Beauty in the Ordinary

This is not about being brilliant, or extraordinary, it's not about wanting to be famous, or making headlines, or trying to impress...this about sharing a 'gift' each day with the world...to lift the spirit of people when they read this blog, to show them the beauty in the ordinary.
"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it." Raold Dahl

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Canada Eh!




Trish over at 'Apeonyprincess' just posted about two wonderful Canadian novels, which made me think about one of my favourite Canadian tv sitcoms...Corner Gas. I had just finished laughing my self silly while watching a current episode.
Here's the gang -


It's a classic...set in rural town in Dog River, Saskatchewan, it depicts the quirky lives of this small town in the middle of the Canadian Prairies.
So Lacy runs The Ruby Cafe, Brent runs the Corner Gas station, Wanda works for Brent, Davis and Karen are the Dog River Police Dept. Emma and Oscar are Brents parents, and Hank is Brent's best bud. Perhaps it is the Canadian version of 'Seinfield'... I don't know, I just know
I love it!



Tonight the gang had their first baseball game of the season, it made me think of my kids and their baseball team 'Scared Hitless'! See here http://lifessweetsimplicities.blogspot.com/2011/03/lets-play-ball.html#comments.

My favourite character is Wanda...she cracks me up!


I remember seeing Brent perform as a stand up comic before his tv debut. Loved him then, love him now. And the best part is that Wanda and Brent and married in real life.

So if you've never tuned in to this very funny Canadian show, pour yourself a cup of joe, grab yourself one of Brents favourite chili cheese dogs, curl up on the couch and enjoy an episode of Corner Gas.

Victoria





Wednesday, March 30, 2011

A Message from Masaru Emoto

To All People Around the World
Please send your prayers of love and gratitude to water at the
nuclear plants in Fukushima, Japan!

By the massive earthquakes of Magnitude 9 and surreal massive
tsunamis, more than 10,000 people are still missing…even now…

It has been 16 days already since the disaster happened.

What makes it worse is that water at the reactors of Fukushima Nuclear Plants

started to leak, and it’s contaminating the ocean, air and water
molecule of surrounding areas.

Human wisdom has not been able to do much to solve the problem, but
we are only trying to cool down the anger of radioactive materials
in the reactors by discharging water to them.

Is there really nothing else to do?

I think there is. During over twenty year research of hado measuring
and water crystal photographic technology, I have been witnessing
that water can turn positive when it receives pure vibration of
human prayer no matter how far away it is.

Energy formula of Albert Einstein, E=MC2 really means that

Energy =number of people and the square of people’s consciousness.

Now is the time to understand the true meaning.

Let us all join the

prayer ceremony as fellow citizens of the planet earth.

I would

like to ask all people, not just in Japan, but all around the world

to please help us to find a way out the crisis of this planet!!

The prayer procedure is as follows.

Name of ceremony:
“Let’s send our thoughts of love and gratitude to all water in the

nuclear plants in Fukushima”

Day and Time:
March 31st, 2011 (Thursday)
12:00 noon in each time zone

Please say the following phrase:
“The water of Fukushima Nuclear Plant, we are sorry to make you
suffer. Please forgive us. We thank you, and we love you.”

Please say it aloud or in your mind. Repeat it three times as you
put your hands together in a prayer position.

Please offer your sincere prayer.

Thank you very much from my heart.

With love and gratitude,

Masaru Emoto
Messenger of Water


Victoria


Saturday, March 26, 2011

I need some time...

Going away...


taking some time for myself...




reconnecting...


resting...



reviving...





see you all soon...


love j.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Pets!




First, a confession...I don't have a pet.

But I do have 

A Grandpuppy


Miss Daisy


and a Grandkitten


Hankypants


...they are great sisters.



This was one of our first pets when V. and I were growing up...

Jamie, a black poodle.

A really smart dog.



We also had an afghan hound, Kahli,
a not so smart dog, who kept running away.

Our dad was really sick at the time and forever trying to find the dog was a stress Mum didn't need.  So to try and discourage this aberrant behaviour, the vet recommended getting a companion for the afghan.  Being responsible pet-owners, Mum and Dad bought Jamie.

He was so smart, 
he would pull down the rope that restrained the afghan;
Kahli would chew through it; 
and the two of them would run off! 

Pets!

This is my submission, this week for

and just for a laugh, if you get the chance, watch the 
old BBC series Auf Wiedersehen Pet

absolutely nothing to do with animals...well sort of!


Thursday, March 24, 2011


Ok I'm signed up...
It's now official I'm running the TC 10k!
May 1, 2011

Clever daughter and Talented daughter-in-law
have encouraged me
to join them and run the race!

