Eight years ago our niece was born. Her actual birthday is August 31st.

To say she arrived early is a bit of an understatement. She was what is known in preemie circles as a 26 weeker.

Life in the beginning was rough, but she got excellent care here in Women's College Hospital, and the Hospital for Sick Children.

And now......

Here she is pictured in the cockpit of a Tutor aircraft! How cool is that! And life is not so rough as it was eight years ago. She is actually a very happy, and healthy girl.

Blog Your Blessings

Also big thanks as always to Abbey for putting together Nostalgic Saturday. Why not join in?!

I have always been a big fan of Latin American art. I particularly enjoy collecting skeletons, which adorn my home office area.

I even have one suspended above my desk.

This is obviously not for everyone, but it does play very nicely into my strong interest in Latin American culture, and Pre-Columbian history. And I thought to share a bit of my own collector's interests with you.

What do you collect?

The Centennial Building was built in the early 1850s as the Ontario County Courthouse. Designed by prominent architects Frederick Cumberland and Wallace Storm, this building served from 1854 until 1964 as a trial court and a meeting place for County Council. In 1967, a local Centennial project turned the building into a community centre. The courthouse presently houses the Whitby Courthouse Theatre, a banquet facility, local archives and is used by community organization.

Please note that this entry is for both the Tuesday, and Wednesday editions of WW.

Happy Wordless Wednesday! And Thank You For Stopping By!

For a list of other Wordless Wednesday participants please click here.

Sue & The Kids C.N.E 2008

This past week we went to the Canadian National Exhibition with the two younger girls, and the middle daughter's constant companion Jeremy. We had lovely weather, not too many crowds (we went on Monday morning at opening) and got some great deals while clothes shopping for the girls.

My personal favorite is always the International Bazaar, and this year I spent quite a bit of time, and money at the Egyptian displays.

Going to the EX (as it is also known - short for Exhibition) is a tradition in both of our families, and it is always a blessing to keep these types of yearly family events going through the decades.

Last week I posted childhood pics of my Mom, and myself at the Ex circa early 1970s. And yesterday I posted a story from when we were first dating of how we hopped into the Princess Margaret fountain on a very hot day.

Our family history with this fair goes even farther back though. And as my daughter's boyfriend happily munched on Tiny Tom donuts (made right on site) it reminded me of how my Dad told stories of going to the EX as a young boy and eagerly anticipating a Tiny Tom donut. It is nice to see how this has passed down through the generations, and perhaps one day my own grandchildren will be tasting a yummy donut specially made at the Canadian National Exhibition.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a great week ahead!

Blog Your Blessings

I was sorting through some old family photos that were taken circa the mid 1950s of my grandparents home in Miami Springs, Florida.

The photo you see above was not labeled, and I thought I really should add some sort of identification to it. The house was sold in the mid 1970s and when I am no longer around my kids would have no way of knowing where this house is/was nor who had owned it, or why we even have the pic in our collection etc.

This has happened to me with a few of my Dad's old photos from before he met my Mom. Since he passed away in 1999 I have no way of identifying certain people or places, and it can be a bit frustrating as I would love to know who they were or why a photo was taken at a certain spot.

Here is a pic of my Mother

...also circa mid 1950s. My parents spent a lot of time in Miami, Florida during those years. On a side note, I adore the more glamorous look of bathing suits, dresses, and female clothing in general from the 40s through the early 60s.

Hope you are all having a great weekend, and thank you for stopping by!

Also big thanks as always to Abbey for putting together this fun meme. Why not join in?!

One of my fondest memories of when we were first dating was of a very hot, and humid summer day, and walking through the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) fairgrounds after a lengthy hike through the city. We came across the Princess Margaret Fountain and it was like seeing an oasis in the desert...we hopped right in!

This is what the fountain looked like during its opening...

"The Gooderham Fountain graced this site from 1911, and was a well-known landmark and meeting place on the grounds. It was named for George H. Gooderham, President of the CNE Association from 1909 to 1911. H.R.H. The Princess Margaret officially opened the current fountain in 1958, which remains a focal point of the western end of the grounds."

