Lise's Ramblings

If you ever visit Austria during July or August, do take in the opera or a play at the Bregenzer Festspiele. That festival has a Seebühne , a floating stage, which organizers change up in elaborate ways. The set below from Giuseppe Verde's "Un ballo in maschera" (a.k.a. "A Masked Ball") seemed fitting for my Hallowe'en blog post. Source: frommoon2moon.tumblr.com via Lise on Pinterest Bonus piece of trivia for James Bond and Daniel Craig fans: a scene from "Quantum of Solace" featured the stage as a giant eye, which was the 2008 set for Giacomo Puccini's "Tosca" at the Bregenzer Festspiele. Interested in other Seebühne set designs? Catch Wolfgang Mozart's " The Magic Flute " during summer 2013 to experience the stage in person, or look online to  check out past sets  for they are       BRILLIANT!

Which do you suppose came first, the burning bushes or the fire hydrant? Even if you aren't into gardening, these fiery Euonymus alatus (burning bushes) would have drawn your attention last week.  I spotted them on my way to work. And sure, I appreciated the splash of fall colour , but I also giggled. Perhaps the homeowner intentionally juxtaposed the plants with the fire hydrant. I would like to think that this is merely inadvertent humour to dabble my day with       AWESOME!

This week, I heard about a report that calls sitting the new smoking . Yes, we spend so much time parked on our tushies that sitting is now a killer.   We're sedentary during meals and our commutes. We sit at our computers, around meeting tables, in classes, and in front of TVs and gaming devices.   Well, it's time for a break from the chair.   In Canada, today marked Take Me Outside Day , an annual event to encourage adults to set a positive example for future generations. On October 25th, Canadians are urged to step outside with children or teens.   Get up. Get out. Take in fresh air and commune with nature. As ideas go, this one's        AWESOME !   Resources: 2012 Report Card on Active Healthy Kids Canada Eat Well and Be Active Educational Toolkit (Health Canada) Study on prolonged sitting and the association with diabetes, cardiovascular disease and death ( published in Diabetologia ) - Free CBC article about that study .   

In the days before satellite digital music, customized MP3 playlists and online radio/video channels, we had to wait for a long commercial-free music set to li sten to hit, after hit, after hit. No ads. Just tunes.       AWESOME!

The world of the tiny is intriguing and mystical. Think of the staying power of mesmerizing stories such as Mary Norton's The Borrowers , John Petersen's The Littles , J.R.R. Tolkien's hobbits , the Lilliputians in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels , and of course, we musn't forget Alice's adventure in minisculeness after she drank from the "drink me" bottle in Lewis Carroll's classic tale .    Even Hollywood had a hit with  Honey I Shrunk the Kids . Not that I'm saying that movie is on par with the books mentioned above. Yesterday, I found toadstools in my garden. Their caps aren't red with white polka dots, but perhaps it's still a sign that wee folk, gnomes or other mystical creatures live in our woods. Granted they haven't formed a ring . All the same, I'll keep an eye out for Shakespeare's "demi-puppets" as I muck about in the garden. Toadstools and a fairy dusting of       AWESOME! Have an

The Brits have the Great Clock atop Elizabeth Tower , Westminster Palace , London . Although that clock’s four faces are affectionately known as Big Ben, that’s actually the Great Bell’s official name. Canadians have the Tower of Victory and Peace , which is more often called the Peace Tower , with its imposing gargoyles high above the Centre Block of Parliament Hill, Ottawa . Despite how large and bright today’s digital clocks shine, they pale compared to those classics. Digital clocks are easy to read, but more often than not, they’re too bright ( Times Square comes to mind). Then there’s the clamour of it all: alarms squawk, speak the hour or blare tunes at you. How I long for the mechanical metronome-like pendulum tick-tock-tick-tock ticking accompanied by chimes, cuckoos, gongs and tolls. They’re loud, yet somehow soothing. I grew up in households graced by those sounds, thanks to the two traditional timepieces shown here: the grandfather clock that towered in my grandpa

When you spot a few ornamental gourds, you may write them off as nothing more than misshapen, colourful fruit. But, seen en masse , those hordes of gourds will strike you as       AWESOME! Gourds at Balderston's Farm Market , Prince Edward Island

My bushel of Honeycrisp apples from Balderston's Family Farm (Prince Edward Island) Kah-runch!  Dribble, dribble, dribble.  After biting into an fruit, it's easy to get distracted by that tart or sweet taste, leaving nothing to stop juice from pouring down your chin, your wrist and your shirt.  If you've only sampled an apple or two so far this fall, then get out to your local orchard, farm or market to stock up on more fresh apples. During the other 10 to 11 months of the year, you'll pine for apples as tasty as the ones available now. Beyond the flavour, here are some added bonuses:  The selection of varieties (gone are the days when you could find only Red Delicious, Galas and Macs) No storage and no transport = minimal bruising Principal ingredients for autumnal comfort foods (Did someone say "Crumble" or am I fantasizing again?)  An abundance of apples adds up to       AWESOME! I favour Honeycrisp apples. Which ones do

Statistics Canada reports that Canadian commuters spend an average of 52 minutes daily traveling roundtrip to work. In major centres such as Montreal and Toronto, more than a quarter of Canadians spend at least 1.5 hours commuting back and forth every weekday. Ugh. Commute times grow when you add one or more of the following: construction, bad weather, police spot-checks, a sinkhole, an accident or long-weekend crowds.  Any wonder the international Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) rates shorter commute times as a key variable in studies of health and quality of life.  There just aren't many upsides to long commutes, apart from time to listen to podcasts, music or audio books. Sure, dozing, reading, writing and other activities are possible when public transportation is available, but still you aren't spared from delays and lengthy travel times.  I'm grateful for my short drive to the office and the resulting time I gain each day from not

Source: etsy.com via Jennifer’s Pinterest board Put down that sippy cup. Set aside those primary-coloured Tupperware tumblers.  Few can resist succumbing to the lure of a fancy glass topped by a bendy straw, citrus slices, a paper umbrella or a plastic sword skewering maraschino cherries. My grown-up foods entry in April 2011 didn’t spark a flurry of emails or online comments, but I bet many of you remember your earliest grown-up drinks.      Where were you when someone introduced you to a mocktail? Who poured your earliest cup of tea or coffee? What was your first taste of wine like?   I hear brandy, surprisingly not sherry, would quiet me when I was an infant (Thank you, Mom-mom) and family photos, videos and tales represent me as a baby motivated to learn to crawl and walk based on my desire to reach beer bottles.      But, what I recall is feeling like a proper young lady when family ordered me a Shirley Temple at the White Oaks Mall Ponderosa and at the T

Do you remember your first sleepover? Did you ever plead with your mom or dad to let you go to a friend's place for the night? For children, sleepovers are a rite of passage. A night or more sleeping at someone else's house isn't about wanting to be away from parents, it's about feeling grown up and a break from routine. Of course, there are other perks: packing cherished items; the  anticipation and a sense of adventure; different toys, activities, schedules and food selections; and,  the joy of returning home after the special sleepover wraps. No matter your age, your inner child peeks through during sleepovers...yet another reason sleepovers are      AWESOME!