In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

WE SHALL KEEP THE FAITH
An answer to Lt.Col John McCrae by Moina Michael - 1918

Oh! you who sleep in Flanders' Fields,
Sleep sweet - to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died.

We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders' Fields.

And now the Torch and Poppy Red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders' Fields.

---

IN FLANDERS NOW
An answer to Lt.Col John McCrae by Edna Jaques

We have kept faith, ye Flanders' dead,
Sleep well beneath those poppies red,
That mark your place.
The torch your dying hands did throw,
We've held it high before the foe,
And answered bitter blow for blow,
In Flanders' fields.

And where your heroes' blood was spilled,
The guns are now forever stilled,
And silent grown.
There is no moaning of the slain,
There is no cry of tortured pain,
And blood will never flow again
In Flanders' fields.

Forever holy in our sight
Shall be those crosses gleaming white,
That guard your sleep.
Rest you in peace, the task is done,
The fight you left us we have won.
And "Peace on Earth" has just begun
In Flanders' now.

RMR: Rick's Rant - Airport Security

It's that time of year that many Canadians are turning to the skies to get home for Christmas or to the sunny south to get away from the cold Canadian winters.  Recently there have been some rather unpleasant reports in the news regarding pat downs in American air ports.  This comes on the heels of the news of the full body scans that started in Canada and have now moved to American airports.  It seems like the regular Joe Public is once again getting screwed so to speak.  Even though this is all supposed to be for public safety the end result has pretty much been abusive behaviour on the part of the airport (mainly American) staff.  Here is my favourite Canadian funny man Rick Mercer putting another perspective on the issue, and perhaps this time of year, that is what is needed...

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Tiny Stephen

It is rather interesting how the Canadian people are seeing the antics of Priminister Stephen Harper. Here's another good video courtesy of The Rick Mercer Report. I'm wondering if he is getting the idea proroguing parliament was not one of his Einstein moments. Thanks Rick and keep them coming! Enjoy :)

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Prorogue Vacations Dot Com

As most of you know Priminister Stephen Harper has prorogued parliament providing and comedians and bloggers with ample material to keep them busy until at least March 3, 2010! Here's a cute little video courtesy of Canada's leading funny man, Rick Mercer. Enjoy :)

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

My View on the Toronto Civic Service Strike

Beautiful Skies
June 27, 2009

It's now day 8 of the Toronto civic service strike. By far the media focus has been on the garbage piling up in temporary dumping areas. Of greater concern is the city of Toronto has hired a firm to come in a spray insecticides nightly to "ward off insects and rodents". Worse yet in the midst of this type of problem the residents of Toronto seriously are behaving like babies! Heck even Economic Development and Trade Minister Sandra Pupatello called Torontonians a "bunch of babies" in their response to the garbage strike although she later apologized for that. Well, I do think they are being a bunch of babies and I'm not going to apologize for saying so!

Less than 24 hours after the strike began there were reports of garbage piling up in Toronto and illegal dumping. What the heck? Give it a rest! I'm sorry but I just don't understand why Torontonians couldn't be a bit more prudent with their garbage production especially in these times when so many are trying to reduce their carbon footprint. What are they doing? Spring cleaning just because?

Heck, we could easily go several weeks and do so in the winter not putting out garbage. We average 1 bag of garbage weekly and it does not include organic waste. Organic waste can be composted so is a valuable resource. We put our recyclables out biweekly and while that is more that a garbage bags' worth it is still less than the average household because we follow the first rule of being eco-friendly and that is to reduce. We still have a long way to go. A few years ago I saw a rather interesting documentary where a family of 4 was able to reduce their garbage output to 1 grocery bag for the year. Now that is our goal!

Torontonians need to start taking responsibility for themselves. All those bags of garbage do not just magically disappear when you put them to the curb. They go somewhere else where they are someone else's problem. Now they are finally realizing it is their problem. This is a perfect time for each and every Torontonian to do their part. Get involved and reduce your garbage production!

