If Jack Russell Terriers Had Wings...

If Jack Russell Terriers had wings, this would be a very different world!

Indeed our one year old Jack named Mia is the friskiest little alpha female I've met yet! And we swear she sits at the end of our deck, watching birds, squirrels and chipmunks skitter through the trees around and near our backyard garden just wishing she had wings to fly up to the trees and get on the hunt! She's already proved to be a good mouser with 2 notches in her collar and she loves chasing bugs and bees! Unfortunately she also managed to catch two young sparrows through the course of the summer - she does have a love for hunting!

Running, jumping (very high!) and wrestling are her next favorite activities - that and anything having to do with water, she loves water and will stay in it while she shivers. I usually have to pick her up with a towel to get her out! What a girl! Bath-time is a cinch at least! She's my first Jack Russell puppy, we have fostered several male Jack puppies since adopting Mia and we've had such great fun in the garden with them all and our other pup who'll be one year old this month; Daisy. She's a beautiful Black Lab-Doberman cross.

One thing I can say, it's a wild and crazy kinda place in the garden with a slew of puppies running around! We have had to adjust our garden to keep them away from plants that might make them sick and protect the plants from being trampled. Fences had to contain the garden and then we learned we needed to raise the height of several fences because Mia can jump 5 - 6' when she's got a good run at it! She has escaped several times on us and we've had a few good frights. Truly, it's as if Mia has wings sometimes the way she leaps and jumps - spring-loaded terrier.



That speed and stealth helps Mia when she's playing with Daisy who is now three times her size and out-weighs her by 60 some odd pounds at least! Because they've been together since they were both young they love each other dearly and while they tousle and growl and grab each other by the ears they have a ball then plop down together for a good nap or a good chew on their rawhide sticks.  



I love the playfulness they've added to the garden! Once I get the lawn replanted things will look a little better but grass is something that grows fairly easily so I'm just waiting for the pups to settle down a bit before we expend all the energy to get a lawn going again! Maybe another year or two before we go to the effort of adding top soil and sod. It's the easy way and does work better then trying to re-seed a lawn with dogs running around!

Rememberance Day and Magical 11's!

It was a beautiful day in Guelph at 11:11 on 11/11/2009!  

*note: 11:11 on 11/11/2+0+0+9=11 the numbers 33 and 55 are also significant today!

Peace and a renewal of the conviction of Not Again was the mood of the crowd!
In particular re-iterating Canada's desire to assist in the maintenance of peace and the assistance in building of a solid infrastructure to support the people of war ravaged regions. That was what people I spoke with seemed focused on. It seems to me that's basically what the UN could be doing with quite a bit more authority!
some affirmations for this energized day and the times following, borrowed from a friend;

Do work with these affirmations and the energy

as you are guided...

"Every Cell of My Being Vibrates with the Energy of the Wisdom of Peace'

"I Vibrate Peace Wisdom"

"I create Peace"

"I Am Peace"

"I Create Peace"

"I Organize Peace"

(out of the particles of possibility that feels unorganized around me - I choose and I create and I organize the energy of Peace)

 I'm also working with a guided meditation that i purchased through katherine wright desai's website at http://vitability.com, designed to assist in creating and supporting vibrations of Peace. Helping even to raise the Peace vibration as much as possible on a Global scale!

I do believe Peace is possible!

I do believe People and Angels are working for Peace!

Living in the Magic

Living in the magic
I know you might not see it
but Im living in the magic
and learning how to be it

I'm living in the magic and
letting nature lend a hand
living in the magic
knowing life is grand
I love living in the magic
I have no other plan
just living in the magic
letting spirit lend it's hand.

