Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Ten Random Things

Right, so I'm jumping on the band wagon today and am doing this fun thing of Ten Random Things about Me!!  I don't know who started this trick, but I first saw it on Knitsofacto where Annie shared some randoms about herself a while back.  Today I read Amy's list on Love Made My Home, and felt inspired to do this with some free time I had this afternoon.  Here we go ...
1.  We don't do a lot of travelling (not by choice, but funds), but my husband and I took our two kids on a Mediterranean cruise two years ago visiting Spain, France, Croatia & Italy.  We were celebrating us both turning 50, our 25th wedding anniversary, our daughter heading off to university and our son graduating elementary school!!  We booked our cruise far in advance, and when the cruise lines offered discounts for last minute travelers, we got to upgrade our suite to one with a balcony (rather than just a port window).  I felt like a star for two weeks, and sat out on the balcony every morning & evening ... is there anything more luxurious than waving to people on shore as you sail out to sea?  I just loved being on the ship and pulling into port at 5:00 am when a town was just waking up.  I loved the entire experience actually and hope to travel to Europe again!
Male Red-winged Blackbird
2.  I don't have a middle name, nor do my sisters, although my brother got both of my grandfathers' names.  Sometimes I wish I had a different name than Wendy.  One of my college profs said I looked like a "Wendy", and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing.
3.  I like my tea & coffee "hotter than the sun" with no sugar.  Once it stops scalding my mouth, it's not as enjoyable.  The first time I had an espresso was in Taormina, Sicily (cruise in #1) with a view of Mt. Etna in the distance.  Quite fitting I thought.  I don't think I'll ever have coffee as good as Italian coffee ... seriously.
4.  Early morning is my favourite time of the day.  In the summertime I get up extra early, make a hot tea and sit on the patio with my pup.  We listen to the birds singing and enjoy the peacefulness as the sun rises.  I do the same thing when we go camping ... it's how I spotted a moose walking through our campground one morning (camping, not at my house ... I wish!!).
Hermit Thrush passing through ;)
5.  My only true collections are bird feathers and rocks.  I collect little rocks wherever I go.  I have some from Mt. Etna and Pompeii now too, which are special.  I also like to find little bits of lost items in Algonquin Park ... railroad spikes from the disused railroad, hinges found in the forest(?), a trail marker that had fallen into the water on my favourite trail (Mizzi Lake Trail).  I have made little displays of my rocks, which I will show sometime ... that'll be a whole rockin' post ;)

6.  I never watch TV.  I keep up with the news on my laptop, but I sometimes feel out of the loop when people talk about their favourite shows or funny commercials.  Now I buy DVDs of shows if it looks like something I'll enjoy.  That's how I watched "Downton Abbey".
Female Red-winged Blackbird
7.  My daughter's boyfriend thinks I have an accent?!  He's not the first person to tell me this.  Everyone knows that Canadians don't have accents.  I say it's my country twang which I inherited from my mother.  Her brother and my brother both have the same affliction ;)

8.  My husband was the only boy I ever dated.  We've been married for 25 years and together for 30, so I guess that was ok.

9.  I want to live close to my children when they leave home.  I hope they don't live in distant places!  Although I enjoyed living a little distance away from my parents, the drive back and forth between our homes was (and still is) taxing .  My husband's parents live 4 hours away.  We rarely see them, and they didn't get to see our kids grow up.  I think that's a real shame.
Common Grackle
10.  I like to tease my kids with expressions I used to say as a kid ... "No Guff!!" and "Gee Whiz!"  They tell me to shut up (but it still makes them laugh).

Bonus! 11.  My eyes are grey/green with flecks of yellow, although a lot of people think they're brown.  They were blue until I was about 7 or 8, but then started to change.  My English high school teacher called them "mish mash".  I didn't like the description.  Oddly enough my dog had two blue eyes when he was a puppy, but then one changed to a tan colour and one remained blue.  Lots of people ask if he's blind.
L: Mourning Dove (photo taken by my son), R-top: White Capped Sparrow, R-bottom:  Hermit Thrush
Double Bonus!! 12.  I love living in Canada.  I used to wish I lived out in British Columbia because of the beautiful forests and mountains there.  Now my brother lives there, so I've been out there quite a few times.  When I was young, my BFF's family invited me to their cottage not far from Algonquin Park here in Ontario.  I fell in love with that area, and since then have enjoyed life in Ontario so much more.  I grew up in the countryside just below the Niagara Escarpment back when a little town called Milton was just that ... a little town ... with a few dirt roads outside of the main drag.  We spent many, many days trail riding with our horse along the Bruce Trail with our friends, and hiking and exploring caves in the limestone that is the escarpment.  My husband has always liked the idea of wintering in Arizona, but it doesn't thrill me at all, and I tell him to have a nice time.  I never want to leave this beautiful area, although my biggest wish is to move back to the country, surrounded by heavy forests with lots of rocks!!

