280/365 Squirrel

I have been watching this squirrel and his friends slowly store away the dark brown shiny nuts from the Ohio Buckeye in our front yard. They have been very busy retrieving the large leathery capsules from the tree, breaking them open to get the nuts and then carrying them to the backyard for storage.There are nut shells all over the driveway. I have found several of these hard dark nuts in my planters when cleaning them out. Silly squirrels. 

The nuts look very much like a chestnut. but they are VERY poisonous! 

I waited for the best morning light to get a photo of this fellow. 

 279/365 Celebrating 47 Years Together

 278/365 Farewell Summer

 277/365 Maple Tree

 276/365 Fall Table

 275/365 Sweater

This is an Aunt Heather original handed down from the cousins. It was made for Tanis who is now 17 so probably made about 15 years ago. And it remains in perfect condition. I believe Emma is the fourth grandchild to wear it. Pretty sweet! Perhaps Ella (Tanis' baby sister) will wear it one day. 

 274/365 Vintage Sunbeam Mixer

Making a freezer batch of Shepherds Pie today. This hand mixer was a gift from my Mom. It was made some time in the 1970 which puts it at over 50 years. I have been using it since we were married (47 years). 

These durable those old Sunbeam appliances were manufactured in an era that used heavy-duty copper windings and simpler mechanical gears that outlast almost any modern, plastic-geared equivalent today. They say that these vintage models can keep going indefinitely with just a tiny bit of basic upkeep.... or in my case, no upkeep other than a quick wipe with a dish cloth. 

I like using it. Reminds me of Mom and learning to bake as a newlywed. :) 

 273/365 Lemon Verbena

My herbs were so prolific this year and I don't have the heart to pull them out so I trimmed them all down and potted them up for a winter in a sunny south window. If they survive great! If not meh. My Thyme and Rosemary did wonderfully last year and then thrived when transplanted back into the garden so here is hoping they tolerate another winter inside. I had so much Lemon Verbena that I dried it and filled two  spice bottles. Also filled a bottle with Thyme. I have never dried herbs before but it was quite easy after some basic instructions with Google AI. 

 272/365 

"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever."  Isaiah 40:8

 271/365 Letting Go

Autumn days are for watching
the way auburn leaves fall and
kiss the earth to show
that the trees have made peace
with letting go

Jai Gaurangi

 270/365 Fall

The leaves are changing much too soon. 

 269/365 Yellowjacket

 268/365 Pineapple

We spent the day at the kids house helping out today and I spotted their Pineapple plant. They planted a pineapple top over a year ago (maybe 2!) and it now has a pineapple on it! 

267/365 Emma sized Pumpkin

And she is very proud of it. We are just waiting for it to change colour. 

 

 266/365 Swimming with Isla

It wouldn't be a good visit without some swimming in the pool with Isla. Perfect after school fun time. 

It was about 36C - the non heated pool was around the same temperature. Nice!! 

 265/365 Happy 10th birthday Isla

It is 6 days early but we wanted her to have her birthday gift before we leave. 

 264/365 Happy 16th Birthday Eva

 263/365 Isla

It was such a thrill and confidence booster for Isla to be included in Eva and Norah's High School Seussical the Musical production. Here she is make up on, ready for her second and third show! 

 262/365 Seussical the Musical

Three performances and we attended two of them. What a show!! They all did exceptionally well in their roles. So many songs to learn and dance steps to execute perfectly. 

So wonderful to see so many of our grands involved in musical theatre. I was never involved in theatre growing up but our kids were heartily introduced to theatre and music at The Kings School (Thank you Jane Ryder and Dave Ferguson) and it stayed with them because their children are now very involved and completely comfortable on stage.  

 261/365 Penny and Ody

The newest grand animals. These two mischievous kitties have brought great joy to the Whitehawk home. 

 260/365 In the Clouds

Heading south to Texas for 6 days to see the three girls perform in the musical Seussical the Musical! 

Turbulent, but amazing views descending thru the clouds into DFW.

 259/365 Warmth

It has been cold and rainy today. I really didnt want to turn the furnace on but it barely got above 13C - so I had the gas fireplace on for most of the day. Winter is knocking at the door and I do not want to answer. 

Only 106 days left in 2026. 

 258/365 Adventures

While  Mom and Dad, Grandpa and Uncle Harold were putting a new roof on the house, Grandma got to go for a little adventure walk with the kids on their property. This was taken with my iPhone :( 

 Next time I will be sure to bring my real camera. 

 257/365 My New Tea Mug

 256/365 Happy Birthday

The patriarch is 72 today! We celebrated with the family. He may have had only a few bites of that cake.

