Wednesday, 4 April 2018
Tuesday, 3 April 2018
Les Tours de Merle
I miss France and decided to take a little tour of a fascinating place in the south of the Corrèze. The fortress was considered impregnable, but history intervened and parts of it fell in the wrong hands for a while. The lords of Merle prevailed, eventually.
This is from Wikipedia:
The Tours de Merle are the ruins of a castle in the commune of Saint-Geniez-ô-Merle, in the Corrèze department of France. It was a feudal fortress from the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, which was subject of a classification as a historic monument since July 30, 1927.
In the fourteenth century, Merle included seven castles, two chapels and a village, owned by seven noblemen from Merle.
During the Hundred Years' War, the English took one of the towers and a castle in 1371.
In 1574 the Calvinists took the citadel, where they established a garrison, they were driven out two years later by the co-lords. But the fortress was abandoned by those who preferred to live in places that were more pleasant and certainly more accessible.
Labels:
France,
virtual travel
Monday, 2 April 2018
HAPPY MONDAY !
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend ! I know many of us enjoyed time with family and friends. It's back to reality today - Monday morning ! It's the little things that count, so enjoy your coffee, spend time with your pets, talk to a friend, or enjoy the outdoors. 💜
Or perhaps these are more appropriate .......Either way, have a great day!
Thanks to my son for his help !!!
Sunday, 1 April 2018
Saturday, 31 March 2018
Spring!
Spring has always been my favourite time of the year.
When I think of the springs of my childhood, I think of new shoes, a new dress and a new bonnet to wear to church on Easter Sunday. Somehow the days suddenly seemed happier and my sisters and I seemed a little freer. Because the days were longer, we could get outside after supper to play in the park across the street. Does anyone remember hanging upside down on Monkey Bars? The boys always got the baseball diamond but sometimes, if there were not enough kids to play, we might get the chance. At least until more boys showed up!
Spring circa 1956.
It feels like we wait so long for spring. And then slowly but surely, things start to change. This year the geese returned earlier than usual. Sometimes there are hundreds of them overhead. I remember the sound of them when we were in Montreal and Mike was working shift work. Late at night I might hear them honking as they flew overhead. It always brought a lump to my throat. It felt like a special treat to hear them but now we have so many and it seems like I am always running outside to watch them when I hear them calling. I have discovered that geese are much more romantic when they are flying overhead than when they are hanging out in the park messing up the sidewalks!
I know that spring is a lot slower arriving here in Eastern Canada than it is for many of you. There is still a lot of dirty snow on the ground and I know that we could still have a snowstorm or two, but today I found the beginning of new life in the garden and I saw my first robin. Maybe that is what is special about Spring... hope.
I just know this little green shoot is going to turn into something beautiful. And of course, because I cannot remember what is planted where, it is going to be a wonderful surprise!
Mike and I had a special treat today when we were invited by our neighbours to make traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs (Pysanky). One egg took us about two hours! It is probably a lot easier when your hand doesn't shake!
As you can see Mike was pretty intent on what he was doing.
And here is my effort. I was quite pleased with it. The colours and symbols have special meanings. Leaves and flowers represent life and growth. The colour red is beauty/ love, orange is endurance and black is remembrance.
How about you? What do you like best about Spring?
When I think of the springs of my childhood, I think of new shoes, a new dress and a new bonnet to wear to church on Easter Sunday. Somehow the days suddenly seemed happier and my sisters and I seemed a little freer. Because the days were longer, we could get outside after supper to play in the park across the street. Does anyone remember hanging upside down on Monkey Bars? The boys always got the baseball diamond but sometimes, if there were not enough kids to play, we might get the chance. At least until more boys showed up!
Spring circa 1956.
It feels like we wait so long for spring. And then slowly but surely, things start to change. This year the geese returned earlier than usual. Sometimes there are hundreds of them overhead. I remember the sound of them when we were in Montreal and Mike was working shift work. Late at night I might hear them honking as they flew overhead. It always brought a lump to my throat. It felt like a special treat to hear them but now we have so many and it seems like I am always running outside to watch them when I hear them calling. I have discovered that geese are much more romantic when they are flying overhead than when they are hanging out in the park messing up the sidewalks!
I know that spring is a lot slower arriving here in Eastern Canada than it is for many of you. There is still a lot of dirty snow on the ground and I know that we could still have a snowstorm or two, but today I found the beginning of new life in the garden and I saw my first robin. Maybe that is what is special about Spring... hope.
I just know this little green shoot is going to turn into something beautiful. And of course, because I cannot remember what is planted where, it is going to be a wonderful surprise!
As you can see Mike was pretty intent on what he was doing.
How about you? What do you like best about Spring?
Friday, 30 March 2018
A cat post
Some people say the purpose of the Internet is to let people enjoy photos and videos of cute animals... The following were shared on snapchat and I saw them on Facebook. There were pages of them, so I saved the ones I liked best.










Thursday, 29 March 2018
Pagan, Tinian, and Saipan
Trip of a lifetime in the Northern Mariana Islands, circa
1970ish – Pagan, Tinian, and Saipan
Back in the early 1970’s, two of my fellow flight attendants and
I took a vacation together that included a stop in Guam where my father was
living at the time. He offered us a once-in-a-lifetime trip to a small island
in the Mariana archipelago named Pagan. Unfortunately, my camera jammed on this
part of the trip and thus all the pictures are from the interwebs.
Pagan is beautiful with both white and black beaches, palm trees
– everything you find on a gorgeous Pacific island. We were able to play a bit
at the black sand beach – shoes required! - and in the warm water.
