Category: Reflections
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Tulip picking at TASC Tulip Farm
I grew up in a house where lavender, tulips and gardenias were frequent visitors. The fragrance alone transports me back to childhood summers and motherly hugs. Tulips often appeared on dining room tables for my Mom’s birthdays and Mother’s Day brunch. These seasonal springtime flowers are her favourite. Five years ago, we went to Terre…
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A Home Full of Flowers
When my husband asked me last Christmas what I wanted as my gift, I told him: “I want flowers in the house all year long”. As you may recall in my post on how I cope with Seasonal Affective Disorder, I mentioned that fresh flowers or a subscription to a flower delivery service was a…
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Lessons From a Hydrangea Covered in Snow
Another storm passed through the previous night, but the morning’s clear sky was a nod of approval to keep my friend’s coffee date. I made my way up the side streets passing by snowy Victorian houses and whimsical mailboxes. Halfway to the coffee shop, I spotted a dead hydrangea draped in snow on someone’s front…
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The Clarity After a Snowstorm
A storm was approaching, and the rows of lit up windows in the neighbouring buildings indicated that people were hunkered down at home. Starry lights were glowing from multiple windows across from us. A few particularly caught my eye. The cluster of pink and orange glows framed by twinkle lights. Below it, a yellow and…
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Sundays at the Art Gallery
Being a tourist in my own city is something I admit I don’t do enough of. Since the pandemic, my husband and I made a vow to check out more places in the city (or province, and even country!) that we’ve unintentionally taken for granted. One of those touristy places that we’ve never been to…
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How I’m coping with the January Gloom
I can’t remember the last time I saw the sun. The feeling of sunlight on my face suddenly feels so foreign to me. We’re entering the sixth week of consecutive gloomy grey skies here in Toronto (and the southern Ontario region in general). Aside from very brief pockets of sunshine here and there, we haven’t…
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The Gift of Printed Photo Albums
The end of the year is always a nostalgic time. It’s a time when we take stock of our big moments, our small moments, reflect on the lessons of the year, and dream about the possibilities of the next. There is a little space on this blog carved out for such end-of-year reflections. I’ve written…
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An Unhurried Holiday Season
As December begins, I am choosing to be intentional about how I want this season to feel for us. If I can use one word to describe our overall approach to Christmas this year, I would choose: unhurried. Unhurried for social events. Unhurried for gifts. Intentional in connecting. Intentional in just being. After the last…
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How I’m coping with Seasonal Affective Disorder
I am a lover of all seasons, but as long as I could remember, I have always struggled with the dreary darkness of November here in Canada. The lack of daylight, the gloomy skies and the bone-chilling cold are but a mere reminder of the long winter ahead of us for the next five months.…
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Fall Foliage at the Park
The minute the month of October ended, my feed and surroundings were saturated with Christmas and winter content that I was mentally and emotionally not yet ready for. My heart was still in Fall mode. In Toronto, the golden leaves were still rustling beneath my feet, and the season’s harvest was still sitting in our…