A Cosy Home ~ Tuesday 4

Hi Friends!   It's another Toni Taddeo Tuesday 4.

Here it is a temperature breaking Monday afternoon.  The meme today is all about warm and cozy homes.

What’s one feature in your home that makes it feel especially cozy or comfortable for you?

Lighting, especially in winter. I use fairly lights, candles, wall scones, lamps and the fireplace to create that hyggle-lieg feeling.

How do you like to personalize your living space to reflect your style or personality?

I'm not much of a decorator but I do like cosy. I try and create cosiness with cushions, area rugs, throw blankets, and lights. The reflection of my personality is in the colour choices. I've always loved jewel tones, especially rich reds. But of late I'm more inclined towards the use beige, ivory, light grey & yellow to create a more mellow, peaceful feeling. Since I love reading and crafts you will also find a lot of books and handmade items in my home. Last but not least, I love art. Not expensive art but pieces that are nonetheless meaningful to me.

Are there any home maintenance tasks you find particularly important for keeping your space comfortable year-round.

Not really. I live in a condo and we pay someone to take care of all the maintenance tasks of which there are many. Indoors I just try to keep everything in working order.

What's your go to way to unwind or create a relaxing atmosphere at home after a long day?

When I arrive home after a long day my first activity is to get on the home computer for awhile. Later, I make a drink like caffeine free tea, instant coffee or a cold drink depending on the temperature.  I then sit with my feet on the ottoman and enjoy some reading or television programs.

Enjoying the Moody Sky During Weekly Produce Shopping ~ Skywatch Friday

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

Welcome to my Skywatch Friday post.  I hope you are having a great week and wish you all a fabulous weekend.

I took these photos on a recent run to buy vegetables up the street (a short bus ride away).

In the first photo I was trying to capture the wind because the trees were blowing around a lot and they were leaning to the left of the photo. My photo doesn't capture it well.

 

I love the cloud formations in the next two photos.

I took this photo before I left my home. This is how the day started. I really love how the mist envelops part of the mountains and the seagull flying near the church steeple.

I always appreciate the gardens other people plant. This beautiful flower captured my attention close to where I went shopping for vegetables and fruits.

Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your visit.

What's on My Mind & In My Basket

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

Happy mid-week to you.  I hope you are all well and good.

I cannot believe how fast May flew by and now we are almost through a full week of June. How did that happen? I seem to say that the time flies by so fast but lately I hear everyone else saying it too! I guess it means we are all getting older.

In sad news there are so many wildfires burning across Canada. It is devastating for many smaller communities and for the people who live in them.  Not only does it affect Canadians but Americans have been saying how their air quality is being affected in various parts of the USA. Unfortunately it isn't even the official beginning of summer yet and the meteorologists are forecasting a hot, dry summer ahead. Hold on to your hats.  If you're the praying type, please keep in prayer for moderate temperatures and more rain.

Here at home in southern British Columbia, we are okay but in the northern part of the province wildfires are burning.  Here in Vancouver, I've found it quite cool.  Despite the local meteorologists forecasting hot weather for several. days I've only felt very warm temperatures on one day and that didn't last all day long.  If I had to choose though, I would far rather it stay on the slightly cool side.

While the weather has been cool, I've been keeping super busy and trying to get as many things done before hotter temperatures arrive.  When it gets too hot I really am not up to doing much except trying to stay cool.  Sometimes I wonder how come I'm always so busy and never seem to catch up to things.

I think it's a combination of getting older and having too many hobbies. When a person gets older, they tend to have more medical appointments and medical related appointments, especially if they have a medical condition. There is always a test to do, medicines to pick up, a specialist or doctor to meet. Then there are also the dental visits and eye doctors which most people have. I seem to have lost my eye doctor and have to find another one because I haven't had an eye examination for quite some.  In my case, busyness is also greater this year.  After several years identification cards need renewal including, government ID, driver's license and my passport.  Two gardens needed to be planted and 2 tax returns needed to be be prepared and filed.  All of it within the same month or two. On top of that, the building where I live always has major projects going on.  While these impact  all residents. My particular apartment has had 2 leaks from upstairs which needed investigation and repair. In fact, the 2nd one is not yet completed.  It's a good thing I don't have to go out to work every day or this would be a difficult situation to manage.

