Thursday, October 31, 2019

I Like #33

It's the end of the month again, and time for my post on gratitude, and the likes and loves I've collected all month long. See the link below the post where you will find several more people who post these gratitude posts. I'm listening to an audiobook on Hoopla about the importance of daily gratitude, so much of what she says I've experienced and learned through doing this practice.

1. I like cruise control, seat heat and a heated steering wheel. We had our first touch of frost on October 18, so I was happy to find the heated steering wheel option in the menu of the truck! Seated heats (lol, I can't even type it let alone say it) heated seats is what sold me when I bought my new-to-me VW Passat, ah I miss her still.

2. I love the little brave birds that flit around and chirp away in the willow outside the window in the room where I am currently sewing.

3. I like the number three. My birthday is April 3, which is probably the origin of this like. This post is #33! (I had to move this from #1 to #3. Obviously.


4. I like my curly hair that is still it's natural deep brown almost black colour. Yes, there are many pesky white ones, but I tell myself that one day I will be snow white like my paternal grandma. I like curly hair products; when I was younger I hated my bushy hair, so now it is manageable, curly and I love it. I get lots of compliments on it too.😊 Here I am last Sunday at Dayna's, dog-sitting our sweetheart granddog-ter, Penny while they were doing a whole Lions football day. I've said it before, but I love Penny too! And I guess I like this picture because I didn't know I'd already used it in my DrEAMi post until this post got published (I'd scheduled it) ha!

5. I like squash. It is not something I grew up eating, not something I ever grew, and not a big part of Albertan meals, but that could've been just in my house and circle of friends. Maybe it is more prevalent now. Zucchini always was and still is quite the staple; pumpkins too, and I grew both when we lived there. But here in Kingsville, Ontario? Squash is abundant, and not just butternut, no. There are so many kinds! Spaghetti and acorn squash are just two other favourites. I like butternut squash soup. However, I love my homemade butternut squash soup, which is this recipe. When I lived in Alberta, I did buy the soup from the grocery store, and loved it; I fed both girls Heinz squash baby food! I'm glad I've rediscovered it.


6. I love the sun. I love the sunlight through trees, and early morning sun. I love sunsets. I love sun. Period. I noticed the beautiful play of light in the early morning of Saturday, October 19, and it made my heart swell. Why don't we take better care of our precious beautiful planet?

7. I am pretty sure I say this every year, multiple times, but I love the gentleness and splendour of fall/autumn in southwestern Ontario. I love the clarity the days have, the changing colour of Lake Erie, whether it's steel grey with cream froth waves on a windy day, or steel blue and calm on a sunny day. May I add quietly that I do not like the wind that comes off the lake in fall, stronger and with teeth!
October 23 on the Greenway

Does anyone know the name of this tree? It's such a beautiful shape, leaves kind of maple-ish so dense in summer and massive. Our lot is 100 feet wide and this tree's diameter takes up almost half of it. The fence you see behind it is taller than me, so over 5'2" which gives you a bit of an idea as to this tree's grandeur.

8. I like how many maple trees, (again I don't know what kind, but a google search turned up this website, and so I'm deducing from their descriptions that this is a native red maple, what exact variety I do not know) turn slowly fiery orange-red from the outer leaves in. I say it looks like they've been dipped in icing! This one is across the street from us. See how green it is in the centre? It's another massive tree; several in this hood according to longtime residents are 100+ years old.
The reds of so many varieties we have here are jaw-dropping. Maples, sumac, Burning Bush just to name a few.
And I like how some trees that grow in our Carolinian Forest zone in which I live, like this mimosa, haven't even started to change.
Taken through the car window; apologies for the reflection.
9. I also like the street lights along Main Street in Kingsville. I was down here on Tuesday this week photographing the latest quilt finish 'in the wild' so to speak. This pretty white and blue house from the 1800s used to be a tea room, first The Rose and Thistle, later Victorian Rose, but the current owner, also the longtime chef even when it was owned by others, decided to retire and it's now her private residence. Otherwise, I would have posed the quilt on that very bench where my mum and I sat, my daughters aged 5 months and 2.5 years, after having had a lovely lunch there back in 1988!

