Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all my readers!  It's hard to believe that this is the last day of 2010, or, if you prefer, MMX.  For me, 2010 was a year marked by change.  I won't go into detail except to say that 'all's well that ends well'. Or, more correctly, according to Shakespeare, 'all's well that ends well; still the fine's the crown; whate'er the course, the end is the renown'.

I'm looking forward to 2011 and all that it will bring.  I wish all of you and yours a Happy New Year.  May you, your family, and your year be filled with love and good health.  For that's what happiness is ...

Let the dog in, let the dog out

I have a fridge magnet with those words.  At one time, it was funny.  Holly, my bouvier, always wants to go outside and lets me know.  I let her out and go back to what I was doing.  Then, I hear her wanting back in.  This gets repeated many, many times a day.  It's no big deal.  In fact, it's good exercise for me and keeps me from settling in one spot for too long.

But, when you have three dogs underfoot, as I do now while Margaret is away skiing for the week, it can get a little tedious.  Especially when one of the dogs is a 15-year-old deaf, bichon frise that needs watching, even when outside.

It's fun watching the interactions between the three female dogs.  Holly is, of course, the dominant dog here, thinking she owns the place.  Mollie (mostly, a cockapoo) is a bit timid and carefully respects Holly.  If Holly is lying in the hallway, Mollie is scared to walk by her.

Zoie, the bichon, is oblivious.  She walks right by (and, sometimes, under) Holly.  She just tries to get out of the way, if she sees Holly coming trotting along, so she won't get trampled.  Being deaf, that doesn't always work if Holly walks over her from behind.  Mostly, Holly is careful with Zoie.  Maybe, even protective.  She certainly has never shown any aggression towards her.

Holly is more aggressive with Mollie, especially if Holly thinks Mollie is where she shouldn't be.  For example, up on my bed.  That is definitely Holly's territory, or so she thinks.  Once, while I was reading in bed, with Holly laying beside me, Mollie hopped up on the bed.  Holly was up in a flash, snarling at Mollie.  I never knew Mollie could move so fast, getting off the bed.

Happy tails to you ...

Presumptions

Have you ever assumed something was true and been wrong?  I was caught in that predicament again today.  I invited my friend, Vladimyr, over for supper, offering him my special lamb stew.  I knew he loved lamb.  I had a container of it in the basement freezer for just this occasion.  Yesterday, I took it out of the freezer to thaw.

This afternoon, after he arrived here, I emptied the container into a pot to reheat the stew.  Imagine my embarrassment when it turned out I had thawed a container of vegetarian bean/lentil stew.  Ever the gentleman, he minimized my error, saying he was happy with the change in menu.

Lessons learned?  Always label everything you put in the freezer.  Looks can be deceiving.  As Kathleen Hall Jamieson once said, the assumption that seeing is believing makes us susceptible to visual deceptions.  Or, in my case, all stews look the same when frozen. 

A Distant Memory

Christmas flashed by this year.  It may only be December 28th but it already feels like Christmas was a long time ago.  Except for one thing: I still feel full.  We certainly live in a land of plenty.  At least, most of us do.

Today, while Margaret's away skiing for a few days, I drove out to Carman to visit friends.  It was a great day for a drive, too: sunny and mild.  Holly rode shot-gun with me.  I had a wonderful lunch with Karen, visited Alex and Pam to wish them the best and drop off some books for them, and stopped in to see Denis and Gwen.  I did go to the Coop to visit some clerks there that I know but they weren't around; instead, there were a bunch of young ladies learning to be cashiers.

All in all, a great day ...

Boxing Day

Yes, Christmas 2010 is now history and we're celebrating Boxing Day.  I just did a Google search on "Boxing Day" and was surprised at how wrong I was as to its meaning.  I won't spoil your fun; I'll let you do the same search and find out for yourself.  You'll discover some interesting trivia along the way.

I suppose the shopping malls will be packed today with people searching for bargains and spending all those gift cards that came their way yesterday.  I won't be among the crowds today.  I can wait until sometime in January when the dust settles again.  I've had my fill of shopping and crowds lately (it doesn't take much with me).

So, what am I going to do today?  Maybe, do the dishes, wash some laundry; maybe, even vacuum.  Then again, I may just finish that book I started just before Santa came down the chimney.  Such an exciting life I live.

Merry Christmas!

