3G

I have some interesting tidbits to pass your way, so listen up. 

Pretty please.

~A Guidebook~

Have you heard about the Blog Guidebook?

They have lots of interesting tips for bloggers and they offer a free listing of your blog in one of their many blogging categories. And if you spread the word about their fantastic site, they'll include your button in one listing. This is a limited time offer, so hurry now!

~A Giveaway~

A very talented lady, Amy, at Eventyrhus is celebrating a fantastic milestone with a giveaway. She has reached 10,000 page views on her blog and is giving away an adorable shopping sack decorated with your choice of one of her many delightful photos. I have my choice picked out, but it wasn't easy!

Go here to see for yourself.

~A Gastronomic feat~

And the feat you ask? Gastronomic, nonetheless, you say?

After years of lackluster results, the spirits of the former farm wives roaming the old farmhouse have finally taken pity on me.

I introduce to you, mile high Yorkshire pudding or popovers as some people call them.

Just please don't tell me they're called toboggans. That could very well be the end of me.

The secret to my success?

Warm eggs.

Believe it or not.

~This post brought to you today by the letter G. It's Good~
 

{this moment} - Evening Stroll

I'm linking to Soulemama for a Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember.

 ~Happy Friday Friends!~

Rural Roams: Niagara Falls

Last weekend, we switched things up at the old farmhouse, I sort of insisted actually,

and all of the housework was finished on Friday night. 

Weekends are too short to spend half of it cleaning, while your other half

spends the day outside on pond duty.

Pond duty by the way involves chatting it up with the neighbour, offering him a beer and 

keeping him company by having one yourself. Just so we're clear on that.

With a whole day on our hands, we decided to go on a road trip. I pretty much agree to any suggestion of a road trip because first, the Artist always drives and after commuting all week, I'm ready to hand over the reins. And secondly, as surely you must know, I can take pictures.We're all the same, aren't we?

So join us as we take our first Rural Roams day trip. I hope to make this a regular feature; we all have a bit of history, grandeur and legend right in our own backyards, and by sharing with you, what's in my neck of the woods, perhaps it will inspire you to do the same. Some future roams include the homestead of Adelaide Hunter-Hoodless, founder of the Women's Institute and The Bell Homestead, home to Alexander Graham Bell.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rural Roams: Niagara Falls in Winter

To all of you who dared to guess, you were all correct. Niagara Falls was our destination. Your prize, should you ever decide to visit the real Rural Revival, live and in person...is a trip to Niagara Falls, with me.

For a couple of reasons, I thought it a brilliant idea when the Artist suggested we take a drive to the Falls. While I've been there more times than I count, I haven't visited very often in winter, and the twins, of course, need to visit this natural wonder of the world more often. They weren't really hyped up on the idea of going, but they didn't know how different the experience could be on the coldest weekend of the year.

For one, it's cold. Very cold. There were foot long icicles attached to every building. 

But that's okay, because it's also very quiet, except for the actual roar of the falls. You can stand at the railing and gaze out at the water without being accidentally jostled by the person next to you, or asked to take someones family portrait, or get captured for life in someone else's family portrait as you inadvertently walk in front of them. Trust me when I say, this lack of crowd is the number one reason to visit in January. 

Even when it's really cold.

Especially.

But wait, there's more. Imagine you and thousands of other people all wanting to get a closer look as the water tumbles down with a swiftness that makes all those waterfall nightmares come back to memory and then realizing there are only three scopes. For all of you. How wonderful then to have your pick of any scope you want, and being able to use it for free because it's frozen open. This my friends, only happens when it's really cold. 

Just remember to dress warmly, long underwear is essential, bring gloves for photo taking and mitts to warm your fingers up and always wear a toque. Yes, we call them toques. You can call it a hockey hat, but there's the possibility you might get a funny look, eh?

Maybe it's best if you wait til you're on the other side of the bridge and then call it a hockey hat or whatever you call it. What do you call it? 

