"First Snowfall" { Fort William, Sheenboro, Quebec }
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Sprinkling { a poem }
While I slept,
You quietly fell,
‘I didn’t hear you leave,
‘I didn’t hear you fall.
I sensed you the day before,
The air felt brighter,
and a little lighter,
It felt like Christmas ‘morn.
This morning I wake,
Out my window I peak,
And there you are,
Making my world a little brighter.
Blanketing autumn’s earth in white,
Sprinkling the pines with your frost,
Softly skipping from the clouds,
Filling the air with light.
‘The first snowfall,
Makes the world a little lighter,
Like the heavens are playing on earth,
‘And we all feel a little brighter…together.
•
Question for you: What do you like about the first snowfall my fellow Ottawa friends?
In Richness of Being a poet…
Kate
• Kate Flood • 7:30am, infront of the fire.
• My apartment { Ottawa, On } • It’s been a while. Broken hearts make for broken creativity. ♥
Tons of Adoring Fans Adorn Grandiose Hats Honouring the Royals
"Angel in the Crowd" { The Royals in Canada, Rideau Hall • June 2011 }
This will certainly be a Canada day to remember like no other. Certainly Ottawa’s busiest weekend of the year with tourists from all of the world touching down on Canada’s capital; this one’s going to be a little bigger. Approximately 1300 more reporters to start. I attended the official welcome at Rideau Hall held between 1pm-4pm on June 30, 2011. After 4pm the public were kindly encouraged to leave as Dutch William and Duchess Kate would be attending dinner and a private Barbeque for Youth. Once Dutch William got to the microphone and his first words “en francais” were spoken, the crowd broke out in spontaneous applause to his salute to our bilingual nation. Stephen Harper’s speech followed. He didn’t quite get the same reception as Dutch William to say the least! Can’t he get a speech therapist to jazz up the tonation in his voice?
This is a short welcome back. I will be adding more of my pictures from the crowd and their grandiose hats ~ a shout out to the wild hats worn week ago by guests at the Royal Wedding in London, England. I’m off now to celebrate Canada day and see what Canadian treasures, magic and fun I can find. And will I run into Dutch William and Kate?
In Richness of Being Canadian,
• 11:11am
• Canada Day ~ Ottawa, Ontario
• “We had a longing to come here even before we were married.” ~
Dutch William, June 2011
The top 10 Must Haves on Your Party Mix to Feel’n a Little Irish! St.Patrick’s Day in my house growing up was like a second Christmas! My mother would have the house decorated days before with Leprechauns and shamrocks. Everyone was in a good mood and the O’Brien’s from the road were down and had been since noon! The adults always had these ridiculous green hats on Mark O’Brien was tell’n large tales and as soon as Tim and I could play piano Mom and Dad had us learning Irish ballads! I continued the tradition and have always celebrated hard – Queen’s University made that easy. The pubcrawl start at noon and everyone’s skipping class if your Irish or not! Best drink I ever made was Baily’s ice cream in a large mason jar with Baily’s and Kahlua to boot – We didn’t last too long on that concoction. I recommend this as a dessert now.
I’m a little more sentimental this time of year as the day really reminds me of mother who left us too soon for the heavens. I finally went to Ireland last year and had an interesting thing happen. I was listening to some live music in Dublin and feeling a little teary. I went to leave to get some air and up swings a couple! The man was throwing around the black haired lady, doing twists and turns and it reminded me of my folks swinging around on the kitchen floor. I got a little bit more verklempt when a waft of her perfume sifted by – Shalimar – my mother’s perfume! Good God, my tears rolled into drones and I was out the door like a cloud of Hesperides. Not to soon after did a young Dubliner lad who’d been charm’n my way some out of the loo to see my red eyes. ‘What’s wrong there deary?” he said. He compelled me back upstairs and swiftly bought me what’s called a “Mini-Guinness” (Guinness in a shot glass for non-Irish ladies who don’t want to drink a full pint). Saved by an Irishman. Ohhh, those Irish.
Here are the best Irish tunes to get you in the mood:
1. Black Velvet Band – Luke Kelly
2. Whiskey In the Jar – The Dubliners
3. Wild Rover – The Dubliners and the Pogues
4. Drunken Sailor - The Irish Rovers
5. Dirty ‘Ol Town – The Pogues
6. Rock the Casbah – The Clash
7. Drunken Lazy Basterd – The Mahones
8. When Irish Eyes Are Smiling – Bing Crosby
9. Irish Lullaby – Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral – Bing Crosby in “Going My Way”
10. Rising of The Moon – The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
11. Wild Colonial Boy – The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
12. New Years Day – U2 Live
13. Into the Mystic - Van Morrison
And this one’s for you Pop!
