Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has a great Halloween and gets a few treats!









We carved our pumpkins the other night and roasted some seeds too! A bit of butter,some salt, 45 minutes in the oven and they were done! Tasted yummy too!

I'll post some pics of the tricker treaters later!

First Anniversary Blog Candy

I've been blogging a year! While this blog initally started as a way to share my scrapbooking, it has evolved into a place to share various bits of my life from celebrations to recipes to weekend fun and occasionally as a spot to vent.

So to celebrate my first anniversary I thought I'd share some recently completed scrapbook projects and give away some blog candy! The first 3 people to comment on this post will receive an altered notebook. Edited: As I received 3 comments so quickly I'll also make a random draw for a fourth book from all additional comments!

It may even be similar to this one.



And isn't the mini clipboard cute too?

I also recently completed a card kit using alpha die cuts from A to Z. Check them out in the slide show below. These use Basic Grey's Hang Ten paper but you could certainly change the look of them depending on the type of paper and riboon used.

It often happens this way

You are out shopping for someone else when you spot something and you just have to have it for yourself!

I was at Homesense recently (one of my favourite stores!) looking for a present for my Mom's birthday. While I was there I thought I'd look at the lampshades as I needed a new one for our family room lamp.

Then it happened! I saw this lamp and it was in the clearance section! And it was love at first sight! I tried to resist, really I did! I continued on to look at the lampshades. I browsed the rest of the store but the lamp drew me back! So I bought it!

And when I got it home and put in its spot I knew it was meant to be. I love its height,it lines and how the light glows through the white lampshade! I love how it complements the table and pictures that were already there!

And you know what? It was cheaper than a new lampshade!

So this past weekend

I went shopping in the


with Kathryn, Sandy and Pat




on a


driven by a fun guy named Bill.


We stayed at the


and shopped at our favourite stores.






Had lunch at



Laughed a lot and tallied up our bills!

Fall Favourites

Nothing beats a fall market or a fall fair. We are so lucky to live in an area where we can buy produce straight from the local farmers.

Some fair favourites!

The Ferris Wheels






The Agricultural Competitions





Waiting for the Grandstand Show!

Victoria

Finally I'm at the end of our BC trip pics. We ended our trip in Victoria and on the way there from Tofino stopped at Cathedral Grove. Cathedral Grove is a rare surviving stand of ancient Douglas fir and western red cedar. The oldest and most majestic trees in Cathedral Grove are about 800 years in age, and measure 250 feet hight and 29 feet around. We took our picture in front of the oldest tree in the grove. They are a spectacular sight.

We stayed just a street in from the harbour and did a walking tour of downtown Victoria. We saw the Parliament buildings and the majestic Empress Hotel. And while we were there a classic boat show was going on. The boats dated from the late 1800's early 1900's and were gorgeous. I loved the ones that were varnished to a high sheen and the Chris Craft's were beautiful.

From here we took the ferry back to Vancouver and caught our plane home! It was a great vacation!

Simple Pleasures

One of the things I like about blogging is that it helps you to notice and share the everyday pleasures that might otherwise pass by. While these photos are not the best I recently made some simple fall fare for dinner:

Beef Stew


and Rice Pudding.


The beef stew was a simple crock pot recipe. For the rice pudding I used basmati rice and 1% milk. I don't think the pudding was as creamy as it might have been with whole mike and white rice but it still tasted good!

Oktoberfest

You can't live in Southern Ontario and not know about the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest, the largest Oktoberfest outside of Germany! Its pretty much a 10 day party with festhalls located throughout the city where you can drink lots of beer and polka to your hearts content. And did I mention the men dress in traditional German Lederhosen or Bundhosen?

Several years ago, when Steve was attending U of W we went to Oktoberfest a few times, never realizing that down the road we'd be living here and Steve would be coordinating a festhall! Its called Altes Munchen Haus and is put on by the Lions Club of Kitchener with all proceeds being directed back into the community. Luckily, Altes Munchen Haus is also home to Walter Ostenek, Canada's Polka King!

This year one of the featured performers was David Wilcox. So, Steve got us tickets and I went with a few friends. Three of these friends had never been to Oktoberfest before! I think you can tell from the pics below that we all had a good time!

And don't miss this clip of the Bearcat!

Karaoke

So Brianne just discovered that one of the free options on our TV service is karaoke. I didn't really think that I'd like karaoke but in the privacy of my own home where no one can hear what a truly bad singer I am its kind of fun! And guess what I discovered, online karaoke where you can record yourself. I will not be doing that!

On This Canadian Thanksgiving

I am thankful for:
my health and that of my family
my daughters
my husband
my friends
a secure job that allows me to indulge in my hobbies of scrapbooking, travel, decorating,shopping and cooking
a safe country free from civil unrest.

A Side Benefit of Scrapbooking

is the many friends I have made while scrapping at our local stores. There is usually lots of laughter and good natured teasing at a scrap night as well as commiserating about the day to day issues of work and home. And on other times we arrange day-long scrapbooking retreats to celebrate each other. Like our recent retreat to Younique to celebrate Janet's birthday. You can see from the photos below what a great time we had! And Heather from Younique put our picture on the home page of her website!

Tofino Wildlife

Between Tofino and Ucluelet, is the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, home to varied wildlife. So one morning we got up to go bear watching at 7 am. Thank goodness we saw some bears! We took a 45 minute boat ride along the inland coast to a more desolate area where the bears come out to forage along the shore a low tide. The cubs we saw were very cute, horsing around and climbing trees. We also saw sea lions(lots) and bald eagles. Then we arrived back just in time to go on our whale watching excursion. This was another 45 minute boat ride in the open ocean and fortunately we saw a grey whale. Then we got news of an unusual school of white sided dolphins about 5 miles out from shore. So we took a chance that we would arrive in time to see them and away we went. We did see them and there were hundreds! The water was churning with dolphins and there were of couple of orca whales too. It was the sight of a life time!

Its Autumn, Really It Is!

Well, as I sit typing this, with the sun beating in the window and feeling the heat on my back, its hard to believe that its Oct 5th! It feels more like July 5th! Southern Ontario continues to be unseasonably warm with a high of 28 celsius(almost 90 F) and a smog alert in effect today. Then I look out the kitchen door at the maple tree and am reminded that, yes, it really is autumn and snow is just around the corner. I'll take these warm days while I can!

Hi From Tofino

Yes its more on our BC trip although I think after a couple of more posts all the stops will have finally been covered. I think I mentioned in a prior post that we spent 3 days in Tofino at the Pacific Sands Resort in a two bedroom condo right on Cox Bay Beach. As you'll see from the pics below, its a beautiful fine sand beach but the water is cold. The surfers wear water suits as they do spend more time in the water than on their boards. Despite the cold water, Brittany waded in to find sand dollars and came home with several!

Besides relaxing, we also checked out Long Beach and Combers Beach and the local Botanic garden.