Parliament Hill, Ottawa

Parliament Hill, Ottawa.  

As you can see it is under construction/renovation.  You can read more about the renovations here.  What I did think was neat was the huge covers all around the building that had the print of the building on it.  Hubby said old Donald has the same around the White House?  Maybe the US readers can confirm that?

This is the Centennial Flame.  Again you can read more about it here.

Even if I enlarged the next two photos, you will not be able to see the info.  Also for some reason I cannot delete photos from a blog post.  If anyone can give me pointers on doing that, I would be very grateful!

Loved the gargoyles (?) hanging off the clock tower.  Also the detail work in the clock tower is amazing.

Queen Victoria.

Lester B. Pearson.  There were many more statues of Prime Ministers around the property, but many you could not see because of the construction.

Another one of the buildings, again lovely details.

This one is my favourite photo, of all the metal work against the sky.

It was a perfect Fall day.

Niggles/twinges

 

photo credit

I haven't been feeling too great for the past couple of months.  However, it's nothing exciting, just little niggles and twinges, that when you add them all together makes you feel blah............

I am not complaining, just thought the word niggles is an odd word I use, so looked it up...........

Do you use the words niggles and twinges for those little aches and pains, that occur on a daily basis, but are not worth mentioning?  Or do you have your own special word for them?

It's Monday..........

 

Fingers, toes and everything crossed it will be an awesome week for all of us in blog land!

Halloween Cross Stitch - Part 3

I didn't get as well this week again, just busy with daily life, but progress was made, so that's good.  It's mainly just the border to finish off.

This coming week it's all about Bats and Cats..........

It's that time of year...........

 It's apple time of year.  Here is a list of the varieties of apples commonly found in Canada.

I am a Gala fan, followed by Honeycrisp and Ambrosia.

We had an apple crisp dessert that our daughter-in-laws, mother made and it was lovely.  I used to make those all the time, before I was diagnosed with diabetes.  Apple pies are also a favourite of mine, always used Granny Smith's for those but I don't see them listed here?  Guess they are a British variety.

What's your favourite variety of apple?

Backstreet Boys..............

Do you remember the Backstreet Boys?

Here's a song to jog your memory, this is one of my favourites of theirs:

Well this past week my life has been consumed by the Backstreet Boys.  They are coming to Toronto next year and our daughter is a HUGE fan of theirs.  Has seen them in concert twice already as a teen, now in her **th year she will be seeing them twice again.  However, why I am should be consumed by this who knows, but I got dragged into the mix because Rogers was giving out codes for the pre sales for all it's customers, and I am a customer.

Daughter is too, but she wanted two codes just in case she couldn't get through.  Of course the site crashed when the codes were issued, after a stressful (for me!) 24 hours, I finally got a code.  Daughter had to change a meeting at work; no one could disturb her at 10am last Monday, as that was when the tickets went on sale.  She was 400th in line but she managed to get tickets.  500 level, which is up in the rafters but she is all happy about the situation.  

Son had to sit by his computer to get daughter-in-law tickets and he picked 4 up as well.  

And then, extra dates were added and added and added?  At this point they will be carting the Backstreet Boys off the stage on stretchers straight into a nursing home....LOL

For some strange reason though, conversations with my daughter, mother, brother and even my daughter-in-law have focused on these bloody concerts all week.  We even spent a good half hour last Sunday, me, daughter-in-law, her sister and her mother talking about the Backstreet Boys, and various boy bands.............

So this is it, no more Backstreet Boy conversations.............😜

Oh and just in case that prior video didn't excite you, here is another one I like!!

You're welcome!

National Gallery of Canada - Part 2

There was a special exhibition on while we were there called Qillaniq, you can read more about it here.  Basically it's an exhibition of art work by Indigenous people.

Below are a few things I saw.  I had mixed feelings about this exhibition.  I will explain at the bottom of this post why.  Just enjoy the photos and the details of the art pieces first.

After we went through this exhibition, we went for a coffee in the cafe.  We ended up talking to the nicest employee who worked in the offices.  We must have talked to her for 20 minutes and she was so informative.  She explained things about some of the exhibits that we would never have discovered.  I would have loved to have had her as our personal guide throughout the National Gallery.

