A Day In The Life

Hi, I'm Chelsea, Barb and Don's dog. I'm a Lhasa Apso and I am really the one who is charge around here. I just let them think they are. Thought I'd grab the PC and give you an idea of what life is like around here before Barb is finished riding her recumbent bike.

You know the saying "it's a dog's life". Well, let me tell you, it is certainly my life at this house.

I love my masters - Don and Barb. I talk quite a lot and have learned that it can pretty much get me whatever I want especially from Don. Barb - not so much, she's a little tougher than he is.

My day usually starts around 6:00am. The alarm goes off and Don gets up. Of course I'm stretched out on the bed, so I take this opportunity to have a great stretch, scratch a few places I won't mention here and have a little grooming session. After all, a girl has to look her best and I wouldn't want to look like a "schlumpadinka".

Well, me time is over so downstairs we go where I get my morning Dentabone - can't go around having bad breath or heaven forbid dirty teeth.

"Wait, what are you doing Don?" Oh no, he's picking up my dinner bowl.

"But wait, there's still some food left in there." Maybe if I talk a little louder than usual, he'll leave it down. No, looks like he's wrapping it up and putting it up on the counter. Barb will add a little more goodies at dinner time. A little kibble (no wheat - I'm allergic), rice or barley, some mashed veggies and then some real meat, right now I'm getting salmon - yummy.

Don is getting ready to leave, I'd better get out to the front door so I can get my morning walk and fresh air.

"Wait for me Don, don't go out that door!" Oh he's still getting his boots & coat on. "Will you hurry up .... get those laces tied .... where's your coat .... get it on .... find your gloves .... put them in your pocket ..... have you got your lunch ..... what about your laptop & briefcase?"

Oh oh, wait a second, Barb is handing Don some recyclables ..... Oh man, am I ever going to get out this door?

Finally, he's opening the door. I take off, but my feet are slipping on the tile floor, I need to slow down just a little so I can get some traction. Okay, that's better, here we go. Oh I love it outside. I don't even mind the snow .... it's kind of fun to stick my nose in it and then come out with lots of snow stuck to my snout. Barb doesn't like that so much .... she says I drip all over the hardwood.

Feeling much better now, after my morning bathroom routine.

I'm feeling awfully tired, so it's time for my morning nap. Barb's getting her coffee and heading to our favourite chair in the living room. I'll just hop up on her lap while she reads her book. This feels great .... she's got such a nice comfy lap.

Hopefully she'll read for a while and I can catch a couple of hours sleep.

What else will I do today? Hmmmm, think I round up all my toys, play with them for a while, then I'll have a little snooze with my friends. Seems like I sleep a lot more these days. Guess that's because I'll be 70 years old (human years) this year.

Hey was that my leash I just heard jingling? It was - oh boy, looks like Barb is going to take me for a walk. We don't go to far because her knee is still a little sore, so the walks are short but that's okay. I just love that she takes me out even for a short walk. All the wonderful smells out here, wow, think I smell that handsome Poodle from down the street ... "slow down a second Barb, I have to leave a little something to let him know I was here too."

Well, that walk was just great, now I can settle down for my afternoon nap.

The phone just rang and woke me up. I heard Barb say "see you shortly". That means Don is on his way home.

I'll sit by the front door until I hear the garage door opening. Better turn up the volume of my talking a little. Oh, I'm so excited I can hardly sit still so I'll run in circles .... maybe a little dancing on my back legs until I hear the screen door open and then the front door. He's home .... thank goodness, he's been gone forever. Don's trying to get his coat and boots off, but I'm talking really loud so I can get my hugs and kisses. When I talk really loud, I get the hugs and kisses before Barb.

It's good to be the "queen".

Now it's their dinner time .... I don't know how Barb does it, but dinner is always ready as soon as Don walks through the door. Does she know something I don't? Maybe it has something to do with that phone call?

Now I'm getting really excited .... they're going to have dinner .... so I get to mooch. I've got that "poor dog" look down pat. I cock my head a certain way .... let my long ears droop even more and make my eyes appear very sad. It always works with Don, he's gives me little bits .... Barb - not so much.

Well, dinner's done, the dishes are washed, Don's lunch is made and we're on our way up to bed. First I get my bedtime treat - usually a dog bone (again no wheat - I'm allergic). Then some play time with one or two of my toys or sometimes Barb or Don play with me by throwing one of my toys for me to fetch once or twice. I usually don't fetch that well, I really don't like anyone else to touch my toys .... after all they are mine. Now it's off to bed. Here comes Don, I move over to snuggle up right against his back where it's nice and warm, the feather comforter is so soft and I've got all my toys around me, I'm starting to feel really sleepy, see you tomorrow .......... zzzzzzzzzzzz.