Last, but not least, I always find more work for myself.  For example, the decluttering and cleaning project I started long ago.  Related activities include the purchase of several new furnishings (patio conversation set, storage sofa and adjustable bed and mattress) all of which took time to research and compare options before buying, and the organization of delivery and haul away services. 

Honestly, there is never enough time in a day and I also don't want to waste time.  Time is going by so fast and it's such a precious commodity.  Does anyone else have the same issue with time and too many things to do?

Despite the busyness, I'm happy that I've kept up with some reading and I've also started making more time for hobbies. 

Here are the current books I'm reading or about to read.

An Ocean of Minutes was a of a genre I don't normally read, a dystopian, fantasy novel.  The books revolves around the relationship between Polly and Frank. Frank becomes sick during a pandemic and the medical care he needs is cost prohibitive.  Polly decides to help him by signing on as a bonded labourer into the future. The company she is employed  by will pay for Frank's medical treatment.  Frank and Polly promise to meet one another in Galveston, Texas in 12 years time but Polly ends up being re-routed an additional 5 years into the future.  When she arrives she can't find Frank and the city has changed enormously.  Polly must learn to survive in a totally changed America.  She has with no money, no friends or family and no status in the country.  This begins her search for Frank and the heartbreak that goes along with the search.

Reading this book, at this time, seemed very appropriate to this time and place with all the radical changes taking place right now.

Meet me at the Lake is the second book I've recently picked up by Canadian author Carley Fortune.  I picked it up quite randomly and didn't realize that the author is quite a popular author. 

T he book is about a young woman named Fern who lives and works in the big city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her mother dies and leaves her a Muskoka lakeside resort.  Unfortunately, the resort is in a tight financial situation.  Before her mother dies, she hires a consultant named Will to help get things on a more even keel.  Fern doesn't find out until Will arrives at the resort to begin his work. Will is a former boyfriend bof Ferns, one who ghosted her so there are lots of unresolved feelings.  Will doesn't know that Fern's  mother has died when he checks in to begin his consultancy.

I enjoyed several things about the book such as the settings for the book (Toronto, Muskoka Lakes, Vancouver) and the general story arc.  However, the writing  is a bit too graphic for me when it comes to the intimate situations between the characters.  It's probably quite tame for some people.  But for me, it's a little too much. 

In A House for Alice, Alice Pitt has been living in England for over 50 years. After her husband dies she yearns to return to Nigeria to live out her last years on earth. Her daughters however, are torn over whether their mother should return to Nigeria or remain in London.  Her youngest daughter Melissa, is not only coping with the loss of her father and her mother's departure for Nigeria but her marriage is also breaking down.  I haven't gotten too far into the book but it seems to be about how significant life events can have negative impacts on one's family foundations.

I haven't started the next two books but they look interesting.  I just picked them off the shelves because I was short of reading material at the time. Now I've got too much to read.

The Paris Express is based on a real life event, a French railway disaster of 1895. It's ready for pick up at the local library.

Some of you may know that I started a major decluttering & reorganizing project quite some time ago.  In between these tasks, there have been many interruptions so it's taken forever to make progress.  The main purpose of the project is to create time and space to for work on a number of hobbies. One of those hobbies is crochet.  

In May, I started making some crocheted dishcloths as gifts for friends. I also made an oversized cardigan for a friend who has a birthday coming up later this summer. Earlier in the year, I made a few cushions for a cousin's birthday. I haven't given them to her yet because she is supposed to visit this summer from a city about 1200 km from me. I will give them to her during her visit. I also made a few knitted dishcloths. Before the year ends I hope to work on other hobbies as well. If the weather remains moderate, I may be able to do some of my work outdoors on the patio. That would be ideal as I could play some nice music while I work. Not too loudly though as I don't want neighbours complaining. I suppose I could also just use my phone and wear earphones.

