Wordless Wednesday

Foggy Drive
December 27, 2008

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

14 lb baby born in California

photo courtesy of KTLA News

Oh my gosh! Congratulations to the happy parents and sister on the safe arrival of their little bundle of joy. You can read the full story here and story with video here.


Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Random Act of Kindness

Laneway
December 24, 2008

We were recently hit with a couple of storms that left a good amount of snow on the ground with no signs of quitting. Overnight on the 23^rd we were hit with wet snow and freezing rain turning what snow we had on the ground into a shoveling nightmare. The laneway was filled the morning of the 24^th so had his morning coffee then got dressed to start shoveling enough that we could get out. With more nasty weather predicted we had decided to leave early for the kids. He hollered "Honey, come see this!". Expecting the worse I rushed up the stairs to be greeted with this view. One of our neighbours had plowed out our laneway! What a wonderful and very much appreciated surprise! Thanks to this random act of kindness we were able to get on the road sooner than expected arriving at our destination while it was still daylight. What a lovely pay it forward.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

2008 Blessings

The year 2008 has been very busy indeed. Along with being busy it came with a few bumps and glitches like watching the marriage of one couple who are friends break-up and dealing with more plumbing issues but it has also been filled with many blessings. For that I am very grateful.

We enjoyed a wonderful vacation in sunny Florida in January. It was not extravegant but it was relaxing and a heck of a lot of fun. February was rather uneventful. March brought weather and plumbing problems including a close call with now parents to youngest grandbaby crashing their vehicle on their way home to the baby shower. We were very blessed that everyone was fine even though the vehicle wasn't. April brought us a beautiful little bundle of joy in youngest grandbaby and she is just a little sweetie always ready with a smile. In May we vacationed in Las Vegas. June, July and August we boated. Somewhere in between we successfully renovated the kitchen as a DIY project that was very challenging but we survived. In mid June we bid a tearful parting to one of our kids who after a very long wait was able to get the clearance to move to Wisconsin. In July we watch as they said their vows starting a new life together. We also got the wonderful news that a new grandbaby would be arriving in April 2009. September, October and November were rather uneventful. December has been a whirlwind of constant being on the go with traveling to Wisconsin and east to the other kids where we spent a few days at Christmas. In between we did a fair amount of entertaining.

So looking back on 2008 on this last Sunday of 2008 we have been blessed with family and friends, great neighbours, good luck, a roof over our heads, food on the table and the ability to travel. We have had the immense blessing of being able to share in both grandbabies lives, watching them grow and develop their own little personalities. At the same time we have enjoyed watching our kids as they moved into their next stages of life. There were a few times where I'm sure we were blessed from a few angels looking down as well. We've been warm, comfortable and despite the worsening economy we are fine. As 2008 draws to a close and we look forward to greeting 2009 we look forward to the new year with all its hopes, dreams and blessings.

May 2009 bring you many blessings,

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

The bathtub Test

The Bathtub Test

During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the
Director "How do you determine whether or not a patient should be
institutionalized"

"Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer
a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty
the bathtub."

"Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would use
the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the teacup."

"No." said the Director, "A normal person would pull the plug.
Do you want a bed near the window?"

~author unknown



Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Grandbaby's Couch

Grandbaby Couch
December 25,200

Santa brought oldest grandbaby a new couch for her bedroom. It sure looks compfy, doesn't it?

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Merry Christmas

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Wordless Wednesday

Snowdrift
December 21, 2008

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Mac vs PC

You have likely seen these humorous commercials involving the Mac verses PC debate. I think they are hilarious! As a bit of a background, I learned computing on Unix then had to learn Mac. Our second home computer was Windows 3.1 based and we worked our way up from there. There were a lot of things I liked about Windows but over the years there were a lot of thing I didn't like especially when I had to run several security software applications just to deal with security issues in Windows. A few years ago I made the switch to Mac and now have an iMac with Duo core that is partitioned for both Windows XP and Mac. The Windows partition is never allowed online and is essentially used for genealogy. I use Legacy Family Tree Deluxe which still is not available in Mac format and I have not found a program that I like better so need Windows. I use Mac for anything online and most daily computing activities. Ok, so back to the commercials.

I find these commercials humorous on a few levels. First PC which actually means personal computer is implied to mean Windows and for the most part that is what people mean. So by definition any home computer regardless of the operating system is a PC including a Mac. It's an exercise in semantics! Now if you look at the characters in the commercial there is the old, geeky, conservative Windows verses the new, preppy, progressive Mac and they make use of every stigma possible to get that across in the characters. The concept of complex and easily broke (Windows) plays nicely against simple and unbreakable (Mac). And just when I thought they couldn't get any funnier they come up with animated Christmas versions designed after the older children's Christmas classics. Too funny!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Friends & Family

This time of the year everyone seems to bustling about buying into the consumerism ideal and glitter of the holiday season. They are so absorbed they forget to say please or thank-you, they forget to be courteous and considerate drivers and they forget that family and friends are more that about buying the latest, greatest whatever. They forget the true meaning of Christmas. I'm sorry but this is one of the things I detest the most about the holiday season and it will always put me in a horrible mood so I deal with it by avoidance.

