Happy Hallowe'en 2007

A Beautiful Day

Boating
Oct 22, 2007

The weather has certainly been unseasonable here, much warmer than it should be. So the kiddies shouldn't have to wear snowsuits for Trick or Treating tomorrow night. We were supposed to go to help hand out candy and grandbaby's house. We were going to leave tonight, babysit tomorrow and head home after the festivities except my husband and son are down with colds. This cold hit my husband quite hard so him driving down tonight was not an option and exposing the kids and grandbaby to the cold . So I did a little Hallowe'en decorating, not much mind you as I only put the decorations up the day before and take them down the day after. It felt good puttering outdoors enjoying the sun's kisses. I even took a break to sit on the dock enjoying the glittering water. What a beautiful day!

Monday Funnies - Tolerance

RIP Dr. Kornberg

Enchantment
October 25, 2007

Dr. Arthur Kornberg died yesterday of respiratory failure at the age of 89. He was an active professor emeritus at Standford's School of Medicine. This genetic pioneer won the Nobel prize in 1959 for the synthesis of DNA in the test tube. He compared the nitrogenous base compositions of the DNA template with those recovered from the DNA product thus demonstrating that the templates were replicated faithfully. He also used the nearest-neighbour frequency test to assay the fidelity of the copying confirming that DNA polymerase I seed to be the likely candidate for DNA synthesis during replication within the cell. Out of necessity Kornberg's experiments were performed in vitro.

I have had the distinct privilege and honour of listing and meeting some of the greats in the field of genetics. Dr. Kornberg was one of those that I had the opportunity to listen to, riveted in my seat hanging to his every word. I can still remember quite vividly the first time I separated a strand of DNA. It was a sheer thrill! Then it got better as I visualized the DNA as bands on a gel and realizing each band represented a nucleotide creating a sequence. I still get a thrill at seeing this. The pioneers of genetics left us this legacy. We are indeed very fortunate!

Rest in Peace, Dr. Kornberg and thank-you.

Thoughts on Autumn

Sunrise on Maple
October 25, 2007

I have a love/hate feeling about autumn. The abundance of the harvest keeps me busy as the days begin to cool and daylight hours get shorter. The sunsets and sunrises can be spectacular. Yesterday the sun peeped just enough above the peak of the house to light up one of the maple trees. The beautiful orange and red leaves just popped against the vivid blue sky! I love the days with blue skies and sunshine but dread the grey days like today. Everything takes on a grey cast including the water. November is my least favourite month because of the grey. It is such a long, dreary month!

Little Miss Sunshine

Now We're Cooking...
October 6, 2007

Little Miss Sunshine loves to help Grandma in the kitchen! I've been told by her mom that she like helping at home as well. Cupboards and cabinets are kid magnets but she comes by being in the kitchen by nature. Our kids were always in the kitchen and still are because of our love of good food so it is only natural she wants to be in the kitchen as well. We just have to work a little on her technique!

Wordless Wednesday - A Beautiful Sunset Over the Water

Sunset Over the Water
October 23, 2007

Final Boat Ride 2007

Final Boat Ride 2007
October 22, 2007

The weather turned unseasonably warm over the weekend. I wanted to take a final boat ride as our boat was scheduled to be lifted out of the water the week of October 22 to be stored for the winter. Unfortunately the weekend was too busy with preparing and hosting my husband's monthly poker tournament and taking our future daughter-in-law to the airport. I kept my fingers crossed hoping for nice weather yesterday and that they hadn't got to our boat yet.

Yesterday was warm and breezy. My husband called saying he was taking the afternoon off, one of the perks of self employment, to take the boat out for her final ride of 2007. I quickly tidied up my canning anticipating the boat ride. The water was crisp looking in the slip with the bottom and weeds showing clearly through. This is one of the first signs of colder weather coming. As we left the cut the beautiful blue sky with white wispy clouds took on grey tones. The water was a deep bluish green that deepened as we scooted over the choppy waters. The wind was strong going against the current creating some nice sizes swells. The skies continued to darken so we decided to turn around and head towards our slip. I stood for awhile enjoying the wind whip my hair around, drinking in the sights while snapping a lot of pictures. When we arrived back at the marina it was clear that they would reach our boat today ending yet another wonderful boating season. This year is a little bitter sweet as it may be the last year for this boat. We've been looking at buying a bigger boat and already have one possible boat in mind. We'll see what the winter brings. In the meantime we have a lot of great memories and pictures from this boating season!

Monday Funnies - Who Wants Ice Cream

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - Focusing on Family and Friends

Last week was filled with many blessings. A scheduled procedure had to be unexpectedly postponed so I busied myself canning beef and pumpkin. Both looked lovely in the jars as they took their place in an almost bulging at the seams pantry. Being able to stock the pantry through canning is always a blessing! The weather turned unseasonably warm so we were able to spend a bit more time outdoors, winterizing the house and simply enjoying the sun's kiss. Our future daughter-in-law came mid-week to spend a few days giving us a chance to visit. Last night my husband hosted his monthly poker game to some 20 gentlemen. I had a wonderful time playing hostess, serving up various snacks and chili as well as making sure things were going smoothly. Once again family, friends and good food were the focus - all true blessings!

Wordless Wednesday - Problem Solved

Problem Solved
October 7, 2007

Blog Action Day - The Environment

Today over fifteen thousand blogs with twelve million readers will be blogging on one topic - The Environment. Each of my blogs are participating, each from a different perspective so be sure to read them all.

Readers of this blog know that each Monday the entry is a funny of some type. Remember in humour there is an element of truth. Today's funny is a very good example of that.