The Dishcloths

The Oversize Cardigan

The Cushions

The Best Part of Waking Up ~ Tuesday 4, 2025

Hello again.  Here are today 4 questions for  Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.

We are asked 4 questions each week to get us blogging, thinking, discussing and visiting with other bloggers.

The commercial song said "the best part of waking up in Folger's in your cup".  

1. What is in your cup in the morning?

I remember that jingle but I have Maxwell House in my cup.

2. What brand of coffee or tea is the best in your opinion and why do you think so?

Maxwell House is the brand I like best for home brewing. When I go to the coffee shop I generally pick a medium roast brew. The coffees I like best are medium roasts from Guatemala, Sumatra, Kenya and of course, Columbia. The reason I like these coffees is they pack enough of a punch without being too strong or bitter. By the way, I am not a coffee snob though I probably was at the introduction of Starbucks and all the many specialty coffee shops that popped up after that. These days I seldom go to the high end coffee shops including Starbucks. I'd probably go more often but they close so early these days (mostly by 7. p.m.).  Nowadays I find that as long as the coffee is medium roasted, freshly brewed cup, it is just right for my tastes. 

3. Where do you drink your cuppa in the morning? Do you have a nice view?

I always drink my coffee while sitting on my sofa.  When the weather warms up enough I will like to try going outside on the patio, however it sounds like the weather is going to go from coolish to very hot, no transition.

On the sofa, I can also watch something on television or answer the phone if it should ring. I still have the old fashioned land line for my home and I prefer it to the cell phone.  

I always used to say the cell phone was for my convenience only and I didn't want personal calls on it. However, over time, more and more calls come in on my cell phone and a lot of it is scam related.  These days I usually ignore the cell phone which makes my friends very annoyed with me but I just get so fatigued with all the scams.  When a number appears on the screen with no name, as it often does, I am afraid to answer if I don't recognize the number. I suppose the lack of a name could mean that the caller is using a different service provider but I am leery of answering.  I receive far more scam phone calls on my cell phone than legitimate ones and that is incredibly annoying. Sorry for the rant. Does anyone else have this problem? 

4. Besides the morning, do you take little tea or coffee breaks during the day?    If you are out and about where is your favorite place to get some tea or coffee?

Once I have my 2 cups of coffee to start the day, I do not have any more unless it's the weekend and I'm running late errands.  Often, though not always,  I have a cup of tea at to warm up especially in the colder months.  I have to drink caffeine free or I'll be awake all night.  In the hot months, I omit the tea and have a cold drink instead. 

If I'm out and about, I'll stop at McDonalds, J.J. Bean or Blenz, all of which have many branches.  I like to read a book after running errands and relax with a drink.  Generally though I find it easier to read a book at McDonalds over coffee than anywhere else. The exception is on Friday or Saturday nights when typically the place is overrun with teenagers who are enjoying their 'night out'.  They can get very loud and the way McDonald's is built, the sound is amplified and just bounces off the walls.

May 29, 2025 - Skywatch Friday

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

Happy weekend ahead to you all.

Today I'm sharing photos from a recent walk to a small local park. I was able to capture the sun going down.

It was a beautiful evening.  The next day it rained heavily.

Thanks for visiting my Skywatch Friday post.

Summer Books ~ Tuesday 4

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 which is not limited to Tuesday by any means.  You can join in whenever you want to!

Will you be reading this coming summer? 

When the weather gets hot and humid so many stay indoors to keep cool and studies show that people read more in the summer.

How about you?  Let's discuss it.

1. Do you have a favorite kind of book that you like in the summertime? What kind is it? Mystery? Bio?

I don't select my books by season. I simply read whatever I want and whatever is available at the library. I put most of my books on hold at the library and some come up sooner than others so they get read first.  I try to expand my scope of experience by reading a variety of genres but my favourite genre is historical fiction.  I didn't really give much thought to what kind of books I loved most but it became obvious once I started logging my reading on the Goodreads website.

