Another Halloween

Halloween 2014

Every year at Halloween my friends at the British connection ladies group have a Halloween party. There are about 15 ladies of varying ages from 40 to 80 that meet once a month just to have a good time, chat and laugh, This Halloween we were informed that we should all come as witches.So we knew there would be lots of laughter.

And what a collection of witches we were! Some were so clever and here are a selection of the photos from the party.

Here is the witch from Snow White.
Simple but a classic look.    

Here are a mother and daughter witches pair. We all loved their noses!!

 And the winner was
Sandwich.............
I can imagine she took hours getting that green face paint off after the party.

I went as a POP 60s witch. My socks were a great hit.
It wonderful what you can find in your old boxes in the attic!
I think this the 3rd outing for the witches hat.

My Fall Garden 2014

My Fall Garden 2014

Hibiscus, bougainvillea, asters and rose mallow

After a very poor summer flower-wise with very little blooming in my garden, drought conditions and lots of excess heat, suddenly my flowers have all burst out in lovely blooms. 

Rose mallow and purple salvia

We did have a little shower but I think the more moderate temperatures must have this effect. In fact I begin to think the plants think it's Spring already. I even have bulbs appearing which doesn't usually happen until to late January and February,
Something very peculiar is happening to the climate !!

The hibiscus is really spectacular- better than it's been all summer.

The Rooster

Challenge Painting- The Rooster.

This was the painting for the Challenge on www.paintanddrawtogether.com for September.I guess with my traveling and  photos and books I forgot to add it to my blogs.

For a change I started painting at the brightest color I could see, the red comb and then worked from there.

Found the tail feather a challenge in getting the pattern correct and also the background.

I find I tend to overdo the background in watercolor paintings.

An interesting study to do.
It reminded me of the time we kept chickens and what a pain the roosters were !!

The original photo

There were 18 paintings of the rooster and it was so interesting to see how each artist painted this subject. All were very different but so skillful and creative. You can check them out at http://paintanddrawtogether.blogspot.com/

Private by James Patterson and Maxine Paletro

This book was the second book I took on vacation to read and it is also the one I did not enjoy very much. I have read many books by James Patterson and usually enjoy them but not this one.

This book appears to be a book that is the first of a series about a company called "Private" run by Jack Morgan an ex marine who also suffers from flashbacks of a helicoper crash during his sevice in the war. Private is a company that does difficult investigation with discretion and doesn't care it seems much for the rule of law. 
Jack and his employees take on cases that need to be solved and cleared up secretly or quickly.
Three cases that the company are involved in are being dealt with all at the same time  I found this made for confusing reading. One of the cases is about a serial killer that is killing young girls picked up off the streets of L A. The case has already become  too much for the police department and so Jack and his company are called in to help. Then there is the case of mobsters, betting on NFL gambling and then to top it all off, Jack's friend Andy needs help because  his wife Shelby has been murdered.

I found it all too much to read. It was  like one of those fast-moving noisy TV episodes with sex, racing cars and aggression with little description and also  little appeal especially to me.

Not one I would recommend.

Ancaster Fair, Ont, Canada

While we were in Burlington we went to visit the Ancaster  fair close to Hamilton in Ontario. It is been a while since I have been to a county fair, the closest being  the State fair in Texas. This fair is very similar in that it showcases the various animal and machinery, hobbies and activities that you would see in the countryside. This fair goes on for about four days and when we went we had a lovely time. The sun was shining, it wasn't too crowded and we managed to park fairly close to the entrance so we didn't have far to walk. Below are some of the photos we took.

The cattle barn. I didn't know there were
so many kinds of cattle!

Just loved the colors of this one.

Lots of different sheep as well. Even saw some black wooly ones!



Then there were the ducks.This one had a cute hairstyle.

Displays of flowers and crafts,and also items made by the local schools.

Outside all the tractors and old cars.

And a group of very athletic young people doing gymnastics using a long hanging piece of cloth- very clever.

House Rules by Jodi Picoult

House Rules by Jodi Picoult

I still have a couple of more blogs to write about our vacation this year but I felt I needed a change. I have been keeping up with my book reading and in fact have about three books now that I need to review.

These were three books that I had picked up at the local book sale in the library. I needed books to read when I go on vacation and picked two good ones and one not so good!

House rules by Jodi Picoult is set in modern times and is a mystery and very suspenseful but it has unusual characters. The main character is Jacob Hunt an older teenager with Asp burgers syndrome. Now I knew nothing about this form of  autism but by the end of the book I felt I knew it well. Most interesting.
 Jacob's mother Emma has been responsible for taking care of Jacob ever since he was a baby when his father opted out of the marriage. His brother Theo suffers in the small family as all the attention has to be on Jacob and although he understands this , his resentment comes through.

Jacob is not good in social situations but is high functioning and intelligence and has a strange focus on crime scenes and solving crimes, mostly those he sees on TV. The young grad student Jess who has been tutoring Jacob to help develop his social skills, is found dead under suspicious circumstances. Jacob and his brother Theo knows something about the circumstances but did Jacob commit a murder?


