Jeff Seffinga's Book launch

On Thursday night I went with two friends to the ArtWord/Artbar on Colbourne. Our mutual friend Jeff was having his book launch - a poetry book on cats.

I only took one shot of Jeff and here it is.

All dressed up at his book launch

The ArtWord/Artbar was crowded which was nice to see.  I sat with Ed and Carmelita as I hadn't seen them for quite some time. 

The first act was very different from what I was used to, but many people found it very interesting to watch.  Jeff came on after 8 p.m.  That was the main purpose of me being there, to support a friend.

Jeff, as usual, read well and I enjoyed his cat poetry.  He truly is a cat lover.  Here is a picture of him from the party I held in honour of the poet Afifa.  I think this is one of the best pictures I have of him.

Jeff and Boots - buddies for life!

He had a saxaphonist playing with certain of his poems and this really added to the enjoyment.

The girls and I left after Jeff finished his first set of readings as we do not like being out on the street late at night and they had far to go.

All in all, a lovely event which I enjoyed.

Wilma's poetry salon

On Wednesday I invited six people to share poetry, knowledge of Sufism, and to meet a sufi poet who was visiting Canada from England. Her husband was invited as well, but was unable to make it this time.

It was a very good event and people were extremely compatible!  As usual, I baked quite a few goodies and made a delicious rice pudding topped with whipped cream.

Afifa, my Sufi friend from England reading from her book

Jeff and Boots. 

Rice pudding topped with whipping cream

We started off with tea and coffee and then Afifa explained about Sufism and showed the assembled people how to do Zikar.  It ran 45 minutes and gave the guests a good overview of Zikar. She also explained about how she came to write her beautiful poetry book which includes her own gorgeous illustrations.  Her book is  called "Return"  Sufi Poems and Art by Afifa Ematullah. 

Rhona and I

The buffet table

The hostess with a sample of the baked goods

After the Zikar, which everybody listened respectfully to, we all had more refreshments including the delicious rice pudding which went over very well. 

Zikar, by the way, is what all Muslims do, using the Tasbiah as a reminder as they pray the ninety nine names of God.  (Attributes of God)  It is a very beautiful and peaceful thing to do.

It was the first time that any of the guests had met a person who was a Sufi.  I was very pleased with their respectful attitude towards her.

Wilma, Rhona, Afifa, Jennifer and Jeff (one lady did not wish to be on a blog, so her wishes are respected.)

Wilma and Afifa

Wilma and Afifa

Wilma, Afifa, Jennifer in front of the buildings Christmas tree

Afifa explained the practice of having a guide along the path of Sufism. The Shaikh is only that, a guide to help the person attain self awareness and to help them on the path to knowing God.  She described it as a grandfather helping his flock along the right path, if I remember rightly.

Afifa and I in front of the downstairs mirror.

Afifa, bundled against the cold.  Jennifer took this picture.

Exhausted but happy with the success of the party

Jennifer took this picture after the party I think

All in all, a very successful and worthwhile day.

Sunday night's events

It was Lit Live last night at the Sky Dragon.  I had only intended to go until 9 p.m. but since James was reading in the later half of the evening I stayed till the end.

There will not be a Lit Live in January in case anybody reading this planned to go. 

Norma and James drove through a terrible snow storm near London.  Another writer also had to make that journey.  Apparently there were some accidents on the way. 

This was the last reading in Hamilton for James as he will be moving as soon as his house sells.  I feel quite sad about this as I have gotten to know him fairly well over the years he has been here.

I love to say "hello" but hate to say "goodbye"

David and Renessa drove me home which I appreciated.

Today I plan to stay home and do some jewellery work and perhaps continue writing my story for the contest.

It is nice to have some quiet time.

Events from Friday and Saturday

Don't forget to mail your letters to Santa Claus!

Yesterday afternoon, Jean came to visit me and we had coffee and goodies together.  I have set up the house with the seasonal decorations and have put my Christmas cloth on as well.  We had our coffee by candlelight and listened to classical music and chatted.  I thoroughly enjoyed her company.

Her third book is coming out shortly and she will be doing a cross Canada tour.  I find her amazing.

She brought her gorgeous jade necklace with her so I could work on it and restring it.  She treasures this necklace as she bought it in China at a museum.

I will really enjoy doing that as I love jade myself.  I won't need to rush with it and will have it ready for Lit Chat and deliver it to her there. I walked her to her car as she was not familiar with this area.  She had a terrible time finding reasonably priced parking.  The lots, one beside me and the other in front of my building, charges $6.00 an hour. In the end, she found the City Hall parking which was better priced at $2.00 an hour.

