Happy New Year Everybody!

A light to shine through the darkness.
A light to guide us home.

May this new year bring much happiness, joy and love to all.

My Gift to You

Happy Holidays everyone!

Winter Solstice

The longest, darkest night of the year.

The shortest day of the year.

From now on, the days become longer.

Yippeee - I will celebrate.

The longest night of the year was always greeted with a feast; singing, dancing and much drinking. In ancient times, this was their way of enticing the Sun to come back; ensuring that it would continue to rise in the morning, set in the evening and bring life to the world for another year.

Gradually it became a celebration of of the sun's return, a festival of thankfulness that the cycle of seasons would carry on through another year.

Evergreen plants were all that grew at this time of year, and so came to be revered as a symbol that life could survive the winter.

Holly with its prickly leaves and cheerful red berries represented protection from evil spirits, and was used to decorate walls and doors.

Mistletoe was a sacred plant and may have been distributed to each family by Druids to hang in their homes for protection.

I have evergreens in my yard. A tree in my home decorated for Christmas or Yule. I will light my candles as soon as it is dark and give thanks that the sun's light will become stronger - each day a little bit longer.

Christmas is coming......

Father Oak is waking up from his deep sleep.
Once a year he comes to life on Christmas Eve.
If you listen closely, he has secrets to share.

Little elves are busy getting the house ready for Christmas.

I wonder if this little red bird has been eating all my sunflower seeds.

What's happening at your house?

World Treasure Party at Ceilo's!

Thank you Cielo for hosting the World of Treasures Party today!

My treasures are my plants. They are my passion whether indoor or outdoor.

And this little elf found his way into one of them.

I've had this elf Christmas tree ornament since I was a little girl. Each Christmas my 2 brothers and I hung our special elves on the tree. Mine was red. The other two were green and white.

This is the only ornament to survive childhood, adulthood and two marriages. I'd say he was magic!

Enjoy the Treasure Party everyone!

Somewhere in the world it's summer

This hibiscus vase comes compliments of Bob Rivers-Smith in New Zealand. I belong to the Canadian Hibiscus Society. An online group, we exchange growing tips and tricks and send pics back and forth of our beloved hibiscus flowers.

Since it's winter in this part of the land, we Canadians are not sending many pics. Some people send pics of their indoor hibs, but most of them are resting now until February or March when the light is longer and brighter.

There are a few members who live South and I, for one, am very grateful that they send pics of their prize hibs to cheer us up. The above Vase was made as a table display.

Update on the front walk: One of the pics in the slide show (last post) was taken from inside my front door, where I tried to show everyone that the walk was finally shoveled. I must admit, it was a little hard to see, since practically everything was covered in white powdery snow.

We asked our lawn service if they knew of somebody who shovelled walks (for a reasonable rate). They put us in touch with a young fellow who will come for the heavier snowfalls. I will shovel the lighter ones.

The electric snowshovel I wanted is still backordered. Will probably have them in abundance in June. LOL!
The others were either too big and expensive, or too small and useless-looking. So, I've given up on that idea for the time being.

Keep warm everybody.

It's really winter here!

Dancing Babies

Click on the link below to see my dancing grandbabies.
You don't have to press anything else.

Do not press "download".
Just wait - it may take a few minutes - and then you will see the "show". Jasmine has a lollipop in her mouth - if you're wondering.

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/Zwg6QenbxHEhLUGAO4zc

Christmas Traditions

Every year my mother and my grandmother would exchange Christmas Cakes.
Each November as far back as I can remember, my mother would buy candied cherries, fruit peel, almonds, raisins, and whatever other ingredients she needed to bake her Christmas cakes.

She followed an old recipe, carefully measuring all the ingredients into the biggest mixing bowl in the kitchen. The batter was golden with sugar, butter, eggs and flour. Mom's cakes were "light fruit cakes".

As was the tradition at that time, we children were called into the kitchen one by one to stir the batter. Each of us took a turn with the big wooden spoon stirring the cake batter - for good luck. My mother was from Holland, so this might have been a European tradition - I don't know.

Mom had very old baking tins which came apart for washing. These pans weren't greased with butter wrappers, but lined with some kind of brown paper. Then the cakes were put into a very low oven to bake.

Once cooled, Mom would wrap them in cheesecloth soaked in sherry and put them away until Christmas.

