Pairs - Oh Crops

Linking in with Helena at: http://helenascreativemaven.blogspot.ca/

This week my Pairs are Corn Crops Harvested; Corn Crops Not Harvested. 

A busy time for the farmers & often at night you can see the headlights of the big combines out in the field.  So far this Autumn the weather has been good for the big machines to get out in the fields - not too muddy.  Most of the corn grown in this region is for feed or what we call silo corn.  Some of the Mennonite farmers bale the stripped corn stalks to use as bedding & some use the bales as snow fences as their farm fields border major roadways.  Nice to see the entire plant getting used.
Wednesday Update: these photos were taken this past weekend; today we are getting 60-65mm of rain from Hurricane Patricia - the fields will be a mud fest!

Harvested Corn

Not Harvested Corn

The Big Equipment Doing The Harvesting

Me On Monday - October 26th

Linking in with Sian and all the enthusiastic Monday wavers connecting through http://fromhighinthesky.blogspot.ca/

Myself walking a local pathway

This Monday finds me along with the rest of Canada either wondering or celebrating the result of our voting privilege last Monday - Justin Trudeau is our next Canadian Prime Minister / busy busy at the clinic, so many changes & adjustments with new staff, new procedures, new hours. It is interesting to me how much my own behaviour (energy) can influence (?) the enthusiasm of others at work.  Twice this week I went into the clinic on my time off to do some tidying & sorting of a couple areas that just drive me crazy; it was like I was giving permission to others to roll up their sleeves & dig in.  It feels good to have a tidy, junk free work environment; it felt like a team / lots of walking over the past week & weekend, back to exceeding those 10,000 steps a day, just wish I could get more of a grip on my eating habits; I need to grab myself by the shoulders & shake - health! don't mess about, stop starting! / happy dance, happy dance, as I was one of the 3 very lucky winners of  Deb's Paper Turtle (http://paperturtle.blogspot.ca/)  mandala kits - it has been a loooonnnnggg time since I have won anything - Thank You Deb / running some errands got me some new materials of Pairs / wallowing in the reading of Sophie's World - I have given up as time ran out on this library book loan / a recommendation from Ruth started with the first in C.J. Sansom's Shardlake series; Dissolution,  / happy to have Mr Man home again from his business travels / F1 racing watching, a crazy race / lots of Sunday night TV with Home Fires; Great British Bake Off, Indian Summers / thinking that I have a very tidy craft area but so few projects done; I have  huge Pinterest boards devoted to scrapping & December Daily but some of the most boring pages / OK Taylor Swift  let's you & me Shake It Off  this Monday & get things moving!  Happy Week everyone!

Thankful Thursday - October 22nd

From The Internet

This week's Thankfuls include but not exclusive:

October 16th Thankful: two trips to two local scrapbooking stores, for all the available beautiful papers & accessories, Thankful that I can reach into my purse & have money to pay for a few purchases.

If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done. Bruce Lee.  Rather an appropriate quote as I think about my ever growing paper stash & trying to find my mojo of creative decision rather than creative constipation.  Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. ~Scott Adams

October 17th Thankful: we worked outside in the garden together, sorting out what goes into the shed for the winter, what needs to go to recycle, what pots need emptying, are there enough rose huts for all the rose bushes. Thankful that we had a wonderful summer in the garden & on the patio. I trust in nature for the stable laws of beauty and utility. Spring shall plant and autumn garner to the end of time. Robert Browning

October 18th Thankful: a hot shower.  It's easy to take a shower when ever, we have a functioning hot water tank always at the ready & running water.  We are on notice that our water rates are going to increase in the new year.  Our area gets  its fresh water from Artisan wells (underground water) so the care of the surrounding farm land is critical.  Thankful that in spite of the cost, it is readily available & clean. Thankful that I have a washer & dryer in my home & that I can do laundry when ever (although I do stick to the cheaper off hour hydro rotation schedule).We are coming down from our pedestal and up from the laundry room. Bella Abzug

October 19th Thankful: for so many ready & willing volunteers that man the polling stations, that staff the information desks at the hospitals,  Thankful that even at 6:30am the 3 older gentlemen staffing the information desk at the hospital for Mr Man's eye specialist appointment, were not only helpful but rather entertaining in their conversation with everyone coming in.  I am a morning person, but I must admit these 3 had early morning cheerfulness wrapped up in a bow!  Volunteers are paid in six figures... S-M-I-L-E-S.  ~Gayla LeMaire