Please Take a Moment to Write a Letter

This topic is near and dear to my heart.

As many of you who follow my blog know, my daughter adopted our darling Gabriella last year from Ethiopia. We were fortunate in our wait time, but adoptive families are now waiting longer and longer for that all important Visa to bring their child home.

It is very important that you take a moment and send this letter!!!!

Here in Canada there is a serious problem with the government and their processing times for Ethiopian adoptions. Currently it is taking 4-6 months and longer in some cases after the adoption is finalized to process a permanent resident visa so the child can come home. These are not acceptable wait times!!!!

No other country takes up to six months to process the adoptions of Ethiopian children. The United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Ireland, Finland and Spain all process adoption visas within 1-4 weeks of the Ethiopian court date, not 4-8 months.

Below is a sample letter that you can copy and paste and email to your local MP and Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (CIC). Her email address: Minister@cic.gc.ca.
As well, copy your local MP. You can find out who your local MP is by entering your postal code here. You can send the letter as is or do your own thing. And you don't need to be an adoptive parent to send this letter either. The more noise we make the more action will be done I hope! It is heartbreaking that children remain in an orphanage when they have families waiting for them and all that is standing in the way is immigration papers.

Dear Minister Finley,

I am writing to express my concern about the time it is taking for Ethiopian children adopted to Canadian families to obtain a Permanent Resident Visa or Citizenship paperwork. It appears, after much research, that the reason why children that are legally adopted by parents in Canada are not coming home is simply because there isn't enough human-power at the High Commission in Nairobi to process their visas or citizenship papers. Shortening this time period does NOT in any way compromise the ethical investigation that goes into each child referral.

This investigation (2-3 months) is what takes place before the court date that determines whether the child can be adopted. This time frame is acceptable, the possible six months afterwards is not.

Recently, with China beginning to make it extremely difficult to be able to adopt, many families are now turning to Ethiopia. As a result there is a backlog that reaches up to 6 months after court date, for a child to come home. Children are staying in institutions when they have parents at home in Canada that simply are not allowed to go and pick them up because of immigration. No other country takes up to six months to process the adoptions of Ethiopian children. The United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Ireland, Finland and Spain all process adoption visas within 1-4 weeks of the Ethiopian court date, not 4-8 months. I won't even begin to get into the long-term effects on the children that do not begin attachment in the early months of their lives.

Lastly, Ethiopian adoptions are on the rise and many adoption agencies do not see it slowing down in the near future. Let's not wait until next year to realize that we needed to hire more people. Let's be proactive and start now. Please make this a part of your "priority" that you have already promised as a government to adopted children abroad.We strongly urge the CIC to employ additional staff to process the immigration paperwork for adopted children at the High Commission in Nairobi. The CIC must support the health of these orphaned children by getting them home in weeks, not months, after the court decisions.

Sincerely,

I Am Strong - I Am Invincible

Today is International Women's Day.

Let us celebrate women the world over for our contributions to family, business & commerce, politics, the literary world, theatre, medicine, to mothers, daughters, aunts, nieces, grandmothers, to girlfriends and to ourselves.

But let us not for one moment forget the women of this world who suffer.

In the Mexican cities of Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua 400 young women have been brutally murdered since 1993, 56 since 2004, 152 were the victims of sexual assault prior to their murders and more than half of these victims were women and girls between the ages of 13 and 22.

In Canada one half of women over the age of 16 have experienced one incident of abuse.

In South Africa arguments rage over whether an adult rape is committed every 36 seconds, every 11 seconds or every four seconds - depending on how police records are interpreted. A woman in South Africa is killed by her spouse on average every six days.

Let us take a moment to think of all our sisters the world over.

Are they struggling in abusive relationships?
Are they at this moment being raped, murdered, sold into prostitution?
Are they successful doctors, lawyers, accountants, are they mothers, daughters, grandmothers?

Let's enjoy our womanhood remembering that all famous men had a mother.

Only women can experience the joy of carrying a life within a womb and birthing that life, nurturing a child at her breast, or experiencing the joy of being the mother of a President, a prophet, a ground breaking scientist, Jesus, Gandhi, Mandela, Martin Luther King. Who else but a woman can feel that pride in knowing that she nurtured that life.


Here's to women the world over today.

We are beautiful, we are strong and we can accomplish anything!


Read the words of this song sung in the 70's which became the chant for many woman as they rose up and stood together for equality.


