Did you know?

 

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I will say I didn't know half of these.  I found it hard to believe that bananas are a berry? So I looked it up:

Why Bananas Qualify as Berries

Botanically, a true berry is defined as a fleshy fruit that:

• Develops from one flower with one ovary
• Has a soft, fleshy pericarp (exocarp, mesocarp, endocarp)
• Contains one or more seeds embedded in the flesh

You learn something new everyday!

Remembrance Day..........

 

Benjamin Moore 2027 Colour Trends

 

I will say I don't hate it; however I don't love it either.  Webster Green has to be my favourite colour in the palette.  What are your thoughts?

Barbara these are for you...........

Barbara over at Should We Stay or Should We Go has just been on vacation and she mentioned on their cruise they called in at Jamaica.  I was saying on that particular day, I watched two cruise ships sail past  our hotel and took photos of them.  Here they are:

It was neat to watch them sail by and they were huge.  While we were in the pool that day I got talking to two couples who were on one of the ships.  They paid to come to our resort for the day.  They arrived at 8am and left at 3pm.  I think they paid around $150 US each or was it a couple (?) for the day and that included all meals and facilities.  Personally if it was each that was expensive, for a couple not as bad.

What was funny with these guys was they were from Tennessee and our talk turned to politics and they were saying how bad things were, but yes they voted for Trump????  They had also had an opportunity to hear him speak for 2 hours and he was a very funny guy?  Really nice folk and very interesting on what they had to say.

Another lady in the pool I was talking to asked where we were from and when I said "British born Canadians," she said "I am so sorry."  She was apologizing for the Orange one, which was funny!!!

There was a lot of British in the resort, as it was half term in the UK.  Along with Canadians and Americans.  There were a few from Eastern Europe as well, but mainly North Americans.

Thought I was going to start World War 3

The morning after we arrived in Jamaica it was a lovely morning and we thought we'd have a walk on the beach before breakfast.  There was a pier at one end of the beach so we headed for that.  Along the way we met a couple of people who it turned out were beach vendors.

Being the talkative person that I am, they said hello, and I said hello back and they proceeded to try and sell us stuff.  We got to the pier and one guy had got there before us and he was talking to another guy, his friend who was also a beach vendor.

This guy proceeded to ask us where we were from and I gave my usual answer:

"We're British born Canadians."

This guy then went on a rant about how he hated the British.  How it was their fault the Jamaican's had suffered through slavery and on, and on he went............

Hubby and I just stood there with our mouths open wondering what the heck was happening. 

Meanwhile, the other guy was telling him to shut up and they got into it.  A security guard was walking by and I was telling her what was going on, and she was shouting at this guy telling him he was crazy.

We walked off at this point, back up the beach to the hotel.

Fast forward to the next morning, we go for the same walk and meet the same guys, including the one that hates the British.  He says hello to me, and I tell him I'm not talking to him as he hates the British!

He then swears up and down that he loves the British and he never said he hated them..........

I walk off as I am done with this guy.  As I would discover later on, he was probably as high as a kite on drugs, which were in abundance and could be purchased on the beach from other beach vendors 😡

Suffice to say I wasn't impressed with these beach vendors.  They harassed you to no end when you were on the beach.  They didn't understand the word no!  Yes it's a way of making an income and I ended up buying a couple of bracelets off one to leave me alone.  I complained to security and the hotel about them, as there were big notices posted about no vendors on the beach???

We never encountered this problem in the Dominican, maybe we were lucky?

Photos from Ottawa......

These are odds and ends of photos from Ottawa, that I didn't include in any of my other posts.

We walked back and forth over this bridge to go the Canadian Museum of History.

I love me some Gingerbread on a house, the decorations that is.  This is a beautiful example of it.  

These butterflies were in the Museum of Nature, what wonderful colours they are.  This is called "Pinning,' when you mount them into frames like this.

These are jelly fish in a tank, also at the Museum of Nature.

Books I read in October

 The Cradle Robbers, by Ayelet Waldman

The investigative business is booming for Juliet Applebaum and her husband Peter, but their new client, incarcerated in Dartmore State Prison, is going to be a real challenge. Sandra Lorgeree has enlisted Juliet to locate the son she surrendered to foster care—as well as the foster parents who seem to have disappeared with him. But Juliet’s new case takes a deadly detour when the desperate young mother is knifed to death—allegedly by another inmate.

Prison officials dismiss the murder as just one more fatality in lockdown. Juliet has her doubts. Now Juliet is determined to make Sandra’s last wish come true. Even if it means tracking little Noah—and the killer—through the dark maze of a widespread conspiracy. And even if it winds up pitting her against some very wealthy, powerful, and dangerous enemies….

I bought this book at a store for $1.  It's the sixth book in the "Mommy-Track Series."  I thoroughly enjoyed the book and it had plenty of twists and turns in it to keep you interested.  It did have a bit of a sad ending and not every senario was totally believable.  This works well as a stand alone book.