October 20th Thankful: sunny breaks in rather a dismal rainy day.  I am Thankful for the rain which benefits the garden, especially the evergreens as we go into winter.  It is the winter winds that dry out the evergreens which causes the end of such a lovely living growing plant. I was Thankful for those breaks which allowed me a walk outside - twice; one walk was for pleasure, the other walk with purpose, I walked into town to the clinic.  Most Thankful for a job & that it is close to home.  Don’t knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn’t start a conversation if it didn’t change once in a while. ~Kin Hubbard

October 21st Thankful: Mr Man travels a lot for his job.  I am Thankful that he always ensures I have all the trip details at the ready, that the water jug is full (we use large purchased water as our tap water isn't very pleasant to drink), the garbage is stacked for recycle & bagged for garbage pickup.  All tasks that I am able to do, but Thankful that he does anyway.  Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years. ~Simone Signoret
 
October 22nd Thankful: today I have mixed feelings about my Thankful.  It's good to be remembering but I absolutely hate that we have to.  Today we are remembering Cpl. Nathan Cirillo age 24.  He was standing guard at the war memorial in our nation's capital, Ottawa.  He was shot by a lone crazed gunman - a needless useless death.  Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, 53, was purposely run over & killed 2 days before Nathan by another extremists; another needless & senseless death. Both men died while in service to their country on home soil. 
I am most Thankful that there are men & women who give their life to service.  I have many family members in the forces; a sister that was in the Canadian Air Force, a brother who served in the Canadian Navy; and three of my American relatives serve in Army & Navy.   

Today I will remember & give Thanks to the bravery of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo and Warrant Office Patrice Vincent  Both men will be honoured in a service today in our nation's capital. Loyalty and devotion lead to bravery. Bravery leads to the spirit of self-sacrifice. The spirit of self-sacrifice creates trust in the power of love.  Morihei Ueshiba   

From The Internet

Pairs - Spouting Off

Joining in with Helena's Pairs at:  http://helenascreativemaven.blogspot.ca/

Water Fountains At Stonegate Senior's Residence

Pond & Fountain At Memory Garden

This week my Pairs are two full on fountains.  One set is in a man made pond at a newly opened senior's residence, the other is in a natural pond at a memory garden.  





My attention was drawn to both of them because all summer there was no sign of spouting water at either of these locations, only now at the season end both are turned on full spray.  A farewell to summer?  Mr Man thinks it is because they are draining the pipes.  No matter, both made quite a showing & I was entertained to watch the wind catch the spray & dance with it.

Me On Monday - October 19th

A Sleepy Hello & A Wave To All.  Connect with Sian & the other wavers at http://fromhighinthesky.blogspot.ca/. 

Falls Street Near Conservation Park

Well it has been a week & weekend.  Medication is a wonderful thing when appropriately used; kidney/bladder infection cleared (oh so thankful); when I mentioned at the barn, one woman said she gets bladder infections at least 6-7 times a year, even a chill to the back causes them!!! the horror at that thought / pleased that our baseball team, The Toronto Blue Jays,  did well - not impressed by some of the bad behaviour by fans at the series final game between The Texas Rangers & Blue Jays; other than F1 racing, not big sports watching fans, but the last two baseball games of that series had us on the edge of our seats  / Mr Man & I had 4 days after Thanksgiving Monday off as vacation / lots of little odd jobs done around the yard & house, with another trip made to the household recycle centre to be rid of stuff / the patio was put away until next year - this makes me so sad / bought Halloween candy for the little darlings that come a calling - I buy stuff I don't like so as not to be tempted /  struggling with reading Sophie's World, pushing on, I'm told it is worth it / my riding friend that was thrown, I spoke with her late last week - thankfully much improved; still no memory of the accident / a trip & a spend at two of the scrapping stores; I do need to find my scrapping sweet spot to unload this ever growing stash & start creating pages but first I need to stop the thief of comparison & keep my eyes on my own paper & scrap / our federal election today - do we get the leader we want or the leader that we need? /  heavy frost 2 nights in a row have the leaves falling like rain & all the annual flowers done - I am not ready in spirit or mind, only the clothes readiness for winter is complete / feeling like we dogged a bullet because a city north of us by an hour, received wet snow accumulation!!!!  It's coming - oh the horror! /  I will be making an service date to get snow tires on my car / another work week starts - let the games begin!