I do have a bit of experience,
having run two half marathons
and one previous 10k race,
but that was a long time ago.

But with only 37 days to go
Clever daughter has had me out
training for the past three days.
Starting with a nice easy pace on a 6k trail
around Thetis Lake.

I'm pumped up and ready to go!

I'll keep you posted on my progress,
Wish me well!
Victoria

In Like A Lamb...

Yes, I know,
I've been wingeing a lot about the weather.
About the absence of Spring,
about the endless snow and cold.

But this morning as I walked,
I had a little chat with myself.


Regardless of the temperatures,
the snow really is breathtakingly beautiful.


One of our local cardinals serenading me on my way.


This little stream that is usually muddy and ordinary looked all dressed up.


I found this old abandoned well that I hadn't seen before.


As I walked past a couple of the more prominent local vineyards
Stratus,




and Jackson Triggs,


I noticed the workers in fields, readying the vines for this year's harvest.


The temperatures didn't seem to bother them at all.

The sun is shining and a lot of the snow that fell yesterday
is melted already.


So March who tiptoed in like a lamb


is roaring out like a lion.
Good for her!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Our Cup Runneth Over...

Today has been abundant.
First Chania, from the ever beautiful blog


has declared us a winner of her


PAY IT FORWARD GIVEAWAY

Thank you Chania!

...and then...


beautiful Jeanne at


sent us some



How lucky are we!
Thank you Jeanne!

Now V., and I have to put our two little blonde heads together
and figure out who? how? we are going to Pay it Forward to,
and where we are going to spread the Bloglove.

What two lovely things to have happen on
this cold and snowy day!


So Much for Spring!

This is the view from my front
door this morning.  It started snowing last night and is forecast
to continue all day.


The artifical pear tree is in bud...I hope it survives...






My birdbath is waiting to be filled
with fresh, warm water...enough with freezing snow and ice.







 My garden furniture is
waiting for me to be sitting there, soaking in the afternoon sun,
sipping an ice-cold sauvignon blanc.



Wishing and waiting...sigh...

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Grandparents


this morning has me reminiscing about my grandparents
and trying to remember what I knew about them.


Mum's mum, Jessica (pictured here with my Uncle Lindsay)
was crippled with rheumetoid arthritis by the time I entered life.
I never saw this woman stand and she died when I was quite young.
The thing I remember most was the carved-wooden backscratcher that used to hang on her wheelchair.  It was long with a curved hand at one end.  
I think I've had nightmares about that thing.


This is Mum's dad, Sydney.  He used to scare me.  Although smiling in this photo, I truly have no memory of ever seeing him smile!
He was a train driver.  Even though he and Jessica were only children they raised 12 children of their own.
His house always smelled of cucumber sandwiches and he had a beautiful
mantle clock that would chime every quarter-hour.


My dad's family lived a whopping three-hour drive away from us
on Canvey Island.  They were made homeless during the flood of 1953, along with my aunt and uncles, and my parents.
My grandparents, Uncle Terry, Uncle Phil and Aunty Betty returned to re-build. My parents moved to Southampton.



  Visiting them was always an expedition. Dad would throw us all in the car and we would be off to Nanny and Grandad's driving through the Blackwall Tunnel where Dad would tell us all to duck our heads in case the river above came down as we drove through at top-speed.



This is Dad's dad, Victor...it was only recently I found
out his first name was Nelson.
He lost half of his index finger of his right hand in some machine-related
accident and it would fascinate me to watch him roll his cigarettes with the
stump of that finger.
He always brought us grandkids chocolates when we came to visit.  I don't
remember much else about him, but I have nice feelings of those memories.


And last, but certainly not least is Dad's mum May.
She probably wasn't more that 5 feet tall, but
no one messed with May.  I can still hear her
yelling "Vic...where the hell are you?"  in her strong cockney accent.

She taught me the children's poem:

"Little fly upon the wall,
Ain't you got no clothes at all?
Ain't you got no shimmy-shirt?
Ain't you got no coat and skirt?
Ain't you bloomin' cold?"

I remember going winkling with Nanny on the windy beaches of Canvey Island,



and early morning breakfasts of eggs and bacon and trenchers of the toasted bread we had just fetched from the bakery.  She had a rough way of handling you, as if the only way to show you her love was to make you almost cry.

She was only in her sixties when she died, just the year after my Dad
passed away.

All relationships are important, they form the colours in the tapestry of our lives, so no matter how brief, no matter how few memories, I cherish what I do have of each of these relationships with my grandparents.
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