I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend'
Cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again

Oh yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to I can do anything

I am strong
I am invincible
I am woman

You can bend but never break me'
Cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve my final goal
And I come back even stronger
Not a novice any longer'
Cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul

Oh, yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to I can face anything

I am strong
I am invincible
I am woman

I am woman watch me grow
See me standing toe to toe
As I spread my lovin' arms across the land
But I'm still an embryo
With a long, long way to go
Until I make my brother understand

Oh, yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to I can face anything

I am strong
I am invincible
I am woman










Let us reach out in unity to our sisters across the world today bringing us together as a force to be reckoned with!

A Little Knee Update

This picture at left is a prosthesis used in a Total Knee Replacement (TKR) and has given me back the mobility that I haven't had in three years.

It astonishes me that this device can be surgically implanted to replace my knee and give me the ability to walk normally, climb stairs (leg over leg) and not even hold onto the railing.

Today it has been 20 weeks and 3 days since I had my knee replaced and my physical therapist congratulated me on my bend. When I lie on my stomach I can bend my good leg and my new knee up equally. This according to my therapist is better than expected after TKR surgery.

Normally a 110 degree bend is achieved. I am able to get just over 120 degrees and with a little push I can achieve 125 degrees. My goal is 140. May be a little ambitious, but I am a determined lady.

My exercise program consists of walking on a treadmill 4 times a week for between 15-20 minutes at 2.2 kph. As well I ride a recumbent bicycle every morning for 10 minutes. This really helps with my knee mobility. I sit on my couch with my leg on the coffee table 4 times a day with a 10 pound weight resting over my knee to stretch the muscles and achieve a really straight leg. As well there are numerous weight bearing and stretching exercises done twice daily.

All of the time spent in therapy as well as exercising is paying off as today I graduated to 2 treatments per week with my physical therapist - down from 3.

I think I just might break out a little bubbly tonight to celebrate.

Let's Talk Birth

This little film speaks for itself. It is just a small portion of a full length film but watch it and see if you don't change your thinking about how we in North America are birthing our children.

Just click on the picture to view the film.

Having been privileged to attend the births of my grandsons, two of which were home births attended by a midwife and doula, I find myself fully supporting natural home birthing.

After all isn't a birth all about the mother and baby?

You'll see after watching this film how the medical community has commercialized this most natural event.

A woman's body knows what it must do to birth a child. Only in rare circumstances when labour and birth is allowed to progress normally is medical intervention required.

Why do we rush everything? If the baby doesn't come on time, let's get things moving by inducing or encouraging contractions with chemicals, if the labour is too long, let's get it over with and perform a Cesarean section. Then, as soon as the babe is delivered, does the doctor wait for the cord to stop pulsing delivering those all important nutrients in the blood to the babe - no it's clamped and cut immediately.

When labour is induced babies are usually in the wrong position. These unnatural labours frequently end in a C-section giving North American the highest rate of delivery by C-section.

In 1965 according to the World Health Organization, the C-section rate was 4.5%. In 2007 they found that one in three woman gave birth by C-section. The United States is now performing C-sections at record levels.

Why is birthing this way? Once again business and commerce steps in and the $ rules.

A home birth is such an empowering experience.

At the birth of two of my grandsons, my daughter moved around as she pleased, sat in a warm bath to ease her contractions, then moved to the bed when delivery was close. She was surrounded by midwives, her doula, me and of course her husband. We were not told to step back out of the way, we each sat on the bed touching Sebrina letting out strength flow through our hands to her, speaking calming and encouraging words.

It was a powerful, quiet and moving experience for each of us in that room. It made me see that we are woman are unique, strong and so fortunate to be able to experience the creation of life.

Improve Your Vocabulary & Feed The World

By taking a few minutes to play a word game, you can help donate rice to the United Nations World Food Program.

This website http://www.freerice.com/index.php takes you to the game or click on the Free Rice picture.

For every word that you guess the correct definition, 20 grains of rice are donated.

I played for approximately 10 minutes tonight and donated 3160 grains of rice.

FreeRice is a sister site of the world poverty site, Poverty.com.

FreeRice has two goals.

1. Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free.
2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

Here are the rice donations to date.

10/07 - 537,163,380
11/07 - 4,768,969,790
12/07 - 6,948,988,060
01/08 - 4,551,581,980
02/08 - 3,893,361,180
03/01/08 - 81,426,180
03/02/08 - 81,305,920
03/03/08 - 132,758,120
____________
Total 20,995,554,610

Take a few moments, go to Free Rice, improve your vocabulary and donate some rice. It's fun and it will make you feel good.

Learn To Be Still

A New Earth - Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle has been read, re-read and re-read. I sat reading with a highlight pen and actually ran out of ink and had to grab another. There was so much noteworthy comments in this jewel of a book. There are very few pages where I didn't find something worth noting.