Thankful Thursday - October 15th

From The Internet

My Thankfuls this week include but not exclusive to:

Oct 9th Thankful for: time in the garden, weather cleared, sun shone, I planted some Snow Drop bulbs.  For many years I have admired Snow Drops in others gardens and thought I need to plant, but wow were they expensive for so few in a package.  On Thursday I went to Costco and as I was dreamily walking the Christmas aisle, I saw a Costco size package of Snow Drop bulbs just sitting alone among the Christmas stuff. Odd.  I had a staff person scan and wow the price was low for 18 bulbs!  The Universe (bless her) presented me with this gift - I accepted with Thanks.  Next year I too shall have Snow Drops in my garden. "Who can resist the feelings of hope and joy that one gets from participating in nature’s rebirth?" ~Edward Giobbi

Oct 10th Thankful for the privilege & right to vote - we participated in the Federal Election Advanced Polls as on Elections Day (19th) Mr Man & I will be at 7am appointment with a specialist for Mr Man's ongoing eye problem & since we didn't know what was going to happen, we wanted to be sure we didn't miss our chance to vote.  This is a tight race, emotions are running quite high - please send Canada your positive energy for the leader we need to lead us.  I am so Thankful that I live in this great country. "With glowing hearts we see thee rise, The True North strong and free! God keep our land glorious and free! O Canada, we stand on guard for thee." (part of our national anthem).

Oct 11th Thankful for: a small family gathering for Thanksgiving celebration, one sister, one brother & us.  My hosting (older) sister is far from traditionally inspired, so the dinner was ribs & a ham for the meat eaters, I brought a soy based protein main along with my requested broccoli salad (I do have some fame in the family for this salad) along with a new recipe for a corn casserole. Sister did make a pumpkin pie to satisfy my "need" for tradition.  I am Thankful for the efforts my sister made. The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Richard Bach

Oct 12th Thankful for: a weather perfect long weekend as we celebrated Thanksgiving, ate lots, gave a collective thank you. Had one of the final mugs of tea I will enjoy sitting on the patio this year.  Thankful for tea, & as my Grandmother always said "tea cures all that ails you."

Oct 13th Thankful for: medical expertise readily found at 2am.  Long story made quite short;  I have a serve bladder/kidney infection. (How????)  Most Thankful already feel on the mend.

Oct 14th Thankful for: workmen that come into our home & show respect.  It was a follow up to the furnace installation a few weeks back.  Mr Man & I feel that our home is our sanctuary, so when someone comes into it we are concerned about the energy that is brought along.  “ Please take responsibility for the energy you bring into this space (& situation).” Jill Bolte Taylor.  After seeing Dr Jill interviewed & reading her book "My Stroke of Insight" I found her quote about bringing energy to every situation quite revealing & it has impacted a lot of how I think & conduct myself in many life situations. I do believe we are all connected with our energy. I want to bring a positive energy with me.

Oct 15th Thankful for: reminding myself of yesterday's quote & the energy I make/bring.  Being truly joyful for others happy news.  Sometimes when a door is closed (slammed) I can stand at the closed door for far too long before I notice another door of possibility.  I have a daily quote stand that I created using some of my scrap stash items & on one of the days I have a reminder to be Open To Possibilities.  Which reminds me of Albus Dumberdore's quote (JK Rowling) "Light can be found in even the darkest of times if we only remember to turn on the light."  Thankful for a life partner that will turn on the light for me when I seem to stumble in the darkness; who will take my hand & lead me on to the lighted door of new & different possibility.

From The Internet

Pairs - Naturally Odd

Linking in with Helena at: http://helenascreativemaven.blogspot.ca/

This week my Pairs are a couple of trees that tickled my humour as I thought of people & body parts.  The first tree seems to be staring at me with a look of astonishment and the second tree looks like a person's bottom just about to sit down.  Natures does continue to amuse & amaze me.

Tree at Riverside Park

Tree in Burlington Park