Penny Plunkett

Congratulations Penny! Many of you know Penny Plunkett from being in the bookshop.
Penny is now a Sales Rep with Remax Simcoe office, 103 Queensway E.
http://www.simcoerealty.com/
The Neat Little Bookshop has shared commercial space with Penny for the last three and a half years ~ watched her skillfully buy, sell and lease various properties of her own; however, her prime work since the early eighties has been title-searching at the Cayuga Registry Office. She has provided this service for the legal profession and others.

Penny continues to do historical searches for those of us who desire to know as much as we can about the history of our property. Her solid background knowledge of real estate will be a big benefit to her future clients. We wish her luck in her newest endeavor.

Penny can be reached at 289-237-2615 (cell) or at the Remax offices Simcoe or Port Dover or Delhi. http://www.simcoerealty.com/

Smile for Today:

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

~ Helen Keller, American author, the first deafblind person to earn a BA. (1880 - 1968)

Sign Leading to James N. Allan Provincial Park on the shores of Lake Erie, Haldimand County. Twenty minutes from Cayuga.

Top photo by: Vavoom Photography. Vavoom is available on Facebook.

Click on photo for larger image.

Merle Shain lived and wrote in Toronto, Ontario. Her work for the CBC, the CTV and for magazines such as Chatelaine, McCall's, Cosmopolitan, Toronto Life, among others, influenced a generation of women. Her numerous books on love, intimacy and commitment won unreserved praise in the Canadian and American Press.*

"Instead of handing out Bibles you might be compelled to hand out copies of Some Men Are More Perfect Than Others." ~ Helen Worthington of the Toronto Star. The Hamilton Spectator wrote about When Lovers are Friends, "What a book! Rarely have so many truths been crammed into one slim volume." Her books are filled with poetic prose, wisdom, healthy observations and understanding, and most of all, awareness of the human condition.

Merle was a feature writer for the Toronto Telegram; associate editor of Chatelaine; columnist for the Toronto Sun and host of the CTV news program W5.

Merle Shain died at the age of fifty-four in 1989. Her books include: Some Men are More Perfect Than Others, When Lovers are Friends, Hearts We Broke Long Ago and Courage My Love.

*McClelland and Stewart Limited, Toronto, Ontario.

"There are many who believe that fulfillment is to be found by finding one person and sharing your life with them, but I do not think that is how it works, because so many of the people who believe in that are looking for the perfect person still while other sources of fulfillment pass them by.
I think instead that life is round, that the current runs from each to each and then back a different way, and when it does not, life is a broken thing.
And I would tell you this ~ if you are looking for a friend, look for a person who is loved. Look for a friend with many sources of supply. And while there might be days when you'll wonder if there'll be anything left for you, in general I think that you will find what you get is a richer brew." *

~ Merle Shain (1935 - 1989) Canadian Author and journalist

* When Lovers Are Friends, J. B. Lippincott Co., N.Y., 1978,

Order Out of Chaos

Graham Greene wrote to "make order out of chaos." In the grind of a busy week, calendars, day-timers, scribble pads are essential to an orderly routine.
Plans change. Cancellations and postponements are inevitable but in the general scheme of things, a person is careful to be consistent. The human brain insists on some semblance of order.

Why is it then that we accept the politician's (not all) flip-flopping ~ saying one thing one day, another the next? A municipal councillor recently told me one thing to my face, then stood up in a public meeting and said exactly the opposite because it was to his benefit.

A politician's rendition of an event or a policy is prone to change, I suppose, because he is talking to a lot of people. I respect that. He is inundated with ideas and conflicting information. However, I think we should be able to expect a simple qualifying statement or explanation, even if it is, "Yesterday, I thought this... Today I have changed my mind."

Election Day is Monday, October 25. Make your voice heard.

Thought For Today:

"The ideals which have always shone before me and
filled me with the joy of living are goodness, beauty, and truth."

~ Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) German physicist, author.

