Song for Friday...one they forgot to mention

The other night PBS had a documentary on women who've been influential

in the music industry from the '30's through to the present day.

There were the greats like Big Mama Thornton, Aretha Franklin,

Bonnie Raitt, Chrissy Hynde, Janis Joplin, Madonna.

But I was surprised when they didn't even mention Joan Armatrading.

Certainly one of the most independent, and first of 

the modern singer songwriters.

I had the good fortune of seeing her once at an outdoor festival

and she did not disappoint...

So here's is my inclusion of one of the 

Women Who Rock.

Happy Thanksgiving to our Southern neighbours

and hope you all have a lovely weekend with family and food!

remembering real winters...

It's funny, when it snows here, the first thing I want to do is 

grab my camera and go take pictures of the magic being created on the landscape.

Everything looks so pretty after the first fall of flakes.

Looking back on old photos from my childhood, I realized that the 

photos of the snowfalls always included people.

Most noticeably, us kids...

Here we are, circa 1969, in Riverdale Park, Toronto.

I remember the feeling of getting bundled up so tight that my dad had to

do up our boots, or skates because we couldn't bend over in all that winter gear.

That's me, front row center with the chipped tooth.

I remember that hat too. It was 'genuine sheep skin'

and man, was it warm! 

Toronto winters were white, long and cold...

My sister, me and my brother (probably freezing our little buts off)

But seeming like we were having fun no matter what the temperature was.

That's my dad's big shadow taking our picture.

I guess because I don't have little kids at home anymore, I tend to

take pictures of the leaves and trees and shadows of the weather...

I'm not sure if I lived back east again if I would be running out at the 

first sight of snowy down. 

Winter is different there. You're in for the long haul and the first snow

is the sign of the beginning of about 6 more months of it.

It's cold and predictable.

Here we can have mild temps for weeks at a time and snow

is a fairly short occurrence.

It never lasts long.

Here's my sister in her new winter coat.

It was bright red and black. 

And those boots!!

You go-go girl!

Now look at the snow beside her...

I remember making tunnels and igloos out of those piles.

Here we don't get that at all.

And the tobogganing!!

We were on the hill all the time.

Every household owned at least one toboggan.

I think I should like to spend at least one more winter in real snow.

Maybe I'm forgetting all the shite parts of real winters though...

the driving, the shovelling, the not getting out of the house for days.

But I guess that's the beauty of childhood memories isn't it?

All sugar and spice and coming in from the cold, leaving your winter

woollies in a pile in the basement and coming upstairs for hot cocoa...

a mouse in the house...

This little mouse is welcome in the house...

Jeremy came honestly onto this spot on the books.

He worked his way into my dreams and I in turn worked

the wool into what is now himself.

No wicked cat flipping him into the air like a toy, dragging him under the bed

and staring him down.

No, Jeremy is calm in his woolen work socks...

Ready for the cold winter nights ahead.

At home on the window sill as well...

Who knows where his journey will take him?

Song for Friday...A love song...

Today winter came to us boldly...

She brought the winds during the night, knocking out the power for a while.

It was a dark and stormy night indeed!

And although I would have rather stayed warm and cozy, needle felting by the fire,

I took my que from Griffin to get out for a few walks.

This afternoon, I bundled up and out we wandered in the thick, wet snow.

Quite a few years ago I happened upon a pair of boots in a British horticulture magazine

and it was love at first sight!

I adored them from afar, saving up my pennies for almost 3 years.

Then I finally found a shop in the area that has started carrying them.

I promised myself, I would just go have a look...

But as soon as they caressed my ankles and fondled my toes, they had me...

Or should I say, I had them!

Now when I go out, even in this weather, especially this weather, my feet and my legs are

warm and more importantly DRY!

You see not only are they gorgeous Irish Dubarry boots,

they are Goretex lined.

My feet and I are in love and happy as can be.

So today's song is a love song to the saviour of these wet, winter days...

Wordless Wednesday...

Adventure on the high seas!

My Aunt Tas and I planned a girls weekend of shopping with my nieces over on the mainland

and got more than we bargained for in terms of adventure.

Our plan was to catch the 1 pm ferry from Vancouver Island which is usually

about an hour and a half journey to the mainland.

Not even half way across the Captain came on with an announcement...

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm afraid we've slowed our pace all of a sudden due to the 

fact that we've lost an engine. Our mechanics are working to fix the 

problem and hopefully we'll be on our way shortly."

Our first thoughts were....oh well, a bit of a delay...things happen and there's not

much you can do when you're out in the middle of the ocean...except maybe...

...or this...

So we settled in with our tea and chocolate and wandered around a bit.

The next announcement was this...

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it seems our problem has been fixed and

we'll be on our way with full speed shortly."

A quiet sigh of relief drifted through the passenger decks until....

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm sorry to tell you but it seems the engine problem hasn't been fixed

and we are currently moving off course so as not to stay in Active Pass."

(this is a narrow channel normally used on this route but since we were running on one engine it 

wasn't safe to remain here...in case we didn't have enough power to avoid smashing 

into the large Islands on either side of us)

We drifted around amongst some lovely scenery...

...and then had this announcement...

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it seems we will have to try and make the rest of our

journey on one engine as well as re-routing around Saturna Island.

This will delay our approximate arrival time to 5pm.

The other problem is that the high winds have cancelled the ferries leaving where 

we intend to dock, so we may not have a berth to come into, 

but we're doing the best we can and will keep you informed."

Knowing we were in for the long haul, we went down to 

the car deck and got out the travel scrabble game to bring upstairs....

The next announcement was for free desserts and beverages in the cafeteria.

Keep the masses happy with caffeine, chocolate and lemon meringue pie.

So now we've been on the ferry for about 4 hours when the NEXT announcement came.

"Ladies and Gentlemen we are slowly making our way into Tsawwassen (the mainland ferry terminal)

and we have a berth to dock in but we will be assisted by a Seaspan tugboat so

our estimated time of arrival will be between 5:30 and 6:30 pm.

We appreciate your patience and will keep you informed of our progress."

Our heroes!!

Now, unless you know the size of a BC ferry, the strength of the winds around here, 

plus the waves and the cold weather you can't imagine 

the job these guys are about to undertake.

 The tug boat is probably about the size of the 'BCF' part of the sign on the ferry...

Kind of like nudging a really lazy elephant into a bathroom stall, 

while there's a hurricane going on.

I did take a few  short videos of the operation,

which aren't the best but it'll give you some idea of the task at hand...These tugs are ALL engine.

Needless to say the last announcement of our final arrival brought a round of cheers

and applause.

I must commend the Captain and crew of both vessels for keeping us all safe.

Tas and I both love music but we certainly didn't want to hear the band playing

on the passenger deck or have to fight for a good seat in the life boats!

All in all it was a great weekend.

We made it for our girls weekend, shopped till we dropped, had some good laughs

AND THEN SOME!!! 

Song for Friday...Remembrance Day

They shall grow not old,

as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them,

nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun

and in the morning

  We will remember them.