Then today I listened to the podcast covering a discussion of and review of Chapter 1. This discussion was lead by Oprah Winfrey & Eckhart Tolle.

I found this book illuminating, enlightening & uplifting, enjoyable, thought provoking and hard to put down.

My childhoold was spent in an extremely rigid, religious home where if you did not believe the way my parents and their church did, well then you were just wrong and doomed to the eternal fires of Hell.

This book really brought to my attention how organized religions are divisive rather than unifying forces.

They are ideologies, belief systems people identify with and so use them to enhance their false sense of self. Through them they can make themselves "right" and others "wrong".

Eckhart Tolle states, "The more you make your thoughts (beliefs) into your identity, the more cut off you are from the spiritual dimension within yourself ..... Unless you believe (think) exactly as they do, you are wrong in their eyes, and in the not-too-distant past, they would have felt justified in killing you for that. And some still do, even now."

Learn to live in the "now". There are three ways in which consciousness can flow into what you do and through you into this world. The modalities of awakened doing are acceptance, enjoyment and enthusiasm. Each one represents a certain vibrational frequency of consciousness. You need to be vigilant to ensure that one of them operates whenever you are engaged in doing anything at all -from the most simple of tasks to the most complex.

Acceptance - Whatever you are endeavouring to do right now, accept that this is what this situation, this moment requires you to do and do it willingly.

Enjoyment - Whatever you are doing, be in the moment and enjoy it. When you make the present moment, instead of past and future, the focal point of your life, your ability to enjoy what you do increases dramatically.

Enthusiasm - This is the third modality of awakened doing. Enthusiasm means there is deep enjoyment in what you do plus the added element of a goal or vision that you are working toward.

Here are a few of my favourite points from this book .....

You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you, and allowing that goodness to emerge.

You can value and care for things, but whenever you get attached to them, you will know it is the ego. And you are never really attached to a thing, but to a thought that has "I", "me" or "mine" in it.

When I criticize or condemn another, it makes me feel bigger, superior.

Non reaction to the ego in others is one of the most effective ways not only of going beyond ego in yourself but also of dissolving the collective human ego.

Non reaction is not weakness but strength. Another word for non reaction is forgiveness.

The past has no power to stop you from being present now. Only a grievance about the past can do that. What is a grievance? The baggage of old thought and emotion.

The fact that you temporarily know more or that you are bigger does not mean that a child is not your equal.

See the fullness of life all around you. The warmth of the sun on your skin, the display of magnificent flowers, biting into a succulent fruit, or getting soaked in an abundance of water falling from the sky.

Laughter is extraordinarily liberating as well as healing.

You are never more essentially, more deeply yourself than when you are still.

Some changes may look negative on the surface, but you will soon realize that space is being created in your life for something new to emerge.

And lastly, my favourite .....

One With Life. Being one with life is being one with now. You then realize that you don't live your life, but life lives you. Life is the dancer and you are the dance.

Happy Family Day

Thinking back on our time in Ethiopia seems almost dream-like, driving to the orphanage to pick up Gabriella, tucking her into the sling that Sebrina brought along and then taking the cab ride back to the guest house. Were it not for Gabriella, the whole trip I'm sure would fade into my memory like a forgotten dream in the night.

I remember wondering would my heart would open as widely for this child as it did for my first 3 grandchildren. Once I saw her and held her in my arms, there was no doubting that this little girl was meant to be part of our family. She too filled up my heart just like my boys.

This is indeed a happy day today as I remember sitting with Sebrina in the guest house waiting for the driver that would take us to pick up Gabriella. That day as we waited I was transported back to when Sebrina was my little girl who couldn't wait patiently for very long for something that she wanted.

Finally, the driver arrived and we started our journey through smog so thick it hung over the city like pea soup, then the drive down a very dusty road, through very tall metal gates and into the yard of the orphanage where Gabriella was waiting.

Sebrina has invited us to share in this day's celebrations for a lunch. (Mammy made her devils food chocolate cake with whipped cream and raspberries).

As well, I painted a special picture for Gabriella to remember this day. I can't share it with you because her mom hasn't seen it yet.

Here are some of the things I absolutely love about Gabriella.

G - She's Girly

A - Angel

B - Beautiful

R - Rambunctious

I - Delicious - I know it doesn't start with I, but it is what she is.

E - Enchanting

L - Lovable

L - Lively

A - Always smiling

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

One year ago today is the day that I saw you for the first time.

You were a wee little thing – just 12 pounds, you didn’t smile very much and constantly had your fingers in your mouth.