I'd like to address the issue of the insecticides being used by the City of Toronto. This is an environmental nighmare! Insecticides do diddly when it comes to rodents or other small animals that get into the ever growing piles of garbage. What they do is get into the ground water and make their way to Lake Ontario causing possibly irreparible environmental damage affecting all the Great Lakes waterways. They are already putting humans at risk as one being sprayed causes respiratory problems. Yet we have the Ontario Pesticide Ban and Toronto was a leading city getting that through the legislature. Residents can be fined for using these pesticides but NOW. the city of Toronto turns around and uses the very same pesticides banned without regard to the future health of their residents. For shame Toronto!

For shame Toronto on so many levels! And yes from a fellow Canadian you are being a bunch of babies!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Grandma's Train Ride

I stayed at the kids for a couple of days after the baby was born then decided to come home to give them a bit of private family bonding time. I feel it is important for the Mom, Dad and any sibs to have a few days by themselves just to get to know the newest member of the family and to get into their own routine. Instead of them driving me part way home where we would meet up with my husband for the rest of the journey home, I thought it would be easiest for all if I took the train. The kids took me to the train station and waited until the train arrived so oldest grandbaby could wave goodbye. All was fine until she realized the train took Grandma away!

I always have my digital camera close by so riding the train was no different. I so enjoy riding the train too! There is the swaying and the hypnotic noise that just is relaxing but the real treat for me is snapping pictures of what seems like a whole different world. It gives me ample time for reflection and pondering. Here's one of the short videos I took to email oldest grandbaby. It's nothing fancy but will give her a bit different perspective.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

The Entrecard Fiasco (including funny video)

Entrecard has certainly created a huge fiasco for themselves. Bloggers throughout the blogosphere are either dropping entrecard entirely or taking a wait and see approach. Many are no longer accepting ads or advertising with some saying they will leave the widget on their blogs until entrecard removes them. Now I politely requested the deletion of my entrecard account but entrecard refused to delete all five blogs. That means four of my blogs are continuing to get free traffic from entrecard but entrecard is getting nothing from my blogs. Why? That's because I removed the widgets. I did not want to give them any chance of running inappropriate or offensive content on my blogs. If you are even remotely thinking of leaving entrecard manually remove the widget from your blog before requesting your account deletion. If you do not take this measure Graham will take his sweet time removing your blog from the system leaving your blog open to displaying inappropriate ads. This could cost you in terms of readers and subscribers. It could also cost you in terms of other advertisers pulling their ads due to in appropriate content. Unless you are going to babysit your blog 24/7 get the widget off if you are in this position.

Graham has displayed his immaturity and rudeness over and over again so I would like to invite him to look into the Behaviour Modification School for Candidates. This well respected Canadian training program will quickly change all of your bad habits, Graham. Smooches and thanks for the free traffic :)

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

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

Photo Opportunities

Straw Bales
July 13, 2007

I mentioned yesterday that my digital camera is always near by. We live in such a beautiful area surrounded by fertile farmland and the gorgeous Great Lakes waterways. Even a simple drive into town can provide a photo opportunity. There is an abundance of wildlife and waterfowl to enjoy and the scenery couldn't be prettier! For some reason I always love the sight of straw bales in the field. The bales are massive compared to the smaller rectangular straw or hay bales. The round bales are loaded onto farm wagons pulled by tractors for their journey to the storage barns. The tractors are slow moving allowing those patiently following behind to drink in the surrounding beauty.

Today I feel like getting away from all the work that needs to be done in the house but I can't. We have too much to do before August 6. In my mind's eye I will be enjoying the scenery of the countryside as I go about the seemingly endless amount of work throughout the house today - painting, caulking, preparing walls, tearing things apart, putting things back together, stripping wallpaper and when in doubt repeat. Some tasks are easily accomplished, others are more challenging, while a few require outside help. Yep, our electrician and plumber are our new best friends with the AC installers right up there as well. Still bit by bit they are coming getting finished at least on the lower level. With any luck the lower level aka main living area will be finished enough for the party by Wednesday of next week.

If you are interested in reading about some of the repairs, decorating or anything related to our new home, please check out my homemaking blog, Garden Gnome at Home.

Interviewed by Dana of Southern Gal Goes North

Clouds
May 8, 2007

There are so many creative ways bloggers are coming up with to stimulate their creativity. As you know I participate in Blog Your Blessings Sunday and have done a couple of Click & Comment posts. I did at least one Wordless Wednesday post but I like to talk so of course forgot about that last Wednesday. I was surfing on BlogExplosion and came across Southern Gal Goes North. The author had an interview where she answered questions from another blogger. This is a great way to get to know other bloggers and it is interactive. So I've joined the "Interview Me" bloggers.

