a very smurfilious post...

August 27, 2019 Arlene Giddings

i don’t pick favorites but…this one is kinda my favorite…heehee

here’s a fun fact that
maybe
you didn’t know about me…
i like smurfs.

well…all retro toys really…
but i really have a smurfy-spot
for these little guys…
maybe i identify with them
because they are only 3 apples tall…
but regardless the reason,
i just really love smurfs.

i had planned on collecting 99 smurfs
(including gargamel and azrael)
so that i could have the whole village
and maybe someday build mushrooms
out of paper mache and set up photo shoots…
yes. i apparently do have too much time on my hands.

i had been stuck at 89 smurfs for a bit…
but recently, some kind people have
passed along some new smurfs to me
so, it makes me incredibly happy to tell you
that i now have
ONE HUNDRED AND NINETEEN smurfs!!

I can’t tell you how excited i was..and how
much i love that people will randomly
bring me smurfs…i find them on my desk at work,
in my mailbox and when I am out for walks…
but a couple of weeks ago
my aunt Marie was having a family get-together
which is exciting enough on it’s own because
yay, family!
and double yay, chicken fricot!!! just the way i like it!!

but, as soon as i walked into the house
i saw a plastic yellow bin in the entry way
FULL OF SMURFS

and not just ANY smurfs.
i mean, i love all the smurfs i get…but these…
these were SMURFS I HAD NEVER SEEN BEFORE!

and i seriously couldn’t contain myself…
normally, i am a little more polite and reserved and calm
but i was literally like “ummmmm….
what are these here for” and when she said they were for me
i just about cried.

these were just so smurfingly smurfulous that
i had to do a small smurfy photo session
so i could share them here…
if you are not into smurfs,
well..you probably stopped reading 7 paragraphs ago…
heehee

and i know that now that i have reached my goal
i really, really should be done
but…i can’t…especially now that I have seen these guys…
i am telling you
i would not been more excited
if someone gave me diamonds…
it was sooooo fun to go through them
and see all the different ones…
and the papa smurfs…
sigh.

so smurfingly smurfy it just makes me want to smurf… :)

whatcha readin'? 2019 {book 12::goal 25}

August 26, 2019 Arlene Giddings

i finished this
quite a while ago
and when i was done
i didn’t give it 5 hearts…
i gave it
5 broken hearts.

i made a note in my phone
as i was reading this…
it said:
i am reading it.
and it is very good.
but i cannot say i am enjoying it.
so sad. so fucking sad.

and that is still how i feel.

the story was harrowing and yet
somewhat hopeful
and the descriptions
so vivid, it made me feel ill
and unable to sleep…
i often catch myself thinking
who could do this,
who could be this monstrous,
this inhuman
and then i think
of the gradual descent,
the blurring of lines…
of lost morals and the absence kindness or empathy…
of misplaced hatred and fear…of the power of propaganda…
of children kept in cages
and i wonder
how backwards
we are willing to let ourselves slide
and honestly
that keeps me awake at night, too
wondering if we have
learned
nothing.

5 out of 5 broken ♥♥♥♥♥’s
NEXT UP:: THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN - KATE MORTON

a rare sunday adventure....

August 25, 2019 Arlene Giddings

i had big plans for today
but then
i stayed up too late last night
and overslept this morning
and thought it was ruined….

but it wasn’t!

i had such a fantastic day…
there was a truck convoy for Special Olympics
starting at 10 am
and i was sure i was going to be too late
but i was JUST in time.

and this adorable little toddler
picked me bouquets of weeds and flowers
and sat beside me for the whole thing
which guaranteed premium beep-age
by the big trucks going by.
:)

i had heard great things about the
queen street open market on sundays
so headed there for that next…
it was fantasic…so many great vendors…
i bought string beans and chocolate chip cookies
and cinnamon rolls with BACON in them….

but….
then i went to the Confederation Center Art Galley
specifically
to see this one exhibit…
and it did not disappoint.

it literally took my breath away.

i spent at least half an hour
just lost in the details
and colors and reflected light
the mesmerizing suspension
and gently swaying, spinning silence.

sigh.

i need this in my house.

i regretted not taking my big camera in…
and also,
these crows still make me feel sad…

and to top the day off,
i hung out with a friend in the park
discussing cameras & ice cream & 80’s movies
AND tried the new purple haze flavor at Truckin Roll….
which was sooooooo pretty…
(i am not going to lie though…i didn’t love the tea part of it…
but the rest was delicious!!)

there is seriously so much to do here…
i am feeling panicky trying to jam as much of it in as
i can before the snow flies and
the pajamas become my standard uniform again.
:)

wordless wednesday....

August 21, 2019 Arlene Giddings

friday adventures are better with a friend!

August 18, 2019 Arlene Giddings

I don’t think it’s a secret that I usually do my
Friday adventures
solo…
not really for any reason, it’s just a thing I like to do.

But a really good friend of mine
was home from away a little while ago
and she bravely agreed to come along on a Friday adventure
with me…
I did warn her that there would be no map,
no plan and, also, no air conditioning in my car…heh…
AND she might have to sign a waiver…

Heehee. :)

We started with the most amazing, delicious
HOMEMADE raspberry flakie that was literally mouthwatering…
this photo does it NO justice at all but if you are interested
in buying some of these, let me know and I will
totally hook you up with my dealer…heehee

We decided to go west
because, honestly, that’s where most of the dairy bars are…
we stopped at wharves and beaches and lighthouses…
(&…all these photos are with my phone…so meh…but still had to share them…
heehee…what’s a blog post without photos?)

We went all the way to North Cape
to see the windmills….I had been there before
but I had never tried the trail before…
I wish we would have had more time to do the whole thing
because it was beautiful!
but…it was also looking like thunder
and I did NOT want to be around all that metal
if there was going to be lightning!

Our last stop was at
Southside Scoop Shack in O’Leary…
cause…
the best way to finish your day
is with ice cream…
I had the apple pie sundae
AND IT WAS SO GOOD

and the truth is
i did get us lost and, for a second, i thought
maybe we might be getting shot at
for trespassing on a beach
(skeet shooting close by, I think…or at least,
that’s what I told Ange…heehee)
and we had no air conditioning
but we did have a lot of laughs,
sang along to some loud 80’s music
and reconnected…
and the waiver was never mentioned again.
:)
all in all, a successful friday adventure!