Fall adventures and colours

Well, it is official, the summer has left us.
I enjoyed the warm summer days this year, the ocean and camping. Although I am always sad to see summer go, I do enjoy the crisp fall days and bright vibrant colours.

Just as I did this summer, it seems I have been on the move this fall season as well. I have made several trips to Toronto to visit my father. Each visit has been nice, with different sights to see, good meals to eat, and conversations to be had.

While in Toronto in September, my one goal was to find this walking labyrinth someone told me about. It was nestled behind a huge mall, tucked behind busy streets, hotels and restaurants; quite a sight to see. Beside it stood a church, and it was surrounded by trees. It was evening by the time I got downtown to find it, and there was a slight drizzle rain.
I was very happy to find it, and to explain to my father what a Labyrinth was exactly. While I didn't have the time to slowly and mindfully walk the labyrinth, I did get to spend some time walking its path. My father took this picture of me once I arrived in the centre. I hope to visit it once again before the snow covers the ground.


I've also gone on several other road trips (meaning not to Toronto) this fall. A friend and I climb into the car and set off with no plan on where we would drive to. We drive in silence punctuated by remarks about the scenery we spot. It seems that in each trip we stop somewhere along the lake, a lake, or some body of water. This picture was out near the ferry to Picton, on yet another beautiful warm sunny day.

On a previous trip, we ended up at my grandparents property, which is on a lake near Gananoque. As I stood on the newly built dock, my mind wandered to the past, thinking about the times I have spent there as a child. In the winter, my siblings, cousins and I would strap on skates and skate on the frozen lake. In the summer we would swim out to the rocks and jump into the cool water. This was also the sight of my first attempt at knee-boarding this summer..lol- not as easy to do now, as an adult.


I love the lake.

My feet have taken me all over the place. On yet another warm sunny fall day, my younger sister and I went out on a pumpkin/hayride/apple picking adventure. Yes, one is never too old to hop on a hayride at a farm! at least my inner child is never too old! lol.

We picked pumpkins and some thanksgiving/fall treats and treasures. Than we landed at a pick your own apple farm! we wondered around the pretty apple trees filling out bags with the "perfect" apple. MMMM and the apple pie and apple crisp we have since baked and eaten was wonderful!



And although the fall has been warm and sunny, there has also been several days of wet, cold and rain filled days. This of course does not deter Charlie and I from hitting the trails. Pink rain boots in toe, we head for the woods to walk in the damp yet colourful trails.

I will be heading out again in two weeks for another adventure. I am not sure what it will bring, but I will be sure to share once I return in December.



I do hope that whatever you have done, and wherever you have travelled this fall season, that you have taken time to enjoy family, friends, good food and conversations, and of course the beautiful vibrant colours!

Peace

Connecting with Nature

This summer I have been reconnecting with my favourite place; nature.
I spent more than two full weeks camping in 4 different provinces, wow- how beautiful our country is!

I went camping this weekend, during the full moon! It was so bright and beautiful. I did not need a flashlight at night, as the moon light glowed in the sky.
How wonderful to sit by the campfire with a hot chocolate, listening to the call of the loons over the lake.




I have returned to a sport I loved, and have not done in years- mountain biking! I pack my gear, take my bike to the trails and cycle through the woods. So quiet, peaceful and fun.




I forgot how much I love to mountain bike, and am grateful that I am able to return to this sport.
I feel a rush of exhilaration as I jump over logs and rocks and glide down the trail swerving around trees.









I spent a few weeks at the Atlantic Ocean! wow, I felt humbled and in awe of the beauty and power of the ocean. I could feel the ebb and flow of the tides as they rose and fell each day, just as my emotions, thoughts and breath rises and falls in waves.

I relaxed and read books that I've had in a pile ready to be opened.
I wrote each day too, recording only the beautiful, positive things I was experiencing all around me; a gratitude journal.




I swam, built sandcastles, explored, played, slept, ate, meditated, and healed.

I have not done too much art this summer, but I feel like all the time I've spent walking in nature has filled my creative well full!

I plan to take advantage of the warm September weather we are having, and once winter begins to settle in, I plan to settle into some art.

I have many ideas and lots of inspiration just below the surface; maturing perhaps, and soon I will sit down and begin to create once again.

I'm just so thankful for this time of exploring and reconnecting with nature. I feel like there will lots to come for me, like I've been planting seeds and allowing nature to take its course. I have some more trips coming up, and after that I feel I will be ready to sit and let the creative energy flow.

East coast trip- part one

I just got back from a two week trip to the east coast of Canada, and wow what a beautiful country I live in.

