Happy Birthday, Queen Victoria!

Queen Victoria was born on 24 May 1819. She became Queen on the death of her uncle, King William IV, in 1837, and presided over Great Britain and it's extensive Empire until her death in 1901.

And here in Canada, we still celebrate her birthday with the first long weekend of the summer, the Victoria Day weekend, despite the fact that Good Queen Vicky has been dead and gone for 110 years. Any excuse for a day off.... thank you Queen Victoria!

Victoria Day is the traditional day in Canada for fireworks. There's no evidence that Queen Vicky had an opinion one way or another about fireworks, but we love 'em!.

After letting off some awesome fireworks in OlderSon's front yard, (TessaDog had to be shut in the bathroom to avert a doggy panic attack) we broke out the sparklers. No firework display is complete without sparklers!



It was fun for all the kids, big and small.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game....

Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and Crackerjack....

Well, we had peanuts and beer instead of Crackerjack. It was Toronto Blue Jays vs. Tampa Bay Rays. Jays and Rays... ha ha that rhymes! The stadium roof was open, although it doesn't look like it in this photo.

It was a good game, but over far too fast, too many scoreless innings. However we saw 4 home runs (2 for us, Rivera and Arencibia, 2 for them, Upton and Shoppach). Jays win, 3 to 2! It's always good when the home team wins.

Callum was kept busy with grapes, peanuts, a giant hot dog and yellow liquorice strings. Yuk! He went home with a ball that had been used in batting practice, given to him by one of the staff.
Last time we were at a Jays game, he went home with an actual game ball caught by ACE, the Jays mascot. This was his third MLB baseball taken home from a Jays game. That's an impressive haul for someone who's only 3.

Gloxinia

The annual neighbourhood Variety Show is over for another year, and my involvement as Producer has come to an end. I've done the job for 3 years, and now it's time for someone else to take over the Producer's duties.
The pay is terrible. Each year I insist on getting a 10% raise but 10% of nothing is still nothing!

My sweet DIL, The Equestrienne, gave me this lovely flowering plant to mark the occasion.
Thank you, thank you, it's gorgeous!

BOOT - i - ful!

Isaac is getting ready to be a Big Boy by clumping round the house in Daddy's workboots. After all, he'll be TWO in another couple of weeks. That's when Official Big Boy Status is attained.

Meanwhile, I've been the worst blogger ever by not posting for weeks on end. Life has been a bit too complicated recently. But I promise to mend my ways now that Spring is finally here. Lots to post about... stay tuned, fellow bloggers!

The Royal Wedding

I struggled out of bed bleary eyed this morning at 5:30am, and joined the millions of people round the world sitting in front of TV sets to watch the Event of the Century (well, the century so far anyway!) . My personal invitation to the Royal Wedding must have got lost in the mail, so I made myself comfy on the couch with a hot coffee and a toasted buttered hot cross bun.

The bride was stunning in such a beautiful wedding dress, simple but oh so elegant. And the groom... so handsome in the dress uniform of the Irish Guards. They certainly are a good looking couple.

The best part of the wedding.... the moment when Will put the ring on her finger and it wouldn't go on smoothly. When my parents married back in 1941, my father had the same problem.... the ring wouldn't go on. The minister's whispered advice: "Spit on it! Spit on it!" Desperate times require desperate measures. Luckily, Will didn't have to resort to that.

Another great moment was of course the eagerly anticipated Royal Kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, but what really brought a lump to my throat was the flypast of three WWII fighter planes from the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, a Hurricane, a Spitfire and a Lancaster. It made me proud to be British!

I watched it all on CTV... but why oh why did they invite Tracy Ullman to be part of the commentary? She just didn't project the right spirit at all. Oh well, just my opinion, I'm sure lots of people liked her inane comments. I think she'd had too much bubbly.
(Royal Kiss Picture from CTV News)

It's About Time

This "one-of-a-kind" sundial on the wall of the local Richardson Lodge Masonic Hall was unveiled and dedicated in June 2010, and commemorated 150 years as a Masonic Lodge.

It consists of a 6' x 4' granite slab supported by a column facing due south, and shows the time and the season.
I'm wondering about the significance of the quote "As Above, So Below".
Can you tell the time I was there with my camera?

Spaghetti Harvest

The Spring Spaghetti harvest is in.

The Second Community Spaghetti Dinner happened in town earlier this week.
I wrote about the First Community Spaghetti Dinner here. This time I remembered my camera.

This plateful cost $1.00. Yes, that's right, a whole $1.00!

Spaghetti with meat sauce, calabrese bread and fresh spinach salad. And there was plenty for everyone. Long tables were set up in the Lions Club Hall, and neighbours ate with neighbours, making new friends in the community along the way. Toys were provided for the children to keep them busy while people got to know each other.

YoungerSon, The Bride and Isaac enjoyed the spaghetti too, with some friends joining us around the table. And when the spaghetti was all eaten up, there was a choice of tea or coffee and a selection of cookies and cupcakes for those who still had an extra corner to fill.

Isaac had enough room for a giant chocolate cookie.

Proceeds go to the local Food Bank. But it isn't just the Food Bank that benefits from this kind of event. Bringing the community together and making new friends is a great idea. Hats off to the organisers of this event.... may there be many more!