By the way, I'll just mention this is the first time I've been near the border since I started blogging. Twelve hours from this spot to Tennessee. It was odd to be so close, yet still so far away. I waved, I did! 

Heading east away from the Falls, a lovely drive awaits you along the Niagara Parkway with many beautiful old homes, beautiful woodland and a plethora of farm gate sales.  It also leads you to the tourist mecca Niagara on the Lake. It was beautiful, it still is in some ways but it's more of a Disneyland beautiful. It's nice to see but leave your credit cards at home. There are more wineries than you can shake a stick at however, and they offer tours and tastings. Don't come all this way and miss this drive. In fact, bring a driver!

And if you really would like to get a feel for the area, the way it was at the turn of the last century.

I highly recommend you read 'The Day the Falls Stood Still' by Cathy Marie Buchanan. 

 

The story of a young girl coming of age in a city on the cusp of its own change, the hydroelectric age. It's a wonderful narrative of life in Niagara Falls as it was before the Falls were diminished by harnessing it's power for electricity and the controversy that surrounded it.

I hope you've enjoyed this little Rural Roam. 

I really do, 'cause then I didn't freeze my patootie off for nothing. 

 ~Keep on roaming!~
 

Thirds

Here's the deal, I'm slicing and dicing this post into a set of triplets. 

I have a trio of options and I'm presenting them all, sort of like the triple stakes. 

Except no one goes home empty handed.

Did you know good luck comes in threes? 

  1/3

The Thrive Project

This week's theme just happens to be about thirds. 

How's that for a coinkydink?

We went for a road trip on the weekend and a bevy of photos are forthcoming. 

Any idea where this photo is taken?

I'll give you a hint...That's the good old US of A in the background.

2/3

I received an award from my dear friend Chris at Red Gate Farm.

I'm supposed to tell you seven things you may not know about me. 

I feel a little deja vu happening; last time I did this I had to list ten items.

I like seven, it's not as nice as one or two but seven is okay. At least until seven eight nine.

Groan.

Here goes:

1. I'm a bad joke teller. Of course you just discovered that.

2. I played the flute in school and could not make a sound from it. Not one. 

3. I was a majorette, an uncoordinated, always running to catch up, majorette. With a big hat.

4. I kissed a whale. Killer. Salty. I really puckered up...groan, again. Told you.

5. In 1983 1982 (don't always trust google), my mom shared the same name as Miss Universe. It was weird.

6. In same said year, my Grandfather chauffeured Miss Universe and got her autograph for my mom. Even weirder since my mom already knew how to write her name. (just a little groan, k?)

7. I find it difficult to write uninteresting tidbits about myself.

And now I must pass this award on to seven more bloggers. 

Doesn't this remind you of a chain letter?

I hate chain letters, but what I do love is giving new (to me) bloggers some exposure, so here they are:

Wander Wonder Discover

Barn Talk

 Staci Leigh Photography

Scratch and Peck

The Fairy's Apprentice 

The Run A Round Ranch

Mandy's Rabbit Ranch

 Please be your regular cordial selves and pay them a visit. 

3/3

 Did you know I have a niece? 

I do!

And if you go here, you can see her enjoying the Christmas gift she received from Auntie.

 ~ Peace, love and harmony~

Dedicated?

Excuse me...

Miss?

I'm not sure if you realize this, but it's -20C before the windchill factor.

Today might not be the best day for working on your tan.

I do believe someone built you a finely constructed manger full of warm straw for just this sort of day.

 Oh, for the love of Pete, Callie will you just come inside! It's freezing out there!

'Who's Pete?'

'And more importantly, does he have treats?'

 ~Stay warm friends!~

{this moment} - Hitting the Trail

I'm linking to Soulemama for a Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember.

 ~Happy Friday Friends
...and I can't stay quiet...thank you for your comments on yesterday's post...I love you guys!~
 

Thrifty Thursday

 Recycling an Old Friendship

Born in the same year, we first met as newborns. Right from the very start, we never had much interest in each other. She seemed to get along quite well with my mom and my mom sure liked her but even from an early age, I could tell she was a wee bit complicated. So for those first few years, we remained in a state of blissful ignorance of each other and while our relationship wasn't very memorable, I can tell you that she was always hanging around. Always.

