5 on Friday - Set 123

Travis at Trav's Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.

...phew...

The pace of life in Julialandia is starting to slow down a little bit. SAINT SANGUINUS is the featured book over at The Full Fang today.

The link is here:

Julia Phillips Smith is in The Moonlight

This week, in honor of the girl for whom I was once the nanny--and who just celebrated her 27th birthday!--here's a Neil Diamond set.

Once upon a time, after I'd moved out of the Toronto home where I'd been the live-in nanny and then moved in as roommates with my employer's brother, we had his sister/my friend and her then-fiance-now-husband over for dinner and a games night. By this time I was engaged to Brad and he lived in our apartment with the brother/my roomie as well.

We played a music trivia game where you had to give clues about songs and then finally hum part of it if necessary. This first song always reminds me of Donna, the mom/my former employer/housemate/friend and her finger-snapping version.

Me with Donna on my 2007 trip to Toronto.

1 - Cracklin Rosie

2 - Cherry, Cherry

3 - Dear Father

4 - Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon

That's me with Claire, back in the day.

Claire--woman version.

5 - Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show

Summer Stock Sunday - 40

Robin's Summer Stock Sunday meme invites all to post summery photos, and to visit other bloggers who share their feelings and memories about this magical season.













In the 1980s, I'd moved from the east coast of Canada to Toronto, where I worked as a nanny for several years before going to film school.

The family I worked for spent summers at their cottage on Georgian Bay in the Espanola area of Northern Ontario.

Since I was a live-in nanny, and since I became an extra part of the family, they took me along with them to the cottage, both summers I worked for them. It was AWESOME.

In the shot above - taken by Rob - it's me in the water in front, Donna sitting in the inner tube, and her daughter Claire on her lap.












That's me with Claire on the deck overlooking the lake and waiting for Rob to barbeque something delicious for supper. Shot taken by Donna.

My bed was along the wall of picture windows overlooking this same view. When everyone had gone to bed, I would lay in the dark listening to my Sony Walkman, watching the moon come up a little farther along the lake each night, and enjoying the star show uncluttered by city light spill.

These two Georgian Bay vacations are among my best memories of the 13 years I lived in Toronto.

Thursday Thoughts - 3 - Life as I Love to Live It

1 - The writers' retreat organized by my local chapter of Romance Writers of America is a huge highlight of my year.















2 - A visit to my friend Donna's in Toronto. What could be more lovely? I used to be her daughter's live-in nanny, and now her daughter is 23. Time flies, doesn't it? But it always feels good to sit and catch up, enjoy coffee together and eat her homemade cookies with edible gold.












3 - One of best things when we lived in Toronto was the availabilty of cult movies. On a recent trip to The Big City my husband made sure he stocked up on the essentials.


















4 - Hanging out on Queen Street West is also a must when we're in Toronto. Especially because my good friend Chris manages Bakka-Phoenix Books at Queen and Spadina. The city was tearing up the intersection during that visit.














5 - Is there any place I'd rather be than in the lobby of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, a glass of champagne in my hand, my dear friend Jacquie by my side and a performance of the Sleeping Beauty ballet just moments away...?

Not really, no.














6 - Well...there's always meeting friends at a funky coffee shop and whiling away an hour or two over cafe au laits and delectable yummies. That's good, too.













7 - It's always exciting to discover the creative things my friends get up to. Like these fun tea cozies my friend Pam knitted, as well as little hats that looked like pumpkins and strawberries.














8 - Since I haven't been invited to the Oscars yet, last year's evening on the town at Haliwood - a Halifax Oscar-themed fundraiser - felt like the next best thing.


















9 - My gram's funeral was held this summer in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. This was a beautiful angel candelabra behind the altar. It was a perfect service officiated by a handsome young priest of whom my gram would have heartily approved. A clear, blue-sky day, surrounded by family and uplifted by love - no one could ask for a better farewell.














10 - My dog Xena is a light in my life that can't really be explained. I just love her.















11 - Last year was a particularly sad year for saying final goodbyes - but it was also an odd dream-come-true year where so many things on my wish list came to me. I'm a life-long horse lover without a horse. But I had a serious Barbie horse with a horse trailer and realistic tack, and I had pretend horses I rode whenever we went for a family walk in a park or in the woods. I even groomed these pretend horses in their pretend stable in the backyard.

I've always wanted to go to Vienna to see the Lippizan stallions at the Spanish Riding School. And what do you know - the Lippizans came to me, here in Halifax!
















12 - Another thing I've always longed to do was see the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Musical Ride. Once again, who showed up right here in my fair city? You guessed it!

I've always had a thing for war horses and cavalry, and both the Lippizans and the RCMP Musical Ride are basically cavalry maneuvers.



The RCMP unit even did a charge at the end. A total thrill! In this next clip (which has no audio) the Charge comes at the 1:15 mark.
















13 - I took this shot of a sunset at Lawrencetown Beach in very chilly November, a year ago. This is a beach on the Atlantic Ocean, 20 minutes' drive from my house. I played here as a child, and I head out there as an adult because it's one of my favorite places on earth. Ten minutes of walking this beach, and I promise you - all is right with the world.

November is Birthday Month

Not only is November my own birthday month, but it's the birthday month of almost everyone I know! Seriously.

Let's see - who do we have?

Nov. 1st


Gram












Nov. 2nd


My best friend's daughter, Kayleigh









Nov. 7th


My husband Brad
















Nov. 11th

My birthday


and my Uncle Warren's





Plus a friend of mine I sang with in choir in Toronto, plus blog friend Gabriella




Nov. 16th


My mom Paulette











Nov. 18th


My friend Donna





and my blog friend Akelamalu






Nov. 20th


My brother-in-law Jeff






and a friend from film school, Jason (here with his wife)










Nov. 22nd


My friend from high school, John












Nov. 23rd


My cousin's wife, Heather (with my mom)












Nov. 25th


My Uncle Charlie










That still leaves 20 days open. I wonder if they'll all be filled up by the time I'm Gram's age?