a few national treasures...

The Canadian Tenors are on a North American tour...

and had several concerts on the west coast this past week.

Though they are officially known as The Tenors now...

having dropped 'Canadian' from their title...

they are 100 percent Canadian and great ambassadors for our country in the musical arena.

We took in a concert on the weekend...

and were so glad we did!

They have performed for the Queen...

been on Oprah...

toured with David Foster...

and performed at the Emmy Awards.

If they are coming to your neighbourhood anytime soon...

go hear them in concert.

You won't be sorry!

My favorite tune?

Hallelujah!

And on another front...

(photo courtesy Special Olympics facebook page)

...here's a group of Canadian guys that did us proud in Korea this week.

The Canada West Floor Hockey Team

won gold at the Special Olympics in Seoul, Korea on Tuesday.

I just happen to know  the goalie...

Tyler Gilbert of Saskatoon...

and am so happy for him!

I will be leaving all things Canadian behind for a bit...

and am off to visit the largest city in the world.
I may just send a postcard or two.

If not...
I'll be back before you know it!

a few sweet things...

Did you know that Valentine's Day is just around the corner?

We kind of turned that corner a little early over here this year...

...and had our wee Valentine's party with the grands already. 

Guess who was the most enthusiastic about having a tea party at Grammy's house?

She has no recollection of ever doing this before!

Finger jello hearts were just what Lucy ordered.

White chocolate Valentine popcorn is a simple and yummy treat.

We had a lovely time...

big kids and little.

The wee china set that I got at four years of age and have kept intact all these years...

is no longer complete.

Sigh!

And I can't even blame the grands.

As I walked past the set tea party table...

I hooked onto the tablecloth and yanked everything onto the floor.

Two dishes shattered...

and will forever be missing from the set.

It's OK.

Who keeps china for almost six decades?

Speaking of  'china'...

I will be missing from 'my front porch' next week.

We are going on an adventure!

 I think I'll be drinking tea and eating rice.

I'll end with something a little sad and not so sweet.

We are off to a funeral today...

to celebrate the life of a man who is close to our family.

He is the 'other' grandfather to Maggie and Lucy...

the father of my son-in-law.

He loved his grands...

he loved his family.

He was called home before he reached old age.

Our hearts go out to them...

Tim and Heidi, Maggie and Lucy...

and all of the family.

Life is not always easy...

but God is always faithful!

a penny for your thoughts...

I wonder .. 

will we still be saying 'a penny for your thoughts' in the future?

Today marks the official end of the copper coin in Canada.

February 4, 2013 is the day the banks quit issuing pennies.
The last Canadian penny was produced in May of last year.
The penny will soon be an artifact.

No worries here.
I won't be out of pennies any time soon.

These were the ones I pulled from my coin jar yesterday.

I think I'll keep them!

And then I have a folder of pennies...

one for every year since I was born.

Now that is a lot of pennies.

And I have a few' really old' ones.

Even older than me! 

I don't think the penny will disappear overnight...

but merchants will now be rounding off purchases to the nearest nickel.

Up or down.

Electronic transactions will not be affected.

Phasing out the penny is a cost-saving government plan.

 $11 million of the annual budget goes to supply us with pennies...

since each penny costs about double its face value to produce.

Will the penny be missed?

Apparently Australia and Switzerland don't miss theirs!

The USA is still debating...

but has chosen to keep their one cent coin for now.

So...how about 'a nickel for your thoughts' about our pretty penny?