SHINE A LITTLE LIGHT

Lulu is doing her growl/grunt noise which means "get out of bed and take me for a walk." I can only ignore it for so long so up I get and out into the cold, dark morning.  The wind is biting and warning me of worse things to come. The stars are abundant and I pick out the dipper, Orion's belt and bow and Cassiopeia. Lulu is oblivious to the beauty above her, nose to the ground and chasing leaves!

Back home for coffee, I turn on the fireplace and light some candles. Time to shine a little light. 

I'm not big on shopping. The mall holds very little interest for me. Shoes and Jewelry are not even remotely in my top 10 list. And I'm not a light scented candles all the time all over the house type either (case you are wondering I am female, sometimes I wonder myself, but I checked to make sure). 

But it is dark and a little light shining in the dark can make a huge difference!

Here is another example. I helped out at the "Ride for Refuge" yesterday. This is a fundraiser to support people who are "displaced, vulnerable and exploited." Local funds will help support "Nightlight" the drop in centre downtown where I volunteer. 

Here is Lydia and I providing maps, water and direction.  

We were also trying to stay warm so there are abundant blankets around us but we threw them off for the photo! 

And there go some of our riders!!

These people have raised funds for the cause and are now off to pay the piper and do a 10, 25 and some even 50 km bike ride. Shine a little light!!

Lastly, I received an email some time ago. It was forwarded by a missionary I know from one of her co-labourers, a man I've never met, or even heard of. But somehow my name came up and he was praying for me. She forwarded me his prayer (translated from spanish) and here it is: 

Dear Cyndi,

I pray so that God make the miracle you are expecting so that you feel that even His silence has been the evidence that He is listening attentively when you spill your heart. I pray so that you understand that if you see only the steps of one person in your path they are not yours, but the Jesus who takes you in His arms.    
In the name of Jesus Amen.     

This stranger in another part of the earth encouraged me greatly. I was humbled, actually. 

Somewhere someone is thinking of you, and will shine a little light in your time of darkness. At the very least, it is probably your Mom! Remember to do the same!

SNAP SHOTS!

It is early evening and I'm in the kitchen making supper. The smell of roasted rosemary chicken is coming from the oven and I can also smell the fresh carrots I'm cutting up.  Adrian has come home to look at wedding venues and his fiance and Randi's husband are both working so it is just the 4 of us, the original family unit, for dinner.

I set the table and place the chicken in the middle. 

This is a good moment. A snap shot in my life where all is safe and  at peace. But how quickly the time flew by! Wasn't I just tucking my kids into bed after hugs and prayers? Wasn't I just scooping them out of bath tubs and wrapping them in fluffy towels?? 

So here's a snap shot history of my summer. Things that made me feel content or happy. Scroll down and blink and it will be over in less than 5 minutes!

Our dessert after roast chicken. Peach crisp and ice cream! If that doesn't make you happy, I don't know what will

Bee balm

Hydrangea. Always a pleasure to watch what's growing in your garden

A good game of Settlers. Played outside cause it was too hot inside!

A girl's night at the cottage with good food and one on one time with my daughter.

No. Not my car. But a very cool one nonetheless. Came across this during one of our trips to the County with friends

The best Latte I have ever had....so far. 

No. Not my bike. But a very cool one nonetheless. Spotted it during a walk on my lunch hour at work

Roasted Marshmallows and camping trips make me very content. 

I'm cheating a bit here. This was actually taken last year. But this is a very precious snap shot to me that captured a moment I hope never to forget. 

I know all you moms and dads with little ones that won't sleep or teenagers that are causing you great angst are thinking this will never end. But it will. And it does. In the blink of an eye.

 Quick - take a snap shot!

SAD BANANAS AND COLD, RAINY WEEKENDS

Last week was hot. Hot, Hot, Hot! On average, it felt like 36 Celsius (that's 96.8 for you farenheit folks). That means I spent most of last weekend doing afternoon napping. Too hot outside, too hot inside. 

But on Friday we took a nose dive and  Saturday and Sunday have been cold, wet and rainy. In fact, today most of Belleville is pretty sleepy cause in the middle of the night there was a fantastic electrical storm with thunder booms that shook, rattle and rolled us all. I was pretty sure I would wake up to see cindered trees and craters in the pavement from all those lightning bolts!