One more sleep and it will be Christmas.  It's almost hard to believe that it's already Christmas Eve.  Where did the time go?  And, no, I'm not quite ready.  I have a few last minute things to do before I head over to Margaret's with supper.  I just returned from Sushi Park with an interesting variety of items for our supper.  Not quite the Italian feast of seven fish but there is some seafood in the mix.

After supper, Marg and I plan to attend the Christmas Eve service and listen to the choir at Charleswood United Church.  Then, we'll return to her place to open our gifts and to get a few more things ready for tomorrow.  On Christmas Day morning, I'll be heading out to LaSalle to have brunch and open gifts with my family.  Later, I'll head back to Margaret's to help her finish preparing dinner for her family, coming in from the Portage area in the afternoon.

I'm not sure who all will be reading this post but I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy holiday.

Gratitude to the Farmers of the World

We are so fortunate to live in Canada.  There is so much to be thankful for in our daily lives.  The other day, while at my local Safeway, I was wandering through the produce area, looking at all of the fresh fruits and vegetables from all over the world.

Although we get most of our standard vegetables from Manitoba farms located within one hundred miles of the city, these vegetables are supplemented during the winter from the US, Mexico and several South American countries.  Similarly, most of our fresh fruit comes from these countries and even from several Asian countries.

During the summer, I can go out to the backyard and pick a handful of fresh, sweet raspberries from the garden.  But, now, while the garden is under a foot or so of snow, I can still have a bowl of raspberries and milk for dessert simply by picking up a package at the supermarket.

It's really amazing how lucky we are to be able to purchase the produce from farmers worldwide.

Happy Winter, everyone!

It feels strange wishing everyone a Happy Winter.  It has been "winter" here in Winnipeg for many weeks already.  And, the snow last night didn't help.  On this, the shortest 'day' of the year, I thought I'd post a photo I took last July (about a month after the summer solstice, when I was probably complaining about the heat!).

Perhaps, it'll make you think of warmer, sunnier days when the flowers are blooming in profusion in your garden.  It really won't be long before ours days do get brighter and warmer.  After all, from today forward, each 'day' will get slightly longer.

Suffering from a cold?

Colds are circulating everywhere these days.  I know because I've had one for about a week.  My symptoms have been a cough, sore throat, runny nose, sneezing, and general fatigue. Colds are supposed to last for about a week or so and then disappear.  If that's true, I'll be fine by Christmas Day.  I hope so because I certainly don't want to spread it to others in my family.

I know that most 'cold remedies' don't work.  It's a virus and there are no anti-virals for the common cold viruses.  But, that hasn't stopped me from trying different things to minimize the symptoms.

I've been drinking lots of liquids, including orange juice (and, yes, coffee), taking my vitamins, taking a Tylenol to help sleep better, and using a cough syrup to ease my sore throat.  I also tried NeoCitran as a hot drink.  Some people like it; I don't.  I'd rather drink a more palatable cup of tea.

I am definitely getting better.  Funny how time cures most things, including the common cold.  Good thing because there are now only five more sleeps before Christmas.

Only six more sleeps ...

... and, it will be Christmas!  All of a sudden, it's almost Christmas.  Wow!  It's really hard for me to believe.  The weeks leading up to now sure went by fast.  It seemed like it was always so far in the future that I hardly thought about it.  At least, I'm ready for it this year.

This week, all I have to do is make sure the larder is well stocked, wrap a couple of small presents, tidy up around the house (actually, that could take some time!), do some baking, and make sure I iron a few clothes for times when people visit and for times when I go visiting.  Hmmm ... maybe, I'm not as ready as I think.

The funny thing is that I know Christmas Day will go by very fast.  I also know that I will eat way too much because there will be so much good stuff around.  That happens every year.  Then, the malls will be teeming with crowds of people looking for Boxing Week bargains.  Remember when the sales were limited to just Boxing Day?  Hah!  I remember when the stores were closed on both Christmas and Boxing Day!

I suppose what I look least forward to is that long January/February stretch of winter when Winnipeg gets extremely cold and experiences one or two serious blizzards.  By the end of March, we'll really be eager for some milder weather and the first hints of spring.

Well, more than enough said ... guess I'll just go and get some sleep now.

Turning Over a New Leaf

When you decide to do something different to change your life for the better, you are turning over a new leaf.  As 2011 approaches, I, like most people, start to think about New Year's resolutions.

Over the years, I've made many New Year's resolutions.  Besides the fact that I never followed through with most of them, I've noticed that, as I got older and older, I made fewer and fewer of these resolutions.

