes we had a whirl wind week of vacation & at the start of it Mr Man & I decided to totally disconnect from any & all social media to pay 100% attention to each other & what we were doing.  It was marvelous.

Today's post has me starting at the end of our whirlwind week.

We celebrated my birthday, Friday,  in Paris.  We had, le thé de l'après-midi, afternoon tea,  at a marvelous little historic bed & breakfast hotel along the river just as you leave Paris.  Everything about it was scrumptious & to top it off, as though The Universe knew, the owners had two very entertaining Siamese cats.  

We were seated on the verandah & able to see the river.  By the time our tea lunch was over, it was getting too humid to sit outside, so we were back inside poking about the history of the hotel.

When we first arrived in Paris, we wanted to take in some of the history so we started by visiting some of the oldest churches, a beautiful public park & we wandered about the shops, I bought nothing but still fun to window shop.  The streets were fairly busy but I liked the fact that there were benches everywhere, beautiful floral baskets on every light pole, huge containers of flowers & not one public urinal to be seen.  

Ah yes Paris was everything I had hoped for.  The drive there wasn't as long as I thought it would be, so for all my Ontario readers, a day trip out to Paris is worth the drive.  Oh did I not mention this was Paris, Ontario!

I'll be back Thursday with the other marvelous places we visited during our vacation.  

Don't forget Friday the 31st is the 3rd link up for the SPSH.   

À toute à l'heure!

Me On Monday August 20th

Greetings & Salutations All.  Another hot weekend in the books. 

Toad Lily - not in my garden.

My garden is definitely tired, as I stroll about I hear the little flower heads nodding & saying "you cannot expect more women, we've given you a bloom full".

Another sign that the season is moving too fast (for me), is that the Niagara region peaches are ready & for sale - these are the best peaches in all the world.  Juicy, sweet, oh so good.  I can easily eat 4 in a row, I just dislike the peeling.  I know some that eat the fuzz skin - blah!

In this photo my only comment is "NOOOOOO"  It's one of my Burning Bushes turning already!   Too soon.

The geese have arrived to gleam the wheat field - oh so noisy in the morning.  Right now it's only about 2 flocks, soon it will be many more.  Word spreads fast in the goose world. 

More crafting at a card workshop Sunday evening.  I stamp with more confidence when with the demonstrator than I do at home.  I'm good with the die cutting & embossing, it's just the stamping that still has me in doubts.  There were 3 cards, I got only two done, the third one had a lot of fussy cutting & I ran out of time.  Looks like I have homework!

I am currently reading three books by the same author; Alexander McCall Smith.  Two are part of the 44 Scotland Street series.  I really like little Bertie in this series. The third book is from the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series.  Easy, pleasant reads. 

I'm not going to be around on Thursday for Take Three Thursday,  we are off the patio having a few whirlwind adventures, but I will see you next Monday.  

Be well my friends, seize the day.

Take Three Thursday - Tea

So many t's today ...
 
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 1 - 3 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?  
 
See what others have noticed:  
Maggie at Farmer's Wife Day by Day 
Eileen at  A Bracelet of Days

I like going out for afternoon tea, it is something that I have enjoyed even as a younger person.  My Gran use to make afternoon tea special when I stayed with her & my Mother at times would go all out for at home tea parties.  When I watch Downton Abbey, the afternoon tea are some of my favourite moments.  I like the dress/hat part too.  I have a couple of books of how to conduct tea parties properly (col).  

Before the barn I rode at was sold, I use to organize an afternoon tea outing with the ladies.  We would all dress up, hats, dresses & sometimes gloves.  Such fun to get out of our normal barn attire.  Now that everyone is riding at different barns, there does not seem to be the interest in gathering ... alas change.

Many of the tea places that I have enjoyed this treat at, have either closed shop or raised the prices that make this a maybe once a year treat... alas change.  

Never mind, here's three of my happy memory Afternoon Tea outings.

Tea Exploring In Burlington

Afternoon Tea On The Lawn at Castle Kilbride

Tea at Taylor's Tearoom - a favourite

Me On A Monday - August 6th

Today is a holiday for some in Canada.  In Ontario some know it as Civic Day, some as Simcoe Day & even it goes by John Galt Day in our area.  For us in Ontario it is not what is called a Stat (statutory) holiday, so many businesses are open for all or part of the day.  Government associated businesses are closed.  Mr Man & I both have the day off - bonus & it's a tea party day!

But with hot dry weather it's no holiday for the local farmers.

And with that the Winter Wheat is harvested, the straw baled, the rolls or shreddies as we call them, have been loaded & taken away.
For now, in the evenings the wild geese will gleam the fields of any grain left, during the day the neighbourhood children will ride their dirt bikes in the empty field, some will allow their dogs to run free in the open field & in the late Autumn the field will be turned over for a spring planting of corn. 

Five In Five On The 5th - Armed In August

Today I am joining in with Sandie's monthly meme of taking five photos in five minutes on the 5th of the month.  You can go here to link in & to see what others have shared.  Sandie at Itchifingers

Mr Man & I had an errand to run today but once done we thought we would take a less direct drive home to maybe find some items on the SPSH.  We saw some lake side views along one roadway & decided to pull into a business's parking lot to get a closer look.  Surely a marina would have bells!

Enticing Lake Views

Turns out the parking lot was that of one of the many branches of the  Royal Canadian Legion.  Found nothing for the SPSH but did find some interesting things for today's agenda - 5 in 5 on the 5th.

Saw lots of geese as I walked down to the lake's edge.  They must be military geese because it was a mine field of goose poop!

As I found nothing for the SPSH I got back into the car & we drove around the buildings to discover a very interesting display of real military items; 

 a tank - Howitzer  ( the sign says do not sit,stand or climb on the 109 Howitzer tank)

an armored personnel carrier -

F86 Super Sabre