Winnie the beauty

Vintage photos are a subject that I truly enjoy. Lacking old family albums of my own to page through (for the record though, some of my relatives like my granny do have older black and white/vintage pictures, hopefully one day I’ll have the honour of being the keeper of some of these wonderful snapshots in time), I’ve found that Flickr has become like a surrogate photo album of sorts.

Instead of my own great, great, greats aunts or grandfathers though, through vintage and antique photos of people one knows nothing about, it’s almost as though you can imagine anybody in an old photo to be your relative or friend. Perhaps that sounds silly, but if you think about it, ultimately we’re all distant relations, and the history of those who came before us is ultimately responsible for our existence in the present.

Recently I came across the photo below (on Flickr) and was absolutely struck by how lovely this dark haired young woman is. The Flickr user who uploaded it doesn’t know much about the photo other than that it was given to his mother by a woman named Winnie.

There’s something about the effervescent look in her young eyes, the gorgeously feminine style of her dainty floral print, ruffled dress and the quaint little purse strung across her chest that makes me think she would have made an incredibly cool older sister or cousin. Or perhaps she was the baby of the family, sweet natured as the day was long because of all the love she’d received from her large family.


{From her up-swept curls to her adorable outfit, Winnie looks like a woman with world of possibility at her fingers. I wonder what became of this stunning gal? Photo from Spysgrandson’s Flickr stream.}

In looking at photos of strangers from the past and imagining the lives of those who’ve never known (as I touched on in a post last week, too), we do more than keep their memories alive, we preserve the beauty of their souls through the joy these images bring our own.

The incredible joy of time spent with family

What an amazing past few days I’ve just had. Busy, but sublime. Memorable and deeply rejuvenating. My parents flew in on the 28th (of May) and visited for about a week with my husband and I (it’s the first time we’ve been able to get together in almost two and a half years). Though we spent each day with one another, filling the hours with sightseeing, home-cooked meals around the table, and many wonderful conversations, it feels as though their trip passed in the instantaneous blink of an eye. It seems no sooner was I hugging my mom and step-dad hello, then I was fighting back the tears as I embraced them good-bye.

I come from a small, broken (as in my biological parents divorced) family, and my relatives all live on the other side of the country, so time spent together is a rare and precious gift.

There are many daily stresses in my life, worries and concerns, those sorts of nagging thoughts that keep you up in the wee hours on the night sometimes, yet for a few brief days, in the light of my mother’s timeless smile I was able to sweep them out of my mind and reconnect with the simple act of having carefree fun and being in the presence of loved ones. During their visit my health held up surprising well and we were able to visit a number of interesting destinations around Toronto such as Black Creek Pioneer Village, the CN Tower, and Centreville Island, each of which I’d never been to before. Though they were technically the ones on vacation, it felt as though they were giving my husband and I a holiday as well.


{Darling husband and I on the ferry to Centreville Island. Despite the cheery sunshine there was a bitingly cold wind that was turning our cheeks and noses pink. Still it was so enjoyable to be on a ferry for the first time since I was 14!}


{Here hubby and I gaze out at downtown Toronto and the CN Tower from the shores of Centreville Island.}


{In this shot I'm admiring a lovely doll house that was on display in the foyer of the welcome centre at Black Creek Pioneer Village. Though this was a modern doll house, it was somewhat done up to resemble the Victorian homes that dot this charming historical site.}


{And here we have the back of my head ;D Or to be more detailed, a shot of me gazing out from the observation deck of the CN Tower as I scan the city looking for our apartment.}


{The little redhead on the left is me, the stunning blond in the middle is my mother, and the chap at the end is a statue of Canadian pianist Glenn Gould. This bench is located in downtown Toronto near the CBC building.}


{My mom was snapping photos of my cat, Stella, on our bed, and decided to turn the lens on me when Stella jumped off. This picture was taken on the afternoon of the last day of my parents trip. I can see a bit of fatigue in my face, but there is something about this shot - despite the dusty soles of my bare feet - that I genuinely like, which is a very rare thing for me to say regarding photos of myself.}

{All of the photos above were taken by either my mom or my step-dad during late May and early June 2009. I cherish them and the many others now saved on my hard drive. Thank you both for taking just as many family snaps these days as when I was a youngster. The memories they preserve are utterly priceless.}


Only time will tell when the four of us will be able to get together once more, but even without an exact date, I’m already counting down the days. Cherished relatives are too dear, too important, and too vital to not want to spend time with.

I’m afraid that the all this recent activity caught up with me yesterday though and now I’m a bit run down. That doesn’t matter though, I’m still abuzz with the wonderful feelings these past few days have filled my soul with, my head too full of bliss to mind if my body needs a while to recoup.

Tonight in the wee AM hours I’ve been responding to the awesome comments that have recently been left here, and have begun to catch up (slowly) on about two weeks worth of blog feeds. I hope that you are each well and would love to know how you’ve spent your days lately and what elements have been bringing joy into your lives.

In the company of loved ones

Good evening, dear readers, how are you on this lovely last weekend of May? I hope that all is well on your end.

I just wanted to post a quick note to apologize for being slightly MIA for the past couple of days (and for the lack of a "Pretty Link Roundup" post this week). I'm in the midst of having an awesome visit with my mom and step-dad, who flew in from across the country on Thursday. It's the first time in almost two and a half years we've been together and each day spent with one another is nothing short of a wonderful gift. We're trying to cram in both as much activity and as much one-on-one, good old fashioned conversation time as possible while they are here, and as such I haven't been online much for the past three days.


{My parents rented a car which means we can finally explore Toronto sans public transit! I love being a tourist in my own town, just as I enjoy discovering vintage TO photos such as this image that hails from a blog devoted just to old Toronto postcards.}

Knowing that my free/internet time would be limited for a few days I wrote some articles (such as Friday's Doing your banking in vintage style) to help cover the duration of parents' stay in advance of their arrival. However, please forgive me if I've not been as on top of comments (thank you so much for each of them!) and visiting your own marvelous blogs as I normally am. I should be back in full vintage blogging force in a few days!

I miss you all and hope that you're having a fantastic weekend!