Nature's Gifts to All Are Free

"Why, ye tenants of the lake,

For me your wat'ry haunt forsake?

Tell me, fellow creatures, why

At my presence thus you fly?

Why disturb your social joys,

Parent, filial, kindred ties? ~

Common friend to you and me,

Nature's gifts to all are free:

Peaceful keep your dimpling wave,

Busy feed, or wanton lave;

Or, beneath the sheltering rock,

Bide the surging billow's shock..."

On Scaring Some Waterfowl, Robert Burns, Scottish poet (1759 - 1796)

Photo: Lake Erie, Ontario (Click on photo for larger image.

Your Smile for Today:

"Every human being has hundreds of separate people living under his skin. The talent of a writer is his ability to give them their separate names, identities, personalities and have them relate to other characters living with him."

~ Mel Brooks (b. 1926) American film director, screen writer.

Solar Sentiments

Solar Sentiments are clear on Mount Olivet Road in Haldimand.

(Tongue-in-cheek: We may have to rethink the purpose of The Neat Little Bookshop blog.)

There are important issues facing our area. Folks are feeling that there is an imminent invasion of unwelcome outsiders. There is a concern that our council be ready to collaborate with the necessary levels of government and form the necessary partnerships in order to minimize the impact of the influx of wind and solar farms. There is a movement afoot to ask the province to declare a moratorium on windmill and solar farms until thorough research can be conducted and stronger regulations enforced.

Municipal election is on Monday, October 25. Make your voice heard.

For a list of candidates go to http://www.haldimandcounty.on.ca/

James N. Allan Provincial Park ~ Myrnam Beach

Looking west... Looking east...

Looking west... Astonishingly undeveloped: A kilometre-long, Lake Erie beach.

Most conversations in The Neat Little Bookshop are enlightening. Astonishingly, the last few weeks reached a new level.

We have lived in the area our entire lives ~ several generations ~ and had never heard of the James N. Allan Provincial Park ~ until this week. It has come to light because of Haldimand Council's hiring a T.O. consultant to study the north shore of Lake Erie. Someone described it appropriately as the "best kept secret in Haldimand." Many understandably consider turning the planners loose to be a frightening thought.

Photos: by Lorna (For larger image, click on photo.)

Ontario Provincial Parks Website describes the natural features:

Undeveloped shore. 1 Km. of pebble beach. 100 m. beach with fine sand. Approx. 60 hectares is forest and wetlands. Total 117 ha.

Visit http://www.hnpa.ca Haldimand Northshore Property Association.
Haldimand County Tourism Facebook: See Jeff Ballin's photos, July 21 Beaches of Haldimand County

Municipal Election is on Monday, October 24. Make your voice heard.

Small Village Life

Pick up the morning newspaper in your housecoat or wander into the garden in pajamas. There are no fast trucks, no loud streams of traffic, few people.
We are surrounded only by an array of open lawns. Huge old catalpas, maples, ash, walnut and pine trees. The odd tree is aging and destined for removal but neighbours trade saplings like perennials so new trees keep appearing.

Walk to the Post Office, the grocery store, the drug store, the small-town department store or take a relaxing drive along the Grand to Caledonia, Dunnville or through the farming community to Hagersville. Shop at the farmers' markets.
In the village or within a few kilometers we have some of the best antique stores, art shops, schools, little theatres, churches, cafes, pubs, museums and libraries. New arenas are popping up. Soccer fields, tennis courts and baseball diamonds dot the villages. Don't plan to go swimming though unless it is summer. Local service clubs work hard to provide folks with the extras but an indoor pool escapes us.

At the end of the day, it is the considerate, caring, friendly country people who win our hearts. Cayuga is a great place to live.

On a River ~ A Wave and A Smile

Yesterday a gentleman in the bookshop asked us why Cayuga is a good place to live. Without having to think, we replied, "the river." Cayuga is on the beautiful Grand River.

