ITS A NEW YEAR 2015

Happy New Year to you dear reader...

Oh my word, its been a year since I have done a post. Life is so busy.

 One thing is for sure, this gal is getting older...

I have 5 grandchildren now

  I am striving to buy my dream home at this age,

 I am now working only part time,

I have acquired/rescued more fur-babies...

 and sadly we have lost one of our old fur boys...

RIP Frankie Cat.

The Tudors...My Birthday Gift for 2014

The start of this new year 2014.

 A couple of weeks ago we celebrated my birthday,  my good hubby bought me a video series 

for my birthday gift....

"The Tudors" 

The Royal Collection Series. I am so into it...

Their are as many as 15+ blue ray CD's, including extra features.

Almost every night I watch an episode, or two...With my iPad at my side, for quick internet reference...

Now and again I pause my show, to search out web sites,  for more factual info. 

For I must say, this series,  at times takes liberties with historic fact's. 

One such inaccuracies I found was about Mary Tudor, the kings sister. The series states she married an old Portugal King, but in fact it was 52 year old King of France,
King, Louis XII at Abbeville. 

was 34 years older than Mary - Louis XII, King of France, described as "feeble and pocky" and not a very pleasing prospect for a young, healthy and beautiful princess. 

See tree below- shows Mary Tudor in fact married the King of France, not Portugal!

At any rate,  Mary Tudor the sister to King Henry VIII,  was said to be very beautiful.
The actress that played Mary Tudor, is also a beauty!

  Gabrielle Anwar

Thank you Voracious Minds for images and information

Their were many Mary's, Catherine's, Anne's...

It can be a bit confusing at first, but I associated a first name with their position, 

it becomes a bit easier to sort them all out. Often time's though,  the first and last name are the same.

An example of this is Mary Tudor...

Same name for sister and daughter of the king.

The daughter of King Henry VIII, was also named Mary, after his sister.

Princess Mary, Mary Tudor, Queen Mary 1. 

The most famous name given to this Mary was...

"Bloody Mary"

*

read about Blood Mary

The cruel persecution of the Protestants, which has cast so much infamy upon her reign, was not due, as commonly supposed, to inhumanity on her part. When the kingdom was reconciled to Rome and absolved by Cardinal Pole, it followed, almost as a matter of necessity, that the old heresy laws should be revived, as they were then by Act of Parliament.

 I have read a few books about the Tudors...

The incredible author Antonia Fraser writes biased on fact! 

Her book The Six Wives Of Henry The VIII, is imbued with historic accuracy. 

So when watching the TV series on CD,  I had a good idea of what was fiction and what was non fiction.

I too have enjoyed novels...

 The Other Boleyn Girl, and The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

Although her novels may not be considered, completely historically sound, it come close...

Never the less, both books were extremely entertaining! 

Not to mention the entertaining movie based on her book.

I have had a growing and deep interest in the Tudors.
The historically precise Tudors!

Ever since my first trip in 1998, to England, it was a fun-filled and  an enlightening 10 day stay in Kent.
 I went to the most gorgeous Leeds Castle, have a peek

 Visiting Tudor castles and cathedrals, a budding interest continues to grow with this royal bunch...

This interest only increased, with my second visit to the UK, in 2009, that also included a week in Wales.

 I dedicated a post to Cathedrals/Churches  below is from Chester Church in Cheshire...

I felt like Catherine of Aragon walking through here....

For the first 530 years it was called Saint Werburgh's Abbey after the remains of the Saint it housed. The Dissolution of the Monasteries saw it become a cathedral. It was thanks to the admiration of King Henry VIII that it has survived.

I typed up another post of my trip to Wales,  Castles... 

Along with steams engine trips around the country side and other great 

English stuff...

like clotted cream and scones!!!

Anyway, back to the series.....

I've left off with King Henry beheading his fifth wife, the young Catherine Howard...poor little chick!  

What does any girl of 17-18 years really know of marriage, and in her case, marriage 

to a selfish and cruel king!

Below* 

Paintings of all 6 queens and the actress that played them in the series...

 The Tudors

Below are links to the history on each queen...

1-Katherine of Aragon - divorced
2- Anne Boleyn           - beheaded
3- Jane Seymour         - died after childbirth    
4- Anne of Cleeves     - divorced
5- Catherine Howard  - beheaded
6- Catherine Parr        - died after childbirth

Well that's my sh-peel about my Birthday present. 

