Melissa's Diary is a blog that I follow.  When I access The Neat Little Bookshop blog, up pops a cute kitten-photo introducing Melissa's daily diary.  Yesterday a huge bowl of cat food prompted a stunned kitten to say, "This is supposed to do me 'til noon?"

I have never communicated with the author but when I do, I'll tell her how much her funny comments lighten my mood.  Melissa is an author for Harlequin Romance and as such she provides an insight into the world of meeting deadlines and the on-going dialogue between publisher, editor and writer.  She has more than one blog so click on several tabs!
http://www.melissamcclone.blogspot.com/

Cock-and-Bull Story.  Where did a fanciful tale get the name "cock-and-bull story"?  The expression is a derisive allusion to the fables of Aesop and others in which cocks moralize and bulls debate.

(Learn something everyday in the bookshop!)

Our Trail in Need of Clean-up

This time of year it is difficult to get a picture without garbage.  (Missed the plastic in this one.)

~ Why Do We Say It?  The Stories Behind the Words, Expressions and Cliches We Use, Castle Books, 1985.

Towpath Trail River Walk ~

According to Barbara Martindale there are two reasons why "Towpath Trail River Walk" should be the name of the Grand Valley Trail East and West of Caledonia.  First, in the days of The Grand River Navigation Company (1830s to 1860s), mules and horses towed the scows and river boats carrying important products including lumber.  Secondly, a committee set up in the seventies calling themselves The Towpath Trail Committee was successful in laying the ground work for what was eventually to become the Caledonia dam with extensive shoreline work including a dyke.

For a listing of upcoming Information Sessions on a Haldimand County Trails Implementation Plan, visit http://www.haldimandcounty.on.ca/ (Easier to Google Trails & Pathways - Haldimand County)

Cayuga sessions:
Haldimand County Museum & Archives, Tuesday, April 17, 2:00 p.m.
Cayuga Administrative Building, Council Chambers, Wednesday, April 18 - 7:00 p.m.

For Related information visit http://www.gvta.on.ca/



Along The Grand ~ Larger Image Please Click On Photo



Along The Grand Valley Trail ~



The Old & The New 






Note Trail Blaze on Tree - lbwalker

The Grand Valley Trails Association Guidebook available at The Neat Little Bookshop
http://www.gvta.on.ca/

Cayuga-on-the Grand ~ Photos:  March 26, 2012

"...it changed and I changed.  By the time I sat down at the typewriter, I was writing a book quite unlike the one I had at first planned to write, because I was quite unlike the person who had first considered writing it. I had an altered vision of life, not to mention an altered life.  My experiences had compelled me to start thinking about the ways in which life changes character and capacity, the ways in which the accidents of success or failure influence one's sense of oneself, the ways in which society both creates and destroys the human capacity for survival."

"Words are a form of action, capable of influencing change."  ~ Ingrid Bengis.*

Ingrid at The Strand Book Store, Manhattan, NY.

~ Ingrid Bengis, American writer b. 1945  Source:  The Writer on Her Work, Seventeen Essays, W.W. Norton & Co., 2000  Edited by Janet Sternburg.

* author of Combat in the Erogenous Zone.
Photos:  Wikipedia

Artist, Emily Carr, was already nervous speaking to 500 people at the prestigious Women's Canadian Club in Victoria.  Her works were on display and her lecture was an important part of the promotion.  When her voice could hardly be heard, the audience called for her to speak louder.  At that critical moment, Carr's pet dog, Ginger Pop, whom she had brought along, leaped to her defense.  He ran over to Emily and for the duration of the speech sat in front of her, staring "raptly into her face until she successfully finished her speech."
In CELEBRATED PETS, Endearing Tales of Companionship and Loyalty, author Cheryl MacDonald,  relates little-known stories by the likes of Grey Owl, Prime Minister MacKenzie King.  A story about the real Winnie-the-Pooh and Jumbo the elephant. 

Available at The Neat Little Bookshop $9.95.  A great gift for the animal lover.

"Endearing Tales of Companionship and Loyalty"