Well in honour of Canada Day, I am taking a break from working on my latest Mental Health blog, so I can share with a few cool things that only my Canada has!

Thrills

We have a gum available only here called Thrills. Sadly to tell all you non Canadians, you will have to travel here to experience the unforgettable taste of this purple gum. It comes in small little rectangle shapes and tastes exactly like dish soap! Yep, I kid you not, DISH SOAP!! lol

Tim Horton’s coffee.

Tim Horton’s coffee. Yes, you can get coffee anywhere in the world, but Tim Horton’s coffee is only available here! Sad to say that even though I am not a huge coffee drinker, when I am away from Canada for more than a week or so I start to miss it!

Beavertails.

Beavertails. No, I don’t mean the actual tail of our national animal! A Beavertail is a real Canadian favorite! It is a delicious deep-fried pastry that is topped with your choice of yummy toppings, such as apples, strawberries, or chocolate, to name just a few options!

Breathtaking scenery from Coast to Coast! The pictures are lovely but don’t give the real beauty for sure!

A Bloody Caesar.

A Bloody Caesar. Not the salad but the vodka and CLAMATO juice drink. If you are from the United States, you may know a Bloody Mary. Well, let me tell you, nothing compares to the authentic spicy and unbeatable taste of our Caesars! It is sad when some people try to pull a fast one and serve you a Bloody Mary when you ask for a Bloody Caesar! We Canadians like our spice, and the only way, in my opinion anyways to get that, is by using Clamato juice NOT tomato juice! 🙂

These are just a few of the unique to Canada things that I love about this great country! Please drop a comment about something totally Canadian that you love OR something unique from YOUR country that we Canadians may not know! 🙂

Until next time my friends, be kind to yourself and look out for others! xo

This was by far one of my favorite and yet difficult posts to share with you all. It has prompted a few others posts that I will be working on in the next while to honor those who have fought for everything we are very blessed to have in our country today.

As a military veteran, and someone with a passion for many things military, I loved learning some great details that I really wasn’t very educated on up until this point.

Let me share a bit of background for the info and the gentleman I will share with you here. I am very fortunate, honored and proud of a peer support group that I help facilitate on PEI. Brave&Broken is the name of the group, here is the link to the website, if you would like to see more!

This group has really evolved into a family. A family of veterans who all have at least one thing in common, we will understand that family is not just those related by blood.

My Brave&Broken family has given me so much strength, support and love in the past 2 years it is just incredible. They are a great part of how I keep going and pushing through even the toughest of times. We meet on a weekly basis, this past week one of our members brought in some memory boards displaying a few local veterans who were part of the D-Day history.

I read each board with such amazement for a multitude of reasons, the pictures from the 1944 era were so touching and really showed a side of history that many don’t see or don’t care to think about.

I would like to share with you one particular gentleman, who is still very much alive and kicking today. Ira Enman is one of the few remaining WWII survivors. I am very honored to call him my friend and family.

Before I share a few points on D-Day and a couple of photos of Mr.Enman, let me share a bit of his story. At the young of 97, he still lives independently on his own in his home in PEI. He celebrated his 97th birthday this year! He is active every day and loves his walks along the boardwalk or spending time socializing at the indoor walking track or casino. He is more active then many folks half his age and will always have a smile to share with anyone he meets.

Ira, shown here, bottom left with glasses, and some of our Brave&Broken family celebrating a dinner together, just after his 97th birthday!

He was born in Harmony PEI in 1922. He was unemployed when WWII broke out and joined the Canadian Service Corp in New Brunswick. He was employed as a dispatch driver of trucks and motorcycles. In 1941 he was deployed to England , where he endured the London Blitz. He was a member of the No.63 Army Transport Company, where his duties included delivering supplies and messages to front line troops, convoy escort and prisoner transportation. He remained in Britain until landing in Normandy on July 7 1944. He returned to Canada in 1945 after fighting his way through continental Europe.

Upon returning from the war Ira spent years in Boston working at Thermo Electron.

He retired back to PEI in 1990 and resides in the same home he purchased in 1990! Ira was first married to Ellen, who was a war bride from England. After she passed away, Ira found a second love by the name of Dorothy, who was an island girl, who has also passed away.

Ira received the following medals and decorations from his service, 1939-45 Star, France-Germany Star, Defence Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal.

Here are few points about that infamous day back in Normandy.

