Help Needed

As many of you know I will be away for most of the summer traveling to and working in Bangladesh (you can read more about it here and here).  I've been pondering what to do with my blog for the seven weeks I will be away.

I'm hoping to be able to upload photos and write some posts while I am on the road and teaching.  However, I can't guarantee that I will have electricity, internet access, or time and energy to do regular blog posts.  Thus I'm coming to you, seeking volunteers to write some guest posts.

I would encourage you to consider being a guest blogger as it is a good way to find other blogs and have other people find yours.  I thought it would be fun to have the guest post give us three glimpses into your home, along the following lines:

• the oldest thing in your home
• the favourite thing you have made (or made-over)
• the favourite room in your house and why

I will need to have the post sent to me by the middle of June so I have time to upload it and it is ready to publish before I leave.  If you think you would be interested in volunteering to be a guest blogger this summer please drop me an email at aliasgracie@gmail.com

I'm looking forward to hearing from you.
XOXO

I Did It!

I have a headache.  It took me all afternoon.  I'm exhausted.  But it's done.  I finally booked the airline tickets to Bangladesh and am so excited (and to be honest, nervous).  My friend Kim and I are now set to go. 

You might think we just get on a plane and go from Toronto to Bangladesh, but oh no - it is much more elaborate than that.  Since we have to stopover somewhere along the way to get to Bangladesh from Canada, hubby and I decided that I would make that stopover in France.   Then he would come along for the first part of the trip and we could spend a little over a week together in France in celebration of our 30th wedding anniversary (from this past February).  We will be staying with our French friends for most of the time and see the sites in and around Normandy.   

So here is how the summer is looking:

First I go to France for a little over a week.

Wikipedia

Then I'll be flying to Bangladesh via Abu Dhabi, where I will  meet up with Kim who is travelling directly there from Toronto.

Traffic Jam in Dhaka, Bangladesh (Indiamike)

We will be teaching at the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed just outside of Dhaka in Bangladesh for a month. 

CRP

Then Kim's husband and daughter will be joining us and the four of us will travel to India for a week. Our plan it to go to Darjeeling in the Himalayas - for a cup of tea (haha).  Seriously though, we hope to travel on the Darjeeling-Himalayan Railway, which is a narrow-gauge steam train built in 1880 and is now a UNESCO world heritage site and do some hiking in the Himalayan foothills.  

Photo by Arne Huckelheim (Wikipedia)

Then for the last two nights we hope to stay at the Glenburn Tea Estate, a working tea estate and boutique hotel, just outside of Darjeeling.  When Malcolm saw the pictures of the Glenburn Tea Estate on a previous post (see here) he asked if we would be going there, because that is where the tea shop he goes to near the University of Waterloo purchases some of their tea.  I was flabbergasted that Malcolm would have heard of this tea estate that I will be going to half-way around the world - amazing!

Glenburn Tea Estate

It looks like it's going to be a busy summer - but an amazing one!

Windy Weekend on Georgian Bay

We just got back from our windy three-day visit to our Georgian Bay cottage.  Did I mention that it was windy?  Thankfully the cottage is on an island so on the first day, which was actually warm and sunny, we could go to the calm side of the island and bask in the sun and swim.  I swam twice that day, just because it was likely my last swim of the season.

Even in the wind and rain it is a majestic setting. 

It was Christie's first visit to this cottage and she enjoyed it despite the wild weather.
 

The stormy weather stirred up some dramatic skies.

Sometimes there was so much rain

that there was nothing to do but stay inside and relax - Juno's favourite activity!

Other times, though, we could get out and explore.  There were only a few cardinal flowers this year, but they were lovely as ever.

I love finding puddles that are turned red by the colour of the algae in them.

and cannot get enough of the beautiful rocks.

 
There were signs of fall around the island.  From berries,

to goldenrod,

and aster,

and even a few coloured leaves.

 Oh, and polar fleece sweaters to ward off the chills.

Sigh!  All good things must end - even summer.  Sniff, sniff.  One last photo of a magnificent windswept tree.

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Just a warning - it may be the end of summer vacation, but I have a few more blog posts about summer activities that I will be posting this week and maybe even next. 

