Joanne Sisco

Finding *Extra* In The Ordinary

Have you ever woken up in the morning feeling grouchy for no apparent reason?

That’s my world today as I nurse my coffee and a simmering growl.  There’s no particular explanation for it – I slept well and I feel rested.  There is just this underlying feeling of irritation that continues to linger.

To try and snap myself out of it, I went foraging in my photo library looking for pics that make me smile.

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April 2017 – an old beaver lodge found on the Trans Canada Trail near Inglewood

So today’s theme is just fun stuff I’ve found while out on various trails …

I think I might have featured this farm once before, but I still really like this scene. What’s not to love about a blue milk truck, cow statue, and a silo, which I’ve decided is just farm country’s version of a turret.

Beaver Valley - silo
June 2013 – Beaver Valley farm on the Bruce Trail

Speaking of silos, it seems that I’ve been finding a lot of them lately … and other remains of farms-that-used-to-be.

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March 2017 – Rouge National Urban Park

This beauty is actually in the heart of Scarborough, off a small trail bordering an inner city golf course.  Thanks to Bob Georgiou from Scenes From A City for writing about this gem.  I’ve driven by this golf course a million times and had no idea this leftover from farming days was hidden in there.

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March 2017 – Tam O’Shanter, Scarborough

I would have made a wish in this well, but it had been filled in with sand.

March 2017 – Rouge National Urban Park
March 2017 – Rouge National Urban Park

Someone with a sense of humour must have dragged this guy out onto the Bruce Trail. Admittedly, it was a little startling to encounter him in the middle of nowhere.  If I remember correctly, it had been an unseasonably warm day and I would have appreciated it if he had been offering icy cold beverages.

Beaver Valley - May 2013
May 2013 – Beaver Valley on the Bruce Trail

I think it’s working.  I’m starting to feel better already!

I hope your week is going well and you have many reasons to smile.

Beaver Valley - May 2013 (2)
May 2013 – Beaver Valley on the Bruce Trail

 

87 comments

  1. Everyone needs to be pointed in the right direction! (the lawn jockey…) How in the world did that heavy thing reach it’s final resting place? But very funny because so out of nowhere and not expected.

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  3. Hehe I had a giggle at your post. I very occasionally wake up feeling grumpy for no reason. That photo of the dairy farm is lovely – so neat and clean. We are often complimented on our neat farm but that one takes things to a new level.

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    • In contrast, this morning I’m all bubbly and smiley 🙂

      A well-kept farm is a pretty sight. It makes us city-dwellers almost believe it’s an easy life {hope that didn’t make you choke on your morning coffee 😉 }

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  5. I like the random pictures. When I have this grumpy feeling I prefer to treat myself and get back to work. An ice cream or a bar of chocolate is my mood enhancement therapy.

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  7. Oh yes, I’ve had some rather glum-for-no-reason days recently, and browsing through photos has proven to be a good remedy for me too!
    I particularly like the silo wrapped in vines – it made me think of the arteries wrapped around a heart. And those colourful chairs – wouldn’t it be lovely to spend a day lounging there with a couple of good friends! Wouldn’t feel grumpy any more after that!

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    • There have been quite a few people who have admitted to the grumpies this week. Must be an alignment-of-the-planets kind of thing 😉

      There is just something about sitting around a campfire enjoying an adult beverage that sounds perfect.
      Too bad it’s snowing today … gotta love spring in Canada :/

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  9. Oh so grouchy today, there’s something in the air! Loving your way of getting out of it though, my favourite is the one from Scarborough, stunning.

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    • I think this time of year is making us all feel a little impatient.
      I’m discovering that camera therapy – either taking photos, or reviewing photos – helps kick-start a better mood. It’s not as fattening as chocolate 🙂

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  12. Joanne, I hope your day was fabulous and it ended with a smile. Wonderful photos, but the ones of the statue on the Bruce Trail and the lawn chairs made me wish that today was a beautiful day for a long walk. Unfortunately, not, but Saturday has great promise!

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    • This is a wet and soggy week. Today we are expecting record levels of rainfall.
      I’m hoping that it changes for the weekend too. I haven’t been on my new trail bike yet and I’m itching to go! Hopefully Monday will be our first riding day on the Trans Canada. Fingers crossed!

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  13. Photos definitely cheer me up too. We all have no reason to be grouchy days… but it is the little things that are the mood changers! Nice photos. You do go on the best walks Joanne!

    Peta

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    • I can tell from your posts that we have a similar attitude when we go out …. it is almost certain that we will find something interesting that captures our attention 🙂

      I ended up having a GREAT day, so mood changers are possible!!

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    • One of the women I was hiking with that day was really creeped out by it.
      I can only think that it was done a local person who uses the trail regularly. I can’t imagine why else someone would drag a statue into the forest.

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    • Thanks Bob for revealing this beauty to me. Even looking for it, it wasn’t obvious!

      In the Bob Hunter Memorial Park – which is part of the Rouge – I found 3 old silos and it’s actually a nice nature walk. I will be going back there again.

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  19. What a lovely cheerful collection of photos. I agree with Donna about photos and music having the power to cheer us. Is it because they connect us with the world again?

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    • That’s an interesting thought … I suspect you’re right. We probably get grumpy when we’re too inside our own heads. Reconnecting with the rest of world creates equilibrium again.
      At any rate, it worked! 🙂

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      • I’m glad it worked! I’ve found as I get older I’m less grumpy inside my head than anxious. I think I’ve got better at asking for what I want rather than festering — so I have less to be grumpy about, but the first-thing-in-the morning anxiety is new and a bit troubling.