2. Is there a book you return to again and again and if so why?  

I don't tend to re-read books but there are a few exceptions. I loved The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and have read it twice. I also read Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy twice. I loved many other books equally but never re-read them. There are just so many books to be read although I am planning to re-read The Shellseekers by Rosamunde Pilcher, one of my favourite authors.  The book was made into a movie but I didn't like it much.

3.  What book is better than the movie and what movie is better than the book?

This is a good question.  Generally I've found that I've enjoyed a book more than any movie it's based on though there are one or two exceptions. One that comes to mind is The English Patient. I didn't like the book but loved the movie. One movie and book I enjoyed equally is The Life of Pi.

4. Do you have a list of books you are looking forward to reading this summer?

I don't have a list of books to read for the summer.  I have a modest reading goal of 40 books for 2025 and I think I've completed 23 of them to date.  I usually read about 60 books per year but in 2025 want to make more time for crafting. I have several books on hold right now and will try to spread them out over the summer months. None of them are really 'must reads'.  Just books I've heard of along the way and added to my list of books to read.

Scenes from Saturday

 I had a long tiring day on Friday so I stayed home on Saturday.

It was a spectacular bright and sunny day.

I bought a skein of yarn yesterday. I didn't know what to make with it but the colours are nice and soft for summer.  I've now decided on what to do with it and will likely need a few more skeins.  Here is the start to the project. It will take considerably more time than the dishcloths I've made recently. I'm making good on my intention of the year to be more creative (mainly with crafting).

I watched an old black & white classic movie which I've seen once before. It's called Portrait of Jenny starring Jennifer Jones and Edward Cotton. I enjoyed it but it's a bit sad as far as love stories go.  It's also in the realm of fantasy.  Here is a link to the full movie.

I really enjoyed Jennifer Jones in multiple roles. I believe the first movie I ever saw of hers was with William Holden, entitled "Love is a Many Splendid Thing".  I also enjoyed her in "The Song of Bernadette" for which she won an academy award.  Edward Cotton was in so many movies I saw as a young person. He was good in all of them. Have you seen any of these movies? Did you enjoy them?

Today,  I made chicken rice soup and dumplings. I put in too much rice so it's more like chicken rice stew (congee consistency).

The stew was very filling!

While I was cooking and crocheting I did a few loads of laundry. Now I'm set for tomorrow when I plan to go out.

Enjoy your evening and the rest of your week. Thanks for visiting!

Before & After ~ Skywatch Friday

I took a few photos of the night sky before I went to sleep the other night.

About 8 hours later I took another few photos.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the sky clear up quite a bit because I had to go out and do some errands. It started to cloud over again around 5 p.m. but by that time I was more or less finished with my errands.

Have an awesome weekend.

Posting to Skywatch Friday.

How I Spend Some Rainy Days

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

How is the weather in your world today?

Weather here has mostly been like in the first photo below. Alternatively it's been raining and a bit cold. But we've had a few warmer days and in the next few days the forecast is for considerably warmer weather. We'll see if that comes to pass.

I've been quite busy but when I am at home I've been keeping busy crocheting these two sets of dishcloths. I made them for gifts for 2 different friends.  One can always use a dishcloth because they need to be replaced every 6 months or so though I know some people use them for much longer.

I've also picked up the pace with my reading once again.  But I feel I want to make more time for doing new crafts.  I have several projects around the home in order to get ready for summer guests so I'm not sure I'll be able to work in new crafts until the Fall and Winter though I'd dearly love to do so.

In the meantime, I read more books, make more dishcloths or do more cooking and baking when I want to do something creative but don't quite have the time to do something 'new'. I have some plans for new hobbies, or old hobbies that need to be picked up again. At some point I'll feature them in this space.