We are surrounded by beauty in a peaceful country landscape. We never tire of the drive home after a day's work in the city. But the conversation got us thinking about so much more. We will never forget the first few days after we moved here. Folks smiled and spoke to us on the street. Strangers waved and said, "Hello."

Tomorrow: More about life in a small rural village and why we choose to live here.

Photos: by Lorna. For larger image, click on photo.

Today We Stop to Remember... Lest we ever forget.

This Ain't No Healing Town

by Barry Callahan, the son of the late Canadian novelist Morley Callaghan.

"Of course in recent years ~ the forty years after the War ~ there has been a building boom, an explosion of shopkeeping. The grace waters of the lake have been almost completely bunkered off by a concrete elevated expressway and a cluster of downtown banking towers have been built, erections to dreams, but make no mistake, these are austere secular steeples, new cathedrals on the same old corners, casting their shadows at right angles to each other to make a point: the top of the line is always the bottom line.

"My father told me back when these banking towers were going up, when I was a young writer thinking that I wanted to tell a truth or two, that the writer always has to deal with appearances, with shadows and what goes on in the shadows...

"The shadows in this town have got dense, and with different colors, more dense than you can shake a nightstick at." ~ Barry Callaghan, This Ain't No Healing Town ~ Toronto Stories, Exile Editions Limited, 1995.

Barry (1937 - ) is the son of the late author Morley Callaghan.

Photos by Lorna. Toronto, Ontario. Click on photo for larger image.

King Arthur and Guinevere

Ever wondered what the medieval bride and groom served at their wedding? King Arthur and Guinevere feasted on roasted boar, roasted venison, roasted hare, little birds toasted, big birds stuffed, big pies, little pies and suckling pig. And, of course, great pitchers of ale and wine.

Story Hour in the Neat Little Bookshop offers kids adventure and excitement ~ a chance to explore some of the classics and any number of contemporary stories. They choose a book to read and we sneak in a book with some literary value. Yesterday we read excerpts from a Scholastic childrens' book, King Arthur His Knights & Their Ladies by Johanna Johnston. Before they knew it, the kids were right there in the medieval castle dining with 150 knights at the great Round Table.

End of Summer. Monarch butterflies gathering silently in the tree branches on Lake Erie shore. Haldimand County, Ontario.

Stop by the Neat Little Bookshop. We have a new photo display.

Cayuga Village Centre

Flower boxes along Highway 3 and Cayuga Street provided by the Cayuga and District Chamber of Commerce.

The regular breakfast meeting is on Wednesday, September 8 at The Gingerbread House Restaurant on Highway 54.

Thought for Today:

"The heart hath its own memory,
like the mind,
and in it are enshrined
the precious keepsakes
into which is wrought
the giver's loving thoughts."


~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet (1807 - 1882)

Photo: by Lorna. Mount Olivet Haldimand County

Sights on Jarvis ~

Our hearts are broken this morning. We have lost one of our own. Robert Schweyer passed away late Thursday evening, September 2.

Robert is the well-known, respected author of the historical WWII book, Sights on Jarvis.

We extend our sincerest condolences to his wife, Cindy, Sarah and Mathew and to the rest of Robert's family and friends.

Imagination

Kenneth Grahame, author of The Wind in the Willows, believed that imagination is a "higher gift." We watch a beautiful three-year-old play throughout a day creating a series of fascinating imaginary worlds.

Using few props, she excitedly draws the adult into her games incorporating stories that she has been told, experiences that she has had in her short three years and her childlike, innocent imagination. The line between fantasy and reality is indistinguishable, barely defined.

In Joy of Books, Eric Burns expands on Faulkner's theory that a story comes from three sources: observation, experience, and imagination. Faulkner explains that it is hard to know just how much comes from which source.

We watch our three-year-old go off to Junior Kindergarden on September 8. Will her imagination survive or will she be channelled and moulded into a replica of students who came before and those who will inevitably follow?