Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers out there!

Sadly, I lost my Dad on April 29, 1969. He may not be with me anymore but he lives on in my heart.

I’ve added photos to my Seven Things: Work, Writing & Research post. I knew I had the older ones here at the house somewhere – it was just a matter of tracking them down. Well, this morning I succeeded and found some other, shall we say “blasts from the past”, some of which might find their way into posts here… or not.

This photo doesn’t really do it justice. The trees behind the neighbour’s house were blowing like crazy from all directions at almost the same time. The rain was coming down almost horizontally, the wind was so fierce.

I have a small roof over my front door – similar to those in the photo – and I was getting wet standing in my front hall, foyer, vestibule whatever you prefer to call it!

I shot this picture with my Blackberry and had it held tight against the screen so that the camera wouldn’t focus on the mesh. Not bad but…

Still pretty freaky sky. I was only home from work about ten minutes when it all started. It was really black north of the 401 and I watched the sky darken in my rear view mirror the closer I got to my wee house.

First it was the wind. Violent. Then the rains came. Then the thunder and lightning. Mostly just rumbling thunder but every now and then, to keep a body on their toes, there was a huge boomer!

Storms don’t bother me. I’ve sat outside and watched many a good thunderstorm over the years. And after the power goes out, what else is there to do? That isn’t to say that an unexpected loud clap of thunder doesn’t make me jump – it does. But unlike some people who have a real phobia when it comes to storms, I’m not that phased by them. Luckily, our lights only flickered a couple of times and the worst was over in time for us to cook supper on the BBQ and better yet, it didn’t interrupt my viewing of Coronation St.

june 8 2011 storm video I shot a video using my Blackberry from out on the covered portion of our deck overlooking the back yard. Because our yard slopes downhill away from the house, the effect of the storm wasn’t nearly as dramatic. The biggest event that happened was my disused, rusted out metal clothesline pole came down. I was hoping that when I was shooting the video I would have captured some good lightning flashes or loud thunder claps but alas, I wasn’t so lucky. However, I did manage to capture some emergency vehicle sirens… in addition to the water pouring out the end of my gutter.

Again tonight there’s a chance of another thunderstorm. Call me weird, but I can’t wait.

Off with my husband for a night out to celebrate our wedding anniversary. The wedding photo above was on the front of the invitations I made for our 25th anniversary that we celebrated in Scotland where we renewed our vows in the church at Quarriers Village (the orphanage where my father was raised).

I posted on Facebook earlier in the week that I had three buds on my purple-flowered rhododendron. Mid week, after all the heat, humidity and no rain, they were looking extremely droopy. However, I’m happy to report that they are doing marvellously now.

Now my plant might not be as large as the ones in Quarriers Village but at the rate it’s growing every year, it won’t be long before it’s a big as a tree.

I can’t wait!