I found this book to be most interesting and also most readable. In fact it was hard to put it down and I will certainly look for more books by this author.

Relaxing in Burlington

Relaxing in Burlington

 We were really pleased when we reach Burlington. It would be nice not to have to change beds for a few days! We have always made it a point when we go to Canada for vacation we stop off and visit with our friends Bernie and Jean. Last year Bernie died but we have kept in touch with Jean and she was happy to have us come to stay for a few days.

Mike was glad of a well earned rest from driving and loading and unloading the car as was I. Jean lives at the present time on the 10th floor of a high rise building in Burlington. It is a cozy little apartment and Jean always makes us feel very welcome. This time she apologized that everything was in slight disorder as she was moving soon to live with her daughter.

The proud father looks on as his son wins!

Mike and Jean both like sports and spent a good time watching both soccer and the Grande Prix on television. I tried to take some stills from the TV but it wasn't very successful!

The winners on the podium

I glanced out the window and saw that we had just missed a big storm so we had been very lucky in our drive to Canada.Usually you can see Lake erie from this balcony!

Bartonville Texas to Burlington Ontario, Canada

Canada Trip 2014  #2 A visit to a train museum.

A great painting on the wall of the Museum

So off we went bright and early in a very loaded van seemingly taking everything but the kitchen sink. It  was very full but we did have in the back two large canvas chairs plus all our luggage and other miscellaneous items that we were taking with us. The van was very comfortable and Mike found it easy to drive..

After a very pleasant drive heading north bordering the Mississippi river north of Memphis we then went along the Kentucky Parkway system and eventually toward evening got as far as Bardstown, Kentucky, a town we had visited before and enjoyed. 
As we passed through the town we noticed that there were many cars around and lots of traffic. The first hotel we came to had no vacancies as did the second one. When we inquired why this was, we were told that this was the week of the Bardstown Bourbon Festival. Bourbon is the main production of that whole area of Kentucky. Even the air smells of bourbon! We were directed finally  to a Comfort Inn closer to the main highway and fortunately found a room there. The Indian lady who appeared to be the owner was most accommodating and could see that we were tired and found us a pleasant suite on the ground floor.  We had a good nights rest there and a good breakfast to start the day.

The Kentucky Railroad and Museum. New Haven

Model train layout inside the museum

 The next morning the weather was very foggy but we had planned to visit the Kentucky Railroad and Museum about 12 miles south in a small town called New Haven. That part of Kentucky is very rural  with many rolling hills and the roads are curvy and winding.  The fog or probably I should say mist, was coating many of the valleys. Eventually we found the museum and got there just as it was opening. The museum and railroad appears to be run by mostly volunteers with a small staff and they seemed knowledgeable and very helpful. 

Inside the repair shed

We paid  our entry fee and then started to look around. The museum was full of interesting artifacts and items used by the railroad. There were even some model railroad layouts and specials toy railroads for children to play with .

 Mike enjoyed looking in the railroad sheds at all the other engines and coaches that were being prepared to be exhibited. The attendant said that the problem now is that  many old coaches and even engines are being given to them as donations but the volunteers to fix them were in short supply. Every year it gets worse as the older volunteers are no more and the younger volunteers do not have the necessary skills to fix the engines and carriages. Such a shame to see these old machines and carriages rotting away. 

An old carriage waiting for repair

And then we were on the road again following the River Road through Ohio until we came to  Erie in Pennsylvania and then on to Canada via the Niagara  Peninsula and our stay in Burlington..

Back Home After our Trip

Fall is already showing it's colors in Ontario, Canada

It was lovely to get back home after a trip to Toronto to see our son Russ and to visit old friends. It was a trip we had delayed for almost 2 years but this year we were determined to get there and to have a good time. We like to travel by car as we go different ways there and back and see a great deal of USA than we would if we traveled by air. Also on our trip we take much longer than most people would as we visit odd places that we see along the way.We are fortunate to have the time to do that.

In the next few days I shall be writing my blog about some of the things we saw and did and show you some of the photos that we took.

If there's a railway we will STOP!

The worst thing about coming back after a long holiday,- this one was almost 3 weeks long,- is doing the pile of washing of the dirty clothes that we collect on our way back. I must have washed five loads of clothes before I had complete finished with the laundry.

This had to be deleted ,- stuck lens cap!!
Sorry Bill

The other task that took some time was downloading the accumulated photos that I had taken, and then going through them deleting a great many and editing the rest.

Overall I think we can say that this was a good holiday and we saw all the people that we planned to see. caught up on everyone's news and enjoyed the lovely fall weather and the beautiful scenery on a trip.

Wine Country Painting Challenge

Wine Country watercolor, 8"x8"

This is a rather quick water color that I painted for the challenge  " Monthly Painters Challenge" on facebook. The title for the challenge was "Wine Country" and the artists are left to come up with their own painting using whatever medium they wish. I have only done 2 of these challenges so far and I am just amazed at the creativity and skill of the artists who join in.
This time I had to do the painting fast so I kept the size small and really felt this was more of a sketch  rather than a true painting.I was off on vacation and had to get it done so I could enter.
If you are an artist you might consider joining us and trying the challenge !!