Did you know that studies have been done of this subject and that fewer than 12% of the people studied kept their resolutions?  These people who did keep their resolutions, for the most part, looked on their resolutions as goals for the year.

I have, in the recent past few years, written down my goals for the year.  Doing so certainly helped me to reach some of them.  During the year, I would review my goals and see how I was doing.  Some goals were reached; others were revised; others were not achieved.

So, for 2011, I resolve not to make any foolish New Year's resolutions.  I certainly have some personal goals for 2011.  But, I won't be talking to anyone about them.  I'll just monitor my progress quietly and see how I do.  It worked well for me in 2010 so, maybe, it'll work well for me in the coming year.

You've got mail!

These days, I rarely get snail mail, unless it's a bill.  The norm is email and instant messaging. But, recently, I got a Christmas card, with enclosures, from my cousin, Barb.  She always sends me a card at this time of year.  In fact, I think I've gotten one from her for every year since I last saw her.  And, that was about 30 years ago.

This year, the card was even more special because it included both her Christmas letter and some special black and white photos.

Two of the three photos were of my mom and dad, taken in Toronto in 1940.  The third was of mom and dad plus dad's sisters, May and Bernice.  I will treasure all of these pictures.

Thank you so much, Barb.

Book Marks

Most people know that I read a lot of books.  I probably average two books a week.  What you might not know is that I can also go through a lot of book marks in year.

I used to buy most of my books from McNally-Robinson Booksellers, here in the city.  Every book that I bought came with a McN-R book mark.  With retirement came a tighter budget.  That meant relying more and more on the local library.

Carman had a nice little library, housed in the old post office building.  I really enjoyed going into this heritage building and dealing with the wonderful people that worked there.

When I lived in Carman, it didn't take too many years before I exhausted their supply of really interesting books.

Now that I live in Winnipeg, there's no shortage of library books to read.  Even my local branch, here in Charleswood, is replete with great books.  I can still get book marks from the library but, mostly, I just use special book marks that were given to me over the years by friends.

All Thumbs

Why is it that we men have such a hard time wrapping Christmas presents?  Sure, we can wrap them.  But, they never look like they were wrapped right.  Our gift wrapping never really looks 'good'.

Maybe, that's why gift cards are so popular these days.  You stick it in a Christmas card, write a short note, stick the card in an envelop, and hand the present over on Christmas morning.

Gift cards work well with teenagers.  They always want to go and get what they want.  Of course, that would never work with your 'significant other'.  Try a give card there and, next thing you know, you're in the dog-house.

Hope you all get what you wish for this Christmas and that it comes nicely wrapped!

Christmas Greetings from a Friend

Today, I received the following Christmas greeting from a photographer friend, named Carlos Vieira, in Rio de Janeiro.  It was so charming, I thought I'd quote it, in its entirety, here:

"I wish that this Christmas, I could put a tree on my hearth and there hang, instead of balls, the names of all my friends. Friends from far away, near friends. The old ones and the new ones. Those that I see everyday and those that I seldom see. Those always remembered and those that sometimes are forgotten. Those from the difficult times and those from the happy hours. Those that, not wishing at all, I hurt, or those that also not wishing, hurt me. Those that I know deeply and those that I know only by their appearance. Those that owe me very little, and those that I owe a lot. My humble friends and my important friends. The names of all that passed through my life. A tree with very deep roots so that their names shall never be torn from my hearth. With very long branches so that new names coming from all parts may join the existent. A tree with a very nice shadow to wrap all of us this Christmas".

Soup Season

Yesterday, while watching Michael Smith on 'Chef at Home', I decided to make a split pea soup that he demonstrated.  With the cold weather we've been having lately, a soup sounded pretty good to me.  So, this morning, I took out a package of frozen bacon to thaw.  It, with onions, carrots, thyme, and bay leaves, will be the flavour base for the soup.  He used split green peas but I only have yellow on the shelf so I'll just use what I have.  A nutritious soup and salad for supper, coming right up!

Today, I also hope to run a few errands.  It's been awhile since I've been anywhere but here at home so I'm looking forward to getting out.  I'm actually looking forward to doing a bit of grocery shopping and picking up a couple of small gifts that I still need to get for Christmas.  As someone pointed out to me recently, there are only ten days left before Christmas!

What to make for supper?