I hope these things were random enough to keep your interest till the end, and thanks so much for stopping by today.

Wendy

Cody, Smudge, Squirrel



19 comments:

  1. I so enjoyed your post Wendy! What a wonderful Mediterranean cruise! Both of your children will always remember that fantastic experience. I found you on Lavender Dreamer. Love your critter pics. :-).

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  2. So lovely to read your 10 things Wendy and learn a bit more about you. I love the description of your first espresso. I read in a book years ago about a man who had an espresso before he goes to bed because it gives him the strength to sleep! My hubby likes a double espresso with one brown sugar lump at the end of a meal out, but it is a rare treat for him! Your description reminded me of all that so it was lovely! xx

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  3. Yes they were friend!!! So many interesting fun facts about you! I love that you are a nature girl! And that you collect rocks and bits! I can so relate to that....your bird pics rock by the way! Were those all from your garden? I do hope my beans live close to me when they get big but if they don't I suppose we will just have to travel more! I have no idea how you drink your tea hot but I admire that skill! We are going to be getting some very cool weather in the next few days so I will be covering plants! How is the garden coming? Happy week to ya! Nicole xo

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    1. Yes! All the bird photos were taken in my backyard on the weekend :)

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  4. It was lovely reading all those facts about you Wendy so interesting, I went on a Mediterranean cruise too a few years back and I really enjoyed the places we visited and being on a ship too, It costs so much though but I would love to do it again. I love all your pictures! I like to drink my tea and coffee hot too and yes you are right it's not as enjoyable when it cools down. I also love to get up very early unfortunately it's rarely warm enough to sit outside, but when it is I love to sit out with my hot tea and watch the birds coming to the bird table at the bottom of my garden. I also love rocks apart from beach rocks the only one I have collected is one from New Zealand when I visited gosh 11 years ago how time flies, but I love the fact that I brought a bit of New Zealand back home with with me. Loved this post it made me feel all reflective. :) xxx

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  5. Oh, I DID enjoy this! I too have a collection of rocks..some from the UK,here and Hawaii (a friend gave it to me,I've never been to Hawaii), we don't watch TV (we don't HAVE a TV),and I LOVE living in Canada.
    Jane x

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  6. I'm so glad you joined in. I enjoyed your facts very much. Both of my kids were born with blue eyes that slowly turned gray-green. My husband's did the same. Mine were brown at birth and stayed that way. I collect rocks too. :)

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  7. Hello Wendy, nice to learn some fun facts about you! I would like the Mediterranean Cruise, sounds awesome.. It is neat that you have collected feathers and rocks, I am sure each rock has a special memory from where you found it.. Thanks for sharing, have a happy week!

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  8. These random number shares are always fun to read. Odd that you and your sisters have no middle name, I thought everybody did!

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  9. I am really enjoying these random things posts, they are huge fun! It's lovely to learn new things about each of us!

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  10. I *loved* reading this while I sipped on my it's-gotta-be-scalding-hot coffee. Funny, with my children it's the boys who have no middle names. We were very boy-name challenged. And Ontario rocks!

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  11. That was fun! Loved the bird pics. I have lots of them in my backyard too! Morning on my deck is my favorite time as well. That cruise sounds like the most awesome experience ever!

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  12. What a fun post! We actually have several things in common, including loving where we live. And for the record, I quite like the name Wendy. :-)

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  13. I sooo enjoyed your post Wendy - thanks for sharing your lovely random things. I'm with you on the cruising thing - it's just the best way to holiday, and Taormina is one of my favourite places too, but I can't drink espresso - strictly decaff for me otherwise I'm bouncing off the walls! ;-)
    Love your furry babe too - he's just gorgeous.
    hugs xx

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  14. So glad you shared some things about yourself. We went camping in Ontario every year when our children were growing up (we came over from Michigan through Sarnia). It is beautiful there. We've also been to Stratford a couple times. I also think that I don't have an accent, but most people who are not from here can hear it. I also love scalding drinks!
    I looked up your name after you commented on my post -- I'm afraid your brother is right. I didn't know Wendy really did come from Peter Pan. But it has a good story behind it -- the author was called "fwendy" when he was little by another friend. I think that's sweet. (Sorry if you've already heard this story!)

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  15. Great post Wendy ... lovely to learn get to know you better ... Bee xx

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  16. I always love reading these "random facts" posts that give a little extra insight into someone's personality. Early morning is my favourite time of day too.

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  17. These are great Wendy, lots of fascinating little gems in there :-). I agree, I would be very sad to have the Kids living very far away from me down the track x

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  18. It's a lovely list Wendy. I'm slowly catching up with all these 10 (or more) randoms post. They're just such fun :)

    Your images of the birds are just fabulous!

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Thanks so much for leaving a comment, it's nice to know when you've stopped by! :)

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