Your Smile for Today:

"I have tried simply to write the best I can; sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can."
~ Ernest Hemingway, American writer and journalist (1899 - 1961)

Boston Marathon 2010

Congratulations, Harvey, on what we think is a truly amazing achievement! Cayuga resident, familiar face, Harvey Foote successfully ran the 42.2 km 2010 Boston Marathon. Also completing the race were his son, Harvey Jr. and his niece, Leanne Till. His grandson ran in the 5 km 'junior' run at Boston.
Harvey and his wife, Agnes,are our 'fascinating personalities' of the week. For the full story, pick up "The Haldimand Press," available at local shops.

Artist Photographer Scott Walker

Using a variety of medium including air-brush, acrylic, art pencil and photography, Scott creates a unique expression of nature and beauty.

His series, Strength and Beauty, is an interpretation of fitness and health.

Scott's moonlit landscapes of Toronto and Burlington, Ontario, revive thoughts of quiet and solitude.

We are pleased to present Scott's work at the The Neat Little Bookshop.

Wednesday to Saturday 11:00 a.m. 'til 5:00. Open Friday 'til 7:00.

Your Smile for Today:

"It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know the sense of wonder and humility."
~ Rachel Carson, nature writer, marine biologist best known perhaps for her articles "Silent Spring" which appeared in The New Yorker ~ later to be published as a book. (1907 - 1964) Credited for advancing the environmental movement.

Krista Schaus ~ Professional Power Lifter

It is with great pleasure that The Neat Little Bookshop presents SHADES OF BEAUTY ~ a photographic study of fitness and strength.

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Local artist and photographer, Scott C. Walker, and celebrity body-builder and performance specialist, Krista Schaus, have teamed up to create a new perspective on health and wellness.

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For the month of May, we will be featuring various articles, books and pictures on health-related topics. Watch for date of Krista's visit to The Neat Little Bookshop.

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To learn more about the world of power lifting, body building and secrets to motivation, explore Krista's exciting website. Check out her WebMag. http://www.definingedge.ca/

Photo: by Scott Walker

This week in Niagara Falls. Remember the fishes in the fountain? They are still jumpin' and the daffodils are high. How old are these fish?! We have generations of family photos beside them. As the season warms, they will spout water from their mouths.

Magnolia Trees

This week in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The magnificent magnolia trees.

For larger image, click on photos.

Your Smile for Today:

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"One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach. One can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few."

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~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906 - 2001), American aviator and author, wife of Charles Lindbergh.

Canborough Grace United Church

On Sunday, May 16, 10:00 a.m., the bell in the tower will ring one last time. The congregation at Canborough Grace United Church will reminisce about special occasions, celebrations ~ weddings, baptisms and deaths. Children will take their favored places in the Sunday School room. Sweets and tea will be served. There will be scrapbooks and photographs for reflection.

The small country church often serves not only as a place of Christian worship but also as the hub of social life in a community. Folks meet Sunday after Sunday, catching up on who is well, who is ill and who is away ~ sharing good news and bad.

What has changed so drastically in our culture to silence and close a church? Will folks in a rural area still meet and ask how life is, who is well and who is ill? What need existed for over 186 years that exists no longer?

Photos: by Lorna. To view larger image, click on photo.

Smile for Today:

"Find your own quiet centre of life, and write from that to the world."

~ Sarah Orne Jewett, American novelist and short story writer (1849 - 1909).

Thought for Today:

"You must have a room, or a certain hour of the day or so when you do not know what was in the morning paper...a place where you can simply experience and bring for what you are, and what you might be."

~ Joseph Campbell (1904 - 1987), American writer, recognized for his work in mythology and comparative religions.

Jane Austen ~ Haldimand County Museum

Haldimand County Museum & Archives Invites you to Attend a "DINNER WITH JANE AUSTEN."

Thursday April 22, 2010. Social: 6:00 - 6:30 p.m. Dinner 6:30. Catered by The Gingerbread House and Flyer's Cafe. Cost $25 per person.

Tickets available at the Haldimand County Museum, 8 Echo St., Cayuga, ON (behind the Administration Building). Reservations and information: 905-772-5880.

To view larger image, click on poster.

nichegallery.co.uk: Visit of Queen Mary II to South Queensferry

There is a blog coming out of Edinburgh, Scotland, that we follow.