You couldn’t hold your head up very well. But you had these eyes … eyes that looked deep into my soul and from the very first second had me hooked.

The weeks spent in Ethiopia were special, watching as you unfolded like a flower opening its' petals to the sun.

Within a couple of days you were smiling at your mommy and me.

Within one and one half weeks, we had you laughing out loud.

Your mommy kept putting you on the bed on your tummy, so you could learn to hold your head up.

I remember laying in the bed beside you at night watching you sleep and thinking what a miracle you were and how fortunate we were to have you in our lives.

Here we are one year later and you are growing into such a big girl.

You aren’t so wee any more – nearly 30 pounds.

You smile non-stop especially when you see your daddy or your poppa.

You hold your head high now and you are running around the house with your three older brothers.

Sometimes they can’t even keep up with you.

And those eyes ... they still look deep into my soul, touching and awakening many emotions and yes dearest Gabriella you still have me hooked.

I loved you from the moment I saw your first referral picture and that love has grown deeper over this past year.

What a precious girl you are – mammy’s love.

A Family is Born

Waiting since January 2007 ... this couple have taken an incredible journey to their daughter.

This journey was fraught with many setbacks, obstacles and forks in the road, but ........

Here they are.
Finally together with Kimberlie.

I can only imagine how they felt after this very long wait.

Congratulations Amy & Rob. The smile on Amy's face says it all. This is the picture of pure happiness.

"The child must know that they are a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child lilke them."

Keep Your Face to the Sunshine & You Cannot See a Shadow

Sunshine and Shadow .... How this day brought much needed relief from the depths of a cold hard winter.

Frigid cold, rain, snow, high winds and occasional freezing rain, so this respite of beautiful sunshine and blue skies today was absolutely delicious.

The sun found every hole in the privacy screen so it could weave this graphic pattern on the lid of the hot tub.


A ray of sunshine catches on the living room curtains and then dashes across the floor, runs up the wall, stopping for just a moment at the curio cabinet to infuse it's pure white light with every colour of the rainbow picked up from my Swarovski crystal. And then ...... the finale of the show - colourful splashes of light dancing around the room.

Now I am renewed by the warmth of the sunshine ..... and by the beauty of these fresh tulips on my coffee table.

With just a little more patience and endurance, I look forward to seeing these beauties poke their heads up through the soil in the not so distant future.

With an attitude of gratitude I thank the universe for sending these beams of light to earth today with the message that "Spring is Not Too Far Off".

Are you a Shlumpadinka???

Yesterday I watched a rather interesting Oprah show which discussed the horrors of becoming a Shlumpadinka.

Could I be a Shlumpadinka! (Sound of me screaming in horror). Oh Noooooo............

What is a shlumpadinka you might ask?

Do you run errands in your pj's?

Are your husband's sweats a staple in your wardrobe?

If your answer is yes, you may be a shlumpadinka.

Oprah's been using this word for years, but many people are still in the dark about shlumpadinkas.

One audience member guessed they were the distant cousins of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory's Oompa Loompas, while another said shlumpadinka is what you call something when you've forgotten its name.

Though this word isn't in Webster's Dictionary ... yet ... Oprah says she knows a shlumpadinka when she sees one. "I made this word up a long time ago," she says. "It represents, for me, a woman who dresses like she has completely given up…and it shows."

Every woman has had a bad day or two in her life, but some are guilty of nonstop frump.

This was a really fun show where stylist Lloyd Boston demonstrated how to easily and inexpensively change up your wardrobe preventing you from becoming a shlumpadinka.

The majority of his picks were from Sears and Old Navy and were quite inexpensive.

Lloyd says the following basics are important to add pizzazz to your wardrobe.

1. Bright scarves
2. A Trench Coat in a bright colour
3. Basic black trousers
4. A black and a white turtleneck
5. A tunic with a pair of white trousers to make the colours of the tunic pop
6. A black dress
7. A denim jacket, preferably white or dark
8. A black skirt
9. A cashmere sweater (they are really coming down in price) - try Old Navy
10. A pair of flats - try leopard or a funky print. How about a juicy colour!
11. An oversized colourful bag
12. And last but not least a versatile crisp white shirt.

See you after shopping ..........

A Fire, A Book, An Afghan, A Cup of Tea

It's a great day to stay inside!

Snow, rain, freezing rain - we are expecting this mix all through the day.

Although it is dismal outside, this is the kind of day that just cries for us to stay in our pj's, curl up with a cup of Earl Grey tea, picking up a great book or a stack of lovely magazines to read, wrapping up in a quilt or afghan and just staying put.

