While in Guelph and needing to ‘waste’ time – of course I brought my camera for the flowers! What a beautiful opportunity to be IN nature at Riverside Park in Guelph. The location is ideal, close to the hospital and so peaceful! As we moved down by the water, I was watching the seagulls and geese preening themselves, I suddenly spotted this beauty! We had a moment, a few beautiful moments. I am grateful for his presence, and that I brought my camera 😍
The garden July flowers. These hostas have always went to bloom around my husbands mom’s birthday, and sadly around the anniversary of her death as well. The one year it was on her birthday, I came home to see them like this. Having them so beautifully in full bloom, healthy and vibrant is meaning a lot right now.
Today, July 29 is another full moon. Apparently a lucky full moon. More energy shifts happening.
On June 29, 2026, 8:56 PM EST, a Full Moon peaks at 08º14’ of Capricorn, while Mercury is stationary retrograde in the opposite sign of Cancer. A lot is going on in the heavens these days, and the current Full Moon is shining a light on where we are at in our reparenting and maturation journeys, asking us to refine the balance between nurturing our inner, emotional lives and taking care of our worldly responsibilities and commitments.
When the Moon is Full, emotions are intensified, situations can reach a point of culmination or resolution, and clarity becomes available. At this time of the month, we have an opportunity to see everything more clearly, or we can no longer pretend we don’t: we are being asked to acknowledge what works, what doesn’t, what needs to change, and what needs to be released.
Asking for help may be more difficult than usual these days: with the Moon here, we can be more drawn to suppressing our feelings and needs and choose a distorted form of stoicism over the risks of embracing vulnerability and showing emotions. At the same time, the Moon in Capricorn helps us stay grounded in reality, have clear boundaries, and not get lost or stuck in the ebbs and flows of emotion.
As the Moon in Capricorn opposes the Sun in Cancer, we are being offered an invitation to practice reparenting ourselves, becoming our own mother and father, the adult our inner child needs. The invitation for us is to honor both our need for nourishment and care and our desire to build something meaningful in the outer world, knowing that one doesn’t necessarily exclude the other.
I messaged my husband before our daughters appointment today, my back is so sore I definitely need an epsom salt bath when I get home.
The same back, hip pain, on my lower left side, as yesterday. Both days my daughter had appointments for her upcoming Thyroid Cancer Surgery.
I am drained!
I got back and within an hour, probably less, the pain was leaving my body. I was also back at work. By the time I got home, the pain is non-existent.
The link… our energy is what holds on in our body, especially when its traumatic in many ways… This upcoming long weekend, 5 years ago was my husbands last of 3 surgeries on his ankle. All 3 surgeries were at the hospital where our daughter will be having her surgery.
Its like all the trauma of 2020 and 2021 was suddenly flooding into my body again. Not being able to see him, being horribly disrespected by nurses when I was trying to get information, being dismissive with me, dealing with a negligent doctor, me being “trained” medically to do his wound care because home care wasn’t home care anymore because of covid, my family couldn’t visit their husband and father after a tragic scary accident, but after surgery 2 they would bring him down to the parking lot to see us.
The appointment today was actually at that hospital. I haven’t had a need to be at this hospital, since my husbands final follow up appointment, which was years ago.
Our son and his multiple surgeries took us to Toronto, thats next level for me now. A place where my nervous system cannot handle driving!
Today, it was like every and all trigger medically that we have faced in the past 6 years was being thrown in my face and I was not only in pain, I was angry. Making the pain worse. The closer we got to the hospital, as we were driving away, I still felt that anger. Even on the drive home, until I had something else to essentially distract.
So very interesting, as I type, I am realizing this is actually it.
I can feel that truth in my body. I remember like yesterday, after surgery #2 speaking with the doctor, who advised it didn’t go well and he would need to stay to wait for further tests… Saturday to Thursday, then home with IV antibiotics 3x a day.
This experience, the entirety of it, is still stuck in me and is spiraling fear into the upcoming surgery for our daughter.
I am so grateful to have this come forward now, I am guessing, I think its Rosemary that helped. As I was choosing oils out of my oil box, I grabbed Rosemary, initially I wanted to put it back, even did start to, and then something stopped me, you need this… I think Rosemary is Knowledge and Transition…
Oh my goodness, that is it, and so much more.
Transition
Change
Trust
That is the key word right there… TRUST!💖✨️
A snippit from the Essential Emotions app…
I wrote this while in the tub… almost 2 hours later my husband came in to find me, still in the tub! I needed the soak and to clear my mind! I had no clue that much time had passed by…
My mind is muddled this week, a lot happening for our girl, which is good. But also means my brain is quite foggy and overwhelmed at the moment. Everything feels heavy, however I need to be in the light, in the trusting knowing that all will be well, whatever that means.
Someone told me on Friday a comment about how strong I am, without even realizing I had turned and was telling them how frozen I am in the evenings. Its easier to be at work, in the flow of things, with others in our office/shop and the phones ringing. And yet, that also makes it harder as well. Or returning home where I create my own flow.
5 years ago this weekend, my husband had his final surgery on his ankle, surgery #3. The irony, when I looked up the 2021 calendar, that July matches this July perfectly…
My mind cannot wander, my energy must be in full trust for all.