I've had a very busy week - out every night for one thing or another so after work on Friday I got groceries, went home and crashed. No reason to go anywhere except directly to the kitchen and putter! Besides, I've not done a foodie blog in a while.

I had a few things to use up. For some reason, bananas have fallen from grace in my house and they sadly turn brown utterly forgotten on their pretty platter until I move them into the freezer for their final demise. I also wanted to stock up on some vegetarian dishes for when they are needed.

First up was a chick pea, potato and cauliflower stew. This is supposed to have apple in it but I did not have one. Mango was up for grabs instead. This is a nice hearty vegetarian option!

Next was a squash soup (I threw in the rest of the cauliflower as well).

I like to add roasted sunflower seeds as a garnish for a nice crunch!

Then there were all those sad, brown bananas in the freezer waiting to be redeemed. So I made a chocolate banana cake with a cream cheese frosting:

And finally I finished the weekend with two loaves of banana bread - one with chocolate chips and one with pecans (special request). 

I froze the soup and stew for later use and the baked goods will be eaten up this week - either at church or the drop in Centre downtown or work. 

The moral of this blog is, if you are feeling forgotten remember the Bananas - they have the last word!

NIGHT RIDES AND SPIDERS

This past week I had to work the 12-8 shift - by no means my favourite but every now and then, it has to be done. By the time one gets to work everyone else is well into the groove of the day and just as you are starting to catch the beat, everyone is leaving!

It has been hot, hot, hot all week so I rode my bike most days. The only issue is by the time I'm leaving a little after 8, it's quite dark. Now back in my young and foolish days I would ride my bike in the dark all the time (and without a helmet!) but I'm older and more cautious now. Riding a bike in the dark feels, kind of risque. I kinda liked it! Look at me, zooming along in a perfect temperature, making all you poor people in cars nervous, unable to discern that big stick in my path until I barely have enough time to zip out of the way, making all you poor people in cars even more nervous. The one thing I did not like was all the bugs. No I could not see them but yes, I sure could feel them hitting my face. 

Which is my segue into spiders. I'm pretty sure I was hitting spiders. Big, fat ones, hanging from trees, minding their own business until, WHACK! Along comes some human on a bike out of nowhere. All I kept telling myself was "keep your mouth shut Cyndi, just keep your mouth shut!"

 In the morning, while I'm having coffee in the garden, big fat, contented spiders are hanging around everywhere, finely attuned to every vibration made in their elaborate glass houses. The other morning I watched a honey bee buzzing along and suddenly Mr. Bee was immobilized, caught in one of the big fat, contented spider's webs. Mr. Spider quickly scampered down to check out who was coming for dinner, was satisfied with today's catch and scampered back with glee to a corner, probably to assess what spices were on hand. I thought to myself, that spider is big and fat. Mr. Bee is, according to the world wide web, becoming obsolete. So I took a branch and removed the portion of the web holding Mr. Bee and helped him down to the ground, much to Mr. Spider's chagrin, I'm sure. 

Night rides and spiders. This would have made a great Halloween post. Alas, like coming to work on the 12-8 shift, I'm out of the groove!

PARTY, PARTY, PARTY!

Remember back in the day when it was Friday night and you could not wait to get out of school and there was a big party somewhere?
Ah....when I was young and energetic....

Well, I haven't done this in a while but that is what I did, all weekend. Party, Party, Party!

PARTY #1
It is the perfect temperature outside on Friday night and a big fat full moon to sweeten the deal. Right smack in the middle of downtown they have closed one of the Bridges and there is a party goin' on. 

We caught the last of the first set to listen to "Ed's Garage Band" rock out the Doobie Brothers. Everyone of all ages was having a good time!

PARTY #2
I was honoured to be a part of the "Greg Shepherd Memorial Ride" on Saturday morning. Greg was a young man who was killed in a motorcycle accident 2 years ago and was like a son to me (See my Blog "Fireflies"). I don't ride but I'm there with my daughter to help register people for the ride and breakfast or just make a donation or buy a T-Shirt. 

My beauty daughter keeping us all incredibly organized!

All monies raised go towards a bursary for the same program that Greg went through at Loyalist College and it is a great way to remember his spirit.