Sebrina is reading "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle. She is tearing through this book at record speed and is recommending that I too should read it. It certainly sounds like a book that I will enjoy and plan on signing up for the online course Oprah Winfrey along with the author is offering on her website.

She and I have been discussing different parts of the book - her words were, "this book was written for me". I have a feeling that I will say the same thing when I get it. This book is a self help book to awaken your inner self to your true life potential.

Do you hate your body?
Are you plagued with thoughts that you're not "enough"?
Do you fear that if you lose something precious (money, spouse, youth, vigor, job, etc.) that your life will be "over"?
Is your attachment to "stuff" and striving to live up to the expectations of others wearing you out?
Do you want to heal from painful emotions and negative states of being?

These are questions and thoughts that I struggle with daily, so this book along with one of his others, "The Power of Now" are books that I will definately add to my library.

For now however, I am watching the rain run down my windows in rivulets and thinking about all that is lying dorment under the snow.

In the blink of an eye new life will soon be coursing through the brown and white landscape. New beautiful buds of green will soon be appearing on the very naked trees & bushes as they rejoice in the new garments they will display for us for the next five to six months.

Crocuses, tulips, daffodils, narcissis, johhny-jump-ups, lily of the valley pushing their heads up through the remaining snow .... songbirds and butterflies back from their sojourn abroad, the sounds of children playing outside.

If you are still long enough you might even hear the sounds of insects waking up from their long winter naps.

Ahhhhh ..... spring, I can hardly wait!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all who love, who are loved, who have ever been loved.

Here's a picture of the sweet dessert I made for my Valentine.

It is a devil's food chocolate two layer cake. In between the two layers is whipped cream with mashed raspberries. Then drizzled over the whole cake is a chocolate ganache. I added some fresh raspberries on top just to make it look pretty.

Sebrina is the marvelous baker in our family, but this is actually quite easy. Although it is a scratch cake, the recipe is very simple. It always turns out perfectly and is delicious. This cake always gets rave reviews when I make it for company.

It is very rich, very decadent, very moist.

This dessert will follow a special dinner of Tuscan Smashed Potatoes and Oven Baked Barbeque Ribs. (This is special because I would usually cook a meal like this on the weekend).

I know that my Valentine will enjoy it ....

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints .... I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! .... and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

The ABC's Of Winter

I love winter!!!

And here is what I love about winter starting with A.

A - Alpaca wool, Afghan

B - Blowing winds & snowflakes

C - Carafe of hot chocolate, Christmas, Chili, Cashmere, Cuddle, Coffee

D - Down comfortors & pillows, Drifts

E - Eggnog, Earmuffs

F - Fireplace & Fires

G - Gloves

H - Home, Hat, Hot Tub, Hot muffins

I - Inside looking out, Icicles

J - Jam on toast with tea

K - Kiss

L - Love

M - Mittens, Mohair

N - Nose - red & cold

O - Oatmeal

P - Pinecones to make the fire crackle

Q - Quilt

R- Rum Toddy, Red River Cereal

S - Skates, Snow, Snow Blower, Scarf, Stew

T - Tea, Tobaggan

U - Under a warm blanket, Uggs with sheepskin lining

V - Velvet, Vase of fresh flowers, Vacation (someplace warm),

W - Warm, Wood Pile

X - X-Country Skiing

Y - Yorkshire Pudding, Yikes - it's cold

Z - Zipper - on my coat & my boots

How Old Do You Think You Are?

Check out this site. It is quite interesting.

I took this questionnaire and according to my results, my virtual age is 39.1 and my life expectancy is 91.9 years.

By the way my real age is 54, so I guess I'm healthier than I thought I was.

These estimates are based on my lifestyle, my stress levels, my blood pressure, my cholesterol, drinking & smoking habits, use of pharmaceuticals, OTC, etc....

Here's the site ... http://www.peterrussell.com/Odds/RealAge.php

Happy Anniversary

One year ago, these three people became a family. Sebrina and I met Sherrie and Ivan in Ethiopia when we went to pick up Gabriella.

This was a trip and experience I think of often and find myself longing for the time when I can go back to this beautiful land that wrapped itself around my heart.

On that very special day, Ivan & Sherrie drove down a dusty old road in Addis Ababa, went through a very tall steel gate into the orphanage compound and saw their sweet little Bethelyn for the first time.

At the moment she was placed in their arms, two became three.

Happy Anniversary to you all!

Almost There

Here is the almost completed quilt top.

After completing 5 rows, I was not feeling happy with the results - too much patchwork, to0 much bright colours, too quilty ......