14. Brennan On The Moor – Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
BONUS: And it wouldn’t be complete without:
15. Wasn’t That A Party - The Irish Rovers TV Opening
One last tale. I was at Queen’s. AJ’s Hanger to be exact and a little up and coming local Irish band called the Mahones was play’n to a packed house. Halfway through the word on the dance floor is the guy who was going to have the after party had backed out. And my roommate who was dating the bassist at the time asks me if we can have it at my place. Oh boy, what does that entail? Alright sure I said and little did I know it how vast and fast it would spread like wildfire through the dance floor. ‘Afterparty at Flood’s house on Johnson St.” Turned out to be a blast! I was entertaining some army brats up from the U.S, we were burning encyclopedias in my fireplace on account of running out of fuel and by 4 am Mahones lead singer Finny was doing buck-runs down my Victorian hallway and there was a foot of beer on my floor! I had an entire food pantry stockpiled with empty 2-4′s of beer the next morning. All and all it was a successful shindig.
P.S. Yes, yes, I know Malaika, I don’t have any Flogging Molly’s, Dropkick Murphy’s or what’s that other one you like? Oh, and the Chieftains. There were so many to choose from. Damn those Irish are talented people!
Now go out there and get your IRISH on!
SLAINTE! { Irish “Cheers” means “To Your Health!” }
In Richness of Being Irish (and I actually am),
Kate (Katherine Irene Flood – Does it get any more Irish then that?)
• 11:11am
• Ottawa, ON
• “Kiss me Kate – I’m Irish!” ~ Go Get Your Green On
These are my twinkly toes surrounded by Michelangelo’s marble in my first bath in Italy. I had just arrived in Rome at midnight and granted the cutest room overlooking the Pantheon (Completely unplanned. I had no idea where I was staying at and booked the room at the airport in Rome). Not all European hotels have bathtubs, but I made it my mission to try and find the ones that did. Marble is everywhere in Italy as pointed out to me by one of the hotel staff. The white stuff that grows on the Apuan Alps on the Mediterranean coast ain’t snow, it’s marble. The very same marble Michelangelo’s sculptures were created with. Who else baths in marble baths you say? Birds do it (ever heard of birdbaths?), bees do it (okay, they do it in honey , but that’s hot!). Let’s take a bath! Not together folks. Okay, wait, that’s pretty hot too if you can get your honey in the tub with you. Think of the bathtub scene with Natalie Portmon and Zach Braff in the movie Garden State. The shower scene hook, line and sinkered Kate Hudson and Mathew McConaughey in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Tubbing together can be in incredible vulnerable and sweet place to be together. Valentines Day is coming guys ~ ‘nothing your sweetheart would love more then for you to draw a hot bubble bath, fill the room with candles, incense and petals and soap her up!
Man has been bathing since the dawn of time. Okay, maybe not neanderthal time, but I’m sure as soon as we found the ritual of bathing in mother nature’s waters we were happier than pigs in….mud. See! Even the pigs have their own version. Albeit, the very opposite of getting clean, but to them, that’s their version! Lets roll around in swine and crap for a while! That’s hot too. Kidding. How do you think the bikini clad mud wrestling came about? Wait a second, how did I get from cleaning rituals to mud fights? I digress. Adding a bath to your weekly ritual is an incredibly healing habit to get it into. We were born in a water filled sack and if our parents treated us right, received a bath every day until we could scream bloody murder that we preferred not! Probably age 5 when we were all rocking our king of the hill in the local sandbox. At an early age, the bath becomes a place to soothe, relax and change the ‘activity” state of mind for a baby and a child before bedtime. And it cleans the toe-jam from their toes too. I don’t have toe jam (see picture above). It can also be a lot of fun and a bonding experience for both child and parent. You’ll be thanking the Nanny show if you schedule it at the same time every night. Just leave room for story time!
Teenage years arrives and bath time either completely disappears or remains as beauty regiment. Skip a few years and into adulthood. I don’t know very many men who bathe, or if they do admit to it (would love to hear from you and why you love bath time). I tell you, both sexes would be a lot happier if you did though! Bath time can be a place for relaxation, switching gears and meditation. Crank it up a notch by adding sea salt or epsom salt to your baths. The pure stuff with no additives. Both salts act as a detox by drawing toxins form the body and softening the skin. Epsom salt relaxes the nervous system and relieves inflammation by replenishing magnesium in the body. Dead Sea salts can treat eczema, psoriasis and arthritis. For salt fun have you ever tried those bath bombs? Hello effervescence heaven! Tingle. Drop one of those into your bath and it’s grade 6 volcano experiment all over again. They fizzle up like diving into a tub of 7up, drop essential oil like lavender in and colour the water. Certain colours have healing effects for the soul. Three healing properties packed into one bath-bomb! The Lush bath store stalk piles these by the dozen. Pick your flavor, scent or intent.
