Remembrance Day - Lest we forget

Remembrance Day is an important day to me.  Growing up, we always attended the local services at the cenotaph in my hometown and watched the national service from Ottawa.  I can recite In Flanders Fields, and sing it, and my favourite hymn is Abide with Me, one they usually sing around this time of year.

For me, Remembrance Day has always been about the World Wars.  Those young men and women who answered the call from their country to take up arms and fight the enemy were of a different era.  They signed up, trained for war, and for those who lived, came home and carried on.  Many were not career servicemen, just regular folks, but they were ready to serve. There are less and less veterans from WWII that go to the Ottawa ceremony, but I remember seeing them march and you could see the posture straighten, and their smart salute, and realize that although it may be a little rusty, it was something ingrained in their being.

My grandparents are the people I think about on Remembrance Day, and people like them.  My grandfather was in university and then signed up with the Royal Canadian Air Force and became a navigator.  He spent the war overseas with his air crew.  They spent some time in Scotland and had very few active missions, if any.  He didn't like to talk about his service, and I think part of him felt like he didn't really do anything, since he didn't have a lot of missions.  Of course the very fact that he volunteered is enough to say he did something.  When the war was over he came home, finished his education, married my grandmother and worked as a veterinarian until he retired.

Part of Papa's squadron - he is on the bottom right.

Papa's service medals

Papa's log book

My grandmother had her own stories, and she was a "farmerette" during the war.  Girls from the country worked on the farms to cover the shortage of men.   She also went into nursing, but did not continue with this profession after she married my grandfather.  She had many stories of the local boys that didn't come home and the effect of that on their families.

Remembrance Day has expanded to recognize our more recent involvement in peacekeeping and active missions in the Middle East.  The service of our military since the World Wars is certainly important and should be recognized.  My father was in the military for many years, retired now, and he could tell many stories of the work done around the world by our military and the work he did and that is continued to be done by our military is something that needs to be recognized everyday, not just on Remembrance Day.

On Remembrance Day, I am not interested in the politics, and controversies around why wars are fought, how they are started, why Canada is involved, I just want to remember those who served in the name of this country.

...we will remember them.

Weekend Recap

Our weekend was pretty typical, but we made the most of it.

 

On Friday night we went to a gala. One of the girls at work did my hair and makeup so that was a treat. Fun night with some people from work.

 

The weather on Saturday called for rain so we quickly raked some leaves before they got too wet.  No matter how many leaves we rake and bag, I still can't believe how many leaves are still on the trees.  We'll be doing this for awhile.

 

We went to a birthday party on Saturday morning.  E and I bounced around. Those are for the parents to use too, right?

 

We walked down the street both days.  On Saturday it was raining and E enjoyed using his own umbrella.  On Sunday it was a little nicer.  We got some winter boots for E, so let the snow fly (or wait, maybe let it fly after we get our snow tires on).

 

Thanks for dumping water all over the floor your help with the dishes. #yesmom

This was our Sunday supper.  It is kind of a brunch meal, but it is so tasty.  Fluffy corn and cheese pancakes with maple pancetta, tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, and plain yoghurt.  A Jamie Oliver 15 Minute Meal.  E called them "taco pancakes".

 

Our pomegranate tree seems to have adapted to the inside.  We aren't really plant people but we've managed to keep this alive since April.

 

 

Hope you had an enjoyable weekend too.  Rest up for the holiday season!

Friday Favourites

Linking up with Andrea and Erika for Friday Favourites.

If you're new to the blog arriving via the link up, welcome.  This is my little space to talk about things that I like to do, random as they are.  Check out the subject links on the right and see what I'm all about. 

1. My favourite cups at Starbucks. I know I'm not the only person who is excited about the return of the Starbucks red cup.  I got a coffee on the first Monday of November and enjoyed some leftover Halloween treats in my office.  Merry Halloween!

  

 

2. My favourite thing about Arbonne, sharing fun, new products with people.  I hosted my first Arbonne "party" at my office this week.  It was not a typical presentation, I just put out some products to try, made some protein shakes to sample, and put together some take-homes. Now is the time to get shopping for the holidays!

 

 

3. My favourite fall activity.  This is a leftover picture from our visit to the park last weekend.  We pushed some leaves together with our feet so the boys could jump into the leaves.  I realized that E doesn't know how to play in the leaves!  We will have to remedy that this fall.  The smells and sounds of crunchy leaves always take me back to growing up.  Our youth group raked leaves for seniors in our congregation a few years in a row, and then went back to the church for some hot chocolate. Simple times, but strong memories.

4. My favourite thing about Remembrance Day - hearing stories about the war.  This week I attended a lecture at the Royal Ontario Museum called "Canada's Hundred Days, 1918: Why Don't Canadians Know About Their Greatest Victories".  The speaker was Jack Granatstein; many Canadians know him as the historian who talks to Peter Mansbridge during the Rememberance Day and other televised war related ceremonies.  It was a pleasure to listen to him speak about the First World War, one I don't know much about. 

5. My favourite new vegetarian meal - Aloo Gobi.  This is from Michael Smith's cookbook The Best of Chef at Home (the same book where we make our pancakes). It is sweet potato, cauliflower, and peas with aromatic curry spices.  Very tasty and colourful and simple to make.