I'm still working on reading the books in the first photo above. I completed The Family Upstairs, the first book in a series.  I found it well written and it kept me guessing until the very end.  I recommend it if you like mystery thrillers.  

I also really liked Pamela Anderson's collection of recipes.  There are a number I'd like to try but there is now a long waiting list for this book at the library so we'll see if I get a chance.

What about you? Are you working on any crafts or projects or are you already into summer relaxation? I'd love to hear in the comments section below.

Thanks for stopping by!

The Warm Months ~ Tuesday 4

Welcome back to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.  

Warmer days

Spring has come and Summer is approaching.  Linda says the temps in Florida are already in the 90s and humidity through the roof.  But days are growing longer for everyone.  How does it affect you?

1.  Daylight is getting longer... what do you do with the extra daylight?  Is it useful, productive or not?

I like the extra daylight because sun and light lift my mood from the dreary, dark days of winter. I'm not sure it makes me more productive but it makes it easier to see things indoors when doing handcrafts or cleaning corners of the house. Sometimes in fact, the light is too good when cleaning, lol.

2.  If you live where its more moderate do you spend more time outdoors?  If you live in the tropical climate does it keep you inside?  Does the extra day light cause more heat and more use of utilities for you?

I don't spend more time outdoors when it's lighter. I just enjoy the light inside with curtains and doors wide open until a chill fills the air.  Even though I live in the rainforest we've been having drought like conditions for years over the summer months. It can get super hot and since I don't do well in heat and don't have air conditioning, I remain indoors and keep movement to a minimum. I also have the fans going and lots of water on hand. The utilities usage balances out because I use more heating in winter and more fans in the summer.

 

3. How do you cool your home?  How do you cool yourself off in the heat of the day?

With fans, cold drinks and staying in the shade. If I go out most places are air conditioned. Sometimes it's even a bit too cold in such places so I usually have a wrap or a light jacket for covering. Often though I'm just relaxing at home. I know many people flock to the beaches and parks but I personally don't find it that comfortable especially because you have to carry everything you need with you. I'd rather be at home where everything is at hand including the washrooms which I don't have to share with the public. If I go to the park, I like to go to one that has refreshments nearby and lots of public restrooms.

4. Do you enjoy a good barbeque outside in the warmer months or do you cook outside and eat inside?  What foods do you enjoy on the barbeque?    If you don't barbeque, what foods  and drinks do you enjoy in the warmer months?

I used to enjoy a good barbeque outside but haven't done that for many years.  I enjoy simple foods like green salads and potato and egg salad, cold cuts or cold chicken, the occasional smokies, corn on the cob and lots of fresh fruits like watermelon.  I enjoy a sweeter drink but can't indulge in them too much due to the high sugar content. I do not enjoy stevia sweetened products or artificially sweetened items. That means I drink a lot of cold water. I will sometimes steep some tea leaves in the cold water overnight. I like the taste without sweetener but I sometimes add freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Skywatch Friday ~ May 16, 2025

Hello everyone,

After some sunny but not yet quite hot weather, we are now getting more spring showers. You know the old saying?  April showers, brings May flowers. But it feels much colder than usual at this time of year and though I know there are flowers elsewhere, mine aren't yet at that stage.

Anyway, I take the rain as it comes. I don't mind it as long it isn't raining heavily for weeks on end as it can sometimes do.  We west coasters get out and about no matter the weather.  Today I had to get out for a walk and do some errands.  I don't carry an umbrella anymore and since it was more than drizzling, I stopped to buy a plastic rain poncho at the dollar store.

After running errands I stopped for a Japanese Bento Box of Chicken Teriyaki and tea to warm up.  It was delicious.  

Once I got home, I finished crocheting a set of dishcloths. This is the first time I've made this pattern and actually the first time I've made a crocheted dishcloth. Normally I make a simple knitted version.  I picked the pattern from a YouTube video. The pattern is called Berry Pattern.

I hope you are enjoying the weather and the skies where ever you are. Thanks for stopping by my post for this week's Skywatch Friday.