And here is the fountain today, and as it looked like on that hot, hot, day when we hopped in.

Like I said above, one of my favourite summer time memories.

Have you ever hopped into a fountain?

Image Credits: CNE Archives

Canada Day 2008 - Fort York

Some people make the incorrect assumption that re-enactment of historical battles glorify war.

They don't. Re-enactment offers a living history lesson to the audience.

And hopefully imparts the horrors that some of our ancestors faced. Including the awful smell of gun powder, and sounds of booming canon fire. For me these offer the only means of going back in time, and a tiny glimpse in the life of an Upper Canadian soldier almost 200 years ago.

Please note that this entry is for both the Tuesday, and Wednesday editions of WW.

Happy Wordless Wednesday! And Thank You For Stopping By!

For a list of other Wordless Wednesday participants please click here.

I am not a religious person, but I am a spiritual one. I do believe in miracles, and apparitions, and therefore have always been interested in Marian visions. Today I'm going to give you a brief history of perhaps the most profound, and famous Marian vision of them all....the Fatima Visitations.

Lucia Santos (age 10, pictured in the middle) and her two cousins: Francisco (age 9) and Jacinta Marto (age 7) holding their rosaries. Fatima, Portugal. Date 1917.

The Lady Of Fatima is a name given to the Blessed Virgin Mary by those who believe that she appeared to three shepherd children at Fátima, Portugal on the 13th day of six consecutive months in 1917, starting on 13 May, which happened to be the Fátima holiday.

Lúcia described seeing the lady as "brighter than the sun, shedding rays of light clearer and stronger than a crystal ball filled with the most sparkling water and pierced by the burning rays of the sun."

Marian Art

According to Lúcia's account, the lady who identified herself as Our Lady of the Rosary (Mary) confided to the children three secrets, known as the Three Secrets of Fátima.

When word spread of the children's visions thousands of people flocked to Fátima. Certain people saw this as politically motivated, and no I'm not kidding had the children jailed in order to force them to tell the secrets or confess that they were making it up. They never did. In fact the other prisoners took to caring for the children, and in turn the children led them through prayer.

Private revelations do not form the faith of the Roman Catholic Church and its members are not bound to believe in any of them. However, as a matter of prudence, assent would normally be expected of a Catholic based on the discernment of the Church and its judgement that an apparition is worthy of belief. After a canonical enquiry the visions of Fatima were officially declared "worthy of belief" in October 1930 by the Bishop of Leiria-Fátima.

Whether or not you believe the children actually saw and communicated with the Blessed Virgin Mary they should always be remembered for the strength of their faith even in the face of being sent to a prison, and for giving us all a reason at the very least to contemplate miracles.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a great week ahead!


Blog Your Blessings

For further reading, and some source material:

Our Lady of Fátima

The True Story Of Fátima

Both images used within this entry have an expired copyright.

This coming Monday will mark an end of summer tradition in my family, and that is we are going to the Canadian National Exhibition here in Toronto! It is otherwise known with affection to the local as the EX.

The EX is a giant fair, but now that the kiddos are all teenagers we go more for the shopping, and food then the midway or games. In honour of this family tradition, and of course Nostalgic Saturday (my first with this blog, I used to participate with the Urban Zoo blog but it seems more fitting here) I have decided to share some vintage photos of my Mom and me at The EX circa 1970. Yes, I am that old.

The rocket or airplane rides were always my favourite!

The "Fish Pond" game. I wish I still had a hat like that!

I do not appear to be too happy to be driving. I probably was annoyed that it just went round the track as opposed to the cooler flying rides.

Hope you are all having a great weekend, and thank you for stopping by!

Also big thanks as always to Abbey for putting together this fun meme. Why not join in?!

I have not been paying too much attention to the Summer 2008 Olympics, but I cannot help from noticing that there has not been a single medal for any of our Canadian athletes.

What happened to the days of William J. (Bill) Sherring from Hamilton Ontario, who became one of Canada’s earliest Olympic heroes after winning a gold medal for the marathon at the 1906 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

How about Anne Ottenbrite who many decades later won Canada’s first gold medal in female swimming in the 200-metre breaststroke at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. She also won silver and bronze medals at the 1982 World Championships.

