Wordless Wednesday - Shimmering Light

Shimmering Light
August 31, 2009

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Temptation

Gourmet Style Pizza
September 26, 2009

Just take a look at the pizza we had at the kids. Doesn't it just make your mouth water? One or two slices?

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Under Construction

On the Road
September 25, 2009

This pasted weekend we travelled to visit the grandbabies and the parents. Of course it is virtually impossible to get from point A to point B without running into some type of construction. 'Tis the construction season. Anyone who has even driven in Ontario should know this! This means that traffic slows going through construction zones and fines are doubled when workers are present. It means there may be delays as well as uneven pavement, loose gravel, narrower lanes and bumps. So this begs the question "What are some drivers thinking when they go through construction zones?" During our road trip we went through several construction zones. Here are just a few highlights we witnessed in actual construction zones:

• speeding then suddenly jamming on the breaks
• following too closely then jamming on the breaks
• aggressive driving
  
• eating as in a hamburger
  
• talking on the cell phone (I thought that one was now illegal here.)
• reading a map and in one case reading a stack of papers occasionally glancing up at the road
• speeding up on the right then cramming in just before the lane closure started
• small kids jumping around in the back seat (definitely illegal)
  
• a dog sitting on the driver's lap
  

Mind you on our journey home we were driving in some rather heavy rain after dark yet drivers were still doing many of the above. Come on! What the heck are you thinking? None of the above are acceptable at any time. All are are dangerous, finable driving offenses that show a total disregard for the safety of other drivers. When you factor in the extra precautions needed going through a construction zone these are downright life threatening to anyone within range of that driver! Either get with the program and follow the rules for safe driving or get off the road.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

BYBS - Family Travels

My husband and I decided to make a short trip to visit the grandbabies and their parents. We planned on staying over night at the home of oldest and youngest grandbaby then travel on to visit middle grandbaby the following afternoon arriving home before midnight. Friday was a nice travelling day so we made good time arriving in time for dinner. Oldest grandbaby (33 months) no longer has any signs of being a baby and is now very articulate talking in full sentences. Youngest grandbaby (4 months) is quite an attentive, happy baby. We spent a very enjoyable evening and following morning together then were off to visit middle grandbaby. Now this little one (17 months) is a little charmer with a ready smile and just an edge of independence. Needless to say we enjoyed spending the brief but very enjoyable time with the grandbabies and their parents. We ran into a lot of heavy rain, annoying 'let's drive slow in the fast lane' traffic then 'pea soup' fog before arriving home exhausted but safe, sound and happy. I powered up the computer to find that the router had decided to simply stop working so I couldn't catch up online last night. It was just as well as sleeping was a bit more productive use of my time :)

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Mature Ladies

[from my email files, enjoy the chuckle :) ]

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A mature (over 40) lady gets pulled over for speeding...

Older Woman: Is there a problem, Officer?
Officer: Ma'am, you were speeding.
Older Woman: Oh, I see.
Officer: Can I see your license please?
Older Woman: I'd give it to you but I don't have one.
Officer: Don't have one?
Older Woman: Lost it, 4 years ago for drunk driving.
Officer: I see...Can I see your vehicle registration papers please.
Older Woman: I can't do that..
Officer: Why not?
Older Woman: I stole this car.
Officer: Stole it?
Older Woman: Yes, and I killed and hacked up the owner.
Officer: You what?
Older Woman: His body parts are in plastic bags in the trunk if you want to see.

The Officer looks at the woman and slowly backs away to his car and calls for back up. Within minutes 5 police cars circle the car. A senior officer slowly approaches the car, clasping his half drawn gun.

Officer 2: Ma'am, could you step out of your vehicle please!The woman steps out of her vehicle.
Older woman: Is there a problem sir?
Officer 2: One of my officers told me that you have stolen this car and murdered the owner.
Older Woman: Murdered the owner?
Officer 2: Yes, could you please open the trunk of your car, please.

The woman opens the trunk, revealing nothing but an empty trunk.

Officer 2: Is this your car, ma'am?
Older Woman: Yes, here are the registration papers.

The officer is quite stunned.

Officer 2: One of my officers claims that you do not have a driving license.

The woman digs into her handbag and pulls out a clutch purse and hands it to the officer.
The officer examines the license. He looks quite puzzled.

Officer 2: Thank you ma'am, one of my officers told me you didn't have a license, that you stole this car, and that you murdered and hacked up the owner.
Older Woman: Bet the liar told you I was speeding, too.

Don't Mess With Mature Ladies

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Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

A Brave New World

My Cell Phone
September 25, 2009

When I was on the road daily I relied heavily on my cell phone. Now that I'm at home I don't although it is always on in case of a power failure which knocks out our land lines. I very seldom answer the land line phone unless I know who is calling (telemarketers take note!) and since both my husband and I have cell phones I'm beginning to question the need for a land line at all. More and more I hear of folks giving up their land lines in favour of their cell phone and why not when you know you aren't going to be bothered with telemarketers? Everyone who knows us knows to call one of the cells to get a hold of us so really the land line is becoming a total waste of money but that is another issue. So back to my story.