Every December the mailman brought dozens of Christmas cards to our home. There were oodles of cards from friends and family. It was such an exciting time of year! Packages would arrive and Mom would whisk them away upstairs to her bedroom and close the door. We were not allowed to peek!

But when Granny's Christmas cakes arrived, they were opened right away. After travelling half way across the country, they deserved to be opened and enjoyed. And were they delicious!

Those cakes were "dark fruit cakes", made with molasses and lots of nuts. I secretly liked them best.

I went to look for my mother's Christmas cake recipe this year and I couldn't find it. Will have to do some research on the net and see if I can find an old-fashioned cake like Mom's.

What about you? Do you have memories of Christmas traditions?

I won some Weleda Body Wash!

Yippeeeeeeee! I won a travel size sample of Weleda Body Wash from Allie over at Allie's Answers.

Allie mailed it out to me a week or ago. Yesterday when I went to the mailbox, there it was. Thank you Allie for mailing it all the way up here to me in Canada.
Inside the package were 2 sample sizes of Sea Buckthorn Creamy Body Wash, to revitalise and nourish the skin. It smelled faintly of oranges and felt silky smooth. Ummmmm. Nice way to start the day.

Allie has a "green blog" chock full of information on our environment, from baby bottle woes to rain forest awareness. She recommends stainless steel water bottles, organic coffee, and natural beauty guides as Christmas gifts. Oh, and don't forget to re-use your Christmas gift wrap, as well as making turkey soup from the left-over turkey bones.

Sensible tips to take us back to basics, preserve our environment and save a little money too. Reminds me of growing up, when Mom would grease her cookie sheets with "butter paper" instead of throwing the wrapper in the garbage. Or tearing kleenex tissues in half if we only had a little bit of a drippy nose. No sense in wasting a whole tissue if you only need half.

Mom cut up brown paper grocery bags to use as book covers for our school text books. And she sewed curtains and dresses for us.
But I'm getting way off track.

A condition of winning the Weleda Body Wash, I was to tell people about Allie's friend Neil, who is raising money for the Cambodian Childrens Fund.

Neil is a professional writer, editor and yoga teacher, who is putting his skills to work to raise money to end extreme poverty in Cambodia.

Such a worthy cause. He's got my support.

Electric shovels or Snow Throwers

Hi All - these are electric shovels or snow throwers. I think snow throwers is the "newest" name. They are really mini snowblowers.

This is the size that we'll most likely need. It's strong, but small and you can see by the shute at the top that it blows the snow on either side of the walk (or area to be cleared)

This smaller one is probably useless. Costs about a hundred dollars that I'd rather spend on beauty cream or motorized mascara (please see Mary's blog), or a bunch of good books or exotic summer sandals or just about anything else.

They both need a long exterior electric cord to plug into an outer wall outlet. You just push the starter and - presto! The motor starts up and hopefully blows or pushes the snow as you walk. I say hopefully, because I've read the reviews of people who have bought this particular snowthrower (this one's called Snow Joe, but there are other name brands), and some of them said the wet, heavy snow gets stuck in the blades and it conks out. Oh, great! I spend $200 - $250 on a machine that won't work. Or gets fussy. Other people say it works just fine in all kinds of snow. So, we'll see. I still have more research to do.

Thank you everybody for all of your good ideas. Our driveway contractor will not get out of his huge machine (like the road snowblowers - almost), to shovel anyone's walk. His huge tractor simply cannot do walks. So he's no help. We have asked him in the past to recommend someone. No dice.

We had the kid who cut our grass, shovel our walk for a year or two at $5.oo a pop. Worked out very well - but- you know how it is with kids - they move on to bigger and better things.

I hadn't thought to check out the local high school. That sounds like a really good solution.

Except at this point, I'm looking forward to keeping some of my independence by buying this beastly contraption and doing my own walk. I really hate relying on others to do things I should be able to do.

Not that I ever had to shovel a walk before - I always had a healthy husband and 2 strong boys to do that kind of work.

Will keep everybody posted. I'm off to my aqua fit class this afternoon, so no shopping trips today.

Shopping

I went shopping today for a snowblower. Well not a full-blown snowblower. An electric shovel.

We had a strong young fellow shoveling our walk for the last two winters.
It cost $140.00 for the winter.
Not bad. Money well spent.

"You'd better give him a call to make sure he's still shoveling this year." Hubby advised me.
I called him.
An answering machine came on, so I left a message.

