A Cheerful Halloween Poem for You

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Theme in Yellow by Carl Sandburg : The Poetry Foundation

Some Scarey Scarecrows

I thought it might be fun to post a few art creations of my children at the daycare center where I work.

I think these scarecrows could frighten any bad goblins or spooks away, don't you?

A little something different and orange

The children at the day care center where I work, have been really enjoying pounding golf tees into these two pumpkins. I found this lovely idea from a fellow ECE blogger from Ireland. Kierna is an absolutely wonderful, friendly prekindergarten teacher. I love her interesting posts - she and her children spend a lot of time learning and playing outdoors, even in the rain!!!

I love this activity - the children are so focused, and it seems to be relaxing. Surprising to me, it is a very quiet activity. Another added bonus is the scent of fresh pumpkin!!!

Nat King Cole Sings Autumn Leaves.

Orange is a Great Colour for this Week

I love the colour orange, especially orange flowers. One of my favourite childhood memories is of playing at the neighbourhood playground. I recall the small flowering weeds in the scruffy ground of this place. One weed had a very pretty, tiny orange flower. And I remember being absolutely amazed with finding orange.

Geraldine, at Take a Happy Break has chosen Orange as her Word of the Week, and so I thought I might try to think and write about the colour orange each day this week.

For Day 1 - Herbert - an orange cat.

                                       

A Little bit of Light heartedness and Sparkle

Finding abit of Sparkle

The word for the week over at Take a Happy Break, is Sparkle.And it made me consider what brings  a sparkle to my life - what gives me the oomph I sometimes need to get going in the morning. What I think about when I need to give myself a boost.

 A peaceful morning with the autumn sun shining in, and the cats basking in the warmth provides me with a sense of both contentment and also gives me my sparkle.

Rain outdoors, and a whole afternoon to curl up with a book.

This is a whopping 1072 pages, and a real page turner. I recently read On Writing, by Stephen King (as recommended by Geraldine in her blog My Real Life Reviews), and loved his writing, and his encouragement of fledgling writers, so thought I'd try this book. In the past I've considered his books off limits, as I thought they would be too horrifying for my taste. This one so far is more of a mystery.

Simple comforts, but they will be what I remember when I'm looking for my oomph, this week.

To read Geraldine's post and haiku, please click on the link, Take a Happy Break, on my list of Blogs I Follow. You will enjoy !!

                              Wishing sparkle and a delightful week ahead for you!

Brrrrrr - A Change in the Weather

The weather is changing in Saskatchewan .The Canada geese are flying overhead on their migration south, and the temperatures are lowering. The days are remaining sunny, but the daytime temperatures are  11 and lower (celsius), this week.

In the last two evenings, I have been enjoying the sounds of large flocks of geese as they pass over. It's thrilling to hear, and  think about the amazing phenomenon of the yearly migration of these birds. I think  Regina is on the flight path of migrating Canada geese. For as long as I can remember, October, for me, has been associated with the sounds of geese flying in large numbers overhead.

We have our local geese who have settled here, and stay for the winter on our frozen, barren, inhospitable lake. These geese don't migrate. However when  flocks of northern geese begin passing over on their way to southern warmth, we can be pretty sure the seasons are truly changing. I  love the sound and sight of these  birds following the dictates of nature... but it does mean colder weather is approaching!

I took these pictures last month, on my walk to work. We'd had frost the night before but these roses had survived! Such pretty, and hardy flowers!

Some thoughts on Thanksgiving

Here in Canada it is Thanksgiving weekend, and I find myself with many things to be thankful for.

I am  thankful for employment that allows me to enjoy creativity, and lets me feel that I make a difference in the lives of young children.

We made "handprint turkeys", and then taped them to toilet paper rolls, they could be a finger puppet, or a table centerpiece.

I dried orange and lemon slices in a dehydrator, this week, strung them on fishing line, and hung them from a tree branch, in the room I work in at the day care center - to create a natural window hanging, which looks pretty with the light shining through.

I am thankful for the city workers who plant our city's trees. We are on the prairie, and almost all our trees were planted. This is very amazing to consider because our city does have many beautiful park areas, and LOTS of trees.

I walk past the city conservatory daily on my way to work. This fall I've passed several trucks carrying tree seedlings ready to be planted.

