Through my Window

The past two weeks have been extremely cold here on the farm with temperatures as low as -39C while actually feeling more like -44C.  Amazingly we have also had a couple of days that have restored our spirits when the temperature has risen to +2C.  Looking through our east window at the morning sunrise is always a highlight of the day.  The skies are often sunny and beautiful at that time of day.  I am linking today to Maggie's  Mosaic Monday

Yesterday's sunrise was filled with colour and a surprise later in the day happened when I checked Google assistant to find a photo that had been automatically enhanced by Google photo.  

I am linking up with Maggie for Mosaic Monday after a long absence from blogging and am looking forward to visiting familiar blogs and discovering new ones.  Our January world is white and I need a little colour in my life.  

Sunshine Always! Sheila

Hello Again

it's 2018 and I haven't been around for awhile.  I just wanted to say hello to you.  I remember reading delightful stories and seeing glimpses of your lives that were so interesting.  I loved the beautiful photos you took and enjoyed your tales of travel.  Each of the bloggers I followed had a wonderful way with words and through those words shared the things in life that were most important to them.  I have strayed away due to technical issues.  I loved sharing my photos and collages with you and when I was no longer able to do that I gave up blogging.  I hope now to be able to figure out how to start blogging again.

I enjoyed reading all of Lorrie's "Fabric Paper Thread" Christmas posts this morning.  Hello Lorrie! 

It was wonderful to see those lovely smiling grandchildren in your collage.

 I have always enjoyed your blog posts.  They take me home again. 

My view has not changed.  We still live on our farm though our fields have been leased to another grain farmer for the past five years.  Best wishes to my blogging friends for 2018! I hope to be able to visit and reconnect, to catch up and stay on touch. See you soon I hope! 

Sunshine always, Sheila

Under the Tuscan Sun

You may have seen the movie, "Under the Tuscan Sun".  If so you can imagine what Cortona is like. My daughter and I spent two weeks there in 2011 and it hasn't changed much since then.  Because our family was in Italy together last September, we rented a beautiful apartment in Cortona with lots of space to relax in. We spent ten days exploring the fascinating sights there and in other small towns in Tuscany. No matter where we went we were climbing steep streets or descending with care. We have so many memories...here are just a few...

We heard church bells ring many times a day

-enjoying the magnificent view

 -tall buildings surround the main piazza

-the park is a lovely sanctuary on a hot day

-a quiet September walk

-a beautiful villa

-Trattoria Toscana

-the view from our dining room

-looking towards Bramasole, the home of Frances Mayes, author of "Under the Tuscan Sun"

Just a few photos shared ... more next time!  Have a wonderful week!

Our Trip to Italy

Hello again!  Although I have been "away" from blogging for a number of months, I often find myself wondering how the friends I have made through blogging are doing so I have decided to try again to participate.  I have been reluctant to face several computer issues.  One involves the way my pictures are stored on Picasa and the other involves a lack of storage on my laptop.  It's time to sort out these issues but in the meantime I will just look back to September when our family took a trip to Italy together.  I will use pictures to tell the story and there may be several posts showing the highlights of our trip.  KLM took us via Amsterdam to Rome.  Booking as soon as there was non stop service from northern Alberta resulted in amazing return fares!  It was almost two for one and since our son and daughter were both able to take holidays in September we decided to take a family vacation.  We had a great flight over, fabulous weather, great experiences and lots of fun.

After arriving in Rome at 5 pm we had a wonderful reunion with our Canadian friends at their lovely home and early the next morning we were touring the Colosseum.  We had no time for jet lag and all of us did really well. We had a guide who made history come alive in a 3 hour tour of the Colosseum and the areas nearby.  

 Our friend has a degree in Archeology and used to be a tour guide at Ostia Antica so on the second day she guided us through the ancient seaport of Rome which was where as many as 100,000 people once lived. The ruins are well preserved and date back to the 3rd century BC.

The site is massive and just about a third of the ruins have been dug up. The cost of maintaining the site as it is now is has limited the government from further excavations and they are being left for future generations to discover and maintain. Next stop... Tuscany. See you before too long.  

Sunshine Always, Sheila

I am linking to Judith's Mosaic Monday at http://www.lavendercottagegardening.com/