And what about the pioneering Matchless Six. Ethel Smith, Jean Thompson, Ethel Catherwood, Jane Bell, Bobbie Rosenfeld,
Myrtle Cook who from July 30 to August 5, 1928, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, six Canadians not only became the first women to compete in track-and-field at the Olympic Games, they also emerged as heroes by winning more medals—two gold, a silver and a bronze—and collecting more points than any other team.

“It didn’t make any difference if we were the first women or not. We were there to compete and win. That was the main thing.”

—Sprinter Ethel Smith

I could go on and on listing pages of former Canadian athletes who found glory. And I am left to wonder what is really going on in the world of amateur Canadian sports considering we are a first world nation, with facilities, and equipment, and even landscapes that should lend themselves very well to sports.

Are we not supporting our young athletes enough?

I do believe Canadians as a whole would be far happier if we embraced more physical activity such as cycling, swimming, running, and if we are letting our young athletes down it is a shame in my opinion.

This week the BBC is hosting another weird history based quiz...so you know I could not resist testing my historical mettle against it.

Well.....perhaps I had one too less coffees or perhaps I had one too many, but my score was a whopping 1 out of 10!

Click the image above to take the quiz for yourself, and if you feel like it please do surf on back, and share your score. Go on...you can't do much worse than I did plus the weird photos, and item descriptions are worth checking it out.

The ruins of an old mill. This is all that is left. Sauble Falls 2008. Sometimes I see places like these where barely a foundation is left, and imagine what they looked like in their heyday.......

Please note that this entry is for both the Tuesday, and Wednesday editions of WW.

Happy Wordless Wednesday! And Thank You For Stopping By!

For a list of other Wordless Wednesday participants please click here.

Welcome to our "rebooted" history blog. Actually what I mean by that is that the blog has a brand new domain. However, stay tuned as I work to make this place a little more lively with odd bits of history, more interaction, and the occasional meme or two.

Thanks to all the readers pastimes, and present for all your patience during our fixing up of ye old blog.

We just took seven consecutive days sort of off in order to catch up on other work... but we didn't leave you stranded and had one new picture posted here per day during that time. We hope you didn't mind us taking a little time off... and hope these images will spur you into looking more into their subject matter...

Pierre and Marie Curie

For the next two days, we'll be only able to blog every so often as we catch up on other work... but we didn't want to leave you stranded, so for the next two days, we will have one new picture posted here per day. We hope you don't mind us taking a little time off... and hope these images will spur you into looking more into their subject matter...

The Magna Carta

For the next three days, we'll be only able to blog every so often as we catch up on other work... but we didn't want to leave you stranded, so for the next three days, we will have one new picture posted here per day. We hope you don't mind us taking a little time off... and hope these images will spur you into looking more into their subject matter...

London Transport "Our Heritage" Poster of Lord Nelson

For the next four days, we'll be only able to blog every so often as we catch up on other work... but we didn't want to leave you stranded, so for the next four days, we will have one new picture posted here per day. We hope you don't mind us taking a little time off... and hope these images will spur you into looking more into their subject matter...

John Graves Simcoe

For the next five days, we'll be only able to blog every so often as we catch up on other work... but we didn't want to leave you stranded, so for the next five days, we will have one new picture posted here per day. We hope you don't mind us taking a little time off... and hope these images will spur you into looking more into their subject matter...

The Fathers of Canadian Federation

For the next six days, we'll be only able to blog every so often as we catch up on other work... but we didn't want to leave you stranded, so for the next six days, we will have one new picture posted here per day. We hope you don't mind us taking a little time off... and hope these images will spur you into looking more into their subject matter...

Napoleon Bonaparte on the Bridge at Arcole

For the next seven days, we'll be only able to blog every so often as we catch up on other work... but we didn't want to leave you stranded, so for the next seven days, we will have one new picture posted here per day. We hope you don't mind us taking a little time off... and hope these images will spur you into looking more into their subject matter...

Benjamin Franklin's Grave...