 

I am thankful for new friends I've found since blogging. I love this medium, and the chance to meet people all over our world.



I'm thankful for new friends met, when I researched some of my family roots, this past winter.

This is Mechtild, and her son Michael. Michael is the great, great, great grandson of Cuthbert Grant, a famous Metis leader in Manitoba. He founded the town Granttown, later renamed St. Francis Xavier. I learned that I am a great, great, great, great, great grandchild of Cuthbert Grant, on my Mom's side. Michael is an aspiring graphic novelist, and film maker. This year he made a film on First Nations veterans of the Korean war. Michael is also abit of a "gentle giant". :)

Michael and Mechtild were our guests yesterday for a Thanksgiving meal. Michael showed me how to use the time function on the camera to take this photo. That's me, and Herbert beside Mechtild. (Both Michael, and Mechtild said at the same time when seeing this - "steps") . We ate Vietnamese take out, and homemade apple crisp with ice cream for our meal. I'm not really a traditionalist. :)

I am thankful for the mystery of my grandmother's past. My Grandma Irene, (on my father's side - his mom), was adopted and we never knew much about her early years. I've started writing a story about her possibly background - all fictional of course.

I sketched this from a very old photo, which I found in my grandmother's things. It's from 1928, and was cut off with the person she was presumably walking with removed.  Yet this was the only picture I found so must have had importance to her. In the photo she looks happy, and full of optimism for the future.

 

 

I am thankful for the beauty of nature - the sound of the geese, and crows, the colours of fall.

I am thankful for the peace I live in. I moved here last year, and I think it was a good decision. Sometimes I miss the spaciousness of my old house, and I do miss my old neighbours. But it was time to move on, and I was tired of the huge yard and it's maintenance.

This is the front entrance of the small condo building I live in - when I moved in last year, I learned that we cut the grass, and maintain all aspects of the building to keep the condo fees low. I helped repaint this entrance over a period of several weekends with two of my neighbours. It was actually fun, and I volunteered for it. Since then I've learned to consider my neighbours as friends. Last week my downstairs neighbour, Dorothy, taught me her way to make cabbage rolls. they were good!

For me  being at home, most often involves curling up with a book - my most favourite author is Charles Dickens, I've reread these books many times.

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My two cats, Herbert and Arthur are always happy to say hello when I come home

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made this sketch with pastel crayons many years ago from a photo when Paul was just a few weeks old.

Mom was a genuinely good and gracious person. She believed in treating people well and fairly, and I believe passed this down to her children. However I always regretted that I did not inherit her looks. :)

I'm thankful for my son Paul, who is always ready to help me with my computer questions, and likes to go for coffee with me weekends. And I am so thankful for my Mom, Evelyn, for everything she was, and for what I learned from her.

For anyone who has persevered in following along with me in this post, many thanks, and wishing you peace where you live.Happy Thanksgiving!

The Path I Walk

I  enjoy walking to work mornings, along a path that is used by walkers, joggers and bikers. My walk takes me about 50 minutes, and is along a natural landscape. I think I am very lucky to walk through such a landscape every day. I walk this way at 7 in the morning, and often I walk back home, at 4 in the afternoon.

Last week most mornings were sunny, and I took some pictures. The sun through the trees was so pretty.

I love the call of the Canada Geese as they pass overhead on their way to the farmers' fields for breakfast. We have flocks of "local geese", who stay here all year through. Years ago, there was a power plant situated on our lake, leaving a portion of the lake open through winter. Some Canada Geese began wintering here, rather than migrating. When the power plant closed, and the whole lake froze over, the geese continued to stay here - so we now have their descendents continuing to winter over through extremely cold winters. Our temperatures often get to minus 40, with the wind chill, but somehow the geese manage to survive.Our city park has a feeding program for the geese, and some shelter for their protection, but it is still pretty amazing that these geese choose to stay

 We also have a few hardy pelicans who stay for the winter, requiring abit more TLC from our park workers. The pelicans aren't easy to see in this picture. I always feel a little thrill to see them, as they are fairly recent visitors to our lake. They always seem like gentle giants, to me.





I noticed several tipis set up this past week near the First Nations University.

And here are the lovely chestnut trees just in front of the daycare center where I work.

Wishing you a Happy October on your own path!