****
********* THE COUNTDOWN IS ON!!!!!************

Passport, tickets and all info regarding transportation and accommodation are in hand ready for take off......OOPS! we still have eleven days to wait until our Great UK Adventurer begins but it can't come soon enough!

Till next time...

~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MY APOLOGIES to all visitors to my blog!

I have been taken over by the REAL WORLD! Yup, daily living, yard work and taking care of the details for the big trip to the UK..

Oh yes, L'll Sis and and I are going to Scotland. England, Wales and Ireland in the month of May.
We are conducting our own tour which will include a visit to the new genealogy building in Edinburgh as L'll Sis has done quite a bit of investigating into our mother's relatives.
She wants to invest in a blindfold... cause I am going to fulfill a dream and rent a car to drive (on the other side of the road) into the highlands to Balmoral, Inverness and then travel down Loch Ness to Fort William then onto Glasgow to drop off the car.
A train to London for three days and nights and then off to Gatwick to pick up another car and we've off to Stonehenge, Bath and Stratford Upon Avon to check out the digs of the Bard.
The Irish cousins (Phill and Mike) will meet us in Telford for a visit. The cousins, L'll Sis and I will head over through Wales to catch the ferry to Dublin Ireland and check out our father's ancestors. Belfast is the place where we fly out of at the end of our trip....no tears...."WE'LL MEET AGAIN"!!!
OH! OH! I feel a song coming on!

Till next time...

******


****** A special thank you to L'll Sis and Hubby for being lovely hosts during my stay with them in Florida.

I had a safe flight back to TO. and now I'm recovering from a cold the first in 21/2 years. YUK! Excuse the sneezing and the blowing.

Till next time...

***********
***********
************** LET'S HEAR IT FROM EVERYONE!!!!!
**********
****************** HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!

************* THE BIG 65TH!!!!!

And it was a really lovely day. Shopping and got a new
bathing suit which is 2 sizes smaller than the last one,YEA!

Then L'll Sis and Hubby surprised me with a "O" gravity chair for my patio and they are taking it home for me since I am flying.

And to top it off they took me out to dinner to a place on the Banana River which was just lovely...

Thanks for the memories.

Till next time...

*****NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!

I think those are my famous last words because I booked an early -never again -flight out of TO. for my trip to FL. and of course I was up and on my way to the airport at 3am. All the American paranoia about security, even shoes off does take time. I often wonder what they'll want to check next?

It ended up being a good, fast (2hrs and 17min) and secure flight.

Following all details of getting the rental car I was off to L'll Sis and hubby's house where they were waiting for me in the brilliant sunshine
of their sun porch wearing their welcoming smiles.

It was a very long day and I crashed at about 9pm.

The next day we were off for lunch in Cocoa Village with all the participants of L'll Sis's workout group. It was their thank you gift to her for running all the classes and they really appreciated all the effort she put into it. We had so much fun and the food was great too!

Thunder and lightening prevented us from swimming however it did cool off and for this norther gal it was a welcome relief!

Till next time...

~~~~~Another wonderful weekend!~~~~

I belong to a group of retired teachers known as Leisure Ladies and we try to get together, during the spring, summer and fall. Fri. we had "Lunch and a Movie" at Monica's house and what a delightful time it was. She had prepared four varieties soup which were sooo delicious and everyone else brought nibbles and goodies. For the "Move", Monica shared with us her trip to Chile.
Monica you are one "Adventurous Woman" and a talented chief!
Thanks for an enriching visit!

I headed to #2 Son's house for a lovely visit and a sleep over.

Sat. found me having lunch (again) at my favourite spot, The Old Marina with two dear friends, Lilly Lady and Car Kid. I just love when we share our memories as well as new challenges (like learning the capabilities of MS Vista!)

Now I need to make preparations for my visit with L'll Sis and hubby in Florida for a week and celebrate my big "65th" Bday.
Oh how the years fly when one is having such a "good" time!

Till next time...

~~~~~~~~HERE'S ANOTHER DANDY PIC!!!~~~~~

I took this shot just minutes ago follow the big "HO HUM" snow storm. I had to run some errands in town and for a very short time there were White Outs however I got home safely. The texture of the snow was perfect for making snow people.
L'll Sis can I interest you in a snowball fight?

Till next time...

~~~~~AN EASTER WEEKEND PHOTO OPT~~~~

1. Here is a pic of Wild Turkeys enjoying the Sunshine and just wandering
around.

2. A group of brave souls attempting to fish from the ice on the Maitland River
not far from the mouth.

3. I have saved the best to last. This is #1Son following his three hour
adventurer on the beach during his weekend visit.



Till next time...

******Here we go again!!!!!yup,

this time our area is under a
"Snowfall Warning!"

I received this info from L'll Sis who, by the way is in Florida with Hubby and has been there since Nov. '07 and won't return north till late April.
She's an avid computer buff and don't ya just love the Internet?
She wondered if I was aware of the pending storm and my reply was...

"Just another day in the neighbourhood and the snow will melt!"

I'll keep y'all posted as to how much snow we receive and if I have to do
any digging!

Till next time...

