Mother's Day Celebration!

First stop on the adventure: my parent's church for the Mother's Day service.

Second stop on the adventure ( I forgot to take photos! Can you believe that?!): Dinner at a old "haunt" of my parents when they were courting fifty-one years ago, "Sunnybrook Restaurant - a.k.a Marina's Soda Shop," at the corner of Bayview and Eglinton in Toronto. Still amazing food and amazing service after all those years!

Third and final stop ( well, we took a bit of a detour to the beach on the way home) on the adventure: Visiting my grandparents at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto - the most gorgeous cemetery I have ever been to in Canada!
Mom wanted to place these silk flowers in honour of her mother at the graveside. Protecting the flowers from the elements! (It kind of defeats the purpose if you ask me but hey, it's my mom's idea, so I need to respect that, especially on Mother's Day!)My mom ...My mom and I....My mom and dad...
These pics were taken of mom and I yesterday after the tea! Like mother like daughter!

Mom thoroughly enjoyed her day! Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there! I hope you all had a wonderful day celebrating you! Thank you for loving your children unconditionally!

I had a dream...I found Petit Fours..but it was only a dream! Hark! The "Mother - Daughter High Tea" was a success without the Petit Fours!

My church had this amazing Mother -Daughter High Tea yesterday in honour of Mother's Day! I was asked to be one of the table hostesses. As a table hostess, one of our responsibilities was to set the table, using personal china or church china, place cards, etc., if we so desired. In my previous blog post, you knew I enlisted the help of a "transplanted -southern -belle -bloggy- friend -of -mine" at Hokey Pokey Life. She came up with this GREAT idea for place cards using "Petit Fours." (You can read about that story here.) Well...the GREAT "Petit Four ADVENTURE" ensued. Do you think I could find Petit Fours anywhere in Durham Region, population approx. 500,000? Do you think I could find Petit Fours anywhere in Toronto - the community next to me, population approx. 1, 500,000? Canada is part of the Commonwealth. We bow to the Queen. I bet she has full access to Petit Fours! So, here my dear Hokey Pokey friend can find Petit Fours in the great country of America, yet we here in the great province of Ontario, where the first British settlers settled, in the great country of Canada, are without! What was I to do? I put my creative juices into action, using one part Hokey Pokey's idea, one part my idea and one part Isabella's Chocolate Cafe's idea! The photo above shows the end result! A purse( or handbag as it is called in the UK!) filled with two homemade chocolate truffles, displaying the place card with the verse, "...Do not forsake your mother's teaching. [It] will be a garland to grace your head..." (Proverbs 1:8,9) written on it and tied neatly together with pink polka -dotted ribbon! I am very pleased with the end result! Wouldn't you agree?!! Thank you Kimberley ( Hokey Pokey) for your great ideas! I did find out that the owner of Isabella's could have ordered Petit Fours for me from his wholesaler but I was a day late! Thankfully, a wonderful time was had by all at the Mother-Daughter High Tea. It was a LOVELY day. I am grateful my mother was able to join me in this celebration! Here is my table:
I set the table as a tribute to my mom and her mother! It turned out to be sort of "shabby chic," which I loved! The china plates, teapot, cream and sugar hailed from Ireland. They are "Donegal Parian China", a gift from our Irish friends. ( I only had 6 plates so mom and I used china plates from Scotland!) The tea cups came from my mom. Fifty-one years ago, when she got married, it was customary to have "tea cup showers." As a little girl, I always LOVED my mom's tea cup collection, so I was thrilled she allowed me to use them yesterday! The daffodil cutlery came from my mom's trousseau as well! I decorated the centre of the table with one of my pinafores, one of my grandma's lace bibs and a baby photo of my mom. ( I like to be symbolic!) The wee vase is "Belleek Parian China," coming from Northern Ireland as well! The flower in the vase was stolen - oops, I mean "borrowed" from a flower arrangement in the senior's building where my parents live!! lol! Shhh....don't tell anyone!!

Here is my beautiful mom! Doesn't she look great for 71 years old!!!

The program.... The platters of food....one layer had sandwiches, one layer had squares and one layer had scones! Delicious! The platters on my table are actually from my great aunt's trousseau! There is debate on the etiquette of what to eat first at afternoon tea, but apparently the Queen loves to eat the squares first then work herself down to the sandwiches! So, our table decided to follow the Queen's example!! Here is my mom and I with another guest from my table.
Here are the lovely ladies from my table! We had a wonderful time together and they LOVED my place cards! I was blessed to be able to share the afternoon with my mom. I even made her cry when she watched the video the daughters made to honour our moms! It was a special day!

( to view the rest of my pictures from the tea, you can check out my web album at: www.picasaweb.google.com/swile67.)

ABC Wednesday - "P"

I decided it would be fun to participate in Mrs. Nesbit's Place "ABC Wednesdays." I happened to browse her blog via a new blog I've been reading, Moments in Suburbia. I love the creativity and freedom in photography and love watching how different people view their world through their lens! Enjoy my "P" photos and those of my fellow photographers at Mrs. Nesbit's Place...

" P lowing the field. "

I had to sneak this photo of the Amish girl working in her field. The Amish don't like their photos being taken. I was visiting Lancaster, PA, USA last summer and took a tour of the Amish farms! ( notice the girl is plowing in her barefeet!)