Here is a full group getting ready for the ride. Greg, I know you are watching and smiling!

PARTY #3
Ever heard of a Ceilidh? Me neither but basically it is a scotsman's idea of a party and our friends, Lori and Kevin decided to throw one! Actually, I'm not totally convinced it wasn't just a reason for Kevin to wear his kilt, but all the same - a lot of fun! Here are a couple of the laddies, dressed to kill (Lori, I stole your photo, fyi).

There was a surprise guest - a lone piper showed up much to the delight of our lovely hostess Lori! 

There was great food and other live scottish music as well. I brought along my tin whistle and spoons. I have not played the tin whistle in about 10 years and I've NEVER played the spoons but it was good fun joining in. 

So there you have it - party, party party! I've packed it all into one weekend. Now time to go back to work and rest up for next weekend! I'm not as young as I used to be!

OK SEPTEMBER, BRING IT ON!

We have been very blessed and fortunate to rent a beautiful little cottage each year, usually near the end of August. But it always sorta feels like the end of something, and not just summer, because September always feels like a new beginning. 

Cottage time forces me to slow down, to re-energize, to do nothing except relax, read, eat, swim and sleep. I'm winding down to this vague sense of an ending. 

My day would start with taking Lulu for a walk and then breakfast and coffee. My view was not my garden or out the front window, but this lake:

I have an hour or more if I like to just sit and watch the sun slowly climb in the sky, to listen to the loons and the lapping of the waves onto the shore. "Slow down Cyndi, slow down" they repetitively say to me. 

I get to spend time with my family and for those of you whose children have flown the coop, you know how precious that is. I was fortunate to have one night at the cottage just my daughter and I. 

We had a dinner on the dock, started watching Season 5 of Downton Abbey and ended the night with a Vim (a swim sans clothes). It was dark and very, VERY cold. We slipped into the water trying not to scream and looked up swimming into thousands upon thousands of stars over our heads. 

Games are always on the list at some point.

And naps are a must!

Swimming at least once a day is my only rule at the cottage. But it's usually something you have to work up to by first dangling your feet in the water before the big jump!

One more week and we are into September. My daughter Randi and her husband will both be starting work at a school I can literally see from my back yard. She has been away from home for 8 years, 3 of which have been overseas. It will be wonderful to have her nearby to come for dinner, or just hang out! My husband is out of work and in transition. We both need to adjust to whatever is next. New beginnings for us all. 

Bring it on September, bring it on. 

FOLLOWING GRANDMA'S ADVICE

I had to work this past weekend. It was abominably slow. On the positive side, seems my community was somewhat medically stable! All things status quo.

Since there was time to kill, I was having a discussion with my co-worker about teenagers and selfies and how incredibly confident (or incredibly narcissistic - Lauren, you might want to look that word up) they are getting their photo taken ALL the time. I was not not that comfortable with myself!

But my Grandma - now she was ahead of the curve on this one. She was a force to be reckoned with. An outspoken woman who served as a nurse most of her life and outlived two husbands (natural causes on both cases if you are getting any suspicions) Check out her photo:

A real knock out with to-die-for bone structure and bedroom eyes.

My grandma's advice, and I can still hear her voice in my head,
"Now you get your photo taken when you are 35! You are at the height of your beauty then so make sure you get that photo done!"

The photo above of my grandma was taken when she was 35 and obviously by a professional photographer. There are a few other photos from the same session, but I don't know who has them at this point. 

She must have been after her son, my Dad, as well. Cause here is a photo taken of my father probably in his 20s. Maybe that's when men are at the height of their beauty! 

Another professionally done photo. He's all business. The intrepid reporter Jack Evans. He's your man if you want the real story hunted down!

Well I do have a bit of rebel in me so I didn't exactly follow Grandma's advice. I did get a photo taken at 35, but there was nothing professional about it. Just went out in the yard with my monster lab Sam, sat on the ground and I think gave the camera to one of my kids or husband or whoever was around and said "Here, take my photo."

I may have to give account for this aberration when I next come up against the force known as "Grandma Evans."

So readers, in the midst of all these selfies, remember Grandma's advice - get that photo, a nice good photo, taken at the height of your beauty, at 35.