BYBS - The Kindness of Boaters

I have often mentioned how friendly boaters are and how they will help other boaters in trouble. Last week we spent an enjoyable evening on the water with friends. We we started the boat I notice a bit of an exhaust cloud so mentioned it to my husband. The boat ran well and we had a very enjoyable, uneventful trip. The following evening we decided to take the boat out to one of our favourite harbour spots. The boat started up and ran without incident to the harbour where we gassed up then docked for dinner. After a lovely dinner we headed for home. All of a sudden the boat quit! There was no warning, it just quit. Each attempt to start the boat showed a small amount of gas spewing into the water. While my husband called a fellow boating friend for a tow, I flashed over another boater just in case. With our friend on the way to tow us to our marina, the other boater left and we dropped anchor. The end result was a beautiful, moonlit ride back to the marina but thanks to the kindness of others we were safe and sound. What a great blessing!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Old Relics

Old Relic
July 30, 2009

Reminders of days gone by always fascinate me so I just had to take a picture of this old foundation less than a block from the Lexington harbour. Pictured is the largest remaining section. There is a small section to the back as well. The entire relic has been allowed to be overgrown with vegetation giving it a very pretty but rustic look.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

THE BLONDE JOKE TO END ALL BLONDE JOKES

[from my email files]

THE BLONDE JOKE TO END ALL BLONDE JOKES

A blonde woman was speeding down the road in her little red sports car and
was pulled over by a woman police officer who was also a blonde.
The blonde cop asked to see the blonde driver's license. She dug through
her purse and was getting progressively more agitated.
'What does it look like?' she finally asked.
The policewoman replied, 'It's square and it has your picture on it.'
The driver finally found a square mirror in her purse, looked at it and
handed it to the policewoman. 'Here it is,' she said.
The blonde officer looked at the mirror, then handed it back saying, 'OK,
you can go. I didn't realize you were a cop.

-----

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Wordless Wednesday - Life at the Swim Hole

Life at the Swim Hole
July 12, 2009

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

School Teachers

[from my email files]

After being interviewed by the school administration, the prospective teacher said:
'Let me see if I've got this right.

You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their disruptive behaviour, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages, and instil in them a love for learning.

'You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self esteem and personal pride.

You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, and how to register to vote, balance a chequebook, and apply for a job.

You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of antisocial behaviour, and make sure that they all pass the final exams.

You also want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of their handicaps, and communicate regularly with their parents in English, Spanish or any other language, by letter, telephone, newsletter, and report card.

You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps.

You want me to do all this and then you tell me...... I CAN'T PRAY?

-----

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

BYBS - Good Neighbours

The weather has not been ideal boating weather most days so my husband has been carefully watching the extended weather forecast in the hopes of a couple of nice days we could stay on the boat overnight. Finally the opportunity presented itself and he declared last Wednesday that we would leave Thursday morning on an overnight boating excursion on Lake Huron. Boating on the Great Lakes is a lot of fun but extra precautions have to be taken when on the lakes simply because getting to shore if you get into trouble is not as easy as it is in smaller waterways. When boating on the lakes it is imperative that you leave your travel plans with family, friends or neighbours. Included in those plans should be an estimated time of arrival and departure from your destination along with the instructions to call for help if you do not check in by a certain time. Pretty much all of our immediate neighbours are boaters as well so they know the lakes well and problems we could run into. My husband wrote out our itinerary and left it with one of our neighbours. Then we packed for the trip, double checked all our safety equipment and we were off on our adventure.

Once out on the lake it is quite easy to why the extra precautions are necessary. Navigation is by buoys, compass and any landmarks visible from the lake. Communication is by cell phone providing you can pick up a signal and marine radio. You quickly realize how small you really are!

This weeks' blessings were neighbours. We honestly have the best neighbours you could ever imagine. They basically are like family! What a true blessing!


Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

The Verizon Prank: Look How Easy it is to Get the CEO's Private Cell Phone Records and Address

This is a rather interesting way of getting your point across! You know if these huge companies would just listen to their customers folks would not have to take such drastic measures. I hope they are listening now.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Wordless Wednesday - Sweet Dreams

Sweet Dreams
June 14, 2009

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

The House Oops!