If you would like to participate, leave a comment here saying "Interview me." Please leave your blog address so I can interview you in return. I will visit your blog, draft five questions for you and link back to your post. When someone leaves a comment indicating that they would like to be interviewed, you do the same thing. In this way we get to know a few things about the blogger that may not come out on their blog plus we get to read a lot of interesting blogs.

Dana author of Southern Gal Goes North asked the following questions for my interview:

1. I see you are selling your house. What are the top three things you’ll miss most about your garden? Are you taking any plants with you to your new house?
This garden was started from nothing, only an idea that was expanded upon based on necessity. The ground couldn't be easily tilled so I went to raised beds. I'll miss seeing the visual impact of my creativity. An aerial photographer was selling pictures he took to homeowners in the area. He took a beautiful aerial view of the house and garden last September. I don't think it really hit home how much I had accomplished until I saw that photo. It is a very organized almost formal layout that would be hard to duplicate so I will miss that as well. I will also miss most of the critters that visit the garden. When we moved here, I brought as much as possible which ended up being about 3 1/2 pick-up truck loads of plants. It was a "have garden will travel moment". I promised my husband I would not do that much for this move if we actually move. Plants in containers will be coming and I am now starting strawberries in containers. I'll be taking clumps of herbs and rooting them in the greenhouse to take with us. I will also be rooting cuttings of some of my favourite plants to take with me.
2. I read somewhere in your blog that you were writing a book. What is it about? Speaking of books, have you pre-ordered the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows yet? Which HP is your favorite?
My current book I'm writing is the story of my seventh great grandfather. He was rumoured to be the first white man in the area now known as Detroit, Michigan before Cadillac arrived. His story is quite an interesting one. The plan is to develop a series starting with him then following though each generation but really the story starts before him at his father and mother who was a Fille du Roi. So the first chapter does a little back tracking. I haven't pre-ordered Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows but not because I didn't want to. My birthday is close to the release date so I know one of my kids will think of that for a gift. I'm really looking forward of book 7. It should hopefully answer some of the questions that arise from the Harry Potter series. I think my favourite Harry Potter book would be Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. In this book all of the characters are maturing. Their strengths and weaknesses are more pronounced. There are subtle hints as to what they may do in the future after leaving Hogwarts. There are also more clues about how and why events have unfolded as they have along with a deeper understanding of the characters who have played a role through the series. The significance of certain events or items (Horocruxes) become clearer in book 6. After reading book 6, I went back and started re-reading the books. It was amazing how the perspective gained in book 6 changed the view of the other books. I suspect this will be the same for book 7.
3. How do you juggle your time between your housework, hobbies, blogging on your multiple blogs, and cooking? What works best for you?
That is a good question. First I follow the quadrant personal management based on Stephen R. Covey. I try to keep most of my activities in Quadrants I - III and avoid IV (quadrant of waste). For the most part I am quite organized and follow a daily schedule that includes a to-do list. Everything is given a priority rating based on the ABC method then further prioritized using the 123 method. That means something rated as A1 is the top priority. Monthly planning is done the second last day of the month for the following month. That's where I schedule in any appointments or events. Weekly planning is done every Sunday and since most homemaking chores are done on a schedule I know for example that Mondays and Wednesdays are clean the bathroom days, Wednesdays are the 27 Fling Boogie and etc. because I've just been doing it this way for so long. Then I have daily routines, specifically a morning routine and and evening routine. Each consist of five items meant to keeping things running smoothly when the unexpected comes up. My dayplanner is almost surgically attached to me and I do a lot of multi-tasking. Homemaking including family, cooking and gardening fall into QI (important, urgent) so they always take priority. My hobbies including blogging fill a creative need but fall into QII (important, non-urgent) so that means they can wait until my scheduled "me" time. Those are my "B" things. For the most part everything falls into place. I went for awhile several years back where scheduling and the schedule were the most important thing making home life very rigid. Then I discovered Covey's work and haven't looked back. For me, First Things First and the fundamental Covey principles of the 7 Habits work wonderfully allowing organization but with flexibility. I also think knowing myself helps a lot. I'm an early riser, likely one of those kids who was scared they were missing something when they slept. I don't sleep a lot unless I'm sick. At the same time I am very active so have to keep busy. Multi-tasking is just a normal part of my personality. My hands are busy even when watching television. I think the real reason is I want to pack as much life into my life as possible :)
4. What is your favorite thing to cook and why? What is your family’s favorite thing?
Hmm, that's a hard question because I love to cook. I think one of my favourite things to cook is roasted turkey. It always comes out perfect and gets rave reviews from my number one fan club aka my family. I rant that it likes to fall apart but my family loves it this way. Turkey is one of those very frugal dishes as well so I always look forward to making turkey stock from the carcass. My family's favourite thing to eat is a toss up between lasagne made with homemade spaghetti sauce (my offering) and homemade burgers (my husband's offering). Now, my lasagne likely has him beat especially during the cold months. The sauce is made from scratch using fresh ingredients, nice and meaty with lots of mushrooms and 9 cheeses. See where I'm going here? This is very, very good stuff! My husband makes these burgers to which I am only allowed to make the buns. He shoos me out of my kitchen, then makes these fabulous burgers he grills. They end up about 2 inches thick and about 5 inches in diameter. They are then placed in a toasted fresh baked (my job) bun and loaded with lettuce, mayo, tomatoes, dill pickles, cheese and hot peppers (for some) along with homemade relish, mustard and ketchup. I can't even finish one.
5. What kind of boat do you have? Pontoon, fishing, speed boat? What are your favorite things to do on your lake? Why would I like to visit there?
   
