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Here are a few of my favorite online haunts:

REALTOR.ca
[This is the site I visit to fantasize about living in Toronto again, which is almost every single day during the winter]

Jonathan Cainer's Zodiac Forecasts
[This is where I visit in the morning, when I need a positive spin on things past, present and future.]

Living Local
[This is where I go to see what Canadians are up to, sometimes I even buy things from the businesses listed there.]

Environment Canada Weather
[This is the site I visit every morning, and before every road trip during the winter]

Time is slipping by unnoticed. We are busy with the little things. Little things that seem of no particular consequence at the time, but accumulate slowly to form the solid stuff of a happy life.

The Christmas shopping is done. The packages to the United States have been mailed, and received at the other end well before Christmas. The remainders of the gifts lie quietly in the corner of the bedroom, awaiting bright wrap and decorative bows.

Mist is in for a wonderful surprise on Christmas morning. Last Christmas our friend Sherry gave her a Christmas package. In it were many things she completely ignored. The one thing that captured Mist’s imagination was a little blue foam ball. She had only been living with us for a few months, and we had not seen her play. The blue ball changed all that. That ball was batted around endlessly, providing many happy hours for Mist. One day we noticed that it was gone. We searched everywhere, no ball to be found. There will be a small bright package for Mist under the tree this year. It will contain a little blue foam ball.

We love "real" Christmas trees. Perhaps our attachment stems from the visual warmth and scented peace we felt as children, when the only type of Christmas tree to be easily had was freshly cut. The trees need special care and attention, they must remain well watered. Even when well cared for, they soon begin to flag and drop their needles. This year we will put the tree up late in the season, to extend its life into the New Year.

I do not mind waiting to put up the Christmas Tree. However, I crave the lights. Last weekend Attila strung the outdoor lights across the Junipers in the front garden. They are a treat to the eye. Attila, knowing how much I enjoy the lights, presented me with a new set of indoor lights to be garlanded across the front window.

The set he brought home just covered the top of the window frame. After sitting with it for a while, I wanted more. Off I went to the store, while Attila hammered in additional fasteners down the sides of the window frame. Minutes after I returned we were settled down in our easy chairs admiring the full display. I like to turn them on in the mornings as well; they add such cheer to the long dark hours before dawn.

We had expected to spend the Christmas holiday quietly, by ourselves. The situation has changed however, and two of our three collective children will be here Christmas Eve, with their spouses. An event not to be taken for granted. Our plans and preparations for a splendid turkey dinner have begun.

This does work out very well for Christmas Day. Attila and I will quietly enjoy each other's (and Mist’s) company. The Christmas Day feast will be waiting for us in the refrigerator, ready to be heated and enjoyed with little effort.

The weather has been alternately Christmas-like (snow) and spring-like (rain). A few days of the former, then a few days of the latter. In Southern Ontario, you never know what weather you will end up with on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We always hope for clear road conditions; that is our only real concern in regards to the weather. Our children will be travelling the roads, along with thousands and thousands of other holiday journeyers. The best gift is that they all arrive, safe and sound.

Send a comment to Maggie at:
maggie@maggieturner.net

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RECIPES :: Cast

Worldly Distractions

Poinsetta & Chrysanthemum

Christmas Cheer

By the Easy Chair
Spirits in the Wires
by Charles De Lint

Airwaves
The Holly and the Ivy
Clare College Choir
(Cambridge)

Weather
6:00 EST
Temp: -3`C
Humidity: 80%
Wind: W 22 km/h
Barometric: 100.46 kPa

Sunrise 7:50 AM EST
Sunset 4:51 PM EST

Page by Page: A Woman's Journal
Photography
Poetry
by Maggie Turner

Canadian Maggie Turner writes and publishes poetry, photography, and a personal journal online. Her work reflects the current way of life in Canada, embracing Canada's past, present, and future in a unique portrayal of everyday life. Maggie's voice is one of the many that actively depict the rich diversity of Canadian culture.

Photography: "a term which comes from the Greek words photos (light) and graphos (drawing). A photograph is made with a camera by exposing film to light in order to create a negative. The negative is then used in the darkroom to print a photograph (positive) onto light-sensitive paper.
Source: University of Arizona Glossary

Poetry: "a form of speech or writing that harmonizes the music of its language with its subject. To read a great poem is to bring out the perfect marriage of its sound and thought in a silent or voiced performance. At least from the time of Aristotle's Poetics, drama was conceived of as a species of poetry."
Source: Creative Studios

Journal: " "Though a journal may be many things - a treasury, a storehouse, a jewelry box, a laboratory, a drafting board, a collector's cabinet, a snapshot album, a history, a travelogue..., a letter to oneself - it has some definable characteristics. It is a record, an entry-book, kept regularly, though not necessarily daily.... Some (entries) will be nearly illegible, written in the dark in the middle of the night.... Not only is it a record for oneself, but of oneself. Every memorable journal, any successful journal, is honest. Nothing sham, phony, false...." (Dorothy Lambert from Ken Macrorie's book, Writing to be Read )
A journal is a way to keep track of your thoughts about what you read... as well as what you did on any given day."
Source: Journal Writing

A Blog is an online journal created by server side software, often hosted by a commercial interest.

"The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger[4] on 17 December 1997. The short form, "blog," was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in April or May 1999.[5][6][7] Shortly thereafter, Evan Williams at Pyra Labs used "blog" as both a noun and verb ("to blog," meaning "to edit one's weblog or to post to one's weblog") and devised the term "blogger" in connection with Pyra Labs' Blogger product, leading to the popularization of the terms."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_blogging

'Tis the Season

Page by Page: A Woman's Journal Photography Poetry by Maggie Turner

Page by Page: A Woman's Journal
Photography
Poetry
by Maggie Turner