10. I like Annabelle's Tea Room, in yet another beautiful old home in Kingsville, located next door-but-one to Victorian Rose. This one was built in 1859, so she's 160 years old this year. Wow. You'll see more of it on Friday's post, when I show you the finished quilt which has been shown on Instagram in a few posts. For now you can see this gorgeous display at the entrance to their parking lot. That's a dental office between the Victorian Rose and Annabelle's you see in behind. I've eaten lunch at Annabelle's several times over the years and it never disappoints.

11. I really like this recipe my cousin forwarded to me from Instagram. I made it and it is DEE-licious. It makes enough for three or four servings, and keeps well in the fridge.

12. I like that I find all kinds of good books through my quilting friends and yoga friends. I just finished Dragonfly by Leila Meacham, recommended by Wendy of Pieceful Thoughts. It was good, about a group of American kids (young 20s) who are bi- and trilingual, sent to France as spies for the Allies during WWII. There were a few annoyances but overall a good story, and with history within it. I'm currently reading (and living in it all day, an indication it's a good'un) Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok. I think it may be a recommendation from Roseanne of Homesewn by Us. And, thanks to yoga student/now friend and sister quilter (how I love finding so many quilter/yogis) Lorelei, I am currently listening to the audio book on Hoopla that I mentioned at the beginning of this post, Gratitude Daily by Nataly Kogan. So a like within a like is I like Hoopla a new-to-me app for audio books.

Linking up with LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color where you can find many other grateful people!

13 comments:

  1. Lots of beautiful color in your part of the world. Thanks for sharing as we've been cold, dreary and wet.

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  2. Great likes. I love the trees during this time of year too. How in the sunshine the colors almost sparkle. I agree when it is cold and wind of Lake Erie is harsh, and I live 3 miles from it.

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  3. We do have so much to be grateful for. Thanks for the reminder.

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  4. Great "likes" this week--that butternut soup looks really yummy..hugs, Julierose

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  5. Glad you enjoyed Dragonfly -- it was a good read. I'm reading a second book by that author, so will let you know my thoughts when I finish. You have some good gratefuls in your post today. Thanks for sharing them with us!

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  6. how fun that all was. I love old buildings so that was fun. I like that several of your friends are in the "I Like" group too. What a circle of goodness. The puppy.... looking at you with love...
    Leeanna

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  7. I have curly hair, too, and it took much of my life to like it - but in my "old age" I am certainly happy to have hair that doesn't require much to be ready to go in the morning! Beautiful photos of the trees and plants and sunlight and buildings in your area! Thanks for sharing the butternut squash soup recipe - I'm going to try it!

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  8. Love my cruise control. Miss the heated seats, though! Mmm.. sunshine and squash. Maple trees are so pretty!

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  9. Grateful for your expressed gratitudes. I do love squash soup and want to try that pumpkin recipe! I do a butternut squash no crust i should send to you.

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  10. I think the trees have more colour in them this year, the reds are stunning. I love all things squash.

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  11. So many varieties of maple, aren't there, and all with their unique fall colorations. Our biggest backyard tree is a silver maple, and it doesn't have much fall color at all, oddly enough. It's always the last to drop leaves, well after the other trees have said goodbye to their leaves. These seem to hang on, mostly still green, and then they get a little yellowish all of a sudden and fall down in a couple days' time, sometimes after there's snow on the ground. Which we have already this year (boo).

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  12. Hi Sandra! So much goodness in this post. I love reading everyone's Likes - always lots of fun things to share and who doesn't need a little goodness?! Those trees - all of them! Our Linden finally has a few leaves that have turned and fallen - we got 7.5" of snow on Halloween, so it was about time. Aww, the wind off the Lake in Fall - brrr. Just thinking about it gives me the shivers. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  13. I love all your likes and especially that photo of you and Penny. I never grew up with squash in Newfoundland but have found it very popular here in Ontario. I love it esp. for soup. I also like your #1 and #8...a wonderful post, Sandra.

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