I had gone to Halifax many years ago, but I was young and in love and perhaps because my memory isn't as good anymore, I cannot recall much of the trip. So, when the opportunity came up this summer, I jumped at the chance.

We left on a saturday, I went out with my aunt and uncle and their two girls (10 and 6 yrs old). They had a new camper trailer, so this would be a camping trip. I brought along my little tent and climbed in the truck ready for the adventure.

We drove through Ontario, and into Quebec. We camped in Rivere de Loup the first night, and than on to the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick the next day.

While at the Bay of Fundy, we went to see a small town near by called Alma. I was in love with this little town with its colourful fishing boats.

These are some of the boats we saw, the tide was low when we were there so the boats were sitting on the sandy bottom. As we walked around exploring, the tide was rising and so too did the little colourful boats.

This was my first taste of the trip east, and I liked what I saw.

What a fun little town, and friendly people :)

This was just the beginning of our trip, and I was beside myself excited to see what else was in store for us.

I am happy to be home, to see my family, friends and pets- but plan to return to the east coast again soon. I'm still unpacking, and still sorting through pictures, so stay tuned and I will post more soon.

I hope this summer has been wonderful and relaxing for everyone! I hope you too had an opportunity to relax and maybe even explore your own backyard, or the world.

peace! I am off to continue to unpack.

"Art on Purpose" funky stuff! Where in the World, Sunday Scribblings

Where in the world am I?
Good question....all I know for now is I'm right here...but,
Yesterday I went to a small town near by for a drive, and to do a little looking around..aka shopping.

We did the main street, which was nice...but nothing special.

Than we headed down towards the waterfront area..the beautiful 1000 Islands.
We came across this little shop called "Art on Purpose"...and I was in love!
It has only been open for 2 months, but the owner/artist told me business was great! She was wonderful, creative and kind as she explained to me how she created some of her pieces.


She works mostly with Polymer clay, and wow, she does some amazing things with it!
There was some work by other local artists as well, again, all very nice.

I plan to take a workshop with her in the new year (as the summer is busy, and than she travels to craft shows for the Christmas season)

If you are around Gananoque, Ontario, I'd highly recommend checking out this charming little store. I'm pretty sure that you might leave feeling inspired as I did.

The waterfront and cool breeze was beautiful as well. The thunderstorms rolled in, but they kindly waited until we were back at home in Kingston. That's the small corner of the world I've been...and where in the world will I go next? again who knows???
Although, I suspect it will be out to the east coast of Canada ;)

Peace!

Highway of Heros

This past weekend I went to Toronto to visit my father. His birthday was on Sunday, so my sister her boyfriend and I made the trip down. We went to the Toronto Zoo on Saturday, which was nice; although I find myself torn about how I really feel about Zoo's....I mean, I understand it is important to breed endangered species, and the importance of educating the public- but I felt sad for the animals in their (in my opinion) small enclosures. Either way, it was a nice day spent together.

Sunday morning, my grandmother joined us and we went downtown to the Keningston Market. I was totally loving this little market..and all its many funky stores and goods to buy. The smells, the colours the people..I found it all like a big creative, inspirational soup. I plan to return to spend the whole weekend downtown doing the little shops and markets like this one.

After birthday cake on Sunday, we headed home.

We got onto the 401 highway, and noticed the traffic was held in an unusual way. I looked around from my spot in the backseat to see what all the fuss was about. I noticed emergency vehicles of all kinds parked along the highway, and overpasses. I than noticed police officers, firefighters, and paramedics all standing in salute. I than noticed the procession of police, army and finally Hurst's driving down the highway. Canadians from all over were standing still to pay honor to the fallen Canadian Soldier. I soon realized that there had been a Canadian Soldier killed in the days prior and this was the procession from Trenton to Toronto.

I knew that this section of the highway was called the "Highway of Hero's" but I had never seen this sad procession in person.

I felt sad, honored, proud, and humbled by watching these cars drive down this long solitary highway.

I felt for the Soldier we lost, I felt for the family and friends of this Solider, I felt for our Country, and those citizens of the countries at war.

I so wished that we were not engaged in this war at all. I wished so badly that there were no wars taking place on our earth.

I cannot explain the emotions, feelings and thoughts that were running through my mind at the time, because there was also an odd calm and quiet amongst the busy highway.

My heart goes out to Soldiers all over the world who are in dangers way right now..at this moment while I sit safely in my house.

My prayer tonight is for an end to the war, and peace for us all.

Some random but wonderful things to indulge in

Indulgence has changed for me as the years go by. As a child, running around playing and ice cream were probably my favorite indulgence.