Don't get me wrong, I love quilts and appreciate the amount of love & labour that goes into each and every one, I'm just very particular about the style. I usually find quilts fit more into a Country, Americana or Shabby Chic style of decorating. So in my home, my quilting really needs to be a little more restrained, definately not the old fashioned style of crazy quilting for this girl.

So what I ended up doing to calm down how busy the quilt looked is this. I followed the example of my daughter Sebrina's quilt (see at left), where she used the blocks to border a feature fabric.

I didn't have enough of the feature fabric to do a large centre square with a single border, so I came up with this idea of two rows on either end with a centre strip equal to two rows plus two white edges. Then I put a 5" border around the whole thing. You can see from the top picture that I draped it across a double bed and it is still not quite as large as I want it, so may do a little more piecework around the edge, or I may put another border with one of my other printed fabrics before the final assembly.

The only problem I have right now is ...

1. I've run out of white quilting thread &
2. I've run out of white fabric for the border.

So far, I am much more content with the look of this quilt top which will definately not end up in the rag bag, which incidently is where the first one was headed for.

I have decided to mitre my corners for a cleaner finish. Here is a closeup of the first mitre. This picture is taken on our hardwood floors, so the seams are quite obvious, they won't be so obvious when the white quilting batt and the backing is on.

Time for a breather, I'll pick up my missing bits tomorrow and get back to quilting on Tuesday.

T.T.F.N.

One, Two, Three, Four .. only 135 More!!

An update on the quilt-in-progress.

I have completed four rows and am very pleased with how this is coming along.

Quilting is not at all hard as I had once upon a time imagined. It just requires patience, patience and more patience.

Snow Falling on .... "Everywhere"

Some pictures of just how beautiful it was during our blast of winter on Wednesday February 6

The flakes were big, wet and stuck to everything.

How pretty is this ... like a picture postcard.

Trees bent down low under their burden of snow, my small garden ornaments went under cover and my cast iron furniture looked like a white frosted cake.

How's Your Ticker?

With Valentines Day rapidly bearing down upon us, this entry about heart health - (mine in particular) - seems rather appropriate.

For the past 6-8 months, I have been experiencing extremely annoying bouts of palpitations, flutters, racing heart, etc....

I have had bouts of minor palpitations since entering menopause approximately 10 years ago but always attributed it to fluctuating hormone levels. But when they increased to a point that left me breathless as well as increasing the feeling of pressure on my chest, I thought I should mention it to my doctor.

He immediately sent me for an EKG and then for a test called "Holter Halter". The Holter Halter is simply a portable EKG which you wear for a day. It constantly monitors heart activity while you are wearing it.

After that test, I went to see him for a follow up. Apparently, I do not have a racing heart but extra beats coming from my ventricle. He felt it would be best if I saw a cardiologist.

I'm a pretty down-to-earth natural supplements kind of girl, but when this problem arose with my heart, I didn't want to try supplements or homeopathy to help this. My feeling ... since my heart is pretty much my life support system, I should investigate this through regular medical channels first.

When he told me he wanted me to see a cardiologist, I felt a little concerned. Of course the fact that my heart was acting up every hour or so didn't help matters.

Well, I saw the cardiologist yesterday and here's his report.

He does not know why I am getting extra beats. My sinus rhythm is perfect so he does not feel there is any cause for further investigation or concern on his or my part with regard to the extra beats.

Here's a little heart education for you ... The sinus rhythm is what a normal EKG shows. EKG paper is graph paper and when the peaks of rate and rhythm are regular then you have regular Sinus Rhythm. Sinus refers to the sinoatrial or S-A node ... the origin of the electrical impulse that starts each beat.

As well, he said that some people who are highly sensitive to outside stimuli are also very sensitive to heart movement and he would classify me as someone who falls into that category.

As a side note ... Sebrina has told me for many years that she thinks I suffer from Sensory Integration Dysfunction.

Sensory Integration Disorders vary between individuals in their characteristics and intensity. Some people are so mildly afflicted, the disorder is barely noticeable, while others are so impaired they have trouble with daily functioning.

In this disorder children can be born hypersensitive or hyposensitive to varying degrees and may have trouble in one sensory modality, a few, or all of them. Hypersensitivity is also known as sensory defensiveness. Examples of hypersensitivity include feeling pain from clothing rubbing against skin, an inability to tolerate normal lighting in a room, a dislike of being touched (especially light touch) and discomfort when one looks directly into the eyes of another person.

I definately struggle with clothing issues - tags on sweaters, certain types of fabrics, problems with bright light and extreme discomfort with direct eye contact. If the seam on my sock gets under my foot, it can drive me to distraction. So maybe this heart issue is just another symptom of SID.