For example there was a papier mache exhibit of an indigenous person who had caught a fish; I didn't take a photo of it.  All made of papier mache.  However, if you had looked at it really close (we did not) it was made up totally of grocery store receipts.  The artist was trying to highlight how expensive things are in the stores further north.

The one with the orange tarp was to show what you can make with items you can find in the far north.  Me personally, I thought people were working in the area!!  I honestly didn't know it was a "work of art!" 

There was one room, where there was a wire attached at the bottom left hand corner and the other end attached at the top of the opposite corner of the room.......that was it!!!  As the employee explained to us, to get through the room you had to walk a certain way past the wire, and that what the artist  wanted to show, that he could determine what people will do..........ME 😕😒😐

I guess what one person likes and what another does makes our world a special place to live in............

Part 3 you will see is more of my speed as far as art is concerned!!

Look at the October 14th date in the picture...........

Which one will you be celebrating?  I know which one I won't be........despite being chocolate covered!!

Post Thanksgiving Weekend.........

We had a lovely weekend.

Saturday:

It was lovely weather wise.  Spent a chunk of the morning doing fall cleanup in the garden.  Oh and looking up at that tree on my header photo of the blog and cursing how many leaves had to fall off it and for us to pick up!!!

Spent another chunk of time prepping blog posts for the coming weeks.  I finally got around to sorting out my Ottawa photos and writing various blog posts about our trip.  I am spacing them out so it's not constantly Ottawa, Ottawa, Ottawa!!  

Hubby has been doing some sorting out in the garage and found a couple of things to post on Facebook Marketplace, which I did; and ended up selling something that same day.  I will have an update post at the beginning of November of what I sold this month.

Spent another chunk of time doing my cross stitch.  I am getting faster with it, as I am familiar with the pattern she has done.

On an negative note, someone was having a party in the street behind us and decided it was appropriate to play their music VERY, VERY LOUD.  Had to put earplugs in to get to sleep.  I fell asleep, hopefully someone called the police after 11pm to log a noise complaint.  We generally live in a very quiet neighbourhood. 

Sunday:

Overcast day today.

Had a Thanksgiving lunch over at son's house.  Turkey and all the trimmings, and all tasted yummy.  Came home stuffed and vegged out in front of the tv for the rest of the day/night.

Monday:

A beautiful day weather wise.  Did laundry and some cleaning in the morning.  After lunch went for a walk.  It was shorts weather as it was so nice.  Came out and worked on my cross stitch for a bit and caught up on some blogs.

All in all a lovely weekend.

Finally one thing I have been eating for various meals since last Friday was this homemade Curried Butternut Squash Soup.  It's one of the best soups I have ever made, so tasty and "souper" easy to make.  In fact there is no recipe.  Just threw a few things in a pot, cooked it and then blended it until smooth.  A winner in my books.  

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving........

Today is Thanksgiving.  A day to give thanks and reflect on everything we are thankful for.  As a family we have a lot to be thankful for, and I am glad about that.  If you celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada, a Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family from me.

Halloween Cross Stitch - Part 2

Sorry it's a day late, but I had yesterday's post already set up and figured I would just leave it.

I did manage to finish the first part on Friday night, which was more luck than management, as with everyone, sometimes life gets in the way and I had a couple of days last week, where no stitching got done at all.  It's Thanksgiving weekend this weekend, so hoping to get a good start on part two.

So far so good though and I am pleased with how it is looking.  That border is a bit more complicated than it looks.

Next part is all about ghosts............

The greyed out part on the left is what has been stitched on part one.

I swear..............

 {{{SIGH}}} Nothing else to say.................😟

Look at this..........

This is a condo complex opposite when hubby's surgeon office is.  I know there are taller condo buildings, but this one is very tall in my books.  However I do like the look of them.

However these tiny balcony's scare me!!

Do you live in a condo/apartment/flat?  What floor are you on and how many floors are in your building?  I have always said, if something happens to hubby I will move into a condo.

