Sep 16 2021 - School Supplies

 

When I looked at my notebook the other day, I realized it is a school supply.  That I didn't consider buying a decent notebook for an adult.  In fact, I got it at Dollarama, at the lowest price.  This is a mindset left over from school days where a notebook wasn't valued but was a tool to be disposed of after one's courses.  Fair enough.  And it is interesting that the brand we most remember is Hilroy. Hilroy notebooks are now part of the ACCO brand. What's on the website?  A little about the start of the company: On July 4, 1918, Hilroy commenced operations in Toronto, Ontario. Disregarding the pessimism of skeptical business associates, Roy Corson Hill borrowed $432 on a life insurance policy and added it to $1,500 his parents obtained by mortgaging their home. With this capital, he formed his own stationery company: Canadian Pad and Paper Co. Limited. The company grew quickly, and by 1958 it was officially known as Hilroy Envelopes and Stationery Ltd. There must be hundreds of notebook jokes, given they relate to school: I made a car entirely out of pencils, rubbers, rulers and notebooks. Went to turn the key. Stayed stationary. Why doesn't a notebook move? Because it's a stationary object. Recently a teacher got arrested...Police found a pencil, ruler and notebook. Allegedly he was part of the Al-Gebra network and possessed weapons of math instruction. If you were to steal a historical figures research notebooks what you steal? Charles Darwin’s would be my natural selection. Here's the gorgeous bronze garden gate at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Front Street garden. It was on the Shaw Guild Garden Tour on Saturday.  This was described to me as a  "million dollar" landscape job about 10 years ago.  Fantastic amount of hardscaping - tiered walls down to a beach on the water, an infinity swimming pool, and so on. The view across is Fort Niagara, so this is prime real estate in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Feng Shui That

What about feng shui and house shapes?  What is a bagu map?  I find out it is the feng shui energy map of your space and that it is one of the Five Arts of Chinese Metaphysics.  It discusses architecture in terms of invisible forces that bind the universe, earth, and humanity together, known as qi.  It is an ancient tradition. What about contemporary uses of feng shui? I found a Forbes article titled "Feng Shui Your Money".  It isn't really about feng shui - it is a catchy title. How about this article:  "Should You Feng Shui Your Hair?" - this is also in Forbes.  It is about Feng Shui Beauty techniques. A person's energy is analyzed and hair, colour and make-up are customized to reflect it. And another Forbes article about a lady who sells plants based on feng shui.  She has sold over 1500 on the Facebook Marketplace. She imparts feng shui and plant-rearing wisdom to the purchasers. Forbes has many articles on Feng Shui.  Here are a few more titles:  Desk for Success Attract Clients Giving Your Car's Feng Shui a Tune-Up Feng Shui for your portfolio A Healthy office a healthy mind Of course, here's the headline that draws attention:  Meet Donal Trump's feng shui master - The article is HERE.  She did the work in 1995 on the Trump International Hotel and Tower.  The common element in all these articles is how someone gained celebrity or wealth through the application of feng shui to their professional area.  Most interesting. Our picture today was taken at the 13th Street Winery in St. Catharines.  It is on the garden tour this weekend.

Buckets and Buckets of Bucket-Lists

We are living longer - by 2030 baby boomers will swell the ranks of age 65 and older from 13 percent to 18 percent.  Genes account for one-fourth to one-third of longevity says the author of the Longevity Project, Howard Friedman.  The advice for older people involves exercise, eating well, etc.  There are lots of bucket lists too things to do before you die - 20, 50, 100, things - pick a number. There are even lists of things to do before you are 20 and before you are 12.  I found the list from the Globe and Mail for 50 things to do before you're 12. There are twenty of them. 1. Climb a tree 2. Roll down a really big hill 3. Camp out in the wild 4. Build a den 5. Skim a stone 6. Run around in the rain 7. Fly a kite 8. Catch a fish with a net 9. Eat an apple straight from a tree 10. Play conkers 11. Throw some snow 12. Hunt for treasure on the beach 13. Make a mud pie 14. Dam a stream 15. Go sledging 16. Bury someone in the sand 17. Set up a snail race 18. Balance on a fallen tree 19. Swing on a rope swing 20. Make a mud slide I enjoyed this list - it reminds me of what it was to be a child - these seem to be things that children think of doing by themselves, without any prompting from adults.  Gathered together, they make a fine summary of what children do with almost nothing, and still have fun. The list for 100 things to do before you die  seem to mostly involve spending a lot of money - e.g. see the Mona Lisa, visit Stonehenge, visit Brazil, the Grand Canyon, France, sleep in a castle, visit Machu Picchu, The Great Sphinx, and so on.  Our picture today shows an interesting and most unusual focal point on the Niagara-on-the-Lake garden tour.  I've never seen an iron cross as a focal point in a garden before.   One will occasionally see Celtic crosses - these are a traditional garden element. The close-up of this one had praying angels facing the vertical portion of the cross.

Grimsby Garden Tour - Painted Ladies - July 18 2015

The Hamilton Spectator's start to Open Gardens Week was a great success yesterday.  I had visitors all afternoon from all around the Niagara and Hamilton area. More garden events are coming to our area.  Next Sunday is the Blooms for Africa Grimsby Garden Tour, with concentration on the Painted Ladies of Grimsby Beach. If you are able to come, Grimsby Beach is a wonderful experience of homes from times gone by. This was a Chautauqua community.  I hadn't realized that there was the Mother Chautauqua in New York (still there).  There were Independent Chautauquas or 'daughter Chautauquas'.  Then there were also Circuit Chautauquas - 'Tent Chautauquas'.  These were touring events. When these were at their peak, performers appeared in more than 10,000 communities to audiences of more than 45 million. The Garden Tour/Event is next Saturday, July 18 2:00pm to 9:00pm.  Tickets are $20.00. Here's the link: http://www.bloomsforafrica.org/upcoming_events.html To see some of the Grimsby Beach history: http://vitacollections.ca/grimsbychautauqua/results?fsu=Grimsby+Beach+--+History

St. Catharines Garden Tour July 2013

It was a privilege to photograph the gardens on the St. Catharines Garden Tour.  What a great horticultural society - many members actively involved in gardens and in their community.  

I had a surprise as a result of this tour.  My brother's Lilycrest Gardens hybridizing field is on Fifth Street, in St. Catharines Ontario.  It is in the western part of the city and near the QEW.  One of the gardens on the tour is located on the same street - just south of his field.  It's a house I've admired for its yellow Victorian gingerbread trim.  This year I was able to see behind the hedges and experience a large 17 acre garden with historical buildings and botanical plantings in a traditional and elegant design.

First, a quick peek at what was in the Lilycrest Gardens field a little more than a week ago - it was the delicate and beautiful Lilium Pardalinum. 

And just down the street of this rural road with nursery growing fields, is the beautiful Squirrel House.