~~~~~Will you look at that.....not bad for the last day of winter!

Following a very overcast and cold winter day Mother
Nature decided to throw a little spectacular colour our way.
Pretty cool eh?

Till next time...

~~~~~Well, March 17th St. Patty's Day has come and gone and shame on me for not posting ( my dad just rolled over in his grave and said "The top of the morning to ya!").

I had a very busy day running errands and stuff and in the evening I was invited to a dinner party to celebrate the "17th" at Sam and Charlene's.

What a wonderful evening and the food was fantastic.
Charlene had prepared corned beef and cabbage and roasted baby spuds. Only she could give cabbage the special treatment that her guests could hardly believe that what they were eating was cabbage....Oh so yummy!

And following a Baileys chocolate mousse for desert she topped off the meal with Irish Cream liquor.

We chatted and laughed the evening away...making memories!

Thanks you guys for a very fun evening!

Till next time...

This top pic is of my driveway following a good workout
with the snowblower and a few hours of sunshine

My little buddies, Sam and Dixon are enjoying some refreshing
RO water from the little statue of a cat holding a dish which
their mommy gave me as a gift. Aren't Just too cute?

Till next time...

~~~~~CAN YOU BELIEVE IT ~~~~~~~

This is what I saw this morning, two deer

walking across the neighbour's lawn.

It is my first sighting of the deer this year!


ENJOY!

Till next time...

~~~~~JUST IN TIME.....On Tues. I was invited to visit dear friends Jim and Jean in Stratford for lunch and what a lovely lunch it was at the Sun Room. We had real good time chatting and laughing until the tears came.

The day was spectacular, bright sunny skies and very clear roads a perfect day ...for our area and at this time of year....to travel. Weather reports put all of us under a Winter Storm Watch and that was hard to believe as I spade along the back roads to Stratford. It had clouded over as I approached their house and the same overcast skies remained until I got home which was about 4:30 pm.

Then at about 7:oo pm. much to my surprise there was the most fantastic SUNSET I thought I would cry!

I am totally blessed to live here and witness such brilliant displays by Mother Nature.

And yes, we did get a good wallop of snow over night but not the freezing rain that other parts of the Province received.

The good part of the snow was the fact I had a real cardio workout before my noon hour fitness class that is always so much fun.

I'll fill you in on that "class" later!


Till next time...

~~~~~~~NO, NO, NO......this is not the Arctic!!!

It is the results of frozen wave action on our beautiful beach!

I took a day and what a beautiful day it was to do a little shutter bugging.

The last pic is the view from the top of our cliff looking at.... you guessed it,
more frozen wave action.

I know that this will chill out Y'all in the south!

Till next time...

OOOOUCH!~~~~~
I hear ya loud and clear~~~~~~~~~some of you didn't like the change of template so I've gone back to the one that everyone seemed to like. Enjoy!

Thanks M.E. for the nuge!


Till next time...

.....Back to Normal for me is returning to some sort of routine.

During the winter or when I'm home my days are focused with a daily visit to the local "Y" and taking advantage of the many programs they have to offer.
The program that I am really enjoying is Functional Fitness and it is offered Tues. and Thurs. It involves cross training which holds my interest since you really have to concentrate on the various moves as well as proper use of equipment and weights.

Today, is an hour with my favourite trainer, Brenda, in a class called Strength and Stretch. When I leave her class I realize that this old body can still keep up and is finally getting into shape!

Till next time...

~~~ Some of you are aware that I was born under the sign of ARIES and yes, I have that pioneer spirit. Today, I followed that spirit and ventured into some interesting driving.

Following my visit with dear niece and sons (hubby was on a gig) in Toronto I had a strong urg to head home even though weather warnings were discouraging anyone from venturing out today. You see two weather systems, an Alberta Clipper and a Texas Red, were to converg in our proviance just about the time of my trip.

The driving wasn't as bad as I had expected however I stayed to the main Hwys and made it home saftely. Now I can enjoy watching all that melting snow disappear.

Till next time...

......Life is returning to normal for me following the month holiday in the south.
#1 Son visited this past weekend and did a few jobs around the house. We had a lovely time and great meals.

I have just a few more days at home this week then I'm off again this time to visit #2Son and his family. On Saturday I'll visit dear neice and her family and drop off a few things to them that was sent by my sister for the grands.

Till next time...

T. G. I. H.----- That stands for " Thank God I'm Home"...I sure missed this place!

Dame near kissed the ground but it was packed with snow everywhere except my drive...thanks to my wonderful neighbour, Dave.

Now it's time to unwind following the drive through Toledo and Detroit and dealing with the snow covered Hwy. 21 all the way home.

Till next time...