Oops!
July 24, 2009

I just love road trips, not the kind that take you from point A to point B with time constraints but the kind where you start off at point A with no time constraints and never know where you will end up or what you will see. Just look at this great photo opportunity! It is certainly a subject you don't see everyday and was well worth making a 3 point turn to go back and get a few pictures. We've had some fairly high winds with the recent storms but this house looks like the owners were starting demolition then the winds caught it toppling the poor thing over. I don't think this was done on purpose as the rooftop is touching the laneway where it landed. Just out of range to the right there was farm machinery. I'm sure there was a good bit of flying debris when the house topped as well.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Foodie Road Trip

Lake Erie
July 24, 2009

Last Friday I took a foodie road trip (read more here) along the historic Talbot Trail in southern Ontario. Despite the day starting off overcast and quite foggy it ended up being warm and partially sunny. This is such a beautiful drive with many gorgeous photo opportunities. Along with several stops to buy locally grown fresh produce, I made many more stops to take pictures. Pictured is Lake Erie that is easily seen from many points on the Talbot Trail.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

BYBS - Local Produce

I watched an episode of the 100 Mile Food Challenge. This series shows the ups and downs of a group of families trying to eat foods grown within a 100 mile radius of their home. Several times I just found myself thinking this is about the easiest challenge so why were the families finding it so difficult especially when locally grown foods constitute about 85% or more of the foods we eat. Then it dawned on me that your home location plays a huge role as to what you can get within a 100 mile radius. Within a 100 mile radius we can easily buy locally grown/produced: most produce (fruits/vegetables), mushrooms, table salt, curing salt, white sugar, honey, maple syrup, wheats (whole grain/ground), dairy products, eggs, beef, pork and poultry. In addition to that we grow as much as possible and we can fish right in our own backyard. Unlike the families who couldn't use yeast because it wasn't produced locally, I'd simply use my sourdough starter that is easily made by capturing wild yeast in your kitchen. We are also surrounded by an abundance of wild edible plants. What we can't get locally pales in comparison to what we can get! We are so very blessed to live in such an amazing area!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Learning to Be Still

Garden Visitor
July 19, 2009

I am by any stretch of the imagination a chronic muli-tasker to the point it is close to being a flaw. While muli-tasking allows me to get a lot done most days on an off day the lack of focus is rather apparent. As a way of learning to be still aka muli-tasking I have decided that television during the day has to go!

When I was growing up we got 4 channels on a black and white television. My Mom never had a colour television until she was in the nursing home and by then she had no interest in watching television. As newlyweds we had an upside down television that was rather unique looking with an almost round black and white screen. Somehow over the years television has whittled its way into our lives to the point now the kids have grown leaving us empty nesters I will turn the television on as soon as I get up out of habit. Now the television is simply giving the illusion of someone else in the house because I seldom actually watch it. I'm doing two things wrong here. First I am wasting electricity and even though the cost to operate the main television works out to 2¢ per hour it is irresponsible of me to waste any kWh. Every kWh counts! Second I really am over stimulating myself by the constant bombardment of noise and images. Even though I'm not actively watching the television the sensory stimulation is still registering in my brain. This more than likely creates sensory overload sometimes. In this case learning to be still with a bit less sensory stimulation will be a positive change for me.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Wordless Wednesday - Wildflowers

Wildflowers

June 6, 2009

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Natural Diapers

[from my email files]

This little gem found its way into my email inbox so I forwarded onto the kids with the little ones. Apparently being foodies the only way they are going to try this is by hollowing out the watermelon first. I will say our youngest grandbaby would look adorable dressed like this :)

[note this picture is not mine so I claim no copyright to it]

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Date Night

My husband and I have re-established date night. During the nice weather that has meant going for a boat ride, stopping for dinner then enjoying the sunset before heading home. In the winter months it means enjoying a nice home cooked meal then curling up on the couch to watch a movie. Really it's just a fancy excuse for spending quality time together :)

Last Saturday was date night. The weather was cold and wet so I made an early dinner from left over venison chili I had frozen. Then we headed to the theatre to take in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. As a Harry Potter fan this was a must see movie for me! The movie was excellent but in comparison to the previous movies it was somewhat lacking. Don't get me wrong as the essence of the book was captured nicely and the film work was wonderful but it was still lacking with respect to the other movies. I quite enjoyed seeing how Daniel Radcliff, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson had matured not only in their portraited characters but as actors/actresses. I noticed that the years have not treated Draco (Tom Felton) kindly which in the fictional world is rather fitting given his character but in the real world not so good. It was quite sad to see the visualization of Albus Dumbledore's death. Michael Gambon excelled at his role as the headmaster of Hogwarts so I'm sure he will appear in flashbacks during the last Harry Potter film which is now in production. The last movie will answer a lot of questions remaining from the previous films.