• D-Day and the Battle of Normandy has become one of the best-known parts of WW2
• Largest Seaborne invasion in History
• The beaches of Normandy in France would serve as the landing spot.
• Operation Overload was the name given to the planning and prepping for the D Day attack. ( this Op began more than one year in advance)
• Omaha and Utah ( for the Americans) Gold and Sword (for British), and Juno ( for Canadians) were the code names given to the landing locations.
• In the early morning hours, much before dawn, 450 members of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion jumped inland. They were the first of our soldiers to engage the enemy.
• In preparation for this Canada used Debert Nova Scotia, to build a mock village called Ortona Town to train the troops before sending them to Europe via boat.
• 14,000 Canadian soldiers from the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade landed at Juno Beach.
• The Canadians along with the British made it further inland than any of the other invasion forces.
  Approx 360 Canadian soldiers were killed on D Day.
  In total, more than 5,000 Canadians died during the two-and-a-half-months of fighting in Normandy.

To read in-depth about D Day here are a few links.

Pte Ira Enman

Ira Enman was born in Northam PEI. Joined Royal Canadian Service Corp in NB.

Ira’s War Diary

I truly hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed putting this one together! Please take the time to share these kind of stories with our younger generations. This is a part of our history that really needs to be shared and remembered. Thank a veteran, or currently serving member whenever you can, please. ! xo

Until next time my friends, be kind to yourself and look out for others! xox

Whenever I go for a walk or am out driving I love looking at things and wonder about the story they could tell. Maybe it’s an empty lot, an abandoned building, a statue or an object with no description. Do you ever wonder what stories surround it?

I find myself wondering all the time, ” geez I wonder what those walls could tell” when I see an abandoned house. It really makes me wonder. I don’t think I’m alone in thinking, or at least I hope I am not! Imagine what life was like for that period of time before it became abandoned. Well, today I want to share with you something that I discovered, a book and little history from pretty much my own back yard.

I am extremely new to the little community we call home right now. I have no roots here but I know there is lots of history and lots of family tales to be told. I was at a local garage today getting the oil changed on my car. I look beside me on the bench as I waited and a book caught my eye. A beautiful face on the front, the face of a woman who has lived a long life. The title of the book is – Evelyn Last of her Kind-. I gazed through the book and looked at the pictures to start. WOW let me tell you, I was amazed and soon found myself fully into all her little stories!

This day I was hoping the oil change would take a long time! lol, It wasn’t too long but just long enough!! I was fortunate to be there long enough to flip through and read the entire book, taking in all the pictures, smiling the entire time.

Evelyn gardening, she always grew her thumbnails long, it made it easier to get the beans out of the shells she said!

Before I left, the lady who owns the shop made a comment about the book and we started talking. It turns out Evelyn, prior to being moved to a senior home and then her passing in 2016, she lived just down the street from where I live now. Her house has since been torn down. However, her lot is one of those places I often walk past and wonder, what stories it could tell. I had the privilege and honor of reading some of those stories about that lot in years gone by.

Evelyn in front of wood pile, with one of her pets!!

Evelyn wasn’t famous worldwide, but she was well known in her community. She was a hard worker and sounded like not only quite a woman but a one of a kind quite a human.

The book told of her life on the farm, it was just her parents, her and her sister. She worked on the farm from a very young age, doing the work that normally boys in the family would do.

Right up until she was removed from her home, she lived alone, with her Cat named Buttons, and 2 chickens. She would split her own wood in the summer, and haul it into her tiny home all winter by herself.
The book is a series of interviews done by the writer over a few years, it shares her stories about her love of farming, and being independent.

One of my favorite’s things from the book was on the back cover, which contained some quotes from her. Her words of wisdom.

One of my favorite’s things from the book was on the back cover, which contained some quotes from her. Her words of wisdom.

The world today has gone beyond the people. The people can’t keep up anymore.

Evelyn Chrtostoper

I loved thinking about how life was so much different when Evelyn was growing up. People don’t take the time for our elders as we used to. It really makes me sad to a point. It makes me wonder who will be the “Evelyn’s” of today.

Until next time my friends, be kind to yourself and look out for others! xo

We headed up to Banff Gondola, for the evening. We decided we would wait and grab a bite to eat while at the Gondola, which turned out to be a wrong decision at this time on a Saturday night! The only option was some chips, peanut or chocolate bars at the gift shop. The restaurant at the top of the Gondola is reservations only, and it was fully booked when we inquired.