 255/365 Emmaline

Who doesnt love and ice cream sandwich for dessert. 

 254/365 Good Fellowship

and very good food. 

 253/365 Candle Holder

Friends are visiting from Winnipeg and gave us this unique candle holder. 

 252/365 Calla Lily

Time to bring these beauties indoors so they can be fully enjoyed! 

 251/365 Slime

We made slime today. The wind has been blowing fiercely and it called for some indoor creativity. Much to my better judgement, I bought some glitter to put inside. It looked amazing and our slime was perfect with a lot of elasticity, but I know I will be wiping glitter off everything for the next two years! 

 250/365 Breakfast at Smitty's

Cause these are great memories to make. 

 249/365 Rivals

The Labour Day Classic is about to begin!! Who will win?

 248/365 Card Holders

We played a lot of cards last week and although we have one cardholder, it is not a great one and we could have used two of them. So I bought these and they are perfect! Cards display so well and are easily moved around. Soft felt on the bottom and they actually look very nice and stack well for storage. I may very well use one myself because I seem to be always putting my hand down to go fetch something (usually food) or to help out one of the grands. Looking forward to using these. 

 247/365 Tomato plant

This cherry tomato plant has produced so many tomatoes this summer. Emma heads straight there to find the red ones every time she visits. 

 246/365 Hydrangea

They are rather big! 

 245/365 Reading

Love seeing them snuggling together and reading. 

 244/365 Crazy Kids

We discovered another playground in Oakbank today and it is just a five min drive away. Spent over an hour there. The kids had a blast. Great end to their Grandma/Grandpa sleepover. 

They can now play Scum/President, Five Crowns and Crazy Eights with proficiency.

 243/365  Hot Dog!

Wasn't that a fun weekend! 

 242/365 Water Fall

Loving the Pool

 241/365 Rootbeer Floats

It is a summer favourite around here and I suspect it will continue to be a fav dessert come winter. 

 240/365 UV Filter

Allow me a moment to brag. 

First let me say we LOVE our pool and watching so many kids having a blast in it. However being pool owners has been a learning curve and we are very thankful to Sansom Pools for all their teaching and advice. I am sure they are very thankful for our credit card too! 😜

We are slowly mastering the chemistry of the water and how to balance it and keep it healthy. But it also involved a whole new understanding of intakes and output valves, water pumps (and priming those pumps which is an art in itself) sump pumps to empty the overflow, filters and cleaning filters, UV treatment, heater settings (and rather large hydro bills), bypass valves, winterizing, pool liner care and the list goes on.....

Today the UV Filter sprung a leak and we had to shut down the system. Chat GPT walked me thru the particular UV filter we have and possibilities to fix but alas - not worth it as it is 7 years old. Sansom pools confirmed everything chat GPT said and offered a temporary fix but they could not have anyone out to replace it until next week. They did have one in stock. $$

Since we have 6 children and 8 adults coming for lunch and an afternoon of swimming tomorrow and the pumps and filters are off d/t the leak, I wanted a fix today so we do not have cloudy water tomorrow. 

So I went to the pool store where they got the UV filter prepped for installation and I brought it home and installed it! By myself! AND got the system running again (priming that pump)...which can be tricky once air gets into the pipes. 

Ta da!  

We have a working pool. 

Now to food prep for tomorrow! 

 239/365 Five Crowns

Grand sleepover and they learned Five Crowns. I am amazed at how fast they pick up card games and do amazingly well at them. 

 238/365 Frog

There was a lot of rain Monday night and when the overnight tarp is on the pool is covered in rain, the frogs like to sit on it. There were five little frogs this morning.  

 237/365 So Sad

I bought this hand made mug at the artisan market this spring and today it fell off the dish rack! 

 236/365 Family

Happy birthday to our d-i-l Pam who is very much adored by our son and their three children and for very good reason! 

 235/365 Our Sweet Grands. 

Sure blessed to be here to watch them grow. 

 234/365 Ohio Buckeye

This large and very beautiful tree is growing in our front yard. Unfortunately I have learned that the tree leaves and nuts are toxic to humans and animals. As lovely as the tree is and as interesting looking as the fruit is,  it is not one I would have chosen to plant in my yard. 

 233/365 Pesto

Just froze a large batch of pesto. I may have been a little heavy on the garlic! 

 232/365 Reading Christiana with GrandPa

 231/365 Finished

Lucy finished her Lego Friends Beekeepers House and Flower Garden and she did the whole thing herself. It is for ages 12+ and she just turned 8. Well done Lucy!