Tonight, I think I'll make a variation of my Chinese comfort food dinner.  Pass on the chicken this time.  Maybe, a spicy shrimp dish instead, to go with the coconut rice and veggie stir-fry?  Thinking about that makes me salivate so that's what it'll be!

I must be getting over my cold if real food is starting to appeal to me again.  To all of you out there who are bleary-eyed, sniffling and coughing, take heart: it'll be over soon ...

Gratitude

A popular theme these days amongst Flickr photographers is "30 days of gratitude".  Each day, the photographer posts an image, with text, about something they're grateful for in their lives.  The 'things' people express their gratitude for is interesting.

Some things you would expect; some you wouldn't.  They include health, family, husbands, wives, children, grandchildren, friends, veterans, pets, simple pleasures, sunny skies, comfort, good memories, vacations, worthwhile endeavours, patience, a sense of humor, cameras, creativity, employment, books, trees, flowers, soup, coffee, chocolate, hot chocolate, hopes, dreams, and thoughtfulness.  The list is almost endless.

The most frequent things people are grateful for, as you might expect, are spouses, family, and friends.  And rightly so.

As Thomas Merton (the writer, thinker, and Trappist monk) once said, "gratitude takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God".

Brr ...

As I write this, (very) early Sunday morning, it's -28C outside, with a windchill of -38C.  Yes, Martha, that's really cold!  To make matters worse, I'm typing this while sipping on my cup of NeoCitran.  Yes, I now have a bit of a cold.

Margaret and I joined her sister Cathy and her husband Ian and their three daughters on Friday night to celebrate their 22nd wedding anniversary at The Peasant Cookery.  We shared some very good food and fellowship, in spite of the cold weather.  And, last night, Margaret came over to my place and cooked up an equally great meal for just the two of us.  Margaret is just getting over her cold so was feeling quite perky after five days of low energy.  Me, I'm just starting down that road.  But, I was certainly glad for her company.

Today, as my energy slowly ebbs away, I can think of nothing finer than a series of drinks of coffee, hot chocolate, and NeoCitran, as I read in a warm, comfortable bed.  Maybe, a hot toddy, too.  A little mix of tea, whiskey, lemon, and honey sounds pretty good right now.

Flickring

Today, like many days, I spent a lot of time (too much?!) looking at photographs on Flickr.  Maybe, there should be a Flickr Anonymous group for people like me, addicted to looking at images?  I do it because I enjoy it but I know I could be doing more productive things (e.g., making my own images).

All this looking at Flickr images has given me many ideas on ways to photograph 'things'.  Mainly, still life images.  This is an area of photography I've more-or-less neglected over the years but that I now want to involve myself in more.

Still life photography is usually the depiction of a small grouping of objects.  It gives the photographer considerable leeway in the arrangement of design elements within a composition.  It also allows one to play with the lighting on the these elements.  It also means you have to collect and assemble the props you want to use and you have to set them up on an appropriate surface.

If you , like me, have collections of various things, you probably have all the props you need.  I certainly have lots of "things" around the house to use.  I could also make some interesting still life images using fruits, vegetables, or other foods.  Surfaces on which to place these objects are another matter.  I'm still thinking that problem through.

Now that winter is here and outdoor photography is more of a physical challenge, I'm looking forward to making still life images in the comfort and warmth of my home.  And, yes, some of those future images will appear here.  Actually, you've probably already noticed that a few of my still life images have appeared here already.  Hopefully, in the future, I'll be able to post more and better images.

Christmas is Coming

Our Christmas tree is decorated.  The gifts are wrapped (well, most of them, anyways) and under the tree.  There's at least a foot of snow on the ground.  More and more sale fliers and coupons are being dumped in the mail-box daily.  Some Christmas cards and letters have come in the mail.  All the radio stations seem to be playing Christmas music.  Recipes are being reviewed and selected for the big dinner.

Hmmm ... I guess that Christmas must be getting close.

Looking Below the Surface

Often, we don't take time to look below the surface.  While visiting my friend, Vladimyr, last weekend, I was looking at his ude for a few minutes while he was in his kitchen, making a pot of coffee.  I noticed that there seemed to be some paper strips with writing on them in the area below the sound hole or mouth of his ude.  Having my pocket camera handy, I took a shot of the sound hole (unbeknown to Vladimir) and, later at home, was able to better see the writing through the grid.  It gave the address of the ude maker in Istanbul written on thin strips of paper glued to the bottom of the sound chamber.