If you want to get the most from the Harry Potter movies, read the books! I'm serious! The movies by default cannot possibly cover all the details of the books. This movie was two and a half hours long yet skipped over an awful lot of details. So before going to see the movie, read the book first. That way you will get maximal enjoyment from the movie.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

BYBS - Cooler Summer

This year Mother Nature has thrown us a bit of a curve ball with the cooler summer temperatures and a lot of rain. I think the cooler, below average temperatures have been on everyone's mind this summer and they certainly are the topic for conversation. It's so easy to complain about the weather even though we can't do anything about it. But let's put the cooler summer temperatures in perspective. It is as if Mother Nature knows there is a recession and has stepped in a bit to help out! Despite a late start getting my new raised garden beds in they are looking quite lovely. I have a bumper crop of salad greens that usually by this time of year would have bolted (pictures here). I will also have peas this year later into the summer thanks to the cooler weather. At the same time with the cooler temperatures and rainy weather we have done less boating saving us a bit of fuel money. This has also resulted in a bit more time at home to get work done around the house and gardens as well as do a bit of troubleshooting. We've had more time to sit on the dock to marvel at the beauty of the water while enjoying the company of our neighbours. The stormy weather is not all that pleasant but it sure has saved on watering the gardens and as a reward Mother Nature has provides some of the most amazing sunsets yet! Cooler outdoor temperatures combined with cool breezes and lower humidity levels have kept the main lower living level of the house at a balmy 19ºC (67ºF) pretty much the same temperature we keep the house at during the day in the heating season. We are now half way through summer and have yet to turn our air conditioning on! So in many ways the cooler, rainy weather has been quite the blessing this year! Mother Nature sure is a smart, old cookie :)

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Storms A Brewing

Turning Leaves
July 16, 2009

Skywatchers know that when the leaves turn a storm is a brewing! Thursday afternoon the leaves once again turned and that night we were hit with yet another storm. A prudent person pays attention to the signs of storms brewing whether it be weather or in some other aspect of their lives and acts accordingly. The young and/or foolish person does not. The biggest news in the blogosphere is the 'sale' of Entrecard to ZipRunner Inc. Now technically this wasn't a sale it was an acquisition due to a default note despite what former owner Graham Langdon says. Storms have been brewing at Entrecard for quite some time!

It definitely was time for Graham to leave Entrecard! Like a comedy of errors combined with an immature egotistical joke of the day, ex-members and members alike tuned in just to see what stupid thing he could come up with next. I honestly don't think he realized what a joke he had become in the blogosphere! He even bragged about being homeless and how much he enjoyed sleeping on a park bench. Now tell me what founder of a business they are trying to sell for a million dollars would even make mention of that? Then and one of his biggest downfalls was he played in Photoshop® changing his ad using filters. A EC member made a comment on Twitter regarding Graham's hat along with calling him an 'asshat'. Now Twitter has nothing to do with EC yet Graham went into overdrive, banned the member and put out a new rule that EC members could not say anything negative about EC on any forum, social network or blog or else they would be banned earning him the reputation of being a Nazi. This censorship did not sit well with members who either made it known vocally or quietly left. As if he had the right to tell others what they could say outside of EC. Well, from there it went from bad to worse!

