A winter hike

Since we were lucky enough to have fresh snow on a saturday, we got the dogs out on a hike... We headed to a section of the Bruce Trail near the Forks of the Credit. It's in the area of the old ring kiln.
The dogs had a great time! Ender had a spring in his step, Shelby of course ran wide circles around us as we hiked, and Abby ran along as usual, with leaps and maniacal bursts of speed!

It was fairly rough terrain, rocky and steep, both ways. But everyone did well, and there were no injuries! The ruins of the old kiln are stunning. In one section, the trail darts between buildings, formidable walls of massive stone bricks running on either side. Here is a link with some info on the kilns: http://www.caledonbrucetrail.org/hoffman_industry.htm


Now the dogs (and Don) are napping... So here are some shots:

Using my powers for good.

...well, at least one of them.... that being the power of free time. Since I am unemployed at the moment, I have decided to use my time to get our house fully organized, so that when I do have to work again (alas) the house will be a more efficiently functioning organism.
There are some big jobs on my list - reclaiming my back room, and organizing the laundry room being the most daunting. There are about half a zillion small jobs on my list, and I've decided to start with a handful of those, to give me the oomph and gumption required for the more intimidating to-do's lurking around these parts.

On my last day at work, I was gifted two lovely bottles of wine in a plain wooden box. I enjoyed the wine thoroughly, and if you know me at all, you already know that the wheels in my head were turning the moment I saw that wooden box.
I've needed to do something pretty to organize my jewellery, and this box was to be the start.

I am very happy with the way it turned out! I will post my next project when finished, it will accompany this one.

January 2012

It's gorgeous, the sun is shining, the weather is mild... Too mild for January.
I'm keeping pace with one of the dogs on a walk; the peaceful sound of claws clicking on asphalt is slowly being muffled by the sounds of kids playing in the schoolyard.
Shrieks, laughter and shouting, "Emily! Come get me!" "Dylan, pass me the ball!" "Aaaiiiiiieeeeeeee, you can't catch me!!!!!"

This audible chaos is matched by the jarring visuals of every colour and combination of snowpants, jackets, scarves, mitts and hats imaginable.... It's a palette straight out of a crayon box....

Colours so vibrant, in motion, reeling... For a moment, it takes me a while to focus on the negative space between them... The flaxen dull green of dormant grass...

These little tykes are all dressed up, with no snow to play in.

It really only strikes me as sad when I see two of the brightly dressed children taking turns pulling each other over the dead grass on a bright red sled.

Out of work obstacle course.

Well, I have recently found myself unemployed, with the cushion of a little bit of time to relax and actually enjoy it. This is a fantastic position to be in, and one that I do not intend to waste!
Yesterday was day one. The first day of not going to work. I had an appointment first thing in the morning, at the unemployment office, and I caught myself wondering: "wouldn't it be embarassing if those old neural pathways just guided my way, and I end up at the office?"
Luckily it didn't happen, but just imagine!?

Monday was very smooth, I had a lot of errands to run, so it kept me busy, and I even found myself up against a mental challenge, even before leaving the house. Trying to be thrifty, I made myself a thermos of tea to take with me (avoiding the urge to buy said tea) Taking the tea bags out was a trick - the mouth of the thermos was too small to wedge them out with a spoon, and it was still early, so the synapses were firing, although weakly, and I thought, "This is your big, unemployed challenge of the day!"
Chopsticks made short work of the issue, and my thermos was set to go.

Later in the day, I was telling Don about my the big hurdle i'd overcome early in my day, and it made me laugh to imagine myself in an interview sometime, being asked by a potential employer to explain a recent challenge I'd had to overcome.
"Well," I'd say, "There was this one time, when I made tea in my thermos..."

Here's to overcoming obstacles, even the little ones!

xmas day hike with the dogs

Now that we are back home, we had a little walk with the dogs.... some pics...

Occidental Grand Xcaret

During our trip, we stayed at the Occidental Grand Xcaret, actually a really nice resort, maybe one of the nicest we have stayed at. While in Mexico, we visited the Xcaret park, dove in some local cenotes, climbed an ancient Mayan Temple (Coba) and won a beach volleyball tourney just hours before catching our plane home :)
check out some of our pictures here - once I am less sleep deprived, I will blog more about all of our experiences!

Chac Mool dec 2011

We travelled to Mexico for the first time this year, from Dec 17 to Dec 24. I'd have to say that the most amazing thing we did was dive in the cenotes. This is a network of underground rivers and caves running throughout the Yucatan penninsula. It was amazing. We dove in areas where there was NO natural light, the light in your hand was the only light you had. We popped up in an air pocket beneath some roots from the trees growing in the rocks over our heads. While we were in there, we heard the rumble of the other tour vans leaving the area, RIGHT OVER OUR HEADS! Carlos, our guide told us that the rock above us was probably about 5 feet thick. Amazing.

We had a really great time, we dove as a group of three, just the two of us with Carlos. I'd highly recommend him as a guide for the area, he took great care of us, even brought us lunch.
He knows so much about the area and the history - both geologic and cultural. I've got his contact info if anyone wants to look him up.