One man's trash is another man's treasure

When we bought the cottage, I was quite excited that there was a fireplace. I could picture myself sitting in front of the fire on a cold December weekend reading a good book.

But when I first laid eyes on the "mammoth", as I came to call it, I was overwhelmed by how much I hated it! This was no regular fireplace. It was a huge (and I mean humongous) copper fireplace and it was right smack in the middle of the living room. Serge convinced me to live with it for a season but after two days spent in the cottage, he agreed that it had to go. It was dirty and smelly, the fluke did not close properly and it was questionable whether it was safe to use. And the worst thing was that it blocked the view to the lake.

Our neighbour sang its praises. He told us it had been made by a Belgian artist who had studied with the Franciscan monks. By looking at it, we knew that it was certainty worth something with copper being in such high demand.

But when you have a mammoth in your living room, you don't see the treasure that some might see. When family visited, it was all we could talk about. What to do with it, how to get rid of it and how heavy it must be. This most definitely was a job for Superman (or men).

We had a guy come over during our first week to give us an estimate on recovering the foundation. Serge asked him if he knew someone who could remove the mammoth.

Well, you should have seen his reaction when he laid eyes on the "thing"....of course he would remove it and take it away. When I casually hinted that it would be worth alot if brought to the scrap yard and melted, he was appalled that anyone would even consider this! He wanted it in its original shape as it was a thing of beauty.

After 4 hours of hard work, the mammoth left yesterday on a trailer, to become someone else's treasure.

What's left, is a large and airy living room with a great view of the lake. I have no regrets even if we probably gave this guy a small fortune, the important thing is, the living room now belongs to us, not the mammoth!

Faith has a way of throwing us a curve ball.

Ever wonder why things happen the way they do and why we make the decisions we do. I am sitting in my living room at the cottage at 1:30 a.m. wondering just that. I can't sleep...for no reason at all, and reflect on what brought me here...to Saint-Émile-de-Suffolk, of all places.

Our drive, on that Saturday afternoon in early September, was meant to bring us to Lac des loups to see a different cottage. After 40 minutes of driving on a dirt road and having to get out of the car to hand-lift a gate to get to yet another dirt road we just gave up, never seeing Lac des loups at all.

I truly believe that faith brought us to Saint-Émile. How many different roads we might have chosen instead of the one that brought us to Impasse Roy and the cottage.

The same holds true for that Saturday evening over 30 years ago when I met Serge at the emergency room. That faithful meeting might of never happened had I not gotten that job offer at the Ottawa General Hospital that was meant for my friend Christine Casey. Had she offered the job to one of her other friends or if my boss had called someone else to replace the employee who had called in sick for the night shift on that Saturday evening, Serge might have been trained by someone else and he might have married another girl. I am glad I was the one to "train him" and that this has in turn brought me to have my two wonderful daughters that I adore.

I am sure that all of you have similar stories...where faith intervened and changed the course of your life. Some people believe it is not faith at all but rather the decisions we make of our own free will. Of course I know that we make our own happiness but faith seems to have a way of steering me in the right direction.

I gladly put myself in the hands of "faith" and hope that she will continue to lead me to happiness.

 

Let me out of here!!

Pic of graffiti taken in Montreal

What a crazy day at work.

Over the last few weeks, I have felt like I’m a hamster going round and round on a wheel trying to get everything completed by ‘D-Day’, October 24th, the day of my operation...but not quite succeeding. As I finish one thing, two new tasks are added to the “to do” list.
 
I think most women have a tendency to carry the world on their shoulders…we run the household, juggle many projects at the same time, raise our kids, take care of our parents. Most of us have the “superwomen” syndrome. I think I would fall within this category!

I often feel that everyone’s happiness depends on me and that I can only be happy if everyone around me is happy. That seems like an overwhelming responsibility for just one person, I have to admit.

How often have I heard my husband say...relax!! But I can't relax, I have too many things to do! Even sleeping seems like a waste of time.

But what if this one time, I thought of only me! What an idea! What if in fact, everyone’s happiness depends on my happiness and my well-being.

I think it’s time to acknowledge that I am not a super women and that I might have to put a few projects on hold…just for a while. So the cleaning might not be done as it should, my family may have to eat take out and my co-workers may have to continue the work without me for a few weeks.

I’ve been more stressed about everything I will not get done than about my operation.

I know I have a whole support system around me (family and friends)…people more than willing to help if I need it. I think that’s the problem, needing help sometimes feels like admitting defeat. When I think about it…I would never think someone is weak because they need help.

So it’s time that I let things go. I will enjoy the few days I have left before "D-Day".

I know that better days are ahead. It may not be freedom 55 yet, but it will be freedom nonetheless.

So for the next 3 days, I’m putting a “do not disturb sign” up and will go and enjoy family time at the cottage. It may rain cats and dogs but I will not care.

Have a nice weekend everyone....I am relaxing :)

 

 

Day 1 of my blogging journey

Just the other day, my BFF posted on my Facebook wall…“You know, if you had a blog, I'd follow you religiously”…what an amazing vote of confidence.  As if she thinks I have something to say and that it's worth reading.

But what would I write about, I posted in return…”the way you see life through your lenses” she said.

I have wanted to start a blog for some time, but have never gotten around to it, not knowing what I would blog about. 

Her post got me thinking that I do in fact see life through my lenses.  As an amateur photographer, everywhere I go, everyone and everything I see inspires me to take a pic and freeze the moment.  I see textures, colors and beauty in everything around me. I love faces, architecture and nature when I’m travelling or even when on my way to work every morning.

What may seem mundane to some people is art in the making to me.

I remember taking the train to Montreal last spring and taking pics of the train tracks and old buildings on the way.  My friend Fran looked out the window and wondered what I was photographing.  To her, nothing seemed worthy of capture, but to me, it was full of possibility.

So maybe, I do have something to say and thoughts to share, after all, my pics are a reflection of who I am and what I love.

I invite you to follow me on my blogging journey.  I don’t promise to write every day but I will make the effort.  You can expect to see my pics and read about what inspires me to take them.

And since it’s because of my BFF, Suzanne, that I am starting on this journey…I would like to share a pic I took of both of us.  This pic was taken on the day I did a photo shoot with Sue. She was a perfect model and is just has beautiful today as when we started hanging out together when we were both 15.  I love you my BFF, you hold a very special place in my heart. xx



Thank you for joining me on my journey!