   We have a 22' SeaRay Overnighter and am considering going larger this year depending on the house but not bigger than 30'. Of our boating group we are likely the smallest or getting close but it has a cuddy for sleeping as well as washroom. She's a real sweet thing with a lot of power, perfect for water skiing or tubing. All my kids as well as myself fish by my husband does not and I know he grits his teeth when we haul our catch in. He takes me out a couple of times a month or until we have enough fish in the freezer usually by about mid July. Our favourite thing to do on the water is putzing watching other boats and just being out on the boat. But on hot days we boat to our favourite swimming hole, drop anchor and spend the day. I'll pack a picnic lunch and if it runs late we sometimes stop at a favourite marina with a gorgeous view of the sunset. It's lovely travelling back to the light of the moon when the water is nice and smooth. We spend about six weekends a year on the boat as well.
   
   We like to enjoy all aspects of the water from sunrises to sunsets, swimming and sometimes we just sit and float. We are lucky to be on the Great Lakes waterway so have ready access to three of the Great Lakes. These are Lakes Erie, St. Clair and Huron with their connecting waterways and rivers or smaller tributaries draining into the lakes. The area is absolutely gorgeous. We do have four seasons but it is just as beautiful in the winter as in the summer. It's all about the water but there is more to the area than that. There are a lot of small marinas to stop for a bite to eat or enjoy the quaint little harbour towns. The whole area is peaceful, soothing both the soul and body. Quite often there special events in the harbour towns like re-enactments or local celebrations (almost must go to's) and a lot of county fairs. The area is studded abundantly with farmers' markets, vegetable or fruit stands, orchards, wineries, beaches and campgrounds. There are wonderful down home cooking restaurants with some of the best food you will ever taste but there are also some nice highend restaurants for an elegant evening out. There are several museums in the area as well. It is like a recreational mecca with always something to do surrounded by some of the friendliest people you will ever meet!
   
   

Thanks for interviewing me Dana. If you are ever in our area, drop me a line so I can point you to some must see attractions. I'm looking forward to reading other blogs and interviewing the authors.

Toronto!

I have mentioned the national Canadian pass-time of bashing CBC in previous entries. Yesterday, I took a bit of a television break, settling in to watch The Gill Deacon show on CBC only to discover that apparently Canadian have developed a new passion. That passion is bashing Toronto! This has become such a trend that award winning, Canadian filmmaker and director Albert Nerenberg newest film, Let's All Hate Toronto documents all the reasons the rest of Canada hates Toronto. According to Nerenberg, the number one comment regarding Toronto when the cameras were turned on was Toronto Sucks our new Canadianism. He says Toronto is an American city inside the Canadian border. Onto the scene comes Robert Spence aka Mr Toronto and he blogs about his love for Toronto. He's hitting the road using Toronto Appreciation Days in other Canadian cities to show his love for Toronto.