Eventually, I got a little older, a little less egocentric and it wasn't long before I started to become more aware of her presence. As I watched the relationship between my mom and her flourish, I suddenly had an urge to strengthen the bonds of friendship with her myself. Perhaps I had read her wrong, maybe she had a lot more to offer than I gave her credit for.

So I took the first step, offering her an olive branch of kindness loaded with big fat humbling olives. She seemed to accept my offer of a truce, almost more excited than I to end our unspoken vow of silence towards each other. My mom, so happy that at last a friendship might finally develop between her and I, eagerly reintroduced us to each other. She even took me aside, explaining that she understood my initial apprehensions all those years ago and that while she may have her little nuances, just as we all do, that in plain truth, she was a simple girl who just wanted to have fun. And tell me, what's so wrong about that?

So, one lovely Saturday afternoon, we sat down together at the dining room table and began to get to know each other better. At first things seemed to be progressing well and I wondered, how could I have misread her so? She was polished and refined in her own way and I admired her for her strength and many talents. But before long, it all came back to me. She was fickle, she liked things a certain way and she always wanted to travel at a certain speed but gosh darn if I could figure out what that was. Soon my patience was sorely tested and as my frustration grew my patience shortened more and more. Embarrassingly, I lost my cool. I was ten. It happens. Yet even more maddening was how she took it all in stride, not showing a single shred of emotion. So nonplussed was she about this whole situation that I doubted her sincerity from the very beginning. After that, I stayed away for a good many years. Her relationship with my mom came and went, my mom became busier with work outside the home, but whenever they did get together, everything fell into place as if they'd never missed a day apart.

Since then, memory has faded my disillusion and I have made a few attempts at rekindling a friendship. When the male twin was born, she helped me make a beautiful Christmas stocking for him but it wasn't easy sailing. My mom had to referee all of our time together, sort of odd since we were both in our thirties. 

Nowadays, as I try to revert to a home made life, here in the old farmhouse, there are so many things we could offer each other. I've looked her up, my mom has brought her around for a visit and she's staying here now. I'm really hoping that this year, this winter, we will finally once and for all develop the relationship that I know we were meant to have.

Please meet my friend, Singer.

What do you think, is there any hope for us?

We have a thing or two in common, namely my mom and the fact that we're both vintage.

And vintage, baby, makes my heart sing! 

 ~Respectfully submitted friends~
 

Trois Choses

My not so little anymore French man, while on food prep duty for Friday pizza night.

I've got three things to say about this photo.

1. This boy loves his bread; by the age of one he was addicted to fresh rolls from the Portuguese bakery courtesy of my stalker. He keeps a good grip on his carbs, and now I'm also a little worried that this could be the same bread stick from last week.

2. While he's always the first one ready to say grace, even this is a little premature. I think he was just happy that pizza night was a go. Once in a while I do like to have something different. The nerve.

3. I am a master of trick photography. Because, never, ever has this boy moved that fast. Eight months in utero and they were concerned because he wasn't moving. Nothing has changed I tell ya, nothing!

 I'm linking up to Farmgirl Paints Thrive Project.

 
~Hide your bread friends!~
 

At last...

...my love has come along.

My lonely days are over

And life is like a song.

 Oh, yeah, at last, we have snow.

 After a long hiatus, the skis are out 

and getting their groove on, out and about in the white stuff.

Feel free to all breathe a sigh of relief. 

No more comments from yours truly,

whining about a lack of snow, in this neck of the woods. 

~Life is good friends~
 

{this moment} - Keeping Warm

I'm linking to Soulemama for a Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember.

 ~Happy Friday Friends!~

The girl next door

Meet the girl next door, Sequoia.

Like Callie, she too is a border patrol guard. 