For those with a piece of their heart in Scotland, this blog is like a visit to the isle. Thank you to the staff of this small shop (it may be larger than we envision) close to the Firth of Forth. The photos that the proprietor shares on-line are reminiscent of our visits to the Borders, one-time home of our Turnbull family.

Check it out. The Niche Gallery has on-line shopping.


nichegallery.co.uk: Visit of Queen Mary II to South Queensferry

Photo: one of our favourites from Niche Gallery, First blog post January 2, 2010.

"Reflections of An Amber Moon"

Another beautiful landscape ~ available at the Neat Little Bookshop,

Scott C. Walker

(Framed or unframed)

Your Smile for Today:

"Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good."

Samuel Johnson, English Author (1709 - 1784)
Leo Rosten's Carnival of Wit, Plume/Penguin Books, 1994

Caw-Caw Ballads

"Readers who have contacted the genius of Wilson MacDonald through the heroic splendor of his Out of the Wilderness -- a book which has caused critics on both sides of the Atlantic to herald the arrival of a new Whitman on the North American Continent -- will rejoice in the quick, sharp satire of "Caw-Caw Ballads..." *

We leave it up to You, the Reader:

The Pepless Crow
A bearded old crow,
Who had lost his pep,
Said: "Clothes for crows
Is a very wise step."

So "Clothes for Crows"
Was the slogan planned
By the pepless birds
Of Caw-Caw land.

And they passed a bill
That was circumspec',
And ordered all crows
To be dressed to the neck.

And then, when a crow
Went bathing in her skin,
Ten young men crows
Came peeping in.

But the law was repealed
One September morn
For too many little
Black crows were born.

CAW-CAW BALLADS by Wilson MacDonald, (1880 - 1967)The Broadway Press, Buffalo, N.Y., 1930.
*Quotation from dustcover CAW-CAW BALLADS

Wilson Pugsley MacDonald

April 8 was the anniversary of his death in 1967. MacDonald lived to be eighty-seven. His books are now dusty and old. The pages and the dust covers are fragile. The text and vocabulary are not always politically correct.

Wilson MacDonald is recognized in this area long after his death mostly due to the efforts of a loyal community and the dedication of a museum to his life -- The Wilson Pugsley MacDonald Museum located in Walpole Township, Haldimand.

Born on May 5, 1880, MacDonald made a career of travelling and doing readings, signing books and promoting his writings through delicately illustrated pen and ink tokens. One of these single-page cards was a treasured item among my Mother's papers.

The reason that I give space to this dead poet is that he qualifies for the dubious label "a stub" on Wikipedia. In short, an article too short to include more than rudimentary information and "deemed too short to provide encyclopedic coverage." However, in the words of Wikipedia, "You can help Wikipedia by expanding it."

Photo: by Lorna. Gravestone in Vienna, Ontario. (Daisy P. is his sister.)

At first glance, the website of Defining Edge Fitness Inc. may appear to be aimed at only the hardcore power-lifter and competitive athlete. Take the time to read the various articles on nutrition and exercise and recognize that not only professionals can benefit but also those who simply want to enjoy life to the fullest.

Click on Resources/Articles, read how to overcome sugar-cravings, how to throw healthy family get-togethers, how to get "ripped in 2 minutes with a Burppee" (Who doesn't want to get ripped in 2 minutes?!) and how to visualize success and recognize myths. Most importantly, click on "Enjoy the Journey."

For those of us needing a nudge, this is a useful website. Krista Schaus, certified trainer and strength coach, is a life-time resident of Haldimand.
http://www.definingedge.ca/

Defining Edge Fitness Inc.

Every spring, The Neat Little Bookshop features books and photographs on health and fitness.

For information and inspiration on personal fitness and training, visit http://www.definingedge.ca/

Krista Schaus, Owner, strength coach and personal trainer, National Natural Body-Building Champion, has three words for us:

Aspire. Act. Achieve

Artwork by Scott C. Walker

Available at The Neat Little Bookshop

http://www.definingedge.blogspot.com/ Krista is a life-time resident of Haldimand.

Old-Fashioned Bleeding Heart. Photo: by Lorna. For larger image, click on photo.