By email the next day, I asked Vlad if he knew what was written inside his ude.  He was totally shocked and thoroughly impressed that I might know that there was something there.  I haven't told him yet how I knew this.  Sometimes, it's good to keep Vlad guessing and impressed with my knowledge.  The point of all this is that, sometimes, it's good to look below the surface, whether you're observing something or someone.  You might, as I did, learn something new.

On the other hand, I suppose there are times it might be best not to look below the surface.  You might be angered, disappointed, saddened, or even disgusted with what you see.  I know, for example, that I really don't want to lift up my carpeting and see what has been deposited there over the past 20 odd years.  Someday, when I change the carpeting, I'll leave that 'joy' to the carpet people.  And, I'm sure I don't want to know what's below the surface of some of the nasty people I've met over the years because, from what I have already seen, I suspect I would like them even less than I already do.

But, with some other people, I look forward to getting to know them better.  From what I've seen so far with these wonderful people, I expect I'll like them even more than I do now when I learn more about them.

Chicken Soup Helps Fight a Cold

That's what my mom used to tell me and that's what I tell everyone who is fighting off a cold.  So, today, learning that Margaret is battling a cold, I decided to make chicken soup.  Sort of a chicken vegetable and noodle soup, with lots of savory spices, so she'll be able to taste it.  Knowing also that she's probably already 'given' her cold to me, the soup is intended to build up my resistance to those nasty germs also.

How about you?  Do you believe chicken soup fights colds?

"So Busy"

How often do we hear these words from people we know?  Everyone seems to be 'so busy' these days.  It makes me smile when I think of that famous anonymous quote, "Leonardo Da Vinci accomplished amazing things ... of course, back then, there were 24 hours in a day".

There are all sorts of reasons why we are 'so busy'.  Sometimes, we don't learn something and have to relearn how to do it, over and over.  Sometimes, we choose the 'wrong' things to work on; we lose sight of the priorities in our lives.  Sometimes, we do more and more because everyone expects it of us.  Then, we get overloaded and get less done.  We often say 'yes' to everyone about everything.  Have we forgotten to say, 'sorry, no'?  I know one of my problems is I have too much 'stuff and things', each of which requires maintenance time, if only dusting and putting putting it away after I use it.  Much of the higher tech stuff also requires that I learn how to use it.  That takes time if only because I'm a slow learner.

There is an old proverb somewhere that says, "to accomplish more, do less".  So, I'm working on that, among many other things, right now ...

Birthday Bling

My grand-son, Alex, celebrated his third birthday last Saturday.  His mom and dad invited some friends and relatives, with their kids, to come over for the party.  I, of course, came over with my camera.  It was a chance to see their newly-built home and all of them.  And, to add to my growing photo record of Alex.  I took dozens of shots but this is my favorite of the bunch:

In this photo, Alex is responding to the question his Uncle Mike asked, "how old are you now, Alex?"  Three fingers were raised, with a hint of a smile.

Hallelujah

For my Christian family and friends, I recommend checking out this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE

Hundreds of unsuspecting shoppers got a big surprise while enjoying their lunch at a food court. Over 100 participants sang the Hallelujah Chorus in this awesome performance on YouTube.  If this doesn't put you in the Christmas mood, nothing will.

For my non-Christian family and friends, I hope you have a great day.

How Can I Fly Like An Eagle ...

... if I'm surrounded by turkeys?  I've been thinking a lot about turkeys today, for some reason.  Maybe, it was because I was in the meat department at our local Safeway today, trying to decide what meats to stock up my freezer with.  Or, maybe it was that cooking magazine I glanced at as I was checking out.  It featured every way you could cook a turkey for Christmas.

Later, when I unpacked and put away all the groceries, I started thinking about this blog post.  Turkeys kept coming to mind.  By the way, I've never cooked one.  Maybe, it's time I learned.  Anyways, a picture I took, back when I lived near Carman, came to mind.  Turkeys used to appear in the yard every year.  Sometimes, mating groups; sometimes, a female with young.  I rarely had time to photograph them.  But, one day, I couldn't resist.  From the kitchen window, I spotted a turkey up on the picnic table out back so I snapped this shot.

Who knows why it decided the old picnic table would be a great place to stand around for awhile.  Maybe, it was checking out the nearby bird feeder to see what was on the menu?  And, no, I didn't buy a turkey today.  Maybe, soon, though ...