These days, I take the time everyday to watch the Tour de France...my secret indulgence. I mountain bike mostly, and have not done much road cycling, but I do love to watch this race every year. I don't know why, I am not a stats junkie..nor do I bet money on the race. But I absolutely, really truly love to watch these racers push themselves to their limits for 22 days or so. I don't know why I love this, and why I indulge myself in the time to watch it each day..but I do.

The scenery that they pass by is so beautiful, and the energy of the peloton just gives me goosebumps :)

And as you may have noticed, my new indulgence is spending time with my new friend Richie the horse. I also make time to go to see him everyday. I walk out into the field, carrots in pocket, and call to him..yesterday he lifted his head when I called to say "hi" but returned to his green grass..and let's face it, green grass to eat is much more fun than me. Maybe that is his indulgence. However it only takes a few minutes before he walks up to me and lets me bring him into the barn.

I groom him, talk to him, share time and space with him..which really is an indulgence for us both. When it comes time to part, we both feel better. What a gift.

And, of course, being in nature, with charlie is an indulgence.

Again, for us both to spend time together, play, run and laugh. Some days it may feel like a burden to take care of him, but it never lasts.

After all this, a hot shower, a cuddle with my cat Onyx and maybe the occasional bowl of ice cream tops off a day full of indulgences...maybe not the typical things one would think of as being indulgent..but for me they are. Indulgence, and a blessing.

Crawling into bed at night; after a long day, there is nothing better than having a cat curled up purring, a dog curled up snoring, wind chimes outside my window, and the glowing stars stuck up on my ceiling. Okay, so obviously some little indulgences have survived my childhood..lol :)

Drifting off to sleep knowing they are all happy, taken care of, and safe is a great thing.

Horses and Humans- Sunday Scribblings

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have been lucky enough to have a friend who has a horse at a barn not far from here. I have been able to go out several times now to visit with her horse RD.

The first time I was on her with a saddle, which was a wonderful experience.

The second time I was on her, I we were bareback..(no saddle) what a difference!! I felt a little off balance, lol- with each step she'd take, her weight would shift from side to side, and I had to try and keep my balance. Several times I was sure I was going to fall right off..lol- luckily I did not- although we were in a sand ring so the landing would have been soft.

I was amazed at the feeling of having this big animal right under me! and how she was so attentive and careful with me on her back. My friend taught me some commands and I was able to get RD to move, turn and walk! it was a real joy.

Although one of my favourite moments was when she leaned down to munch on some green grass..my friend took a picture at that moment...I like how it is from behind..and that we are both leaning in the same way. What a gentle soul.

While out at the barn I met the manager Dave. He was impressed that a new person was there and so interested in learning. He has several horses of his own, and said that I could work with/spend time with one in particular.

This is me and my new playmate...the new man in my life Richie. He is around 16yrs old, and has a bad foot so he is a "lawn ordainment" pet (as Dave said) but loves to get attention.

He came with me happily, and let me groom him happily as well. Dave walked me through it all, often telling me "you're not going to hurt him, push/pull/brush harder" lol- maybe I was being a little too gentle..but in my defence, I am learning..and still a little shy, so I'm happy to go slowly and gently. Besides, this was our first time together; Richie and I...and I wanted it to be a happy experience for us both.

I went out again today, and walked out into the field (all by myself!) and got Richie, who I think was happy to see me... or just liked the carrots I had in my pocket :) We walked back to the barn, and this time I groomed him myself. My friend helped me when it came to cleaning his hooves...but otherwise, I handled him myself! While we were in the barn, Richie was so very good..standing still and at one point was so relaxed he was almost asleep..lol. I am so very touched by his gentle, kind personality. When I lead him back to the field, and let him go, he stayed close by..as if to say "well..I like you a lot, I am happy to stay here with you!" which I am told is a real compliment from a horse. I stood nearby too thinking to myself..."go play Richie" but it seemed neither of us wanted to be the first to walk away from the other.. how adorable!

I've not been feeling great the past few weeks, and I cannot say how much being with the horses has helped me. They can read us humans so well that we humans must be calm and present in order for things to be safe and go well. This has forced me to calm down, be in the present moment with him, be aware of his body posture, his movements..etc. Horses are so far the best of "therapists" :) Not to mention the self- confidence I've been feeling by learning how to handle these giant animals.

I think sometimes I find it easier to connect with animals than I do with my fellow humans.

They are so present and open..and we are not always in that same place.

And they are magic! both times I was out and tending to Richie, I found (or it found me..) a white feather with a gray tip. To me it is a sign that the spirits like that I am with the horses..and the gray tip reminds me that life is not all black or white...there are many gray areas.