Two weeks went by.
"Call him again," suggested Hubby.
"No. I left him a message. I'm not calling back."
"But what if he didn't get it? At least try again to see if it's his voice on the answering machine."

Called again. A generic voice. Could be his home, or it could be he's moved.

"Last year he didn't call us back, but showed up the first time it snowed, remember?" I said to Hubby.
"I still think you should call him back and leave another message."
"Oh, he'll show up." I assured Hubby.

That night we had our first real snowfall. Early the next morning, I looked out the front window to see our driveway contractor zooming into our driveway. He looked as happy as a little kid, driving his snowplow. I think his radio was on full blast, since he was bouncing around in his cab. In a matter of minutes he had cleaned our driveway and zipped across the street to the neighbour's.

"Where's our walk-shoveling guy?" Hubby was getting anxious.
"Don't worry, he'll show up." I figured he was at school and would show up towards evening.
He didn't.
I called back and put another message on his machine.
He still didn't show up.

Hmmm. I went outside and tried a bit of shoveling, but the snow was wet and heavy. It wasn't long before my shoulders and back began to ache. Meanwhile Hubby searched the ads in the local newspaper. Nobody was shoveling snow. Considering how much snow we had last year, no wonder!
I thought I'd try calling the town hall to see if they could recommend anybody. Nope. Nobody.

Hubby was totally frustrated at not being able to do the work. And upset that I should try and lift wet, heavy snow and risk straining or injuring myself.

"It's not the end of the world" (one of my favourite expressions), "I'll look for an electric shovel."
"A what?"
"An electric shovel. Why? Are they obsolete?"
I remember my mother using one to clear their front walk when my Dad could no longer shovel snow. That was about 30 years ago.

So off I went to the local hardware store. No, they didn't have any.
Figured I might as well check out the Mall.
And came home with:
2 packages of pot pourri
1 bottle of Vitamin E (for my skin)
2 bottles of body lotion (on sale - 2 for the price of 1)
1 tube of Olay facial cleanser (also on sale)
2 T-shirts for Hubby (not that he needs any, but they were on sale too) Stocking stuffers for the grandkids.

No electric shovel. They are on back order.
At least I know they still exist.
And hope when I find one that it doesn't come in a box all in pieces......

What to blog about?

Gardens are finished. And this is not a gardening blog.
But gardening is so much fun - and I love posting pics of well.....nature.
Flowers and leaves and even spider's webs.

Hubby is ensconced in his favourite chair watching the Grey Cup Football game.
His life these days consists of reading books and watching sports programmes on T.V. As our weather turns colder and we look towards winter, Hubby will not be going out at all.

I'd go crazy if I couldn't get out every day. Even just to pick up food at the grocery store. I need to move, to get out, to see people.

Hubby is handling things well. I'm not.
I had a meltdown the other day.
Hubby was reading me pertinent bits of news from the business section of the newspaper.
And we all know what kind of news the financial world is reporting.
Will we survive? Will all of us baby boomers have to go back to work?

I am worried about my daughter. She is pregnant with her second child, due in February. And she is struggling with edema. Her body is retaining fluid. Her ob/gyn is sending her to a "high risk" specialist. Hopefully things will be o.k. It's the word "high risk" that scares me.

So with red and puffy eyes I got into the car and drove to Walmart.
Walmart! Who would have thought I'd be seeking comfort in Walmart!!
Mingling with smiling people out for an afternoon's shopping, checking out the baby department (that always cheers me up), buying (and eating) chocolate, and looking for stocking stuffers for the grandkids lifted my spirits.

Tonight as Hubby sits in front of the T.V. set, engrossed in his football game, I am sipping a glass of after-dinner red wine.
I now feel more relaxed and can focus on how grateful we are to have each other, our warm home and loving families close by.

Most of my American friends will be busily preparing for the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday. So, I'll pop over and visit your blogs tonight. Guaranteed to lighten my mood and bring a smile to my face.

November is National COPD Awareness Month

Sponsored by the U.S. COPD Coalition, November is a time for organizations and communities across the country to increase overall awareness of COPD.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is a destructive lung condition that, over time, makes it extremely hard to breathe. As you can imagine, a person suffering from COPD, will eventually become seriously disabled.

Did you know that COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States today? The disease kills more than 120,000 Americans each year. And the numbers are increasing.