I love spending time with family and friends anytime of the year but during the holiday season it always seems a bit more special. Last week we visited the kids in Wisconsin knowing for the first time since our kid was born we physically would not be present Christmas day. Since then we have talked several times on the phone and will be calling Christmas day because even though we won't be there physically we will be there is spirit. Christmas morning the phone will be passed around amongst the sibs and their spouses spreading the love that no present could ever replace.

Times are changing so it is easier for Grandma and Grandpa to travel this year than it is for the kids with little ones. We will wake once again to the excitement of little ones because Santa came. In our eyes we will relive the memories of Christmas mornings when our kids were little while forming new memories as the little ones discover their meaning of Christmas. Oldest grandbaby was home this weekend. Presents under the tree were all toys and Grandma's Christmas lights had to be on even during the day. Still pushing Grandpa's button to turn him on [a mole on Grandpa's neck that when pushed springs him into Grandpa mode] and helping Grandma in the kitchen as well as sampling Grandma's homemade cookies were the high priority. I have to tell you there is no present in the world that could replace the memories of raising our own kids then being able to share in the lives of our grandkids. Family is something so many take for granted without realizing what a true blessing they have!

Friday night we hosted a larger holiday party for friends. It would have been larger but the weather did not co-operate. One couple in attendance has been friends since the time we were double dating all those years ago before we got married. They are still our best friends and we wouldn't have it any other way. If you talk about old friends being gold this couple is 24 carrot in every sense of being friends. They have been there through all the ups and downs. Their kids played with our kids and all the kids remain friends. Like us, their marriage is strong and they work hard to be good, supportive examples to their kids as they begin their lives as grand parents. They are a true blessing in our lives that could never be replaced! Other friends in attendance are what we would consider both gold and silver because we haven't known them as long but they would drop everything to come to our aid if we needed it. They bring warmth, laughter, support and companionship into our lives. Friends are blessings that just can't be replaced.

So in this time of holiday hustle and bustle, stop to count your blessings. Your family and true friends don't care whether or not you can give them a gift. They don't care if you they drop by and you are still in your pj's or if you have gourmet coffee or if you even brushed your hair. They care about you! They care about how they can help you, how they can support you, making you happy, how you are doing and simply sharing in your life. And that is a true blessing. The best thing you can give in return is to be a caring and supportive family member as well as a true friend. Share your smile, your compassion, your advice (in small doses), your support and simply share yourself.

Happy Blog Your Blessings Sunday, the last one before Christmas. May you enjoy all the blessings your loved ones have to offer. May you repay those blessing ten fold! It is the greatest gift you can give and it costs nothing :)

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Billboards

Freight Billboard
December 12, 2008

Road trips in general are perfect fodder for blogging. From the author's point of view a road trip provides a whole new theme to blog about for a few days. From the reader's perspective they get to see the trip through the author's eyes and perhaps discover something interesting about the author that they didn't know before. Where but on a blog can you stretch out a three day road trip into well over a week's worth of posts? Part of that is possible because I took a lot of pictures and part because I only use one picture per post.

My husband really enjoys driving so for the majority of road trips we take he drives and I'm the navigator/photographer. The camera sits on my lap ready for action any time I see something interesting. Billboards are interesting, some more than others. From an environmental perspective I don't like them. They are visual pollution that many municipalities are restricting or prohibiting. At some point they will likely go the way of the dinosaur. In comparison to other advertising mediums, I doubt billboards are all that cost effective anymore. I like taking pictures of the more interesting billboards and advertising. On the other hand some of them are rather neat as in the billboard pictured. This billboard had working lights to simulate an actual locomotive.


Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

The Accident

No Words
December 12, 2008

As we drove past the accident scene I snapped a few pictures. As morbid as that sound, these types of pictures serve as a constant reminder to always be diligent when driving and remember that you can be "dead right". The scene itself was horrific! The car pictured had the front end completely burned. The jaws of life had been used to get the occupants out. This car fared better than the other two involved in the accident! My heart and prayers go out to those involved in this tragedy as well as their families.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

The Delay

Emergency Crews

We have a lot of travel experience yet it still amazes me some of the seriously bonehead ways of other drivers. We were traveling along Michigan's I-94 in some rather nasty road conditions. There was no doubt that visibility was greatly reduced and the road conditions were icy. For the most part drivers were slowed down leaving plenty of space between themselves and the next vehicle. Still there were those "I'm important" drivers that insisted on passing in a passing lane unfit to drive in and more often than not would hit the brakes to get back into the better driving lane. I shuddered each time I saw this. It would only take hitting the brakes a little harder than they thought or hitting an ice patch or dry pavement to send the car spinning out of control. What really bothered me is when it was clear there was a problem ahead so traffic was stop and go.

