Sunflowers & Squash Flowers....and a few critters...

Hope you are all having a great weekend...

Hot and steamy here...

Take a stroll...

Admire these beautiful sunflowers...

And the Squash flowers are incredible...

I have a few squash growing...

Hope they make it 'til Fall...

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday...

                              Cheers!  :o)
                               linda

Meet Miss Holly Blue Butterfly......

This little beauty delighted us last weekend...

I had to look up her name...but she was definitely BLUE...so that made it a lot easier!

She seemed to love my White Yarrow...which has been spreading very nicely over the past few years...

When she flitted about...the BLUE became more obvious...

Love her little black & white striped stockings!!

Thanks Holly Blue Butterfly....you are beautiful! 

Thought you all might enjoy her, as much as we did! 

                                                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are off to the cottage...

YAY!!

Back on Saturday...for a sleepover with Miss V...

See you all then...

enjoy the rest of the week....


                                       Cheers!  :o)
                                          linda 

The Day The Rains Came........

Sunday was the day the family was coming out to the cottage, for a get together...

Not long after arriving...

The heavens opened...

And....boy...did we get a lot of rain...

My daughter Lissa, my SIL Jeff and their Lola, got trapped in the shed!

No worries...an umbrella ws taken out, and escorted them inside! 

The sunporch got drenched, as the rain and wind were coming from the south!

Lola waited patiently in the shed for the rain to stop...

She then had another swim with Jeff...

Love the reflection in the mirror! 
















My daughter Erika and Miss V were the last to arrive... for a late lunch...as you can see...Erika is eating my potato salad right from the bowl!

Good eh, Erika?

Anna looking on......

When the rain stopped...everyone was ready to get outside...even though it was still spitting a bit...and very muggy and damp...

Papa grabbed one of the garden umbrellas, so that Miss V could continue her beach work...

She loves shovelling the sand and stones into her bucket♥️

Soon enough the sun broke through...and started to dry things up...


Miss V and Mommy were getting ready to make the trip home...an alternate route as the bridge was still closed... 

A quick change of clothes...

A drink for the drive...

And off they went...

The rest of us retired to the beach deck...

To enjoy the sunset...

And a piece of the moon...

Had a great day! 

Can't wait for the next time♥️

Hope you are all having a great day...

Still hot here...peaks of sun...had more rain overnite...

I have Miss V napping, so I thought I would get this post done early...

Enjoy the rest of your day......

                                       Cheers!  :o)
                                          linda

Black Eyed Susans & Begonias♥️

This past weekend at the cottage was a variety of weather patterns...
Sunny...hot...humid...cloudy...windy...still...rainy...
But...
Through it all...
The Black Eyed Susans my friend Devon brought me...
Are flourishing... 
Beautiful blooms...
Vibrant colour...
                                  Thanks Devon!

Once I get them planted in a suitable spot...
I will think of you...when their pretty faces show up in late July♥️

As always...
My precious Begonias...
Continue to put on a show...
They are certainly the never ending bloomers!
If you have never had them in your garden...mine are all in baskets!
I highly recommend them...
I always bring a few inside for the winter...
Sometimes they flourish...sometimes not...
But...always a show stopper...for sure!

We spent 3 1/2 days at the cottage...

Saw every weather pattern known to man!

Humidity...tremendous winds...to no wind!!

Watched lightning across the Lake in New York State...and very dark thick clouds...

I have pictures to share later...

How difficult to sift thru pictures...

And find just the right ones to share...

My Sunflowers, White Phlox and Squash flowers are incredible...

All my kids and  Miss V visited on Sunday...

There was a huge downpour, and we all ran for cover...

After the rain...the mugginess continued...but we did see the sun come back out...

And enjoyed another sit on the beach deck!

                                               *******************

Hope you all had a great weekend...I know it is Tuesday already!

There was a huge weather sysytem moving thru yesterday...

Flooded a few major hwys down Burlington way...

The Burlington Skyway was shut from Thursday afternoon until last night...

Coming from Niagara to Toronto...

This skyway connects over the Hamilton harbour....1000's of people use this every single day...

It is on our route to the cottage...the inconvenience of it being closed, added about 1/2 hour to our trip...

It seems a DRUNK dump truck driver, had his dump part raised, and hit scaffolding on the skyway!!!

None seriously hurt...but...what an idiot!!

I think we should all be given his home address, so we can all go and give him a big old "boot to the head," for displaying such asinine behaviour!!

I hope they throw the book at him...the  repairs will be very costly, not to mention the 1000's of people he inconvenienced...

Climbing down from my soapbox now!


Enjoy your day....

Still expecting more rain here today...

                                 Cheers!   :o)
                                  linda

A Big Thank You.....

Thanks to you all for all your comforting words about my brother Tom...
        It took a  lot for me to write the post...
               But you all responded in kind...
             And I truly thank you all...from the bottom of my heart...
     It seems everyone has a deep hole in their hearts...
          From a special person...who has gone...unexpectedly...and way too soon...
     No matter the age...the reason...it is always hard to digest...
           So...
              I have such a lovely group of friends here...
                     And you prove it to me...time and time again...

                     This wee gal brings us much joy...and hope for the future...

                           Thank goodness for small miracles...♥️

this is her "cheese" face...♥️

Another long weekend here in good old Canada....
Heading to the cottage shortly...
Family all coming out on Sunday...no rain please!!

Hope wherever you are...you are having a great day...
And have a wonderful weekend....ENJOY!

                   See you all later...

                        Cheers!  :o)
                          linda

July 31st.....A Day To Remember♥️

Remember my happy wee sunflower that grew in my planter?

Well look at him today!

He is looking so bright and happy...

It made me smile...

Inspite of my heavy heart today...

My dear brother Tom...

Passed away 17 years ago today...

He was only 39 years old...

Broke a lot of people's hearts when he died...

I miss him endlessly...

Speak of his crazy antics often...

My kids adored him, 'cause he was silly...not afraid to have fun...always a smile on his face...

So...

This bright sunny flower...

Makes me think of Tom...

We miss you...

Love you...

Forever...♥️

 He was 7 years my junior, so I had a lot of babysitting chores!...Mom and Dad were very busy socially, and my older brother Bill and I were often left to take care of Tom and my younger sister...never a dull moment I'll tell 'ya!
He was an avid Fisherman, and we would rent a cottage with him in the summer...the kids had a ball with him...always into something...
My boyfriend tells hilarious stories of fishing trips with him...
He died one month before we got our cottage...but I had shown him pictures, and he couldn't be happier for us...
He also inherited my parents love of cooking...as we all did...and we would always spend the holidays together...Turkey was always delicious!
Nice 80's hairdo on me, eh???

 Rest in peace Tommy...

Oh how he would loved loved this wee one! And she would have had so much fun with him♥️

We will raise a glass of cheer to you this evening Tom....

Love 'ya...

He always used to phone me...and say "Hi Honey"...still brings tears to me eyes...


                                             Cheers!  :o)
                                             linda

Zoom...Zoom...

 When sitting on the beach deck...

Looking back at the cottage...

I love to ZOOM in on things...

Get closer...

And closer...

Man...

I LOVE my camera♥️

Gosh...

My dragon wing Begonia looks pretty awesome too!!

Hope you are all having a great day...

Getting warmer here...sunny...but I swear I heard some thunder in the distance...

Spent the day with Miss V...went to the $ store and bought her a bunch of stuff!!!

Stickers...coloring books....you know...the usual junk!!

Heading out to eat shortly...Greek..I think!!

How's that for poetry!!


                                Cheers!  :o)
                                  linda