This is a totally new one for me! I live in Canada, born and bred and about as Canadian as they come. For years there have always been snide little remarks about someone having a Toronto attitude meaning that they were a little hoity toity as in coming in all high and mighty telling rural folk how to do things but never as far as hating the city. We are about three and a half hours from Toronto and some of our kids live in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). We are in Toronto several times a year. We love the city and everything it has to offer. At one time we even considered buying a condo there. We have no problem walking around the downtown core area, eating at the outdoor cafés, shopping, taking in entertainment, riding the subway and trollies or visiting Chinatown. We have never had a bad experience in Toronto. I think the worst we've experienced is traffic but it is a city so that is to be expected. Toronto is a large city with problems that come with larger cities but certainly not enough for any Canadian to hate it!

Kudos to Mr. Toronto! Keep up the good work.

Bashing CBC

Sunset
March 22, 2007

The skies have been reflecting March's fickleness changing from blazing colour in the morning to dull grey during the day and more colour at night. We are getting more bright blue with white cloud skies trying to make their way into the grey.

A few entries back I made an entry bashing CBC for cancelling Emmerdale. Now it does seem to be our national pass time to bash CBC, some of it in good humour but sometimes in the what were they thinking category. As Canadians, it is one of the few things we complain about but we are usually polite when doing so. One thing we love poking fun at is our national icons and who helps us do it better than CBC?

In fairness to CBC, they do present some of the best Canadian humour and my now one and only favourite soap, Coronation Street. Some of my favourite comedies are This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Rick Mercer's Monday Report, Royal Canadian Air Farce, Arrested Development, The Red Green Show and the new Little Mosque on the Prairie. Of course there are the comedy club specials always well worth watching and don't forget Hockey Night in Canada with Don Cherry. They have been know to show some very good documentaries with Canada: A People's History being one of the most memorable. If you get a chance to see this series it is more than worth it. The videos can be orders for your personal library. The are a wonderful resource for anyone teaching Canadian History and have been approved for use in the classroom by many Canadian school boards.

Long live CBC. May it continue to tick us off and be a scapegoat while providing us with some very good Canadian programming.

A Fireball Sunset

Sunset
March 7, 2007

I love sunsets! I think they symbolize a day well lived. Sunrises symbolize the promise of what the day will unfold. We live where quite often we are blessed with glorious sunrises and sunsets. They never cease to amaze or dazzle. No two are ever alike! The sun was just at a perfect spot for this photograph. When I took the photo, I didn't think it would come out this vibrant. I have a Canon PowerShot A540. Quite often this time of year photos are taken on zoom from indoors. That's my lazy, not wanting to go out in the cold bone coming out. My only complaint with this camera has been that sometimes it doesn't seem to capture the vividness of the pinks in sunrises or sunsets. Of course, some or most of this is due to user error, I'm sure.

Steam Ethanol Plant

Steam
Ehanol Plant

I was on a road trip a couple of days ago so had a chance to take this photo. The day was grey and I know the steam is more impressive against a blue sky but this sight just matched my mood. The ethanol plant kind of has a love/hate thing going for it. It smells but it provides employment for that area but it smells! Now I don't mind the smell and actually think it smells pretty neat but I don't have to smell it daily. In order to appease some of the complainants, they added to the smoke stack. The idea was if they got the steam higher into the air, there would be less odour. Apparently that isn't working well so the love/hate continues. Those in the know argue it out, those dealing with the odour are being vocal and those with the jobs are grateful.

Ice on the Water in the Glow of Sunset

Ice at Sunset

A couple of nights ago the sunset played off the glittering ice creating a golden glow, a reminder of how pretty winter can be. The ice is totally blocked now and has been for a few days. However, things can change within a very short period of time. We were under a winter storm advisory as the Colorado Clipper made its way northeast the morning after this photo was taken. For the past two days the sun has been hidden behind a thick blanket of ominous grey clouds sending freezing rain and snow. This morning everything has a coating of ice along with a light dusting of snow. The dark grey sky threatens more too come. The temperature is hovering at 0ºC but feels like -4ºC dropping to -1ºC this afternoon. Walking and driving conditions on secondary roads will be quite slippery. The cold and dampness creeps through the house despite my winterizing efforts.