Honestly what is it with some drivers who feel they still have to put others at risk when it is obvious that there is a problem ahead. It doesn't matter how many unsafe lane changes, horn honks, near accidents or obscene gestures they make they are not going to get where they are going any faster until whatever is slowing the traffic clears. These folks need to seriously chill and be thankful that they are not the cause for the delay or the cause for complicating the delay.

We were in the stop and go traffic for a good 40 minutes when we finally arrived at the scene pictured above. It was a horrible accident with lanes blocked and obviously with serious injuries and one or more fatalities. So to the people in such a rush to get through the blockage that they put others on the road at risk, I hope you took a good look at what the delay was all about. Thank your lucky stars it wasn't you and realize your day was 100% better than the day the occupants of those vehicles involved in the accident were having!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Wordless Wednesday

Second Accident
December 12, 2008

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Christmas Visiting

On the Road
December 12, 2008

We left early Friday morning on our long journey to visit the kids in Wisconsin. They are still waiting for the travel documents that will allow them to travel into Canada so they won't be home for Christmas this year. The problem with traveling that distance this time of year is always weather. The weather determines the best travel days meaning being prepared to change plans at the last minute. We watched the weather channel daily to see if there were any larger weather problems that would interfere with our travel plans. We loaded the car with unwrapped presents as wrapped presents are frowned upon by US Customs, our luggage, a small cooler holding homemade peameal bacon and a case of home canned foods for the kids. It was very important to us to bring the taste of Canada to the kids. Our kid was born and raised in Canada and the spouse was born and raised in the USA. I know there is a bit of homesickness so a bit of home cooking along with peameal bacon (method here) and can of Tim Hortons® coffee will ease some of that.

After clearing customs we made our way towards I-94. Despite the weather reports for dry road conditions we were traveling in snow flurries and the glare from headlights on the road indicated there was ice. My husband is an excellent driver with a tremendous amount of driving experience. He's a calm, careful and courteous driver so when all of a sudden he said "Oh God" I was startled! Looking up I saw just the end of what he saw. An 18 wheeler must have hit ice in the oncoming traffic lanes was coming right at us but the driver yanked the wheel just in time which jack-knifed the trailer sending the poor driver careening the other way across 3 lanes of traffic into the ditch. My husband called 911 to give the location (I-94 exit 125) while I worried that traffic coming up as it happened likely hit the side of the truck and prayed that everyone involved would be fine. It was the first of three major accidents we would see on this leg of the journey. Shortly after that accident the road and visibility conditions degenerated to that pictured. We drove in the lake effect snow conditions for about 100 miles. After that the weather cleared and we continued on without further weather delays.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

The Law of The Garbage Truck

One of the neat things about your email inbox is you never know when a gem of wisdom will appear.  A friend sent me the following gem of wisdom a couple of days ago.  I thought I would share it with you.

The Law of The Garbage Truck
=============================
One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport.
We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches!

The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled
and waved at the guy; and I mean, he was really friendly.
So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!' This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'
He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so...... 'Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.'
Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!

~Author Unknown~

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

The Invisible People (The Homeless)

As we enter the holiday season we need to be mindful of those less fortunate than ourselves. These are very trying times for many with more layoffs, job losses, home foreclosures and rising cost of living. Even if you cannot help financially you can donate your time to help those in need. I found this wonderful video produced by BetterWorld4YouAndMe on YouTube regarding those less fortunate and how to help. It is 7 and a half minutes long but is well worth watching. I hope you enjoy it.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Wordless Wednesday

Rose of Sharon
July 8, 2008

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Announcing My Newest Blog

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I introduce my newest blogging venture, Canadian Perspective. The idea for this blog has been on my mind for quite some time but it brings back vivid memories of two years ago about this time that I was setting up my fourth Blogger blog, Garden Gnome at Home a blog that came to be at the urgings of an online friend. Back then I was a fairly new blogger with less than a year's experience of blogging under my belt on my other blogs. I still feel some of that doubt with setting up this new blog but feel confident with my blogging experience this new blog should do well. Over the next few days there will be a lot of changes to the new blog so if it looks a little funny when you stop by please stop by again. It will likely take me a couple of weeks to get everything smoothed out. Here is the introductory posted to my new blog.