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        • I’m still really bad at asking for what I want or need. I tend to be a ‘sensing’ person and I’m terrible at articulating how I feel.
          I wonder if your first-thing-in-the morning anxiety is a transitional thing. You have been, and continue to be, going through many major life changes right now. Every morning you wake up in the proverbial eye-of-the-storm. It’s still quiet and calm, but soon the winds and waves will start crashing again.

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          • I think I learned very quickly to ask for what I need when I had a tiny, screaming baby and was going (not very) quietly crazy. It was the first time another life had been so entwined with mine and I really needed help to cope.
            I think you are right about the anxiety and transition. I am used to planning everything and being in control. At the moment I feel that life is largely out of my control.
            Thanks for that: definitely food for thought 🙂

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  20. There is lots of “Extra” in ordinary. I love the title of your post. I think you have spring blues, that’s what I call it. You are ready for the outside world and the weather is not cooperating. Just a few more week and it will be May, you will feel better then. As for the milk truck…it’s just too cute.

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    • I think you’re right. I call it Spring Fever and I get it every year in April. It’s a feeling of impatience like waiting for the curtain to rise at the theatre.

      The more I look, the more I’m delighted that there is so much *extra* in the ordinary around us. All my life I’ve been too busy with *stuff* – school, work, kids – to really notice. Now I simply rejoice in it whenever I can.

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  22. What a lovely post Joanne – trying to find the magic…scrolling through your photos helped me find a tad of magic. Thanks! 🙂

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  25. I have been waking up grumpy for too long – Monday I got an injection for my back and hip issues, and today was the first day I woke up with no pain! Hope my grumpy days are over and hope you are back to smiling again soon!

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    • When you’re in pain, it’s an entirely different story … and mornings are a challenge because everything stiffens up overnight.
      I’m so sad that this is still an ongoing battle for you. I hope this injection gives you some long term relief.

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  26. I love the old vines on that silo, Joanne. They make it look so magical. And the three chairs by the fire pit? I’d like to sit in the sun there right this minute. 🙂 Hope you have a brilliant day after the slow start 🙂

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    • That silo will be one I want to revisit when the leaves are out. Nature is so amazing and she is trying to reclaim this tower for her own 🙂

      Hope your day is brilliant too. The sun has popped out here after a day of pouring rain yesterday. I’m on my way out to enjoy it.

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  27. I hate mornings, but I seldom wake up grumpy. I always wonder why I woke up grumpy, like a bad dream I couldn’t remember?
    Coffee helps, and quiet, staring out at the trees 🙂
    Glad you got a smile out of your photos, I enjoyed them. Love the silo. They’re a dime a dozen here, but I never tire of them!
    I sure hope the rest of your day is good!

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  28. Do I ever wake up grumpy? Pretty much the default mode. Though I keep it myself. (Unless my chatterbox hubby asks one too many questions.)Then coffee. Coffee makes it better. And reading blogs. Like this one.

    Thanks for the smiles.

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    • Coffee does make it better … except this morning it tasted like swamp water. I threw it all away and made another pot. I obviously did something wrong the first time. Now I’m back to *me* again 🙂

      I can’t even blame Gilles for this morning’s grouchies since he’s not home, and poor Theo got snarled at for having the audacity to walk away from me when I opened the door for him to come inside.
      We have since made up with snuggles ❤

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      • Oh my, it was a fractured energy day down south, too? I was up at 4:30. Couldn’t sleep. Back for a good snooze at 8:30. GOOD Coffee and kitty snuggles are the perfect remedy.

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        • Ugh. I hate it when I don’t sleep well. On those days I don’t even have the energy to be grouchy. There’s nothing better than a great daytime nap 🙂
          Hope the rest of your day went well.

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  30. I wake up grouchy pretty much everyday Joanne but once I have my coffee’s I tend to settle down. I think I have finally figured out why I’m grouchy though. You see I have been retired for about four years now and my wife is recently retired (the company she had worked at for the past 32 years had closed its doors and went out of business). It had always been a dream of mine to possibly live in Europe or at the least somewhere else in the USA (other than New York). Don’t get me wrong I love NY but being retired the property and school taxes are killing us. To make a long story short my wife would like to sell our home which has been mortgage free for quite some time now and purchase another home maybe closer to her mom and sister on the east end of Long Island. I would also like to sell our home but maybe rent an apartment or home in The Netherlands, the UK, Germany or even the southern coast of Spain. I feel you only live once and being we do not have children we should enjoy our life to the fullest. We scrimped and saved while we were working and have a steady income stream now that we are retired. Its a pretty good scenerio and we are very lucky in that respect. So I guess we are all grouchy in some way or another for reasons that other people might view as silly.

    Sorry to write such a long winded reply 🙂

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  31. It’s amazing how photographs, like music, have the power to lift our moods. Hope that your day is getting brighter!
    PS – Beautiful pics!

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    • So true. There’s really no reason to stay grumpy when there are so many reasons not to be 🙂
      Yes – I have found my smile again and I’m ready to be around other humans 😉

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  32. I don’t wake up grumpy, but I often feel very lethargic – have all sorts of plans but then on the day I ‘can’t be bothered’. Wish I knew how to kick my own butt!

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  33. If you were here, Joanne, (which sounds like the start of one of Dan’s posts), I’d make you tea, bring out some shortbread, and we could relax and ignore the grey, rainy day outside. Yes, I’ve had those mornings, but thankfully not too many. I like your thought about silos. No reasons farmers can’t have turrets, too.

    Happier Wednesday!

    janet

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    • … and I would take you up on your offer of tea and shortbreads. That would be a lovely way to spend a dull, rainy day.

      Now that I’ve wrestled my grumpies back under lock and key, I’m ready to greet this day with a smile. Hope yours is smiley too 🙂

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