I AM Living in the magic

and I know you might not see it

but I AM living in the magic

and I AM learning how to be it

I'm living in the magic and

letting nature lend a hand

living in the magic

knowing life is grand

I love living in the magic

I have no other plan

just living in the magic

letting spirit lend it's hand

cc 2009 Our Enchanted Garden / Cheryl Binstock

As Ever; Finding the magic, honing our skills and trusting all is well

  I've spent several years now following and watching and, when I'm lucky, capturing the magical moments that creep into life, that is if I am out of my way and when I allow my spirit and intuition to take the lead. This is where my inspiration for Our Enchanted Garden arose. Sometimes I manage to capture little moments in a digital image or video but in our most recent enchanted garden experience we are gifted with an interesting everyday life sort of story with wonderful twists and turns.
  I lost my job just recently, only to come home and find a cheque (enough to cover about a month of lost wages) in the mail - money owed to me from an insurance settlement for an injury incurred a few years back. Phew - crazy or what? While the job loss event upsets me in many ways, seeing myself at failing in the challenge, yet I find myself repeating the words; Things Happen For a Reason - because I just know it's so true. When I did that, it's as if i  unlocked some new level in the video game of our life!
  The day previous John and I had been speaking about the Law of Attraction from the perspective of breaking old patterns of behavior and we were presented with the challenge of determining what was wrong with our truck AGAIN! and if we had ourselves a *&%+#@(* lemon of a truck or what!!!! Funny thing is I suggested to John if he doesn't force the issue and he just "Goes with the flow" he might get a pleasant surprise and find the truck will be fairly easy to fix.
  Today he confirmed it when he went out to his truck (sitting lonely at the parking lot at work.) and after locating an interesting little re-set switch was able to start the truck with no trouble! He came home with such a grin on his face, it was great and we agreed it was worth not forcing the issue of trying to repair the truck immediately and just flowing through the challenge to find a solution.
It may be we have a design flaw in this truck that may be covered by a re-call so we will be working on exploring that with Ford!
  I continue to make the intent to move forward in my passion for my best and highest good and trust that opportunity will present itself to allow me to explore and express that in some manner. My passion continues to be Celebrating Nature, the Natural World and the Human Spirit immersed within it. I enjoy finding ways to share that with any who wish to explore. How I am able to express that in conjunction with my world experience seems to be some of the latest explorations spirit has taken me through.
  So in trusting that the magic will continue to unfold as I have always been able to feel confident with. I await the dawning of another new day and more magical adventures to encourage and inspire me further. This is such a joyful and productive activity I'm beginning to wonder why I would want to "operate" in any other manner! Many of us have underlying beliefs and have been programmed through generations to believe life should be hard to prove you are worthy somehow! This is something I don't really see happening in nature and it seems to me it is as un-natural for humans as it is for a lady bug!
  In the end I am ever humbled by the opportunity I have to experience such marvels. Many miss these little magical moments - they can seem so small, often they can be short-lived, and yet they can stand out like a beacon at the same time. Ever grateful, I remain;
The caretaker,
With love, ...from the garden

A trip into the city and a ride on the Go train!

  I thought this might be of interest to people who are considering greener alternatives to travel but have little experience with mass transit and are intimidated by the prospects of venturing into the big city and trying to coordinate with buses, subways, street cars and trains. The whole experience seems daunting if not bewildering. In this story, the city I'm referring to is Toronto, Ontario and we are traveling from the Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph region. 

  I've often traveled by bus within cities, between cities and across countries, since I was quite young if I include the school buses I've ridden in! It's always seemed a practical mode of transportation to me and almost always I've felt quite safe and comfortable on my travels. On a rainy day in September John and I planned to venture to Toronto to attend a birthday party for our 5 year old grand daughter. The location of the party was near Exhibition Place, a well known landmark near the lake shore.

I learned we could hop on the Lakeshore West line of the Go train from Union Station, on Front Street downtown right to Exhibition Station, near the entrance to the grounds. This seemed a fun opportunity to hop on the Go train and experience what it's like to ride the train in Toronto. We even got to find seats on the top level of the train. From Exhibition Station we had to walk the equivalent of several blocks to arrive at Medieval Times where 12 seats were reserved for our family to cheer on the Red Knight!

This turned out to be a fun adventure for John and I and it gave me the chance to see what the trains where like. How the connections worked and if it was easy to board, etc. I have worked as a ticket agent and I've always wondered what the Go trains were like. Over the years I've  been on Via through parts of Canada, plus trains and Metros in Denver, Montreal and New York City. I'd ridden the subway in Toronto and love taking the streetcars when I have the excuse, but hadn't ever tried or needed GO to get anywhere I guess.

Our ride into Toronto was via Greyhound and was a very pleasant, uneventful ride. Traffic was good the weather was fair and we arrived at the front doors of The Royal York Hotel in downtown Toronto, right on schedule. This first stop, on Front Street is across from Union Station where we connected with our train to Exhibition. Union Station is a hustling, bustling place and it's been years since I'd been there, pre-Go years I think...I found the Go extension to the building and the construction around Union Station difficult to maneuver around. I also discovered there where lots of stairs to climb and descend. As a result I don't recommend this route to anyone with a physical limitation making walking or climbing difficult.

Our return trip was almost the opposite except that we had to make our way to the terminal at Bay Street. We decided to take our time and walk from Union Station up Bay Street to Dundas where we'd be able to catch our return Greyhound bus.  It's a great walk if you're able or have the time. There are many interesting and historic buildings along the way, bringing you right near the Eaton Centre and Nathan Philips Square, Toronto's City Hall. The ride home was rainy outside, warm and sleepy inside and John and I both agreed it was a great idea that we decided to take mass transit to make our trip stress free. It worked well for us and helped us reduce our impact on our environment at the same time.