National Gallery of Canada - Part 1

Back to more photos from Ottawa.  I am splitting the visit to the National Gallery of Canada up into three parts, otherwise you'll be dizzy with all the information.  The gallery was only around a 15 minute walk from the hotel, so nice and close.  Opposite it was Notre Dame Basilica Ottawa, and although it was under going renovations you could still tour it, we chose not to.

The National Gallery was impressive from both the outside and the inside.

You are greeted by the giant metal spider.  It is called Maman, and has 38 marble eggs, in it's sack underneath it's body.  You can read more about it here.

After you enter the building you walk up this huge hallway to where the first  galleries are.

The banner above you was really striking.

You then enter a large foyer and that too was impressive.  It helped that it was a glorious day weather wise.

You looked out over the Ottawa River and the Parliament Buildings.

Another view out of the window.

The Parliament buildings are being renovated.  

We had a coffee in the cafe and out of the window was this "sculpture."  We got talking to an employee and she said when they were installing this, they forgot to take the styrofoam off the top of it.  The employees were watching from the window and had to tell them to remove it.  I will tell you more about this particular employee in part two.

This is the information about the photo above.

If you look closely at this sculpture it all different outdoor lights.  You can read more about it in the photo below.

I thought this was interesting how it all came about.  Would have thought it would have been displayed in New Orleans, rather than Ottawa though?

Inside the gallery is the Rideau Chapel.  It was relocated from it's original site and placed inside one of the galleries.  You can read more about it's history here. There was choral music playing and the acoustics were glorious in there.

The ceiling was stunning.

That's part one, part two to follow soon...........

This story started with a deceased chiropodist...........

My mother had to recently find a new chiropodist as her original one died in suspicious circumstances earlier in the summer.  The police were called in; haven't heard anything else from my mother about this, so no update there.

She has found a lovely lady and she is part of a locally "famous" family.  Her great uncles were/are part of a locally "famous" group/band.  Now when my mother was telling me the story, hubby piped up, "oh I remember Rue and the Rockets."  That in itself is shocking as he can never remember anything musically!!

Anyhow, my mother was saying she remembers going to dances that they were performing in.  I talked to my dad about them and he knew them.  My dad also was in a band/group, so not sure if he played in the same venue's as they did, or just knew them in passing.

However, unless you were brought up in Cumbria or Northern England in the 60's to the early 2000's you will probably never have heard of them!  

They are your typical wedding/anniversary/dance band, with lots of oldies.  Hope you enjoy the video...it was a blast from a past for all our family.

Binge watched this on the weekend..............

Thoroughly enjoyed it, though it showed how some countries don't seem to want to play nice with one another, despite being on the same side 🤨  

It did show how the people in Lockerbie went above and beyond for all the families that were affected by this tragedy.

We have been to the memorial at at Dryfesdale Lodge in Lockerbie.  It was very poignant.

A side trip to Ikea........

Last week hubby had an appointment to see the surgeon as a follow up.  Practically across the road is Ikea, so we went there first.

First thing we did was have a coffee and a muffin.  I am a family member so coffee is free when you scan your membership.  It's free and you earn points.  I have enough get $25 off my next purchase.  

I saw this on the sofa, and wondered what it was.

When reading the label, I had doubts on how stable it would be.  Plus I thought it was expensive for what it was.

When I saw this fall garland over this table I thought it looked really pretty.  It wasn't overly stable though.  Also you can't seat anyone at the end of the table, as that is where it's secured onto the table.

There was a few Christmas/Winter items out and about and I really did like this set up.

However, when you are having to pay $24 plus 13% tax for a tree and pot, it will soon add up in price to stage multiple like in their display.

One thing I do love from Ikea is their rubber gloves.  I always wear rubber gloves when washing up.  These ones last a long time and cost $2.99 a pair.  I picked up 4 pairs when I was there.

By the time we had, had a good look around, we figured we would have a bite to eat before we went to see the surgeon.  Again got the coffee for free, so ending up paying $9 for two egg salad sandwiches for us.  They were tasty and very fresh.

We are back at the surgeons again this week, so I am seeing another side trip to Ikea, as I want to see if the advent calendars are in stock, they thought they would be..........we'll see.