Mosaic Monday #1 - The Legacy Continues

I am honored to welcome you to my first post as the new host of Mosaic Monday.  Honored because I am a lucky lady to carry on the fine legacy established by our previous hosts - Mary @ Little Red House through August 4, 2014, Judith @ Lavender Cottage from August 10, 2014 through July 24, 2016 and Maggie @ Normandy Life from July 31, 2016 through October 29, 2018.  Please join me in thanking them!

My Mom's crochet - published 7/16/2017

Afternoon tea at Fairmont Banff Springs

Published 9/10/2017

How and when did you first come across Mosaic Monday?  My history with MM is relatively short, but then my blogging only began on March 2, 2017.  At that time, I was looking for other bloggers in Montana, and I found Kit @ A Montana Life.  Kit's blog roll contains both Maggie @ Normandy Life and Tammy @ T's Daily Treasures.  Tammy pointed me to PicMonkey as a tool for creating mosaics, and I was tickled with myself to publish my first three mosaics on April 3, 2017.

Making cookies for the neighbors

Published 12/8/2017

Then, on May 20, 2017, I linked to Mosaic Monday for the first time.  (I didn't learn about permalinks until later, so I am sure some of you that tried to find that post through Maggie's linky party got to read some other post … sigh.) Despite my mistakes, I was overjoyed to be welcomed by so many of you - 17 months later, I feel I am part of a community that shares its joys and sorrows through beautiful pictures and creative collages.  In honor of my first post as host, I have chosen 5 favorite mosaics to decorate this narrative.  I look forward to sharing many more collages, and to be inspired by your collections.

Scenes in Whitefish, Montana

Published 3/9/2018

A special thank you to Maggie @ Normandy Life, for her patience with my questions over the last couple of weeks.  As she says "Keep calm and keep asking questions … it's the only way to learn."  So, I hope you'll be patient with me if there are technical bumps along the way - as some of you know, techie stuff is not my forte!





Here's to many more years of Mosaic Monday!

Holy Cross Chapel, Durham, UK - published 3/16/2018

Mosaic Monday

Welcome to Mosaic Monday, a weekly meme where we get together to share our photo mosaics and collages.
Please include at least one photo mosaic/collage in your post.
The link will be open from 1 p.m. Sunday until 11 p.m. Monday (U.S. Mountain time).
Remember to add the link to your Mosaic Monday post and not the one to your blog.
Please link back to this post so that your readers will be able to visit and enjoy more wonderful mosaics; taking the MM blog button from my sidebar is an easy way to link back.
As host I will visit every participant and leave a comment so that you know I stopped by.
Please try and visit as many other blogs as you can, especially those that join in later, so that everyone's creativity can be appreciated fully.
Thank you for joining in today and sharing your mosaics with us. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Post #100 - Looking Back at the Spectacle

Heddal Stavkirke, Norway

This is hard.  I figured, with a major milestone such as 100 posts, I should do a "Best Of" post.  Best 10 posts?  Best 10 pictures?  Top 5 Most Popular posts (as defined by some Blogger algorithm?)  It wasn't clear.  So I went back to Post 1 and started reading.  Maybe inspiration would strike like the proverbial bolt of lightning.  Well, no such luck.  Instead, my list of favorite posts AND pictures ballooned like a warren of rabbits left to do what they do best … While reading Post 73 (3/9/18), I realized that it described a thorough analysis that I had ALREADY done of my first 12 months of posts - duh!  And it's probably no coincidence that Post 73 is one of my 5 most popular posts.

Maple leaves, Raby Castle gardens

OK, let's simplify, baby, and focus only on posts since 3/9/18.  Well, I got close, but some of my favorites were just too hard to jettison no matter when they were published - and who writes this blog, anyway?  So, here are MY top 10 posts (and to take the easy way out, they are in date order.  This post needs to get published SOME DAY in my lifetime!)

ONE: Down the Riviera, July 8, 2017

A Young Samurai

Reading this post still makes me break out in giggles, especially when I get to the photo of "A Young Samurai".  Not to mention Quiffy and The Hen.  This post, about my in-laws' allotment (read: garden) in the UK, was a breeze to write because "The Riviera" holds so many memories for all of us.  It is a beautiful haven that I eagerly anticipate each time we visit.

TWO:  Man with Hat, July 14, 2017

Of course, I had to include this one … maybe it will be visited more and put Spousal Unit back in the Top 5 Popular posts - you know, he asks about it all the time!  OK, serious now.  It meant the world to me to incorporate one of our love songs, If I Should Fall Behind, by Bruce Springsteen, into this Happy Birthday post for my better half.  And, importantly, my spouse became forever known in the blogging world as Man with Hat.


THREE: Helping Dreams Come True, September 10, 2017

I love making dreams come true, be they big or small.  It has been done for us, and now we are in the position to do the same.  In this post, I wrote about an epic trip with my Mother and my oldest sister, fulfilling some of their life-long desires.  Yep, it was epic - it took four separate posts to cover it all!

Fairmont Banff Springs

FOUR: Meadows of Muker, September 26, 2017

"An idyllic slice of the world - truly the epitome of the English countryside".  Can you tell I like walking the footpaths of the UK?  This post combined so many of my favorites - sharing the world's beauty as tour guide for others, walking/hiking, the UK, and captivating photos (in my opinion).

Near Muker, UK

FIVE:  Graduate with Hat, May 3, 2018

Pride.  Heart-popping, buttons-on-the-vest-busting pride.  Not that we had any doubt, but we were still pretty puffed up when #1 Daughter graduated from the University of Cincinnati on April 28.  And, of course, as a recent graduate she had the right to inform me that the title of the post, more accurately, should have been Graduate with Cap.  "But I get it, Mom; I get the nod to Man with Hat."  Thanks, sweetie.  I also loved the family time documented in this post, including a birthday meal with #1 Son (20!), and the nostalgic return to Cleveland.  We will always adore our Camelot Drive and Geauga family!!!