I have no idea who is enjoying my beach!
There were a small group of islanders, maybe 50, living there at the time. However, they were evacuated in 1981 when one of the volcanoes blew. To the best of my knowledge, they have not
been allowed to return due to
various political machinations, the worst idea being to use Pagan as a bombing
target for the US military. Pagan would be far better served as an
eco-destination for people wishing to see the natural world and its unique
flora and fauna.
The three of us boarded a small prop plane for the flight to
Pagan. We were graciously greeted by the chief of the clan and invited to join
him and his family for lunch. Prior to lunch, we took a short tour of the area
and were shown coconut crabs in the wild. I’ve never seen such an animal before
or since! Huge, scary……and delicious. I don’t remember exactly what we had for
lunch, but it did include crab meat which was sweet and tender.
BTW, this is SMALL coconut crab!
On our return trip to Guam, an islander joined us along with his
fruit bats tied to the inside of the airplane. I guess this is about the same
as chickens and pigs on busses in some parts of the world.
Just change the tree branches and flowers and substitute metal
bars on the ceiling of the plane and this is what the bats looked like, just bunches of them hanging
there – and they were live! Thankfully, we didn’t have any fruit bat
with our coconut crab – at least I don’t think so.
Another day, Dad arranged for us to take a trip to Tinian, the
launching site for the Enola Gay and the atomic bombs that destroyed Nagasaki
and Hiroshima. This is what the runway looked like when we were there. We drove
up and down the empty runway.
On to Saipan where it is believed by many that Emelia Earhart
and Fred Noonan were held prisoner by the Japanese and then executed prior to
the American’s arrival. Our
guide showed us an almost overgrown jail where they were held by the Japanese.
It was a very spooky place.
Then we visited Suicide Cliff where thousands of Saipan
residents and Japanese soldiers, fearing how they would be treated by the
American forces, jumped to their deaths. The fighting in Saipan was one the
Pacific’s worst battles and Hirohito told the islanders that the Americans
would kill them, and it would be better to honor Japan by jumping. There were
many Japanese who lived on Saipan since it had been ceded to Japan much
earlier.
It is so disconcerting to
look at the present-day beauty of a place and realize that unspeakable carnage
took place earlier. It does bring history to life in a way that a textbook is
unable to do. I felt sad for all the people involved in the battle - the American
and Japanese warriors and the terrified citizens of the island.
We left Guam after having a great glass-bottomed boat ride over
the gorgeous coral bed and a few libations in a small local bar, heading back
home to go to work.
This trip was so interesting because my father had the
connections to great guides who enjoyed sharing their special places with three
crazy American women – a brunette, a redhead, and a blond-at-the-time!
I’m so glad I get to share this adventure with you as it gave me
time to focus on a special trip in my life and to remember the joy of traveling
with great friends to places we knew only from history classes.
Wednesday, 28 March 2018
A tail of a handsome boy !
I am going to start out with a very easy post and hopefully get better as time goes on 😄
One of my favorite subjects- Duncan !!!
( I know many of you have seen these already, sorry about that ) We all love animals,
feel free to share pictures of the pets you have loved in your life, either currently or a
happy memory!
Tuesday, 27 March 2018
Time to Share... Your Newest Favorite Recipe!
We haven't talked food in a while. Have you found a delicious new recipe that you could share?
I found this one recently on SmittenKitchen.com, and have already made it a number of times. It's Pear Bread, a take-off from the old stand-by, Banana Bread, and it's so good. I've added ginger (sold fresh in a tube from Gourmet Garden) to the recipe, but think that crystallized ginger would be more flavorful.
So how about it, WTIOC-ers, let's hear what you're cooking these days!
I found this one recently on SmittenKitchen.com, and have already made it a number of times. It's Pear Bread, a take-off from the old stand-by, Banana Bread, and it's so good. I've added ginger (sold fresh in a tube from Gourmet Garden) to the recipe, but think that crystallized ginger would be more flavorful.
So how about it, WTIOC-ers, let's hear what you're cooking these days!
Monday, 26 March 2018
Today is Monday
There were no volunteers to become bloggers so far... Come on, peeps, it's easy and a lot of fun!
Labels:
funnies
Sunday, 25 March 2018
Bloggers galore!
You may have noticed that there are posts signed by Q and GrannyJ. I'm inviting all regulars to become bloggers. It's easy!

Step 1: create an mail account containing your Disqus username. Eg pallottine@gmail.com then send me an email from it.
Step 2: I'll send you an invitation to join me and the others two as an author.
Step3: click on the Blogger logo on the top left of the page, choose "new post" and have fun with it. Write, edit, add photos, learn how to use everything. When you know how to use the tools, save a post you want to publish as draft, get rid of any useless drafts and contact me for further instructions on how to schedule the posts.
If we get enough authors, we could share the load, assigning one day of the week to each person. Do give it a try, folks. We could see Amy's garden in full glory, follow Cody's adventures, meet all Annette's cats, TW's cats, get healthy tips from 1smartcanerican, go travelling with PGFan, look at Roxie's delicious food on her beautiful plates, dream over shapeshifterbelly's photos, hear some tales from Manxmamma, from our elusive Marie and her hostas... the blog would have more variety and would become a real sharing place.
What time is o'clock? Time to share...
Saturday, 24 March 2018
March For Our Lives
March For Our Lives
Today millions of people all over the globe will rally in the March For Our Lives. As a teacher and a mother I have felt so many emotions watching these amazing young survivors show all of us how powerful social activism can be. They refused to be victims and in the process gave all of us hope. May this march be the first step toward meaningful gun control.
Never again.
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