"A Brother's Shadow, by Ida Linehan Young"

After war, not everyone returns a hero. Some are lost in the quiet spaces history forgets.

Frank Hollett joins the Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit at the outbreak of WWII and is sent to the Scottish Highlands, where danger comes not from enemy fire but from accidents, isolation, and exhaustion. Among displaced men fighting a war far from the trenches – and farther from home – the strain is relentless.

The back-breaking labour helps him forget Clara Bennett and the future he’d imagined before his brother, Sam –now a soldier in the British Forces – claimed it.

A guarded friendship offers a brief reprieve as Frank avoids returning home. But devastating news forces him to decide whether Newfoundland still has a hold on him, or whether Scotland and Fiona have rewritten his future.

A Brother’s Shadow is a fictional portrayal of the often-overlooked yet crucial contribution of the Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit in WWII and the fifty-year struggle for recognition.

I was lucky enough to win this book through the Goodreads giveaway. Although I didn't know the full history of the Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit, I am familiar with the "Lumber Jacks and Jill's" of the second world war, as my Nana was a Lumber Jill.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and loved the twist at the end. I was appalled at how these guys were treated not only by the Government but by their fellow countrymen. Also how under appreciated that they were despite what they did for the war effort. I found it an easy book to read, and in fact read the last three quarters of the book on a plane ride.

Well worth the read and she is a Canadian author.

"Welcome To Last Chance, by Hope Ramsay"

Dear Reader,

Yes, our town is way off the beaten path, but strange, wonderful miracles happen a lot around here.

I've owned the Cut 'n' Curl beauty shop for years, and I've seen folks come for a visit, then stay for a lifetime. Take Jane-that pretty firecracker of a girl who just arrived in town. I would swear she's running from something. She came with only five dollars in her pocket but she's worked real hard to make a fresh start. She's turned my son Clay's life upside down without even realizing it.

And thank goodness for that! Ever since Clay left his country western band, he's played everything too safe. He needs to take a chance on Jane. Besides, the more he tries to keep his distance, the more he'll realize that he and Jane are singing the same tune.

But I should quit ramblin' and go check on Millie's permanent wave. Next time you're in Last Chance, be sure to swing by. We've got hot rollers, free coffee, and the best gossip in town.

See you real soon,

Ruby Rhodes

I bought 6 of the Last Chance books to take on vacation with me, as I knew they would be perfect vacation reading material.  I was right!!  Great cast of characters and a town where I would love to live.  Easy Reading.  This is Clay and Jane's story.

"Home at Last Chance, by Hope Ramsay"

Dear Reader,

You won't believe what's happened. My son Tulane has come back home! You remember Tulane? He'd set out to find fame and fortune in the big, wide world outside of Last Chance, and I'm mighty proud. But that's not the half of it-Tulane isn't only back, he's brought a young lady with him.

Now Sarah-she does PR for Tulane's stock-car team-she's from Boston, but she's just about the sweetest girl you could meet. I think she's meant to keep Tulane out of trouble after that story in the papers, but he doesn't want to talk about it. 

Anyhow, the Ladies Auxiliary can't wait to start matchmaking and introduce Sarah to our Reverend Ellis. But mark my words, Sarah is tired of being a good girl. And no one is better at breaking the rules and raising Cain than my son . . . 

Listen to me going on and keeping customers waiting. I best get back to work, but you come round again. The Cut 'n' Curl's got hot rollers, free coffee, and the best gossip in town.

See you real soon, Ruby Rhodes

This is the second book in the series, and another quick and easy read, full of romance and small town charm.  This is Tulane and Sarah's story.

"Last Chance Beauty Queen, by Hope Ramsay"

Dear Reader,

Gracious me, my beautiful daughter Rocky sure could use my help. I always knew she wasn't much interested in the local boys― but who'd have thought she'd come home with English royalty?

Trouble is, Hugh wants to buy some of our folks' land. We don't want to sell, but Rocky's job depends on her closing the deal. And though Hugh's obviously smitten, I'm not sure he's right for my Rocky. Oh, he's classy and handsome―and you should've seen the way he judged pies and fixed stock cars at our Watermelon Festival!―but what do we know about him, really? I know I sound like a nervous mother hen, but after forty happy years with my Elbert, all I want is to see my little girl find the same.

Well, time for me to quit chattering and get back to Miss Bray's wet set. Always nice talking to you, and the Cut 'n Curl's got hot rollers, free coffee, and the best gossip in town.

See you real soon,

Ruby Rhodes

All I could think of when reading this book is that Hugh must be based off of the British actor Hugh Grant....LOL  Another good read, and by now each of the recurring characters are getting more and more familiar to me.  I am getting totally invested in this series!!!!

This is Rocky and Hugh's story.