Enjoy this photo of raindrops on a plant, it may actually be a tree, I think its a tree branch.
We have been in a heat wave in Southwestern Ontario for weeks now, this week we finally had a bit of a reprieve, cool in the mornings and evenings, hot during the day, much like fall! However the heat was back yesterday with 35 C!
Anne introduces this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge with Summer Daze! She has some fantastic examples with water, camping and more! Be sure to check out her gallery at the link above.
Summer Dayze for us is a variety of home, cottage and golf – all places and spaces we love and enjoy! Embracing the shifts and loving where we are at has been freeing!
Dogs in the water at the cottage
Seagul on the beach
With big kids we love the seadoos!
The bay can get busy with the big + little kids playing, boats, seadoos, kayaks, etc!
Dog daze…
Summer Fog!
Golf is something we love! The odd time I have the inspiration to bring my camera, so glad I did the other night, the lighting was incredible! A few years ago my husband bought me a new set of golf clubs for my birthday, so grateful he did! Our Friday night golf nights, have turned into a favourite night for us, its not each week, so when we do get out its special.
Check out the light Friday evening!
I had a strong pull to Pike Lake for Friday, we even actually cancelled and re-booked, for the same time, that was still available. I also had a strong pull to bring my camera, I knew I wanted to bring the 24-70mm so I grabbed my R6MII. The sunlight was incredible, so many sun codes streaming down.
The light on the final hole was incredible!
This is one, above, of my favourite images! We went out for a ride and so I grabbed my RP + went wide with the RF 15-30mm a nice light combo! We had stopped and I reached my arm out and shot up! I honestly don’t use this lens much and yet, I Love the results. Beautiful high summer sun on wildflowers!
Summer dayze for a Sunday Side x Side ride after lunch. Ran into a few mennonites.
Love all the wild flowers, thats my kind of garden ;)
I love when I feel inspired to grab a lens I don’t normally gravitate to, it felt like we were so close when I took this photo, wide at 15mm. Summer back road tours with the windows down!
I kept seeing a monarch butterfly on our drive back, I know realistically it wasn’t the same butterfly, sometimes its better to allow the dream world to be on the forefront vs reality. What are the chances that I could take a shot, while driving, and the butterfly is sharp! Meant to be. Summer country roads.
Country summer harvest
Thank you for viewing my interpretation of Summer Daze by Anne for this weeks Lens-Artists Photography Challenge!
I am feeling an immense amount of gratitude, even among an emotionally challenging time for me. Photography has been almost like my therapy, something I love, and also something that also pushes me to push my limits. Capturing life with a camera, moments frozen in time as photographic memories. Life has reminded us so many times the importance of living for your happiness, regardless if it makes sense to anyone else.
If you would like to join in on the Lens-Artists Challenge please tag your post so others can find you and comment and share your own blog post link on Anne’s post, the original poster for the week.
Yesterday, July 22nd, I was reminded of the power of belief.
Just after lunch, I had a strong feeling to check my phone, and open our family email.
15 minutes prior we had received an email about our daughters surgery for her Thyroid Cancer with a date.
It is something we have been waiting months for and suddenly reading it, speaking those words to my daughter, it all felt so.much.more.real.
The gratitude I felt…
I was able to reach her and her boyfriend was with her at the time. 15 minutes later and he would have been gone back to work.
I was able to reach my husband, who was working on a job with very sketchy cell service. Earlier I wasnt able to get him on the phone.
I returned back to work and my son was there, I was able to tell him next.
I felt so grateful that our family could know before I let our extended family know.
This afternoon, I felt compelled to open Instragram, when it opened it was open to my photography account, one I haven’t been spending a lot of time in. I read this post, Photo below.
The 4’s a sign from my brother.
July 22nd, the anniversary of my mother in laws passing, 22 years ago.
It was when I read this, I put together that it certainly was not a coincidence that we got the email today, with a date thats soon.
Something Ive been stressing about for her healing before school.
Now we prepare… emotionally and organize her space for ease and comfort after surgery.
I’m also praying hard… that when our girl has surgery its a one and done. My husband had 3, our son had 3, his most recent in January this year. Now our girl. Its hitting me the hardest this time. My nervous system is just so delicate.
We will be enjoying a lot more home time, which in the big picture is great, we love our home, we purposely built a covered deck for the 3 season use. And I am sad that we will be missing out on cottage weekends for a bit with all of our family.
Our daughters health is the priority, just as we made adjustments with my husbands accident and multiple surgeries and our sons multiple surgeries. In these moments, I am SO grateful our home additions began in 2019, it has made living, what has felt like the unknown for so many years.
Reading this, felt like a breath of fresh air, freedom. The ability to simply live life and be happy. I really do live a simple life, we spend a lot of time with family and have some really good friends. We love our time at home and especially since the renos and additions.
Both my husband and I have already begun to feel this shift.
I know without a doubt my husbands mom, my mil, made this happen. Ive been so anxious and our girl has as well. Alot actually. This is such a hard part of being a mom…
We’ve got the surgery date, this is a good next step! Im just letting myself feel all the feels. Believe in all the signs! 💖✨️
