Ottawa National Cemetery

My uncle took us on a tour of the cemetery where my late Auntie Shirley (his wife) will be interned later this month.  He is a Canadian Air Force veteran, they will share a headstone and plot.

These are what the armed forces headstones look like.

 These grounds are meticulously kept.

It is truly a lovely, peaceful place.

 

It was a gorgeous sunny, summer day.

All of these photos were taken with my Iphone 4S.  In hindsight, I wish I had brought along my slr digital camera as my photos would be better.

It was difficult to photograph the stone monuments because the of sun's glare on my cell phone screen.

 

In front of the administrative building there is a lovely botanical garden, complete with a gazebo and fish pond. 

 

Below are artificial flowers that looked so real, I had to touch them to tell the difference.

 

This large marble headstone marks a former Governor General of Canada.  There are two large matching marble benches in front of the flowers.  I tried to take a picture of the benches but there was too much reflection.

Lunch in old Montréal on July 8th, 2012

The Sunday after Véronique and Scott's wedding we headed out to old Montréal with Kayla and Erich from Victoria, British Columbia.

Local Montréalers' enjoying a Sunday afternoon swim in the park pond on the grounds in front of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

AJ, my son-in-law not wanting his picture taken. :)

My handsome husband of 32 years and counting.

Shannon and Doug.  The company, food and atmosphere was wonderful.  A most excellent day!

Congratulations Véronique & Scott July 7, 2012

The wedding was at the Chalet des Érables in the Chapiteau Ste-Anne-des-plaines, Québec which is an off island suburb of Montréal.  It was a gorgeous summer day, the bride and groom were beaming.

The groom and his men before the ceremony.

Scott makes his entrance followed by their photographer.

Waiting for his bride.

Shannon, our beautiful daughter.

 Christine, Véronique's sister.

Raymond, Véronique and Lise-Anne (her proud parents).

Getting married in a bilingual (French-English) ceremony.

Sealed with a kiss.  A fairy tale wedding, the stuff that dreams are made of.  The ceremony, cocktail hour, reception, dinner and dance were wonderful.  We had a blast!

June's FMQ challenge by Cindy Needham

This month's teacher was Cindy Needham.   Cindy's tutorial covered her favourite quilting tools, tips on thread ends,  listening to the hum-purr of your sewing machine to find your optimal quilting speed (rhythm) and practicing fill designs using repeating lines, circles and curves. 

This is my doodle art on paper.  

I used Gutermann 100% cotton variegated thread and Schmetz 90/14 universal needle.

This was quilted on my Pfaff Creative 2 sewing machine using the Dynamic 6 Free Motion Foot.

This is the back side before I filled in the leaf and oval.

Doodle art with a sewing machine.

 The quilt was not marked, which gives it a very organic look. I'm also quilting a girl sitting in the yoga lotus position.

It was fun filling in the larger shapes.  Usually I sew utilitarian quilts for beds, babies and Alzheimer's touch quilts.  I have never made a whole cloth quilt to  showcase the quilting. 

Perhaps I will now.  Thanks Cindy for sharing your quilting skills with us.

Nuthin But Trouble or Fun with my Iphone 4S

Véronique's fiancée Scott is the drummer in this local band. Last night (June 15) they played on Georgie's patio.   In hindsight, I should have planned this video out better, when I was walking around to get a better view it isn't very pretty.  The patio has a roof over the band which had big posts in front, making it difficult to get the entire band in the video without moving.

I bought my first cell phone ever in December 2011 and I'm loving the "toy" factor.  Smart phones are tons of fun.  In the future there will be more videos on my blog.

Questions:
If you post videos on your blog, do you find it takes forever to upload and process with YouTube?
If you don't use YouTube, what do you use?

Véronique and Scott are getting married July 7th in Montréal....only three more weeks!
Have a super duper Saturday all.

Auntie Shirley

On June 2, 2012 my aunt passed away after a brief and courageous battle with lung cancer.  I traveled to Ottawa with my mom to attend the celebration of her life.  Her daughter, Kristine set up a blog to journal her mother's new beginning.

Three of my four brothers sent this gorgeous silk flower arrangement.

 

 

Below is my grandma Rose, Auntie Shirley's mother, she will be 98 years old on July 18, 2012.

Grandma traveled from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, she arrived in Ottawa on Friday June 1st, just in time to say good bye to her youngest daughter.

 

Shirley's celebration of life service was held at Stonefield's Heritage Farm in Beckwith, Ontario.

Yummy fruit and chocolate.

A gift from Bob and Shelley (brother and sister-in-law) in Regina.

Some words from Auntie Shirley's children:

After the celebration service a lovely lunch of cheeses, deviled eggs (that tasted heavenly to me) smoked salmon, salads, assorted breads, fruit and yogurt was enjoyed under a large airy tent.

The family in this photo traveled from Prince Albert, Regina and Melfort, Saskatchewan, Edmonton, Alberta,  Brandon, Manitoba, and Chicago, Illinois.  Now that is a lot of trips to the airport!

 

 

 

 

 

Rest in Peace Auntie Shirley and yoga dance with angels!