You can read about it here: COPD Awareness

On a lighter note - Hubby is doing well these days.
There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason. So we don't bother looking anymore.
The weather is lousy. Rainy and cold. Usually that's when Hubby feels drained and tired. And we blame the weather.

He's had ups and downs lately, but despite the weather, seems to have regained some of his energy. That's good news and I am treasuring these moments.

The rainy weather pushed me to do some much needed cleaning. I pulled books off shelves, dusting and polishing.
Came across a photo album of our Very First Trip. As I looked at the pics of us 12 or 13 years ago, (playful and happy on a beach in the Caribbean) a strange feeling came over me. It was a feeling of disconnection.
There's Carefree Hubby relaxing on a beach chair in the sand, all by himself. Or Smiling Hubby waving at the camera from the swimming pool.

It's hard to explain. For the past few years, I have gotten used to Hubby being hooked up to his oxygen concentrator. He's either sitting in a chair bundled up in sweaters and long pants (even in summer) or slowly making his way across the room, hunched over with the weight of his tank.

I can barely remember him living a normal life: sitting half-naked on the beach, swimming blithely in the ocean, or sneaking sips of wine from our cooler (beach rules - no alcohol!). It's as if suddenly, he's .....free! How I wish!!
But it's the connection to me that seems odd. Or disconnection. Almost like I want to reach out and catch him before he falls. Weird.

We spend a nice weekend sharing memories of our vacations, holidays and family gatherings. It was wonderful to re-live those carefree happy days, looking back on the relaxed, fun-loving, energetic man I knew - before COPD.

Full Snow Moon

This November Full Moon rose at 4:40 this afternoon. It is also called the Snow Moon, Frosty Moon or Beaver Moon. Other names are: Falling Leaves Moon, Geese Going Moon, Long Moon, Little Bear Moon - and lots of others.

These names come from the past, when our people lived close to the Earth. The November Full Moon signaled a time for preparing. Winter would soon be upon the land. Time to gather warm Beaver pelts and other animal furs for use during the long cold months ahead. Food was dried, smoked or salted as a way of keeping it to last until Spring.

Today, we don't have to deal with those survival issues. We go to the store for food and warm clothing. We heat our homes (those of us who live in colder climates). Turn on taps for fresh water.

Unconsciously perhaps, we keep a little bit of the old ways alive by bringing fire indoors. A cozy wood stove or a crackling fireplace brings comfort and atmosphere to an ordinary room. We light candles for special occasions or to grace our dinner tables.

We bake breads and pies. We brew tasty soups and rich stews to nourish our bodies and delight our souls.

We've had rain the past few days, so I couldn't see this full November moon. How quick time is going!

Tigers and Bees and Bears, oh my!

Jenny at Morning Glories Round the Clock
gave me this idea. She posted her little grandson in his Bee Halloween Costume. So I thought it would be fun to post the littlest grandkids in their costumes. Looks like bees, bugs and animals were the theme this Halloween.

Here is littlest grandson in his bee costume. He was too young to go trick-or-treating, so they had a party at his playgroup.

Littlest granddaughter in her panda bear costume. Looks like this one was taken afterwards. Look at all those yummy treats!

And here is second littlest grandson. Wearing his tiger costume. As you can see, these costumes are made for cold weather, since Halloween is usually cold here. This year it was relatively warm and lots of little ones stripped of their costumes way before the trick-or-treating was over.

IT'S A GIRL!!

Hubby became a grandpa for the second time.
Little Grace came into the world this afternoon, weighing 8 lb. and 4 oz.

Mother, Father (Hubby's son), big brother, and baby are all doing well.

They live clear across the country in B.C.
So it may be quite a while before we actually see this new little bundle of joy.
Luckily we live in the electronic age. We will catch our first glimpse of her via digital photography.

A time to celebrate!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARCELA

Happy Birthday to a dear Daughter-in-Law.

Enjoy your special day!

This pic and the one on my header was taken by Marcela in Ottawa, where She lives with my son and their firstborn (littlest grandson, pictured above).

Bloomin' Tuesday

It's Bloomin' Tuesday over at Jean's Blog. This is a bouquet of flowers I received recently. Unfortunately, the light is not very good. They look washed out, but in my opinion, flowers are still flowers. And I love them all.

Moss growing on a rock in my front yard.