Summer Goals Up-date

I can't believe summer is on its way out.  Tomorrow school starts and summer vacation is officially over, although we do have one last long weekend to enjoy.  Way back in June, I posted the goals that I would like to accomplish this summer (which you can read about here), so I thought I would do a little recap on how things have gone - mostly 'yeses', a few 'nos'.

1. go to the cottages.  We got to enjoy some relaxing and rejuvenating time at both cottages, although ended up with only a long weekend at the Georgian Bay cottage.  You can see some photos here. 

2.  paint the kitchen cabinets white.  Well in the end it was white and gray - you can read all about this project here (including before-and-after photos).  We are completely thrilled with the change that $250 has made in our kitchen.  There are still things to be done to finish it, but we are loving the difference so far.
 

3.  go to Stratford with hubby and see "The Tempest".  I wrote about our lovely Sunday in Stratford with Christopher Plummer here.  We had such a fantastic time and both thought the play was the best we had ever seen, so we bought tickets for Malcolm and his fiance, Christie, to attend.  They loved it too!

 

4.  go on a Moonlight-and-Cheesecake date.  We went for a walk in a nearby town with coffees and a cookie in hand.  The photos I took when it was darker didn't work out well, so this one will have to do, although it is more light and less moonlight.  I would like to go into Toronto and do another walk-around-drinking-coffee-and-talking date.  Hopefully soon.

5.  plan a series of fun summer daytrips/weekend trips since hubby likely doesn't have a chunk of time off this summer.  We went on several lovely relaxing day-trips and mini-vacations to Stratford, St. Jacobs, Grafton, and Prince Edward County.

 Macaulay House in Picton, Ontario

6.  enjoy time with my brother and my sister and her family who are came to visit us from Winnipeg this summer.

  My brother at the lookout near our cottage

Juno with my sister's dog, Sunny, sitting in their respective beds.  They didn't usually get along this well I might add.

7.  enjoy the weeklong visit with our French guests (the parents of the exchange student who lived with us for three months 3 years ago).

Hiking the look-out trail near the cottage

8.  deep clean the house - see #7.  It's as done as it's going to get.

9.  organize the storage room in the basement.  You can read about it here.  I won't repost the photo as it really isn't that interesting.

10.  hem a pair of dress pants that I bought last November.  Nope - not done!

11.  finish a blackboard project that I started in May.  Nope - not done!

12.  paint the dining room table black.  Nope - not done!

13.  touch-up the basement playroom paint where the wall was patched because of water damage.  Done - you can see the basement tour here.  Of course, it is one of those things that just looks like it should have always been that way.

14.  paint the upstairs hall and hang the photos we had framed last December.  Done - I'm loving seeing my daughter's photos every time I step out of our bedroom.

 Photos taken by my daughter when she was an exchange student in France 2 years ago

15.  read at least 5 books.  Done - yah me.  I read:

1. The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbury - loved it.  Probably the best novel I read this summer.
2. March, by Geraldine Brooks - very interesting novel about Mr March, the father in the Little Woman books, who was off at war.
3. Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott - of course, then I had to re-read the Little Woman book.
4. Life of Pi, by Yann Martel - liked it but didn't love it -being on a lifeboat for most of the story was a limited setting in my mind.
5. Cesar's Way by Cesar Millan - Juno is a new dog now that I have implemented my pack leadership skills.
   

It was a fun summer, but somehow it seemed to roar past in a blur of activity and business.  How about you?  Did you accomplish what you set out to do in the summer?

Recipe for a Perfect Weekend

A few weekends ago hubby and I had some time to get away for a few days to Prince Edward County in eastern Ontario.  It was a relaxed, quiet weekend filled with all the things we love.  In fact, we both agreed it was a perfect weekend.  Want to know what a perfect weekend looks like for us?  Well here it is -

A perfect weekend includes:

going to a place so quiet you can stand in the middle of the road to take photos,

with a profusion of wildflowers growing along the side of the road.

There would be rocks and driftwood for me to collect,

fossils for hubby to collect,

a lighthouse to view,

a historic home to tour,

charming villages with heritage homes

and art studios,

pretty views,

 yummy food,

and most of all plenty of time spent with the one I love!

What makes a perfect weekend getaway for you?