Welcome to my Canadian Perspective blog. I am an experienced blogger who currently writes blogs under the following topics: cooking, gardening, personal journal and homemaking. My online nym is Garden Gnome or GG. You can read more about me in my profile. I am a very proud Canadian who loves my country very, very much. I am very blessed to live in such a beautiful country! While the fact that I am Canadian comes up over and over in my other blogs I wanted to create a clearly Canadian blog that will show Canada as I see it from my eyes. I want to show what Canada means to me in all its beauty, uniqueness and so much more.

Setting up a new blog is always a scary yet exciting venture. First and foremost is whether I can write and present information in such a fashion that others are interested. Second is can I design a blog that meshes with the content both in design and layout. Colour is a very important component as well. So while I have this idea swirling around in my head of what direction I want to take with this direction, time will only tell if it will be successful. The final concern is always time. Finding content does not seem to be a problem for me but finding time to blog the content is.

I hope you enjoy this blog and thanks for visiting.

Garden Gnome
© 2008

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

In a Funk

I've been in a funk for the past week or so. For me that is a good thing! I've come to realize that funks pass and behind them there is always renewed creativity. It is as if my mind is saying hey I need a break but trust me on this one. Not only is a funk itself a blessing for me recognizing what it represents is also a blessing. It forces me to slow down, do a bit more pondering and give my mind the break it needs. We can all use a mental break from time to time to get those creative juices flowing.

May you have a blessings filled week,

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

A Well Read Cat

Look Who's in the News Again
November 25, 2008

I introduced Emma yesterday. Emma is a well read cat who enjoys keeping up with the latest news and for good reason. She had to browse the real estate section to help her Mommy and Daddy find a new home. She also has to keep her Mommy and Daddy up to date with the current events because they have been very busy over the last few months. Emma asked me to tell you that here Mommy and Daddy do not ever dress her up in funny outfits or make her do silly things although she cannot make any guarantees that youngest grandbaby won't do either. She's happy that youngest grandbaby can only crawl right now!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Emma

Emma
November 25, 2008

Cat blogs are very popular likely because cats tend to do cute things or get themselves into some very interesting predictiments. Unfortunately our beloved cat who was about 18 years old is now in kitty heaven and we have no pets for me to brag about. So I asked the kids to send me pictures of our grandkitties.

Emma is the proud parent of the Mommy and Daddy of youngest grandbaby. She is a rescue cat who spends most of her time indoors. Pictured with Emma is her favourite toy that Grandma and Grandpa bought her when she was a kitten. It is a toy Canadian polar bear. She takes it to bed with her each night then in the morning carries the polar bear out to the couch before going back for a late morning nap. Emma is also very fond of playing with the Mardi Gras beads Grandma and Grandpa bring her from Las Vegas and tin foil balls. She loves taking long naps and rough housing occasionally with her Daddy.

Emma has had a very exciting year. Youngest grandbaby arrived in April and in October the family moved into their new home. It has lots of stairs for Emma to play on and lots of windows for her to watch passing vehicles. It also has lots of hiding spots to get away from youngest grandbaby who is now in cruising mode. Emma is taking everything is stride enjoying both youngest grandbaby and her new home.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Oh Canada!

There are some topics I intentionally try to keep off of my blogs and politics is one them. Like many Canadians I have been watching our politicians in action. We are living in uncertain economic times and Canadians need a strong and stable leadership. It would appear that is not going to happen for some time. Canadians have effectively rejects Stephan Dion and we are one step closer to a coalition. Stephen Harper has vowed to stop a coalition take-over (details here) but he really isn't showing any substance.

Let me remind each and every Canadian:

O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

(French)

O Canada! Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux.
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix.
Ton histoire est une épopée,
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

A coalition government over democracy is not the road we want to go down.


Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Wordless Wednesday

Evening's Promise
October 13, 2008

Garden Gnome

©2006-2008

Lazy Day

The Cabin
November 10, 2008

Today has been about as lazy as it gets and for good reason. Yesterday I woke with an ear ache so took the initial steps to get relief. By evening it was obvious that hadn't worked as the symptoms increased so went onto using hydrogen peroxide. This morning I realized it was getting worse instead of better so increased the hydrogen peroxide and my husband is picking up antibiotic ear drops on his way home. So I really haven't felt like doing much.

Much of the day has been spent analysing our energy usage on PowerSaverPlus and playing with Photoshop®. I do the energy analysis each fall just to see how well we have done in our goal to reduce our energy consumption over the past year. I'll be blogging about that late tonight on my homemaking blog but in the mean time I am very happy to report our energy usage (electricity, natural gas) is almost half that of the average home! In reality our energy usage is less than half but it's nice to know we are on the right track and I like being able to get a few more tips to add to our winter home improvement to do list.

I admit to being a computer multi-tasker. Just ask my husband! I was working in Photoshop® for this picture while dropping on Entrecard, reading email, doing the energy audit and doing several searches. I played with several filters on the original picture of the cabin using several layers. I like the overall effect. Photoshop® never ceases to amaze me!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008