The Sky-Bistro looks like quite an experience, and next visit it will be on our list to do for sure. https://www.banffjaspercollection.com/attractions/banff-gondola/dining/

We wanted to go around sunset to see the Alpenglow Festival in the sky. Check out more official words on the Alpenglow Festival here, https://www.banffjaspercollection.com/attractions/banff-gondola/events/
We grabbed a couple of snacks, purchased our gondola tickets and made our way to the tram entrance. It was a very short wait with lots to look at as we waited. We were amazed at how quick the trams enter and exit the corral platform area. The four of us entered the tram and the worker closed our doors and we were off on our 2292 feet high ride. Well, let me tell you, none of us were expecting the blast off out of the gondola building. We all said a few not so family friendly words and then started laughing!! The view was amazing and we had the 8-minute tram ride to really soak in all the beauty around us. The ride itself, once you get going doesn’t really seem all that fast now. It is enjoyable. Well for 3 of us it was! My son, the Combat Engineer who jumps out of fully serviceable planes with a parachute for a living, was not a huge fan of the 8 min ride. So, of course, being the loving, supportive family we are, we had to give him a bit of a hard time about that. He really did great and began to enjoy the views. You can see the entire town of Banff and all the mountains surrounding Banff, it was truly breathtaking. We reached the top and we began to explore the Gondola summit, the building is beautiful with a lot of exhibits, displays, and a gift shop, there is also a Starbucks as well but it was closed, just like the one at the Gondola base was. We strolled around a bit and then headed out to the boardwalk to make our way to Sanson’s peak

This peak is named for Norman Sanson, who would walk, every week, for 30 years to check the weather up until 1945. He was 84 years old when he stopped. He recorded his data in a stone building still located on top of Peak. The boardwalk was phenomenal, with lots of lookout points, steps, and turns, none of which Norman would have had way back then. The journey was so breathtaking, the temperature dropped about 10 degrees along the way. We took a bunch of photos and took in so much fresh mountain air , really just taking in all the views. It was pretty clear and flat walking along most of Boardwalk, with only a few icy patches, that could easily be avoided as long you were paying attention.

When we got back to the Gondola summit, Phillip Alexander Nugent was playing live music in the area that overlooked the great sunset, he was really good. https://www.phillipalexandernugent.com/. Be sure to check him out if you are ever in the area. We browsed around the inside of the Summit. There was a small with an Imax type film, it showed a short, bird’s eye view film of the sights surrounding Banff in all 4 seasons. There were interactive structures and some short videos clip walls. I have only a few pics of the inside, as I somehow deleted them, or never really took them, I have no clue what happened with that. (Struggles of being not very tech savvy!) Once we sat down for a drink and to take in some music after browsing, Lorena and I tried the Alpenglow Sparkling, it was very tasty, bonus too, it came with cotton candy. Bren had an Alpenglow Winter Ale, from The Grizzly Paw Brewing Company! We watched people gather s’mores sticks and head out to the outdoor patio to roast their s’mores at the great little fire pits outside. We chose not to do that, not huge s’mores fans, but it was great to see. The younger kids there seemed to love it, as did the young at heart. As the sun began to set the colors on the mountain changed so often, it was such an amazing, calming and peaceful sunset or Alpenglow, I’m still not sure what was what. The picture really don’t to it justice, but hopefully will give you enough to know you must add Banff to your bucket list.

When the Sulphur Mountain Observatory, way up top, where Norman Sanson would record the weather weekly was no longer needed, the location seemed to be ideal for a Cosmic Ray Study Station.

We made our way back to the tram line up to catch the bus back to town and finally find some food! All of the staff at the gondola were super friendly, the guy who loaded us into our tram was super smiley and made us all smile! Well, remember I said how fast the tram car left the platform on the ride up? Well, the ride down was way crazy faster. I was videoing as we were leaving, I must warn, the video does have some profanities in it, we tried our best not to, but a few just slipped out! Sorry to all that don’t want to hear that, but if you can mute, you should be ok!! The sun was set on the ride down, this allowed us to see more of the twinkle of lights in Banff and surrounding areas. We took a few more photos at the base before hopping onto the great transit system once again and headed back to the hotel for some eats! I love riding the buses in Banff, so many tourists and so many accents to hear.

Join us at The Meatball for our late supper adventure at the Banff Ptarmigan Hotel, our check out day and the trip to the Hot Springs, where we soak up the sun and take in more mountain views from the relaxing Hot Springs!

Some videos have foul language. Please mute if you prefer!

We tried our best to keep all videoing foul language free, but some just slipped right out!

Be sure to subscribe to my blog at the right, or look for subscribe box, so you won’t miss out, still so much to share from our whirlwind Banff visit!

Until next time my friends, be kind to yourself and look out for others.