Happy Friday!

Kitchen Tour

Let's think of this kitchen tour as the "before" - not that I don't think my kitchen is great as it is, but it still needs some rearranging and some personal touches. 

Our massive island with three lamps and four swivel stools.

 

 

Different views of the counter.  We have a glass top stove, which is a big change from the gas stove we had at our old house, but it is surprisingly fast at heating up.  Our fridge (which is not actually pictured) is one of the double door ones and as anyone who has had one will tell you, it is not ideal.  It is a very nice fridge, but it is hard to fit big things into it. 

 

An appliance garage, which is great.

 

And just to keep it real, this is what the kitchen looked like before I tidied it up to photograph it.

 

Our old kitchen had a green theme, hence the green kettle and dishtowels.  The backsplash here is more blue and grey so I think I'd like to get some navy blue accents like:

 

 

 

I'll probably be updating this kitchen tour in the coming months, and I'll post about it later on.

Want it Wednesday - Christmas Gifts

Halloween is over and although it isn't quite Remembrance Day (my personal official start to the Christmas season), it may be time to start thinking about Christmas gifts.  In our new neighbourhood there are many nice shops within walking distance so this year I've decided to 'shop the neighbourhood' (coincidently the motto of the local business improvement area), and try to get all of my gifts from here.  Not only do I want to support the local merchants, I also want to avoid the malls for Christmas shopping. Don't get me wrong, I love the mall, even at Christmas time, but I tend to go to the mall on my lunch break or quickly on my way home from work and I am too rushed and end up overbuying and overspending.  If I can get all of my gifts near home, then when I do go to the mall, I can enjoy browsing and soaking up the hustle and bustle.
 

I don't need to buy for a lot of people, my family is small, but I do like to get little things for people along the way - teachers, friends, co-workers, so I do need a few different things.



The Bloor Meat Market and Snappers Fish Market both have some fun sauces, spices, and other accoutrements to cook with.



The Coffee Tree and Say Tea have lots of nice teas and coffees to buy in bulk, not to mention some nice mugs.



Marlborough's Stationary has Playmobil toys, books, and art supplies for kids.



And there are many other little gift and clothing shops that I have not even visited yet.



My Arbonne "store" is completely local, and the holidays would not be complete without some fun products.  Sometimes buying skin care products for other people is not an easy task because everyone has their own tastes.  But these spa inspired products are great for gifts because who doesn't want to feel pampered?

Sea Salt Scrub

 

Sea Mud Face and Body Mask

 

Fortifying Hair Mask

 

And some nice things from the holiday line:

 

This Sparkling Citrus Luxury kit includes body wash, sugar scrub, and body butter. Plus it is adorned with a fun holiday pattern.

 

And for the kids in your life, this Bubble Bath Set. It comes with day time and night time bath scents (although we used both at night time), and a soft washcloth.

 

 

Have you started your shopping yet? Are you the type to get it done in July, or are you usually at the mall on Christmas Eve?

 

 

Weekend Recap - A walk in the park

We had another busy weekend - Sportball, a birthday party, and still trying to organize our house.  On Sunday, we explored a park near our house with some friends. 

Peeking out from the tree

Checking out the waterfall

Enjoying the sunshine

Fishermen in the Humber River

And then we came back to enjoy some homemade turkey soup.

 

 

We also got a lot of boxes emptied out and I put all my books on the shelves in the basement.  Next up will be organizing winter and summer clothes, and E's clothes that are too small.

 



What's On...?

I am linking up with Andrea for her "What's on?" series.  This month it is What's on your bucket list?

 

For the record, I am not a fan of the phrase "bucket list". I don't know what it is, I just never use it.  I prefer to refer to things I want to do, as "things I want to do" not have the overture of kicking the bucket.  But I will use it today.

 

I thought about this and things that I want to do are all involved with travelling.  Whenever I pin something in Pinterest related to travel, it often has something to do with a beach, but there are more travel goals than that.  I'll give you my top five trips I'd like to take, in no particular order.

 

1. Fly into Paris, rent a car and drive up towards the Beaches of Normandy, and then head across to Belgium and into Germany, visiting the Canadian war sites along the way.  Yes I'm a war nerd, but I'm okay with that.

 

This is Mont Saint Michel

 

2. Fly to Santiago, Chile, connect to Punta Arenas, and then stay at The Singular Hotel.  I saw this on Lesley Murphy's travel blog (Lesley from Sean's season on the Bachelor).  This trip was not on my radar until a couple of weeks ago, but you can't deny these photos are beautiful. 

 

 

 

 

3. Fly to Kenya, and do a safari and stay in one of those fancy huts.  Then go over to Zanzibar to enjoy the beautiful beaches. Then while in Africa, I want to spend sometime in Cape Town.  This, by the way, would be way out of my comfort zone, but I do want to visit Africa sometime.

 

 

 

4. Stay at the Four Seasons in Bora Bora, and stay in one of those huts over the water.  Go paddle boarding, snorkeling, and basically do nothing.

 

 

5. Take the train across the Rocky Mountains. 

 

 

This is really just five out of so many other trips I want to take.  What trips do you want to take?