Check out Rock Hudson and Doris Day in Pillow Talk…
Get Your Splash On!
1) Time: Set aside minimum 1/2 hour in your day. 1 – 1.5 hr is perfect.
2) Day: Sunday’s rock. So do Fridays after a long week.
3) Extras: Lights out, bubbles, candles and incense expedite all your senses.
4) Pick your musical score: Billie Holiday is great for lazy Sundays, Chillout Sessions for end of a long-week Fridays and Sade for pre-date suds.
4) Add-Ons: Grab your favorite book that you don’t mind getting wet (magazines work well)
5) Slather on lavender oil after to lock in moisture and lull you into sleep. BONUS: A bathboy to rub your feet, bring you a chocolate sundae and refill your wine glass!
Bath time is for everyone and should be part of a weekly, if not a daily routine.
•
What are your bath time rituals? I love when staying in a hotel that you can dump the entire bottle of bath soap for bubbles because there will be another one waiting for you the next day! (Case in point seen in featured pic).
Bath~bombs away ~ SPLASH!
In Richness of Pampering… Kate • 9pm
• Montreal, Canada
• “My mother used to bathe my brother and I in the duo laundry
tubs. Good way to bathe splashing twins!“
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AIRS TONIGHT! You might hear my high pitched cheers coming from the audience! Stumbling on the Late Show with David Letterman Line up…( ‘A show I have always wanted to sit in on) and actually getting in!
What are the chances of getting into The Late Show with David Letterman? What are the chances of seeing Martha Stewart throw cream in David Letterman’s Face, Bieber playing drums beside Paul Shaffer and seeing Zeppelin’s Robert Plant?
Apparently kinda slim. At least that was the impression I had. A university dorm mate got me on to watching David Letterman. (Sarah, wherever you are out there – thinking of you Coca Cola girl). She was a huge fan and would set her alarm to stop studying and find the closest tv (she actually had one in her dorm room) and tune into Dave. Ever since then, I always thought it would be fun to sit in on the audience. Saturday Night Live too, but that will have to wait I guess until the next trip. Or until Bono and Jonathon Rhys Myers are the guests! So I had half-assed looked into how to get tickets to the show. According to the site and New Yorkers, people request tickets a year in advance and otherwise you have to line up the day of as early as 11am and wait in line for cancellation. No guarantee they say. I finished waiting in lines when I was 18 years old.
"Stumbling on the David Letterman Lineup and...getting in!"
I had resolved to not try this time round, especially in the frigid 40 below weather. So I’m troop’n through the streets and pass, “Oh, What’s this? Studio 54?! Cool.” Would have liked to shake my disco thing there! And then I look up and see the CBS sign you see above and a line-up of people coming out. I decide to inquire and the next thing I know I’ve been signed up on the waiting list – number 46 – to be announced in a mere 45 minutes from now! A quick dinner at the Three Monkeys around the corner and I’m back faster than you can say “Top 10.” The David Letterman girl (see picture below) tells us the line is no guarantee that we will get in. Funny, there was a bigger line behind us. Must have been the fan lineup for Martha. Or was it Justin Bieber?
"Ahhh! I actually got into see the Late Night Show with David Letterman"
I was the last one on the list. Fat chance I thought, but no, we all got in. After a “pump-up” speech from another staffer, we were led in and I landed in the 8th row isle. Not bad. I’m telling you, being a single-seater has its benefits! David opens with questioning a fellow Canadian in the audience, Bieber guests as reading his own Top 10. I haven’t heard Justin yet, but I can see why he makes all the girls swoon – he’s ridiculously adorable and reminds me of my 15 year-old crush of yesteryear. And then, what’s this, Martha Stewart? Come on, hilarious! She actually looks better than ever (Even David thought so). That was before he started to throw prison questions at her. Which then follows a cream fight where Martha wallops one on him! Tonight’s show is actually pretty hilarious! Rounding out the evening, none other than Robert Plant of Zeppelin performing a live song with his group,“Band of Joy”- Nice. I never thought I would see any one of Zeppelin live in concert!
Have you ever got into one of your favorite shows or concerts? Make a comment below if you hear my screeches tonight!
Tune in tonight on CBS at 11:35pm EST. It’s a pretty hilarious episode with a shout-out to Canadians! Sudbury to be exact!
In Richness of Stumbling on Line-ups,
Kate
• 8:05pm
• Montreal, Quebec
• “When you are not attached to an outcome & you asked for it some time, it can land in your lap.” ~ Kate
I packed up my many apartments I never called home and I am winging life and writing it all down in this blog. I've been in 6 car accidents, held at gunpoint and seen the Big "G" (GOD) personally. Yes, seriously. See Blog entry.
• Stories • Photos • Poetry • Wishes coming true. A children's book to publish. What happens when you completely let go?
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• Kate Flood
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