The Tudors Royal Collection!

...as they say in England, "ta-ra"

Happy Halloween 2013

 Another fun filled candy/costumed Halloween is here.

We had about 40 children at my door this year. 

I look forward to seeing all the little ghosts and goblins.

My favorite costume was worn by a little guy about five year's old... 

a homemade robot, done up with boxes and tin foil...

Someone worked very hard to make it!

Here is a photo of 4 my grandchildren

 My daughter is a smart cookie, she got her costumes second hand and saved a ton of money!

                                                            Eli looks great...super Ninja!

                                       The g-kids out with their dad, getting their sweet loot!

                                      Great job cutting your Jack-O-Lanterns guys!!!!

Our Trip to Kenora Ontario Canada

                                                 Oh Canada, how beautiful you are!

                      I and Mr.B took a weekend trip, to our neighboring Provence of
                                                                Ontario Canada

We stayed at a Band B

Countryside Manor

 We had a comfy room, with internet,.

Our own private TV room, 

and private snack kitchen, with complementary drink and snacks.

 Beside our room was a small loft library for our use...

Me, posing with a fury creature for the photo....

Over looking the fire place from the loft library...

We enjoyed the hot tub, as we star gazed...

A late night glass of wine, on the wrap around deck...

Our friendly host Donalda, made us a complementary breakfast every morning.

Oh boy, can this lady cook!

Homemade goods for us to eat, above is the hosts homemade relish. 

so good!

Visit my Pinterest and get other tasty recipes in...

 Harvest and Preserving 

Our host also served us

Cinnamon Apple Syrup 

with waffles. 

John and Donala Peters are wonderful couple.

 Gracious and hospitable...

I'd recommend this relaxing B and B to anyone.

........................................

We made several trips to Kenora from our B and B... 

(5 minutes away)

We had a tasty lunch and cold drinks over looking the water at...

Best Western 

A view of the docks below, from the restaurant above...

We saw the MS Kenora go by...

We'll be on that in a few hours!

We launched with the MS Kenora for a 3 hour evening cruise.

That served up an amazing supper. 

The cruise went around the 

"Lake of a Thousand Islands"

Literately, thousand's of small islands dotted the Lake of the Woods.

Above Devil's Rock

Sunset abroad the MS Kenora

 Shopping also was in our schedule...

Downtown Kenora has many quaint shops...

I got this cute yellow bag (above) at the 

Blue Heron, 

The Blue Heron is a beautiful shop, in an old historic building. 

Many surprising and exciting rooms to explore.

..............The Next Day...............

We drove an hour away from Kenora, to Blue Lake @

Vermilion Bay

                                                  We spent the whole day at Blue Lake...
                                                   That's Mr B. (above) trying out his snorkel.

The water was so clear....

above Fort Vermilion at Vermilion Bay

Behind the Fort is a 2 K walking trail...

It was fairly rough terrain for a couple of oldish farts!

                                                       Mr B. (above) conquers a big rock!

I really need a rest from this hike...

Picked up something pretty along the way...

Later that evening.....

We ate at a place that was featured on the TV show, 

You Gotta Eat Here

We had their famous ribs with

  Busters Blue Berry BBQ sauce..

Yum-O!

.......................................

 Well, that's it for our trip...

I put this wonderful trip in my blog to remember our fun time together.
 Also, to share a beautiful part of Canada for all to enjoy.

                   I hope you enjoyed the photos and links to our beautiful neighboring
                                                                   Provence of,
                                                                Ontario Canada!

190 Days of Below Temperatures...Until...

Well there you have it...190 days of below -0 temperatures until today!!!

Central Canada saw +14 Celsius, that's 57.2 in Fahrenheit. 

Folks in the city pulled off their parkas and put on the Ts and enjoy the outdoor patios downtown....

After one of the coldest Aprils on record, skies are beginning to clear up, 

and the mercury is starting its journey upward.

Puddles get larger, song birds are making there way back, 

Canadian geese are already here...

We welcome spring with agonized but open arms...

Foliage on this lilac tree in River Heights soaks up the warm sunshine Thursday, joining every other living thing in Winnipeg.