Rahel, my dear neighbour came up for tea later on and we also had a nice visit. I had planned to go to the Arts Hamilton Members Show but was too tired as I had not slept the night before.


One must be very creative to rescue food sometimes. Here is what happened. I baked a cake similar to a pound cake but for some reason it burned on the bottom. This was Jean's first visit to my home. She has been to one of my jewellery parties but never to my home.

Needless to say, when  the cake burned on the bottom, I was not overly thrilled. What to do? I cut off all the burned parts, chopped up the cake in little bite size pieces, ran over to the drugstore and bought whipping cream and a tin of fruit cocktail, and voila, a rescued desert!

I made my speciality, homemade bread rolls filled with cheese and also some with corned beef and relish and both Jean and Rahel loved them.  I was able to send Jean home with a couple for her lunch which was nice.
Now onto other things.  Today, Saturday, was washing day as the Hydro people want everybody to conserve energy and do the washing etc. on off peak times.  I wonder how that will work in apartment buildings where there are only a few machines for many people. There is no way that people will be able to follow that request.

I needed to go over to the Farmer's Market to get a few little things and had some nice conversation with Riad and also Julia, two of my favourite vendors there.  There will be a big rally in front of City Hall on the 9th of December at 10 a.m.  to protest the market changes and I hope to be able to attend.  Riad and Julia are only two of the people that are losing their spots.

After the market, I went over to Gore Park for the Christmas events going on, which included music, Santa Claus, people in period costumes, children's area for facepainting, and various other things.

I took some shots which I will post here.

Each year, Gore Park is transformed into a Christmas wonderland.  The little train in back as well.  I love that little train and the little ones are so thrilled to be on it.  It just makes my day to see their enjoyment.

Santa had a little Elf helping in his workshop

Cinderella even came to Gore Park.








The Tree of Hope

The reason for the Season - the Nativity Scene

Old Fashioned Fire truck - Santa drove in on this with the siren going!

A choir who sang

My favourite little train.

How to Get Better at Rewriting - (Your Writing Coach) - First Impression Critiques

How to Get Better at Rewriting - (Your Writing Coach) - First Impression Critiques



Please click on the underlined writing.  It is quite an interesting video which I got from Monique Berry's Website.


Thank you for reading my blog.

First of Advent Service - 3 p.m.

Such a beautiful service!  It is my favourite service of the whole year at St. John's Lutheran. 

I brought a male friend of mine with me and he also seemed to enjoy it.  He sometimes comes with me to St. Paul's and St. John's and he has invited me to go to the Catholic church with him one time when we were at a street festival. That was a nice occasion as he also took me out for lunch at a tea room on Locke Street.    .

This service is in the two languages, German and English.  I can remember my church in Montreal, we tried to do the service  in German, English and French and that was so difficult.  I can sing in the three languages but it was hard for my mind to switch easily from one to the other.

With just the two languages, it is easy.  I so enjoyed singing the old German carols.There was a recorder group, a guitar player, the beautiful choir, English carols, a poem by our resident poet read in German by his granddaughter (poet - Herbert Fischer). 

I was especially touched by the poems, some in German, some in English and the duet by Barbara and Jayne. Needless to say, we sang Stille Nacht (Silent Night) with the lights off and just the candles glowing.


The last thing at the service was a solo by Christine,  "Die Glocken von Santa Maria". Tears of joy streamed down my face as it touched my inner self and brought back so many wonderful memories of lighting the advent candles, singing German carols, being with friends who are family and reflecting on God's love for human kind.  I still keep many of the traditions of my youth. I have the advent candles at home, the tree candles (which I do not light) and even though I am alone, it still is my very favourite time of year.  It is similar to the feeling of Eid, which also is a wonderful time of family gatherings, greeting friends, going to the Masjidt (Mosque) for prayers and a general good feeling.

Now back to the Service.

When Christine sang, I felt so "at peace". Her voice just was so wonderful.  A gift from God.


Many of the singers at the church  also sing in  the Germania Club choir and they tour around Canada from time to time.


The whole service was peaceful and I was so happy to be there.  I love singing especially when it is about God and His love.  My friend is from another religion so he was not used to these carols so was unable to join in that part of the service. 

Afterwards, everybody was invited to come downstairs for sandwiches, cake and coffee etc and I was able to introduce my friend to many of my friends there.  He is a "people person" and thoroughly enjoyed meeting others.

What a beautiful and peaceful way to start the Advent Season.

God Will Make a Way