A moss skirt around an oak tree in my back yard.

But mostly, I am growing leaves.

Yup - that's what's blooming in my garden today. Leaves, leaves, and more leaves. Must be fall!

Happy Samhain

Halloween as it's called today. Samhain as observed by the ancients.

October 31st marked the end of summer and the beginning of a New Year.

For the early Europeans, this time of year was the start of cold, lean winter months. The flocks were brought in from the fields to live in sheds until spring.

Samhain is a celebration of the final harvest; a time for assessing how much food would be needed to last the winter. Bonfires were made with sacrifical animals, herbs and wood, to appease the gods.

Samhain also represents the apple harvest. Apples were considered gifts from the gods - a wonderful tasting, healthy, wholesome natural food, full of vitamin C, antioxidants, and natural sugar, for energy.

Samhain is the time of year when the Veil or boundary between our mortal world and the spirit realm is at its thinnest.

On this night Ancestors (those who have passed on) were invited to return to feast with their loved ones. Grinning jack-o-lanterns were put in windows to light the way.

What are you doing tonight?

First Snowfall

Snow has fallen early this year. The Japanese Maple wears a snow skirt with brown leafy ruffles peeping from underneath.
Poor pot of gold - marigolds, that is.
I left them last because they still looked so vibrant.
The frost hadn't touched them.

Now they are droopy with snow, the bright orange refusing to die.

The good thing is - this snow will melt by the weekend, as warmer temps are predicted.

Keeping my fingers crossed for a warm Halloween for the children.

Sunny Sunday

My Japanese maple, shining in the morning sun.
Yesterday it rained all day. It was so dark and gloomy.

I used to enjoy rainy days when my children were small.
We'd bake cookies or make finger paint or playdoh.
Those were the days I cooked playdoh on the stove. Flour, salt, water, and oil, oh yes and cream of tartar too. Cooked until it formed a ball. Took it off the stove and waited a bit until it cooled.
Then the fun - we added food colouring to make red and blue and yellow and green balls of gook!

Outside it was raining, but inside was love and laughter. I miss having children at home.

After my last post of feeling like my old self again, I had a horrible night.
It figures - I just post about how much better I'm feeling when wham! Back to menopausal insomnia.

I awoke at 12:15 a.m. after a strange dream.
I dreamed that I was in the garage with my mother (she's been dead for 10 years) and 2 dogs or wolves. The wolf/dogs were circling around me, but I wasn't afraid. One of them then put its front paws on my shoulders trying to weigh me down. I tried to shrug it off, but it wouldn't come off. I still was not afraid, but I wanted to leave.
My mother was sitting serenely on the garage floor.
I said to her "I'd like to go back home with you."

Then I woke up. And stayed awake for about an hour.
I walked about the house trying to figure out this dream. Wondering why I was slipping backwards into insomnia again.
Maybe it was the dark and dreary day. Who knows.

But today the sun shone. I spend a good part of the day walking. Walking in sunshine. Breathing in the good fresh air. Feeling like my body is fitting once again. Letting go of that dream. Letting go of dreary days.
I know I will sleep better tonight.

My Body Rhythms are Changing

The air is cold in the mornings.
I wait until mid-day to take my walk.
By then the sun is high in the sky, warming me as I walk.

I'm starting my days with tai chi.
Morning stiffness is leaving me.
I am no longer in emotional turmoil brought about by hormonal fluctuations.
Mood swings have settled down; food cravings too.

My basement is dirty. My bushes trimmed nicely.
One afternoon in a fit of heated menopausal rage, I vacuumed the whole basement. Top to bottom, cobwebs and all. Nooks and crannies.
I haven't touched it since. I think that was about 3 years ago.

Another time, I hacked away at a lilac bush that I'd bought at the end of a season, and lovingly planted in the garden.
In 10 years it had never flowered; not one single lilac.
So I got mad and cut it right to the ground.
The next year, it grew bushier. But still no flowers.
Maybe it needs more time. Now I have patience.

My body is starting to fit better. It's beginning to feel like it's old self.... Before Menopause.

I still get hot flashes every day. So I know the process is not complete.
I still wake up at night several times, but I have no trouble going back to sleep.

I told my daughter the other day "There is an end to menopause. Just so you'll know when your time comes. You won't be suffering mood swings, hypoglycemic attacks, rage, crying, stiffness, forgetfulness......for-ever. It will go away."