Cirrhosis is caused by chronic liver disease. It is irreversible but treatment could stop or delay further progression. and is life threatening. The liver is responsible for filtering out toxins much like a river in nature. How appropriate to compare the current condition of our waterways due to toxins from factories to cirrhosis. We live on the Great Lakes waterway system. Industrial chemical spills are of concern in our area as well as in other parts of the waterway system. These spills are either accidental or illicit discharges of substances such as oil, hydrocarbons, chemicals and waste. Not only are these spills harmful to humans, they also harm marine life and the environment.

What I have noticed though that the problem is not caused just industrial spills. Littering and illegal dumping are common in our waters. The dump may be as small as pour the left-over contents of an herbicide into the water or releasing waste water into natural waterways. Some residents living along the waterways think nothing of dumping their yard clippings into the water. These are the very same people who would be very vocal over industrial spills. How are their actions any different other than being on a smaller scale? Farm chemicals enter the waterways through run-off as does the salt we use on the roads in the winter. Things like Tylenol and estrogen are showing up in our water supplies as well. Compounding the problem is the introduction of nonindiginous species into the waterways disrupting the natural balance.

It is time we as citizens of this earth stand up and say enough is enough! We need action and personal accountability for how we use water. If we don't our water will reach the point of suffering irreversible damage. Each of us has a responsibility to protect our water for ourselves, for future generations and for the environment.

Garden Gnome
©2007

Misty Sunrise

Misty Sunrise
October 5, 2007

It's that time of the year with cooling weather and foggy skies. I couldn't resist taking a few pictures of this beautiful misty sunrise. What a photo opportunity!

Blog Action Day 2007

October 15 is Blog Action Day. This year's theme is the environment. Imagine 9,898 blogs, the number of registered bloggers when I signed up my blogs, uniting to blog about a common theme. Each of my blogs will participate in this worthy cause. It will be interesting coming up with four very different entries that combine the topic of each blog with the theme of Blog Action Day. Please join the cause, register your blog and blog about the environment on October 15. You can blog about any topic relating to the environment.

Weather Turning

Sunrise
October 7, 2007

The days are turning grey with foggy mornings. The clouds reflected nicely off the crisping of the water giving what I thought was a pretty effect. I really don't enjoy this time of year, not with the grey. I love the fall colours but not the greying of the days. The only saving grace is being kept busy with preserving as much as possible. It seems the sun just disappears while the temperatures drop. It signals the end to the warm weather along with needing to get things ready for winter but it also triggers a negative mood swing for me that lasts for most of the month of November. I seriously need every light in the house on! The only things I really enjoy are seeing a full pantry and turning to genealogy.

We haven't had a frost yet even though our ADFF was October 8. Tomatoes ended last week so I'm working on apples and squashes along with canning a few meats to free up room in the freezer. At the same time with the cooling temperatures I'm busy sealing up the house. I'm scheduled for surgery on Tuesday so am working frantically to get everything finished before then. The timing is not the best given our boat comes out of the water the week of the 22nd and I doubt I will feel up to boating before then but if things go well I will be healed nicely before Christmas.

I'm aiming for going to our daughter's on Oct 31 to see our grandbaby's first Hallowe'en and help hand out candy because we have at most one or two little goblin visitors. We are going to babysit her for the day so that will be a real treat and I'm making dinner! I don't think they are planning doing the trick or treat routine with her this year because she is pretty small and they only know a very few people in their neighbourhood. They are going to be dressing her up for the occasion but I'm not sure as what yet. My husband is going to be dressed in his monk's outfit. Now if you know him you would laugh! I'm bringing my witch's costume so if I feel like dressing up I can. We are planning on coming home that night but it should be a lot of family fun!

Thanksgiving 2007

Blog Your Blessing Sunday - Thanksgiving Weekend

Tomorrow is our Thanksgiving and while we officially celebrated our last weekend the kids were home this weekend so it was still a food fest filled with a lot of love, laughter and good feelings. This time of year reminds me to always be thankful for very family and good friends. They are what really makes our life experiences. Both should always be treasured! They are true blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wordless Wednesday - Grandpa's Love

Grandpa's Love
September 28, 2007

A Rainbow Spotted on Our Road Trip

Rainbow
September 28, 2007

We left the house late Friday afternoon heading in an easterly direction towards our daughter and son-in-law's home. Safely tucked in the trunk was shredded barbeque pork for dinner and the turkey for Saturday's early Thanksgiving feast. The Canadian Thanksgiving is traditionally celebrated the second Monday in October. We had tentative plans for that weekend so an earlier date fit everyone's schedule and it meant that at least two of our married kid's would not have to eat two Thanksgiving dinners in one weekend.

We travelled north then directly east, made a couple of jiggs finally arriving at Hwy 401. Continuing on our journey, I spotted a rainbow. I took several pictures as the car was speeding towards its destination. My theory is the posted speed limit is the speed to be going but my husband's idea is as long as you are within 20 km of the speed limit, it's ok. Anyway, there were no signs of rain and the rainbow just seemed to appear out of nowhere. Somehow it just seemed so fitting. Here we were heading towards a family get together with the promise of a wonderful time. The rainbow echoed that promise.

The weekend was amazing. We enjoyed being with our kids and grandbaby. We even took a trip to a neat apple orchard, did a bit of grocery shopping but more importantly we spent the time with our family. On the way home I realized one of the dishes I brought needed to be used up so called my daughter. Then when we arrived home she called to say she got the message and they will be home this Friday for the weekend. So we are going to be having a second Thanksgiving dinner but lower scaled.

Monday Funnies - Barney Creature