She's also one cool customer.

I guess you have to be when you're the girl next door.

She's also a little on the, shall we say, quiet side?

So quiet in fact, I often forget that she's our neighbour.

Howdy Neighbour!

But quiet, stealth like behaviour is good

'cause you have to vewy, vewy quiet 

when you're hunting wabbits and bad guys

or watching the other girl next door make a complete fool of herself.

~Be well friends~

Growth

I was ready to toss out a Christmas arrangement of dogwood and pine this weekend 

before the Artist noticed a nice little surprise tucked away among the branches.

A bud...new growth...the reemergence of life.

It couldn't have come at a better time.

~~~~~~~~
I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, 
which, if we unconsciously yield to it, 
will direct us aright.

~Henry David Thoreau~
~~~~~~~~~

And yes, I've kept the arrangement.

~Be well friends~
 

{this moment} - Rink Duty

I'm linking to Soulemama for a Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember.

 ~Happy Friday Friends~
 

Gratitude

Ted Brellisford/The Hamilton Spectator

 From panic to paranoia, the last few days have been a roller coaster of emotions. Having a terrible crime committed in your community, on your road, is not something much of us have probably ever thought about.  I certainly never had.

I wrote to a friend this evening about how we take safety precautions with and for our loved ones, from street proofing our children to obeying the speed limit and always buckling up, but how does one take aim against something like this happening to a neighbour? Another friend, who lives in the country, told me how all of the neighbours on her road play telephone tag so that everyone is kept up to speed on happenings in their area. I think it's a great place to start and I hope to set up something similar with my neighbours. I think we can all learn from this situation, whether city or country dwellers, we all need to do a better job of looking out for one another. 

Maybe more people should become bloggers, because if they were all like you, my friends, this world would be a much better place. I can not begin to express how much your words, prayers, thoughts and messages of love and concern have comforted me over the last few days. My heart is full of gratitude, and your words of wisdom have reminded me to put my fear in God's hands. Our dear friend Jenny Matlock said it best, she reminded me today that "Security is not the absence of danger, but the presence of God, no matter what the danger."

So while, for the moment,  life is different, there's no way it could not be; it also continues on just the same. I have no plans on turning Rural Revival into a crime blog, however, I will keep you posted, as some of you have asked, should new events turn up. In the meantime, little information has been released by the police, so your continued prayers that they are able to resolve this situation soon is appreciated beyond words.

 

 And, it wouldn't be fair to forget this girl. Our border patrol guard, always on duty yet all she asks for in return is lots of snuggles. She's received a lifetime's worth in a matter of days.

~Be well friends~
 

Country life gone wrong

 It was a quiet eve leading up to this new year here at the old farmhouse.

It might have been because the twins were both away.

It might have been because the Artist has been sick all week, 

and was still feeling a little off kilter.

It might have been the crash of a busy Christmas come to an end

that left me more tired than usual after returning to work.

But it was really none of those things.

I wish it was.

Sometime over the last few days, as we polished off the last of the Christmas cookies,

had another skate around the pond, 

and made decisions about how best to send 2010 packing and welcome 2011,

one of our neighbours was horribly killed in her own home.

All the promises that come with start of a new year have been untidily swept under the rug, and in our 

community, there is no doubt that it will remain so for many months to come.

As police scour the area looking for clues, as their dogs sniff the culverts along our road, as television 

helicopters fly over head, I think that this was never, ever anything I envisioned when moving to this quiet little 

woods two and a half years ago. I know I am not alone. We are in shock. And as police advise us to be 

vigilant of suspicious activity, one can't help but be a little afraid. 

I struggled, uselessly, this past week for a new year's resolution worth striving for 

before one was placed in my hands yesterday.

This year I will get to know my neighbours, my fellow 'quiet country road' residents better.

2010 certainly did not welcome 2011 kindly before it scrambled out the back door.

My hope, for all of you, is that 2011 arrived with nary a shadow across your door.

~Stay safe friends~