Grandcats at Christmas

Cara (top), Maggie, and Gus. Lucy is absent (ie. sleeping downstairs)

Brendan took this. I didn't get any good people pictures at Christmas, because I was too sick with a cold.

Christian meets his Uncle

Brendan is home for Christmas, and finally met his nephew.

Video of Christian

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUCSBHMlmdk

More Pictures of Christian

Do I have to be awake for this?

Like my hat?

Me and Jolt

Quick trip to Toronto

On Thursday, we went to the Hummingbird Centre to see the Radio City Christmas show. Very colourful. I was impressed by the precision of the dancing, particularly in the wooden soldiers number.

On Friday morning, we got up VERY early to go across to the CBC building to see Andy Barrie live. He was doing a special programme called Sounds of the Season to raise money for the Food Bank. We were lucky to get seats because there were hundreds of people there.

More baby pix

Welcome, Christian Tophen

Here's my first grandson, born at 8:45 pm on my birthday.

Here's the happy family!

House Tour

On Sunday, we did the St. Catharines General Hospital Foundation's House Tour. Here is the Honsberger Estate in Jordan.

Colleen's baby shower

Scott's family held a baby shower for Colleen this afternoon.

Here is Colleen opening one of the many beautiful gifts.

That baby will have EVERYTHING!

The required silly hat.

My Surprise Birthday Party

Colleen and Brendan completely surprised me with an early birthday party. I thought I was going out to brunch! Here I am looking at all the dorky pictures of my younger years. This was put together by Keitha and Michael. Looking on are Sean, (Heather's ) Scott, and Brendan.

Branch Sendoff for Colleen

Colleen will be going on maternity leave at the end of next week.
Here's some of the gang at her sendoff at the Cafe Amore. It was hard to get a good picture because we were so crowded.








Here's Colleen with her card, gift certificate and board book of the Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Anna Olson

Last night, Colleen and I went to the Central Library to see Anna Olson talk about her new cookbook: Another Cup of Sugar. Colleen had her copy signed by the author.

Thanksgiving Festival at Ball's Falls

It was a beautiful day for Brendan, Colleen and me to go to Ball's Falls. Here is the mill, and below is a sample of the craft show.

Jordan Pioneer Day

Yesterday was the 40th Year for Pioneer day in Jordan. Here is Klaus the Organ Grinder. His music was very pleasant.

This boy was peeling apples for apple fritters.

Here is a treadle-powered scroll saw. The gentleman with the strange beard was able to cut out very intricate little animal shapes with it.

Wine Festival Weekend

The Beamsville area has at least 16 wineries!
Here is the View restaurant at Eastdell.
(picture is from their website)

The Best Fruit Stand

Here's my favourite fruit stand - on Greenlane near Grimsby. They have the best peaches, good vegetables, and lots of flowers and pumpkins.

Sunday Hike

On Sunday, Don and I attempted to hike to the top of Rock Dunder, a recently acquired feature of the Rideau Waterway Land Trust. Here is a view of Morton Bay taken from the trail. We didn't make it to the top, but we had a great hike.





Here's a fellow hiker, Mr. O'Reilly from Portland, Ontario.

Babies and Books

On Thursday, I did the first of three sessions of "Babies and Books". After the rhymes, songs and stories, I got down the box of toys. Everybody had a good time, including the two grandmas in the centre of this picture.

Future Wine

On Sunday, I drove along East West Line in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Lots and lots of grape vines!

At The Beamsville Fair

I spent a brief time at the Beamsville Fair this evening. It is just a short walk away from where I live. Here is the midway.










My favourite part is the barn with the weird poultry and the bunnies. The nice man minding the display opened the door of the cage so I could get this bunny without the screen in front.















Here is a prize winner, with feathery feet!

Peach Season in Niagara

This is a follow up to my post of May 5 , which showed some beautiful pink peach blossoms. It seems like that was only a week or two ago. Now we are past the middle of peach season.










Here is a peach pie that I made this morning.

Happy Birthday, Vineland Horticultural Experiment Station

Today was the Alumni reunion and public open house to mark the 100th anniversary of the Vineland Horticultural Research Station. About 200 past and present employees and their families attended the morning reunion and picnic.
I saw a number of people that I hadn't seen for over 25 years!



The organizers did a wonderful job providing a picnic lunch.


























Bill Lay made this impressive display to demonstrate all the fruit varieties introduced by the Vineland Research Station. All of the names start with the letter "V" My favourite Veecot apricots were there.

Summer Reading Party

Back-to-School days are coming (thank goodness!) Today we had the party for the end of Summer Reading at the Library. Over 50 children who were registered for the program showed up, as well as about 20 parents and siblings. They enjoyed a bingo game and a craft, and then most of them received certificates for reading the required 24 books.


Here is Aaron making a picture of a superhero.

Cottage Weekend

'Finally getting pictures from last weekend on my Blog.
Here's the annual volleyball game at neighbour Paul's cottage. There were four teams of five people each.










Geordie and Eric putting the sail on their boat


















I took this as we left the cottage. The Nova Scotia flag has been taken down til next time.

Flat Stanley visits the Vet

This summer I am "hosting" a Flat Stanley made by a child for a library progam. Since my summer is not too exciting, I took him along when Maggie got her annual checkup.





If you don't know about Flat Stanley, check this link: http://flatstanley.enoreo.on.ca/

My Son the Lawyer

On Wednesday, July 12, Brendan was "Called to the Bar" in a ceremony at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

Rob comes to Beamsville!

Rob Rainford, of TV's Licence to Grill came to barbeque on the parking lot of Beamsville's Sobeys store today. Here he's making some chicken skewers.

Kanchan's Retirement Party

The library branch staff had a retirement party for co-worker Kanchan Rege. Kanchan brought ten beautiful saris for us to try on. Here she is showing June how it is done.
The material is six yards long.


















Fashion show!

Jesse Cook

Last night we saw Jesse Cook at the Jackson Triggs amphitheatre. A bit of rain did not dampen the enthusiasm of the audience which demanded several encores. I forgot my camera, but I took this picture from the Net.