This is my third cell phone. The first one was a huge 1-foot long thing that weighed a ton. That was upgraded to a really cute Noika with a custom denim case that survived falling in the toilet at a casino (don't ask) but apparently couldn't swim from the lake home. This is why all valuables like cell phones should be in a ziploc bag when boating but again I digress. So that phone was replaced with my cute little Samsung flip phone of which I have a love/hate relationship with but it's always on and does the job so I really can't complain.

My husband was recently away for 4 days so we discovered a whole brand new world of text messaging! We've had this capability for quite some time only NOW we've just decided to use it. Now this is funny because my husband uses his phone to text message which seems painfully slow to me. I on the other hand head on over to Roger's website where I can type in my message using the comforts of touch typing on my keyboard and not squinting at the small key pad on the phone. This actually worked rather well for us so we have decided to continue using text messaging. I normally call him at the office with a grocery list or other stops before he leaves. Today I just sent a brief message to please pick up cottage cheese. He didn't have to stop what he was doing to chit chat and I knew he would get the message so this is really working well for us. Look out world because grandma and grandpa have text messaging and know how to use it :)

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Baby Dancing to Beyonce

Oh now this is just too cute not to pass along. Enjoy the chuckles :)

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Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Wordless Wednesday - In Flight

In Flight
August 31, 2009

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Busy Days

Chili Sauce and Salsa
September 13, 2009

This is a very busy time of year for me in the garden and kitchen. The canner runs almost daily often several times a day. When the canner isn't running I'm dehydrating or freezing foods. During this time there are several trips to local farmers for produce I don't grow enough of or don't grow at all. At the same time the garden needs tending, fresh caught fish needs to be put up and hunting season is quickly approaching. If you haven't read my cooking and gardening blogs you will have missed out on a lot of this activity. So if it seems this blog has been a bit quiet lately you will know why.

I seldom write about either gardening or cooking here and when I do it tends to be rather about something interesting I discovered. So I thought I would share a picture of the canning my husband and I put up a couple of Sunday's ago (more here). There were 55 jars total for one long day's worth of worth and while that may seem like a lot to some it isn't. We've been in this high gear mode for awhile now with dozens of jars of home canned foods being preserved daily. What happens is a lot of produce becomes ready for processing at the same time which is both a good and bad thing. There's no break during harvest season as we move from corn to tomatoes to peaches and apples with everything in between. It makes for some very long, tiring days but looking at a well stocked pantry and full freezers is well worth it :)

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

I Wrote Your Name

[from my email files, image and author unknown; the instructions are send this to everyone you love]

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I wrote your name on a piece of paper, but by accident I threw it away.
I wrote your name on my hand, but it washed away.
I wrote your name in the sand, but the waves whispered it away.
I wrote your name in my heart, and forever it will stay.

~ author unknown

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Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Unexpected Smiles

The Prism
September 17, 2009

The weather has turned cooler yet is for the most part blissfully sunny. The sun is now shining through the kitchen window creating a multitude of miniature rainbows on the wall and floor. I can't help but smiling each time I see them. It's as if Mother Nature is acknowledging the quickly approaching winter months so has gifted us with something to take our minds off of it :)

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Barbie's Fifty

[from my email files]

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It's about time this happened to her...


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Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Winter is a Coming!

Jockey
September 12, 2009

Oh my gosh! Things are rather hectic at the moment as we are into the heavier harvest so the kitchen is a buzz of activity. That's a good thing for the pantry but a bad thing for blogging. I can't believe September is more than half over! The weather is already cooling and leaves are starting to turn. The cooling weather is starting to affect the garden as well. At the same time it has sent me into a frenzy of checking for more air leaks and winterizing in my spare time. I've heard the predictions for a mild winter buy I'm not buying that one so will scurry along making all my winter preparations.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Wordless Wednesday - On the Water

On the Water
August 31, 2009

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

At the Races

At the Races
September 12, 2009

I grew up around horses spending a couple of weeks each summer on a horse ranch where I learned to ride. When my husband and I first met I tried to teach him to ride as well. He will to this day claim the horse bucked him off. The real story is it was a pony not a horse and the pony sat down on it's rump so my husband slid off. At no time did the pony attempt to buck but certainly got it's point across. So my husband has not learned to ride. I did however manage to teach him the finer art of the race track. Unfortunately we don't get to a race track very often but we always enjoy it when we do like last Saturday.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Dear Santa

My Christmas List
September 5, 2009

Dear Santa,

How are you and Mrs. Claus? I do hope the elves and reindeer are happy, healthy and looking forward to this Christmas season.

I'm writing you early with my Christmas list because this might take a lot of room in your sleigh. I've enclosed a picture of the beautiful yacht that I would really love. It is the only thing on my list this year. I've been very good this year and if you bring this yacht I promise to share it with all my family and friends. I will even let my husband navigate occasionally. I promise to use it often and take very good care of my new toy!

Have a safe sleigh ride. I will leave you homemade peanut butter cookies and milk, carrots for the reindeer and a couple of jars of homemade salsa for Mrs. Claus.

Sincerely,

Garden Gnome

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Thoughtful Husband

[from my email files]

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Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

This Is Why Husband's Days Are Numbered!