Tundra Swans at Dusk

Tundra Swans at Sunset

The tundra swans have been visiting whenever there is an open spot in the ice. A couple of days ago, there were a few of them one such spot. I took this photo of them as the sun was setting. Today they have been flying over the moving ice looking for an open water. Tundra swans are as graceful in flight as they are on the water.

Photoshop Shimmering Water Art

Shimmering Water II

I've been using the same picture of the water to see what different effects I can get using Adobe Photoshop. This latest effect is called slats. It is a perfect effect for certain images that will be scrapbooked. The technique presented a few problems but finally I got it to work. When the slats were finished I pulled a colour from the picture. It looked fine but I thought it would look better with a couple of filters and beveled edges. Looking at it this morning it could use framing as well.

Scrapbooking is a natural extension of genealogy. Most genealogy conventions have a booth section where you can buy genealogy resources. There is usually at least one scrapbooking booth. Needless to say, I got into scrapbooking as well using the traditional method. Then I started using fonts in Microsoft Word to create custom titles. Somewhere along the line I discovered I could make custom designed paper and then started into using digital with traditional scrapbooking methods. From there I picked up up scrapbooking software not realizing everything Adobe Photoshop could do. Silly me had been using it for resizing my photos only. I started discovering what I could do with this program when I wanted to learn animation. I have to say I'm amazed. Once I get a couple more techniques figured out and become more comfortable working with it, I'll move onto my first digital scrapbook layout using Photoshop. I will also be able to tweak all the photos being used for genealogy. Who said and old dog couldn't learn new tricks?

Stormy Skies

Stormy Sky

This photo was taken during a stormy spell last fall. I thought the sky looked magnificent! It shows the anger of what could be yet the promise of the peace to come.

Golden Glow

The sunset was gorgeous a couple of nights ago so I took several pictures. I took several pictures throughout the day. The sun was so bright giving beautiful contrast between the water and ice. This was the same day that Shimmering Water was taken. We are so very fortune to be able to enjoy such beauty!

Garden Gnome
© 2007

Canadian Humour...

Rio, Las Vegas, Nevada

Not feeling well today still, so coming up with an idea for today's post was difficult. But as I enjoyed my homemade chicken noodle soup while watching CBC aka most dumped on and hated television station aside of local, not likely to be aired cable stations, it hit me. A tongue in cheek view at Canadian humour sounded pretty good since it's not like we have serious programs like CSI: Toronto. See I am Canadian and I have a strong sense of Canadian humour that others might even think is wacky at times. When I'm not poking fun at our national icons like CBC or Don Cherry or what's that team that hasn't won a World Series in so long my collectors cards are now worthless to the point I can't even sell them on ebay. Sometimes I have to even resort to getting my daily dose of humour from fellow Canadians and Canadian television commercials, so I blog. Hey, it gets us through the long, cold winters, eh! With global warming that shouldn't be much of a problem soon.

There are some television programs that I do turn to for humorous Canadian content aside of the Molsen Canadian famous I Am Canadian commercial and the various lyrical variations. The Rick Mercer should keep you in stitches and is particularly good for satirical comments on our latest government in power. That would be the Conservatives and they certainly are providing a lot of humour content! For more satire or just plain funny stuff on the Conservatives check out This Hour Has 22 Minutes. This is just downright funny show that pokes fun all around not just at the government but other Canadian icons and anything else of fair game. Just For Laughs from Montreal is always a hoot! It is stand-up comedy with many upcoming Canadian comedians so you never know what you are going to be exposed to. The very best Canadian icon is The Red Green Show staring Canadian Steve Smith. If you have not seen this classic, you are really missing one of the best of Canadian humour as well as infinite tips for using duct tape.

The unfortunate thing is all these shows appear of CBC and while I really am upset with them for canceling Emmerdale, at least there is still some humour being aired by them aside of their commercials and news. They even have a new sit com called Little Mosque on the Prairie that is rather humorous. But if anything we Canadians have learned about CBC, if the show is good they will cancel it!

I'm off for another bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup, another shot of Canadian humour and hopefully will be back to normal tomorrow!