"Isn't that strange?" she said to me, "That your body fits better now that you've made the decision to start caring for your own needs?"

Misty Morning Cobwebs

The little spiders were busy in the night. Or maybe it was the faeries! Spinning delicate lace on the cedar hedge.
This one looks like a cradle. Or a fisherman's net.
I don't have much to blog about today.
The Wheel of Life turns....
My aunt died yesterday at 95. She lived a good long life. I did not know her well, so was told by my cousin in an email. My cousin had been with our aunt when she died. I told my cousin that at our age, we are the midwives, helping our parents and older relatives pass on. It is our turn, and now we are the "elders".

A friend of my daughter's gave birth to triplets! Three baby girls. They are going to have their hands full - maybe feet too. LOL!

Hubby is not feeling well. But this is October and we've had rain and cold weather lately. Seasons change. Rain brings heaviness to those who struggle to breathe. He will be alright again....

Littlest grandson has a cold. He's almost 10 months now and this is his first one. His parents are concerned (rightly so - they're the ones he keeps awake at night), but through my Grandma eyes I know this will pass fairly soon. He is a lucky little boy.

I have started back with my aquafit classes. I do not worry as I go out the door. I need this time for me. My body feels better with water exercises. And I cannot control everything.....

I am very very grateful and appreciative for all the information, good resources, kindness and support from all of you in bloggerland. I really feel that by sharing our experiences or just saying "thinking of you" or "hope things get better"or "sending hugs and prayers" makes a HUGE difference in coping with the stress of illness.
Thank you all - you do make a difference.

Eosinophilic colitis

....is the diagnosis we've been given for granddaughter, Jasmine. It's a chronic, allergic, inflammatory condition of her large intestine. In simple terms, she is allergic to most foods. There is not much known about this illness. It may be autoimmune. We don't know yet.

She's just 20 months, and has been dealing with digestive upsets practically all of her life.

Diagnosed with GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) about a year ago, her mother (my daughter) thought at that time "we finally have a diagnosis". Now Jasmine would begin to put on weight, enjoy her food, and maybe even sleep through the night.

Although she did improve somewhat, we knew there was more to this picture. She was not getting better. If she wasn't having diarrhea then it was constipation. The type of food made no difference. Her mother could feed her prunes all day and it wouldn't relieve the constipation. It sounded like she had an underlying motility disorder. Blood tests, x-rays and allergy tests were done.

She gained 2 lbs. from January to August. Not good enough.

We knew there were food intolerances, but the only one we were certain about was milk protein. Not lactose in milk. Protein. I'd never heard of anyone, particularly a baby being allergic to milk protein. Jasmine was and still is. So she drinks rice milk.

She eats chicken and rice. Sometimes fruit, sometimes potatoes. Not much else. Her problems persist. So the next step was to take a look inside and biopsy anything that looked suspicious. That meant a trip to the hospital where she was put under anesthesia for her endoscopy (both ends). You can imagine that a toddler would not cooperate for this type of procedure, hence the need for anesthesia.

We now have another diagnosis. Although eosinophilic colitis is a disease she will have to learn to live with, there are medications to help. Not cure....just help her through.

If anybody knows anyone with this form of eosinophilic gastroenteropathy, I'd appreciate an email.

Happy Thanksgiving

I wish this pic didn't have the power wires showing, but I took it from the road, as I didn't want to step right into my neighbour's property. You can see how much the leaves have changed since last Sunday's posting.
Here are some other trees in my neighbourhood. It was beautiful and sunny on Saturday when I took them. A rare treat on Thanksgiving weekend to have such warmth; unfortunately, the sun has bleached the leaves and they don't look quite so crisp.

I have a lot to be thankful for - I hope you do too.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The Turkeys are Coming....

Wonder if these flowers taste good?

Something tasty in the driveway?
Oh, a fence... can I fly over it?

Maybe I'll just hide in the bushes for a while.

I did it! Flew up here on top of the world!

Good-bye...... Thanksgiving is coming.....I'm outta here!

I got a suprise one morning about a year ago.

Walked down my driveway and saw this wild turkey.

I ran inside the house to grab my camera and took these pics.

She was rather tame and didn't mind me taking her pic at all.

I sent some of these to the local newspaper and they printed the turkey on the fence pic. I was delighted!

Have a nice Canadian Thanksgiving weekend everyone!