Your Smile for Today:

"Work keeps us from three great evils: boredom, vice, and poverty."

~ Voltaire, French Writer, Philosopher, (1694 - 1778) Candide, ch. 30.

The Big Black Smudge is an abomination to any book. It is arguably the most offensive act one can inflict upon a good book. What is the "big black smudge?"

The big smudge comes in several mediums: ballpoint pen, crayon, wax pencil ~ most commonly, it comes in a toxic, permanent black marker. Black marker damages several consecutive pages. A smudge is used in an attempt to obliterate a previous owner's name. (The irony is that generally the name is often still legible.) The result is that a beautiful book is defaced and rendered less attractive to the next owner ~ be that a collector or simply a book lover.

A lovingly inscribed book ~ and we don't mean an essay ~ can sometimes even enhance a volume; will certainly always be preferable to a defaced book. The previous owner's name is not always offensive.

We have come to believe that pencil is a lasting method of inscribing a book (if it must be done) and is reversible as we say in museum terms. There is something embarrassing about a book that shows up in used circles inscribed, "...lovingly always, until the end of time, my dearest, may this forever be a reminder of our treasured time together." And then to read the sentiment through a big black smudge?!

Vimy Ridge

In France stands a monument ~ a testament to the courage and sacrifice of the Canadian Soldier.

Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, April 9 - 12, 1917.

Your Smile for Today:

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can,
begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."

Johan Wolfgang von Goethe, (1749 - 1832) German writer, poet, philosopher.
Gift of Wings, Carl E. Hiebert, Boston Mills Press, 1995

(Carl Hiebert was left a paraplegic after a freak hang-gliding accident. But after just two months in recovery and two weeks in rehabilitation, he placed a Gone Flying sign on his hospital door and with the help of a friend, took flight in a single-seat ultralight aircraft ~ viewing from above his wheelchair in the field below.)

~ Day Dreaming ~

The Back 40 Restaurant and Pub, two doors away from the bookshop.

Photo taken on a sunny day in June, 2009.

April 7, 2010. No sun today. Only thunder, lightning, rain and dreariness. Customers told us about hail on Lake Erie. Folks talked about their arthritis and shared stories that were noticeably lethargic and melancholy. No question, the weather affects our mood.

(And there were no Wednesday hockey players descending on Cayuga Street today. Hockey season is over.)

Hockey Season

Your Smile for Today:

"You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take."

Wayne Gretzky, Canadian NHL player (1961 - ) known as The Great One.

Speaking of hockey ~ we will miss the season players. Every Wednesday they burst ~ adrenalin flowing ~ onto Cayuga Street for lunch at The Back 40. See you in the fall, Guys.

Village Centre ~ Cayuga Street at Highway 3

Shot of the moon taken with a digital camera through a telescope. Art and photographs available only at The Neat Little Bookshop. Artist/photographer Scott Walker.

Seedlings

Seedlings and seed catalogues ~ the very thought of gardening brightens a day! The arrival of the new catalogues in the mail heightens our excitement.

Spend a few minutes glancing through books, "The Companion Book of Herbs," "Rodale's Successful Organic Gardening" and our imagination begins to run wild.

The April issue of Harrowsmith Country Life outlines "The 10 Biggest Mistakes in the Vegetable Garden." The thought brings us back to earth.

Your Smile for Today:

"A well-stocked container herb garden is virtually an outdoor spice rack."

~ The Harrowsmith Illustrated Book of Herbs, Patrick Lima, Camden House Publishing, 1986.

Photo: by Lorna

Books and Coffee Stains

Bless the customer who doesn't mind coffee stains on his paperbacks! In fact, he would prefer a coffee-stained book to an e-book.
Yesterday it was announced in our newspaper that the six leading e-book suppliers are scheduled to increase the cost of e-books fifty percent. It won't come as a surprise to the reader of this blog that everyday we encounter book lovers who watch with curiosity the advent of the scanned book but express adamantly their preference to the paper book.

The customer who came in yesterday, purchased several used, like-new ~ no coffee stains ~ real books, expressed his amazement at the absence of books in a home in which he is a guest. "It may simply mean that they read books and get rid of them," was his comment. Then he said something incredulous that will forever make us smile, "I would rather do without plumbing than do without BOOKS!"