So back to my heart issues.....

There are medications the doctor could prescribe for this, but because the side effects are many and severe, he would rather if I could learn to live with it.

The one caveat to this is if I should start to experience light headedness or fainting, that would require medication or possibly a pacemaker.

So hopefully as time goes by I will become more accustomed to this hard beating heart of mine and like a mildly annoying pain I will start to not notice it any more.

I am very thankful it turned out to be not a large concern since I certainly have felt concern about a heart attack with the wild beating I have been experiencing.

So it is great to have my fears eased and concentrate on other much more important things .........

Like my knitting and quilting (LOL)!

Watercolour Quilting

When I first decided to make a quilt, I had in mind a quilt with undulating waves of graduated colours.

I have since found out that this is called Watercolour quilting. When I finish my quilt, this style will be my next quilting attempt. I imagine this will take a lot of fabric patterns, so may look to buy coordinated jelly rolls (this is rolls of pre-cut strips of fabrics). It is a good thing that I started on the pattern I am working on now, there are not too many pieces (315 in total) so I can get some practic on piecing. I believe a watercolour quilt may have many hundreds of pieces depending upon the size of piece I choose.

From the research I have done, I can see that the more & smaller the pieces are, the better the shading will appear.

The quilt in the picture demonstrates the beautiful way watercolour quilting blends colours one into the other.

This picture was borrowed to illustrate watercolour quilting from a quilter displaying her beautiful quilts on Flickr.

Now that I've discovered this style, I'm excited to get my first quilt done and get started on this one.

Maybe I'll just start choosing, purchasing and saving fabrics for this next quilt.

Oh no, I think I have caught the quilting bug ... is there any cure???

Tag - I'm It

I've been tagged by my daughter Sebrina.

I have to list 6 random things about myself.

1. I LOVE my family ... so much sometimes that I experience real physical heart pain.
2. When I have a drink it MUST contain 4 ice cubes.
3. Sebrina said she was a little bit afraid of the dark ... guess she got that from me ... I am very afraid of the dark. Don flew to Montreal last night for a family funeral and I was alone. I left many lights on in the house so I felt safer.
4. I LOVE breakfast for dinner.
5. I am very SCARED of water.
6. I LOVE reading ... my day is incomplete without reading at least 1-2 hours in morning.

My chiropracter follows Sebrina and my blog faithfullly and always says how much Sebrina is like me. Interesting most of her random thoughts about herself are very similar to me.

I can't really tag anyone because I only follow a very few blogs, my daughers blog being one of them, and the other two blogs I would have tagged have been already.

New Toy for My Boy

We finally cracked and bought a snow blower this winter.

Since moving to this house we both found the driveway was just too much. It is a double and can hold nearly six cars, not to mention how much snow the city ploughs dump in the bottom of the driveway when they go by not once, not twice, not three times, but so far today four times. As well we park in the garage, unlike most of our neighbours so we have an entire driveway to clean not just around the vehicles.

We bought a snow blower on Boxing Day - an 8.5HP / 24" cut, however we had trouble getting a vehicle to pick it up (comes in a really large wooden crate), so what did Sears do - they sold it to another customer on us. And to top it off they took our money on December 26th, so we were out the $600.00 and they were fresh out of snowblowers. Don now refers to Sears as "The Store with No Name".

After 2 1/2 weeks of very frustrating phone calls with sales clerks and customer service, I finally called the manager of the store and within three days and for the same price he substituted an 11.5HP / 27" cut and had it delivered free of charge. Guess that shows you've got to talk to the right people!

As of posting, Don is out there cleaning our driveway and the neighbours and having I think a lot of fun. Doesn't look like he'll be in for quite a while.

Hey Don, did you forget we've got a snow blower - what are you doing with that shovel?

Guess old habits die hard .......

It's a Good Day to Stay In & Quilt

What a great day to stay inside!
Here's a couple of shots outside our home. We are in the middle of a rather nasty snowstorm in Toronto. There is about 10 cm fallen so far and we are in for another 15 cm.

Since Don decided to work from home today, I decided to cancel my therapy and errands to stay inside and work on my quilt.

I've completed three rows now. As Sebrina told me it is really hard to line up the squares.

This third row was really out of alignment, so I put an extra row of my feature fabric between the two white borders.

I quite like it and find that it draws the eye away from the fact that the squares are not perfectly aligned.

I also had my very first bath since having my knee replaced. It was simply delicious!!!

Lavender essential oils and dead sea salts. I made a cup of tea, lit some candles and brought in my book to read.

What a heavenly way to spend an hour on a blustery winter afternoon........... Ahhhhhhhhhh