"P icket Fence"
Wellfleet, Cape Cod. I LOVE the white picket fences you see all over the New England States. Maybe because I am such a romantic and still believe in the "fairytale" the white picket fence symbolizes!



"P addington Bear"

I have always LOVED Paddington Bear, so took the opportunity to dress up as Paddinton on Halloween! Unfortunately, this is the only pic I have of me as Paddington. What you can't see is my red Wellies and my "Please Look After This Bear" tag! I cherish my two Paddington's ...one I bought in N. Ireland in 1981 with my cousins and the other was a gift from our family friends in N. Ireland!

"Potty" Mouth and Petit Fours

You'll have to pop on over to my bloggy friend at Hokey Pokey Life and check out her latest blog dedicated to me!! Check out the comments (my first comment in this series is at her post about the Kentucky Derby horse that got put down and the rest are on the Petit Four post) as well to understand why she wrote about Petit Fours! The Petit Four saga continues...I'll update my blog after our Mother's Day High Tea so stay tuned to see if I finally get my hands on some Petit Fours!!:)

Today while at the park, my sweet "D" came over to me, pointed at the baby who was also playing at the park and asked rhetorically with a HUGE grin on her face,

" Baby pass gas?"

We both laughed hysterically! This sweet autistic girl is now fascinated with "potty" talk. Oh dear...look out! She even gets her own jokes about the topic! I love it! It made my day!

It was no coincidence that I read the following article in The Toronto Star today after work - I know, I know, I am 2 days behind in my newspaper reading, but hey, at least I am reading!!!



Do you speak English? Prove it

Ottawa's 'embarrassing' language test angers immigration lawyers

by Nicholas Keung

Saturday May 2, 2008



All immigrants applying to come to Canada as skilled workers-even those who grew up speaking English or French-could soon be required to take a mandatory language test to prove proficiency in one of Canada's official languages, the Star has learned.



Until now, English-and French-speaking applicants-including immigrants from the U.S. and England- could bypass the test by submitting a letter testifying to their language skills............

( you can read the rest of the article at: thestar.com )



I am in support of ensuring new immigrants in our country are able to work in their qualified profession. After all, most Canadians are immigrants from other countries, including my ancestors who came from Northern Ireland. But I do agree with the implications Ottawa is making in this new mandatory language test. And really, how can a letter testify to their language skills? Doesn't it make sense to HEAR them speak? For certain professions, I feel new immigrants need to be able to speak English well. Which brings me to why I highlighted this article in the paper. For example, the teaching profession.....



Today in my grade 8 class, there was a substitute teacher. This teacher's first language was NOT English and he was barely understandable. You can just imagine how the behaviour of these grade 8 students played out. Yes, it was mayhem. No control. I tried to find my "quiet place" in the midst of the storm, as did "C", but soon opted for taking "C" and myself out of the class to find a quieter work environment! This substitute teacher is not the first we have had in our school whose proficiency in spoken English is not up to standard. It does make a huge difference in the classroom. I can attest to it first hand! I am not being racist here at all. I am being practical. I am in support of this new language test.

Disclaimer: This post is my opinion- and only part of my opinion on the subject- and not meant to offend anyone at all.

Inuit Life Part 2

Going to get drinking water out of the natural spring. My uncle pulling his grandchildren in the sled!

Filling up the bottles! See my uncles warm toque and warm gloves!

My cousin with baby Helen.
The bay....
more of the bay...
across the bay.
My cousin with more Inuit children sledding and enjoying the winter time!

Inuit Life

We had a wonderful visit with my aunt and uncle ( my dad's brother) this past week! They are missionaries in Nain, Labrador, working with the Inuit. Nain is a community of 1300 people, with 8 R.C.M.P. Mounties and no Tim Hortons, but all the seal and caribou meat you want!!! The only way in is by plane or cargo ship!

"Inuit are the Aborigianl people of Arctic Canada. The word "Inuit" means "the people" in Inuktitut and is the term by which Inuit refer to themselves. The term "Eskimo" applied to Inuit by European explorers, is no longer used in Canada." (Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Sept. 2004)

Enjoy some of their photos of life in Artic Canada....

C'est moi with my aunt and uncle...love the crazy pose!!:)

The land of ice and snow..flying into Nain in wintertime. (There is no snow in summer!, nor do the Inuits live in igloos:))The Nain airport...really!

Some Inuit children visiting my aunt and uncle's house. They love to visit and love my aunt's cooking! One boy had never had bacon and eggs, so now he stops by for breakfast almost every morning!! My aunt and uncle are involved in many areas in the community. They have an open door policy and are even found counselling neighbours at 3 am! They also run a clothing and food exchange. They are looking for a couple to join them in working with the children and youth of Nain.

The main street of Nain! They use snowmobiles mainly to get around town in the winter! The "Northern" is the "Walmart" of Nain!
More Inuit children sledding with my cousin.
Baby Edward...isn't he adorable!
A little Inuit girl wearing a traditional hat at Christmas.

After hearing the stories of life with the Inuits, I definitely plan to visit my aunt and uncle, but only in the summer! I am not fond of the extreme cold! Not only have the Inuit of Nain captured the hearts of my aunt and uncle, they have captured my heart as well! I will continue to pray for them and for these precious people of Canada!