Sunday, May 22, 2011

Adventures in... Carman?

Today, we decided to drive out to Carman to bring my Grandma to Aunt Verna's home for a visit. We planned to visit as well, but figured we'd let them be for a little bit- that way they could talk in Low German without feeling like anyone was excluded from the conversation.

So off we went, driving around Carman. We headed to a park, King's Park, it sounded promising... Except it was more of a campground/fairground. Oh well, onwards!

We ending up parking on 2nd St. SE and started our wandering from there.

We could hear some rushing water and went to find the source. Of course, it was the Boyne River. There was quite a nice path all along the river. There were some small rapids -the source of the rushing water.
As we ventured further into the forest, a small furry creature came bounding towards us. It was a very happy, friendly grey cat. It ended up accompanying us along the entire trail.

(This was its "You shall not pass" pose)

Everything looked so beautifully lush and green.


The forest floor was covered with moss, Creeping Charlie, and small white flowers.


There were also interesting fungi on some of the fallen trees.


It was such a nice little gem of trail to find. I could have kept going. I was kind of curious where the trail would end, but it was time to head back. When we got back, we were treated to some Faspa- sausage, buns, tea, muffins, and rhubarb cake.

Here's one last photo, we were parked near this building. What can I say, I have a bit of a weakness for photographing brick. I love the contrast, especially when viewing this photo with all the green ones above.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Photo Update Time

I've been meaning to post the next "x" days and I keep putting it off. I figure, I'm still wide awake at this ridiculous hour, why not do a bit of a blog post. I have too many pictures in my Project 365 photostream, that they now show up in rows of 9, with smaller pictures. Oh well.

Alright, so like I said, I kind of procrastinated on posting this, so there'a whopping 60 days worth of photos...
Row 1: Magic 8 Ball, Houseplant, Crescent Moon, Curves of Light, Wooden Drawing Mannequin, March Sky
Row 2: Small White Blossom, Inside the Drops, Brown Eyed Girl, Bouquet, Clear Your Mind, Golden Rod Abstract, Cupcakes, Light Beams, The Fridge
Row 3: Work, Blue Eye Shadow, Resin Flower, Glass, Sandals, Sepia Masks, Thawing River, Fizzy Drink, Glasses on a Nighttable
Row 4: Easter Wreath, Spokes, Snow Globe, Wine, Lawn, Self Portrait, Circle, Sandals, Dispersal
Row 5: More Dispersal, Hope Grows, Textures, Rubies, Ipod, Easter Decor, Snowy Bike, New Growth, Strawberry Jam
Row 6: Green Goo, River-3 weeks later, Mini Cupcakes, Birch, Geometric Reflection, Rainbow Pens, Felt, Buggy Sculpture, Silverware
Row 7: Dial, Wood Knot, Droplets, Gummy Fish, Domo and Zombie Meet, Still Waters, Christmas Cactus, Flowers, and more Flowers

What do I predict in the future... a lot more green and other vibrant spring and summer colours. I am just waiting for those first tulips to burst open. If we get a little bit of sun in the next week, it should happen!


Sunday, May 1, 2011

Ramblings

So I haven't exactly been super awesome about updating the blog. I'm sure that's okay though, since there's not exactly a huge following.

This weekend was somewhat of a roller coaster, weather wise. Friday I got home from work just after 2:00, after a lovely 20 minute walk home from the bus stop. You know that wonderful feeling of sunshine on your face, a warm breeze, and that almost humid fresh smell. That's what it was like on Friday. I had caught a glimpse of the upcoming forecast, so I figured I'd best make the most of it. Off I went into the backyard and had a bit of a rest on the swing. Nothing quite refreshes you, like beautiful weather!

Saturday came around and it was rainy. I went out with Tamara to do a few errands. Every time we were between destinations, the rain got harder. And of course, some time early Sunday morning, that rain turned into snow. Sigh... we just couldn't have a May without a little bit of snow. At least it happened on a Sunday, so it won't screw up traffic flow too much.

May was going to be a month where I followed a challenge set up by a co-worker. She was challenging people to be Vegan for one month. It was set up as a "see how it makes you feel, health-wise/trying a lifestyle before rejecting it" type challenge. At first I was all for it, then I thought, maybe I can just try Vegetarianism for the month, and then I figured out that unfortunately it wouldn't quite work. The easiest way to make life-altering changes (even short term ones) is when you don't have to work/force other people into it. We've got a good dynamic of everyone sharing with meal preparation. It's hard to suddenly bring about something as drastic as Veganism or Vegetarianism. I don't want to encourage food waste, and I really don't like the idea of having 2 separate meals planned all the time. And yes, I'm aware that you can make some meat-free dishes, and then cook some meat on the side. BUT- they wouldn't really be properly balanced for one group. . You can't just make 1 meat dish, 1 protein dish, 1 starch, and 1 vegetable dish. It's not that simple!

I figure I might try the challenge eventually, when I don't need to worry about inconveniencing others. In the meantime, I'm trying doing little things. My morning muesli I take with soy milk, instead of milk (it actually tastes better too!). I am trying to cut down on cheese. Given the choice between yogurt and cheese, I'm actually leaning towards keeping the yogurt. I am still going to try to incorporate 2 vegetarian days a week. We'll see how that goes....