Personal Interests
Forever Friends
Today is my friend Chris’ birthday, but I’m not going to call and wish him a good one. I’m not even going to send him a lousy e-card. I’m not mad at him or anything. Or maybe I am. You see, Chris died on December 30. Since we met in 1999, he referred to me…
Read MoreSummer Vacation
When I was growing up, we spent two weeks at Orr Lake every summer. I have lots of great memories, but one of my earliest is of evening walks to the store for the daily newspaper for my Dad and treats for us kids. Here’s a photo of my mother and me from around that…
Read MoreThe Canadian Reading Challenge: Newfoundland
After challenging myself to read one book representing each Canadian province and territory by the end of the year, I’d already covered four by the beginning of March. You might think I was rushing to get through the challenge, but only the books for Alberta and Saskatchewan were specifically chosen for this purpose. I decided…
Read MoreThe Person I’ve Become
About a year and a half ago, I read Lisa Montanaro’s blog post, Looking at the Woman You Are Through the Eyes of Your Younger Self. It sparked my interest and I bookmarked it with the intention of leaving a comment after I’d had more time to think about it. Then, not surprisingly, I forgot…
Read MoreWhat I learned from my first Photography Project Assignment
I completed the first assignment for my NYIP course last month. Of the ten photos I submitted, my instructor considered this one to be the best. This was the one he liked the least: I was surprised by both selections until he explained that in most cases I merely took a picture of…
Read MoreThe Canadian Reading Challenge: Ontario
I’m getting together with my book group tonight. We always enjoy each others’ company and a good pot luck meal. I haven’t taken anything I made from scratch for a while, so I’m looking forward to bringing Artichoke Quinoa Salad. As mentioned in my last post, we’ll be discussing The Freedom Writers Diary. I enjoyed…
Read MoreThe Canadian Reading Challenge: Manitoba
You know how you get excited about a particular book, but are disappointed when you actually read it? But sometimes it’s the other way around – a book you’re lukewarm about reading turns out to be amazing! That’s what happened to me with The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields. My book club had read it…
Read MoreThe Canadian Reading Challenge: Alberta
Although my original selection for Alberta didn’t turn out as planned, there was no doubt that my next choice would fit the bill, since the front cover promises “A novel of strange adventure in the Alberta Badlands.” I don’t read many adventures, but the back cover description appealed to me, and I could envision the…
Read MoreThe Canadian Reading Challenge: Saskatchewan
Happy belated New Year! How is 2016 going for you so far? I thought I’d start The Canadian Reading Challenge in Alberta and work my way alphabetically through the provinces and territories. I’ve had Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott on my shelf for about a year, and thought it would do nicely, since the back page stated that…
Read MoreThe Canadian Reading Challenge
I enjoyed Modern Mrs. Darcy’s 2015 Reading Challenge so much that I’ve been eagerly watching her blog to see what her topics will be for next year. She posted her 2016 Reading Challenge today, but I couldn’t get excited about the categories. When I set out to find another challenge that would be more up my…
Read MoreFun with Photoshop Elements
I’ve been using Photoshop Elements for nearly nine years to edit photos to be used on client websites and for the last year or two, to make Pinterest-worthy blog images. Now that I’m getting back into photography, I’m eager to explore some of its other possibilities. This project began with the above photo of the sun shining through the fog…
Read MoreChallenge completed!
At the beginning of the year, I was excited to learn about a Reading Challenge posted by Modern Mrs. Darcy and decided it was right up my alley. There have been a couple of times where I wished I hadn’t, but determined to see it through, I persevered and am pleased to announce that I’m done!…
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