Chagrin Falls, Ohio

SIX: Awesome April, May 10, 2018

OK, I think you know by now that I like the outdoors and wildlife.  So this post caught my eye - how much the environment around us was changing in just six short weeks.  And the coyote snapped by my trail cam.  And the antics of an adorable black bear (from a distance) captured by a cam in Glacier National Pak - the whole world was waking up, just like that bear!




SEVEN:  May at Warp Speed, May 31, 2018

Our side deck

OK, I think you know by now that I like to check tasks off my list (even though I am supposed to be letting go of perfection).  Well, May was a banner month for "get 'er done"!  Landscaping, interior decorating, tea towels, the piano move, the list goes on!  At least I could say that putting together the patio furniture was just so I had somewhere to sit to drink my wine!

Lower level guestroom with headboard hand-made by Spousal Unit

EIGHT: Another Day in the Neighborhood, June 14, 2018

OK, I think you know by now that I like the outdoors and wildlife.  (Yes, I know I already wrote that … but I REALLY LIKE WILDLIFE.)  Check out this post for deer, beaver, ground squirrels, turkeys, turtles and our very own black bear!

NINE: Jumpin' June, July 5, 2018

Warning - slight risk of repetition … more "get 'er done" accomplishments and more outdoors photos!  At least this offers ME cooking (for a change) and a badger video.  And mushrooms, if you are weary of flower shots!

Father's Day breakfast in bed; galvanized steel bar tray was also a Father's Day gift

TEN: Hiking Journal Entry 14 - Highline Trail, July 19, 2018

We made it!  Aren't you glad?  Hopefully you read this far, because I do think this journal entry is the best in many ways.  Who wouldn't enjoy hiking the Highline Trail in Glacier National Park with 100 of your closest friends?  Seriously, some trails stand out for me (and we have hiked A LOT); this is definitely in my top 5, ever.  Mountain views.  Abundant flora.  Waterfalls.  Unique fauna (marmots and mountain goats).  And, of course, a day out with Man with Hat.

Linking to:

All Seasons

I Like Thursday

Mosaic Monday

Nature Notes

Our World Tuesday

Saturday's Critters

Sharon's Photo Souvenirs

Skywatch Friday

Wandering Camera

Wednesday Around the World

Willy Nilly Friday

Helping Dreams Come True

We recently had a hand in fulfilling some dreams for my Mother and my eldest sister, and boy, was it fun!  It started a long time ago, when my Mom mentioned her dream to sleep on a train that would also go through the mountains.

And so, with our planned move to Montana, it seemed the perfect time for her to climb aboard the Amtrak Empire Builder in Chicago and clickety-clack her way west to Whitefish.  It's a 31-hour journey (sleeping? check!) and the final part of the journey scoots around the southern edge of Glacier National Park (mountains? check!)  My Mom was accompanied by my eldest sister, who had dreamed of visiting the Banff/Lake Louise region of Alberta.  Isn't it wonderful that you can drive 5 hours from Whitefish to get to Banff/Lake Louise?  Check!

In the days leading up to our Canada road trip, I was monitoring fires in British Columbia and Alberta, since one of them had once already closed the highway we would take to Banff.  I can't tell you how happy I was when it began to rain close to site of the fire.  As we drove past the fire, clearly the rain was having a dampening effect.  It had been so long since we felt rain, or breathed in the earthy smell of rain - I rolled down my window!!!  The wonder of spray on the road, and puddles - I felt like a kid again.

Upper Left and Middle: Smoke rising

from fire along Highway 93

Bottom: Skies clear as we near Banff

Alberta and British Columbia provide frequent rest areas with facilities (can I make a crack about how important this is for a man with a small bladder?), and at one such stop we were also rewarded with Numa Falls.

Lower right: grooves from years of swirling water

Immediately before the Banff exit, there is an overlook that is a must.  As you can see in the picture below, you can't take a bad picture with Vermilion Lakes in the foreground and Sanson's Peak looming beyond.  That day, it didn't hurt that the clouds were clinging to the razor edge of the Peak!

As we entered Banff, my excitement kept building, because I had a secret.  My sister has always wanted to visit the Fairmont Banff Springs - we had taken it a step further and booked ourselves for afternoon tea.  I announced this as we pulled up to the "castle", and the delight on her face was ... priceless!

The Fairmont Banff Springs has been serving Afternoon Tea for over 125 years.  Guests from around the world have experienced Afternoon Tea precisely how Anna, Duchess of Bedford intended it to be when she first invited her guests for tea and scones.  Over the years, the pastry chefs have perfected scones, shortbread and other delicacies to delight the senses.

When we could tear our eyes away from the never-ending delicacies, we enjoyed this view of Stoney Squaw Mountain from the dining room.  (Don't you wonder where THAT name came from?)

After tea, we explored the hotel and I have limited myself to just a few pictures here.  Opened in 1888 by the Canadian Pacific Railway, this hotel was the inspiration of Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, 19th century railway pioneer and hotel visionary, who famously quipped "If we can't export the scenery, we'll import the tourists."

So, it seemed appropriate that we should end our day in Banff with a walking tour of the town, including the scenery along the Bow River.

 That night, it was sweet dreams for us all - and this was just the FIRST day of our road trip!

Linking to Mosaic Monday

Normandy Life

Linking to Skywatch Friday

Linking to Our World Tuesday