Deal 'em Up
September 5, 2009

First off before I begin this tale I have to give you a visual. Our house is backwards in that the main living area is on the lower level of an earth bermed home so basically underground. The on ground level is where the games and other rooms are that aren't in regular use. Well they are but they aren't. The games room opens onto the screened in upper patio/sunporch. Before we go to bed we have to secure the patio doors in this area. No problem or at least it wasn't until hubby had a few of his friends visiting. I went up to shut the patio door and spotted what I thought was someone sitting at the poker table. By this time I had already ensured having to change my unders. My mouth was dry as I very slowly made my way to the light switch expecting the arms of Armageddon to bear down on me any second. I flicked the light switch and pictured are hubby's two friends. Ok, so that's not bad enough! I went down and confronted hubby to which he responded in fits of laughter, the occasional snorting and that other thing he does when apparently something is hilarious that defies any description. He actually had tears running down his cheeks from laughing so hard. Well excuse me! Now according to him if someone was going to break into our house they more than likely wouldn't sit at the poker table waiting for other players. He noted that no chips were missing. He also figures if Jimmy Buffet wasn't playing they weren't really poker players either and besides they had no drinks on the go. Well that couldn't be the end of it could it? Oh no! He had to tell his friends [two of them were the parrots!] so now I'm really hearing about it!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Wordless Wednesday - Night Sky

Night Sky
August 31, 2009

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Still Waters

Still Waters
August 28, 2009

I love waking each morning to see what the water looks like. Sometimes it is very, very blue and beckoning. Other times it is cold, grey with a chill to the bone look. Yet the colours vary almost from minute to minute. It's like a giant television set constantly changing with no annoying commercial breaks! I love the days when the water looks like a sheet of mirro, so inviting. Those are the days perfect for a smooth boat ride yet even then the water can be rougher than it appears. Then there are the times when the water is not as smooth as a mirror yet not quite rough as pictured. There are just thousands of tiny little ripples flitting along making the water's surface shimmer.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

A Fun Day

The Marsh
August 31, 2009

I woke around 2 am with the horrid starts of a sinus attack so was up for much of the rest of the night. Finally about 6:30 am I drifted off to be woke about 20 minutes later by the shrill ringing of the telephone letting us know the plumber and backhoe guys would be here around 8 am. We have been battling plumbing problems since moving here so this time the solution was to run new lines. Our backyard is now dug up, the lawn looks like heck from the bobcat and backhoe and we likely lost a few shrubs. Along with fixing our backyard we will also have to fix our neighbour's back yard as that was the only access into our backyard. Thank goodness for great neighbours! The sinus attack has continued throughout all the noise but at least our plumbing problem is solved.

We also discovered the previous owners had simply run an unprotected hydro line from the backyard plug to the utility light. It was buried less than 4-inches so of course was snapped with the first shovel dug. We keep the breaker to the outdoor switches off unless in use so there wasn't a problem and yes we had the mandatory line locates prior to doing any digging. I really am glad we discovered this line as that could have been quite dangerous. So our next step is running up to code electric wiring from the backyard plug to the dock and eliminating the unnecessary utility light. It's been a fun day in a rather sarcastic, frustrating way.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Muskrat

Muskrat
August 31, 2009

Living on or near any water source will give you lots of opportunities to encounter wildlife you might not otherwise come into contact with. I've lived on the water (back yard comes to water's edge) most of my life and spend a good portion of the nice weather boating, fishing or engaging in other water activities so I think I've come across just about every critter the water attracts in our area. Muskrats frequent the smaller water water ways in our area. Shortly after moving into our last house that was on the water we discovered a muskrat that liked to hang out on the ladder steps of our dock. I'm telling you that made me not be all that interested in swimming there! Pictured is one of a few muskrats that make our marina home so I've spotted and photographed them on several occasions.

I have come across muskrat numerous times. I can't say I like them all that much especially when they pop out of nowhere in a dirt floor basement when I was about 8 years old and was sent down there to bring up a jar of home canned peaches for dessert. Our house backed onto the water and much to my Mom's dismay I learned how to swing over the water on the willow branches. I thought that was a rather fitting trade for having to deal with the muskrat which my Mom called a river rat. Unfortunately she did not see my viewpoint. Oh my gosh, just thinking about the stories I could tell about that house gets me chuckling! Anyway, back to muskrats.

The muskrat is a semi-aquatic mammal indigenous to North America. At one time in our area muskrats actually provided early settlers with meat and still do provide meat. Muskrat 'socials' are held in many of the local French Canadian communities are are extremely popular in the French communities in Michigan especially during Lent. Muskrats are easily trapped for food with many in our area still doing so. We could but we don't. I've tasted muskrat once at a wild game event. These types of public events are getting scarcer here (Ontario) because of health regulations but finding someone who traps and cooks muskrat at home is not all that difficult. Muskrat must be soaked prior to cooking to remove a bit of the stronger gamey flavour. When cooked properly it has a flavour between rabbit and duck with still a hint of wild game. It does lend itself to slow cooking as well.


Garden Gnome
©2006-2009