Lo how a rose 'ere blooming...

My roses have had a tough time of things this year, squirrel attacks, aphids, some weird little green caterpillars that are munching on their leaves. Even still, they're beautiful.

Preparations

The big stage set up at Parliament Hill, almost ready for Sunday's Canada Day celebrations. Just a few hours earlier the hill was covered with protesters, but now everything is quiet (except for the sound checks that make the pavement under my feet rumble!). Canada Day in Ottawa is BIG business!

Summer lovin'

Too cold for me to even think about swimming, but Princess wasted no time wading into Mooney's Bay on our early evening visit to the beach.

Summer vacation

My calendar at work. My vacation days are marked in pink. The yellow? My boss. Not going to be seeing a lot of the boss this summer methinks...

Wee classic car

Look at this adorable teeny classic car! I have no idea what it is or when it's from but it's so little and cute!

Presentation

It's all about the presentation. Sweet potato fries on a tin tray, a diet coke in a measuring cup, The Works in Ottawa is a unique experience.

Sweet summer strawberries

We spent the morning at a u-pick, the strawberries are ripe and sweet and oh so good!

Everything's coming up roses

Another Blue Nile bud is opening.

Thoughts

Some people go out of their way to make every other person they meet feel special. I think that's the very definition of class. A very classy lady retired from our office yesterday. She'll be missed.

Ribfest!

Today marks the opening of the Ottawa International chicken and rib cook-off on Sparks Street here in Ottawa, only a block away from my office. The smell is unbelievable (and so are the line-ups) but I sure love me some ribs :)

Sunshine

My lilies opened while I was away. Lilies are among my favourite flowers, they're just so happy looking!

We three

We stopped on the way home at Kawartha Dairy in Bancroft. It was a perfect day for picking wildflowers and pigging out on ice cream.

Santa's Village

We spent the weekend with my bestest friend from waaaaaay back (who will probably kill me for posting her picture here ;) ) at Santa's Village in Bracebridge. And, a rare appearance by son #1 who has a raging case of teenaged photophobia and seldom appears in my pictures without a hand over his face or a sour look :)

21 hours

and $250 later we were on our way. Road trip!

This sucks

Crafty

Some of the cards I made for Katie's teacher as a thank you gift.

School Picnic

Katie's end of school picnic. The kids wore crazy hats and had their faces painted. These things tend to be mind-numbing for me because of the language barrier, but Katie was certainly happy and that's what matters.

Nibble nibble like a mouse....

Who's been nibbling at my roses? As if the aphids weren't bad enough...

With apologies to my vegan friends

I love bacon. I know where it comes from, I know how pigs smell (blech), I know how high is fat and sodium it is, but I love it anyway.

Reflections

The Rideau river, from the walking trail at Chapman Mills Conservation area, where we spent about 2 hours walking this morning with the bits.

Summer lunchin'

Had me a blast ;) It's such a thrill when you're small to eat outside. I love summer weekends...

Big boy

My wee fella is getting to be such a big boy...

Stairway to heaven?

Stones laid out as a stairway on a path near Hog's Back.

Puddles

Just can't keep the J-man away from a puddle - and the muddier, the better.

Raindrops keep fallin' on my head

Raindrops on my car window (while I wait in the drive-thru line at Tim Horton's)

More urban wildlife

These cuties are from Mooney's Bay, where the kids and I go fairly frequently in the Spring/Summer to feed the waterfowl.

The face of four

For the past 7 or 8 months, everytime someone would ask Jonah when his birthday was he'd reply "My birthday is a carrot cake". So serious was he that back in February when he saw a carrot cake in the bakery window he got excited and asked "Is that my birthday?!" Of course we had no choice but to celebrate his 4th birthday today with a carrot cake!

My last baby is 4, I really can't call him a baby anymore. He's a sweet, funny, opinionated little boy, a joy and a delight.

I took lots of pictures today, lots that are better posed with plastic smiles and careful cropping, but this one is pure Jonah, beautiful eyes, adorable freckles, observing the world from just outside the fray.

Leaves

I love the pattern on these leaves when you look at them up close. These are on my climbing rose bush, which is far from being ready to flower but has beautiful glossy leaves.