He was making very poor business decisions that drove away a lot of good bloggers by running unauthorized paid ads on blogs and dictating where the widget had to be placed on blogs. Mind you as long as the content agrees with the TOS of your ISP and blog host, no one has the right to tell you what to put on your blog or where you should put it. In the past three months under Graham's guidance Entrecard lost one third of its traffic. That is a fairly large chunk of traffic to lose! There has been some speculation that some of these bloggers might return now that Graham no longer owns entrecard however with his announcement that he is staying on as advisor (possibly untrue) I doubt many will return. In fact on the July 17 Entrecard blog post by Andrew Te of ZipRunner he politely thanks Graham and while he specifically acknowledges that Phirate with stay on with Entrecard makes absolutely no mention of Graham remaining as an advisor. What I find interesting is Graham doesn't even have an EC widget on his new blog! It is more likely Graham blowing a bit of smoke than a reality that he will be staying as an advisor. What investor who gets a company through a default note would keep the person responsible on as an advisor? If Andrew does keep Graham as part of the management team it will be Graham's continued association with EC that will hurt the new ownership. ZipRunner would be well advised to cut all ties with Graham. The reality is the very bloggers that Entrecard depends on for its success want Graham gone! At any rate they have an awful lot of damage control and damage repair to do. Any signs of being wishy washy, showing lack of respect for their members, making rule changes without notice, excessive censorship or any of the other nonsense that has been going on in the past will show Andrew Te to be no better than Graham so EC will continue its rapid downward spiral. Don't forget under Graham's management EC has lost 1/3 of its traffic over the last 3 months. Now ZipRunner will have to earn that traffic back. Time will tell at how successful they are at that. I wish Andrew the best and hope that they can turn EC into what it was meant to be.

In the meantime there are many questions regarding the credits members have earned. It has already been noted that new members and those who did not sign-up for the cashout prior to the acquistion by Zip Runner will not be eligible for cashout. This is bound to tick-off a lot of people who have spent hours and I do mean hours dropping cards to build up points to cash out. These are people that went into a que under Graham's system and have been sitting for weeks waiting for approval for cashout eligibility. At the same time members are still complaining as late as today of unapproved paid ads running on their blogs. This is not a good way for the new ownership to start off!

Would I put my 5 blogs back into the Entrecard system? I was with Entrecard from almost the start. I saw its downward spiral. At my peak usage I was dropping 450+ per day spending upwards of 4 hr daily spread throughout the day depending on my connection speed. When I left Entrecard (reason here) I suddenly felt very relieved despite the fact they continued to spam me and refused to remove my blogs I found I enjoyed blogging more. There is a life outside of Entrecard! More importantly my traffic has increased while my bounce rate has decreased. It has taken me less than 3 months to build up a higher quality of traffic than Entrecard was providing and that's across all 5 blogs. So unless Entrecard dramatically changes under the new management and there is no association with Graham Langdon, no I would not return to Entrecard. See the way Entrecard is currently designed all that dropping takes away from adding precious content to your blog. Without content you don't get traffic. Without traffic you don't get readers.

For those interested in who ZipRunner Inc. is, here are the details:

ZipRunner Inc company information:
Company name : ZipRunner Inc
Number : C2322843
Date Filed : 12/12/2000
Status : Active
Jurisdiction : California
Address : 2168 S Atlantic BLVD #232, Monterey Park, CA 91754
Agent for Service of Process : ANDREW H TE, 2168 S Atlantic BLVD #232,
Monterey Park, CA 91754

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Visitors

Chicago Cardinal Red
July 15, 2009

My garden despite a late start is growing nicely. We still haven't added the other raised beds which will likely be a fall project now. The past couple of years we have been dealing with mice, voles, centipedes, pill bugs and earwigs indoors. This is the year of the earwigs! So far the battle has been going rather good as we drive these critters further from the house. The massive sealing and removing any debris from around the house has been an ongoing project since we moved here as is ripping out idea rodent hiding spots near the house. On a larger scale of critters we have a family of swans that visit regularly. The mother Mallard and her seven little ducklings visited last night. The rabbits visit daily. We didn't see the skunk but knew he was there! We hear the raccoons chit chatting at night but have seen them yet and the possum that frequents the area hasn't been spotted either.

The first year we were here, it never dawned on me to treat the lower level as if we were camping. Four of the lower level windows are pretty much at ground level including the large kitchen window. The patio door in the kitchen in on ground level for the back of the property but well below ground level for the front of the property. The kitchen is tucked into one corner completely open to the family room. There is no way to get to either the patio door or window without going through the kitchen. I was watching television on the couch when I smelled the presence of a skunk. Now the kitchen window and patio doors were both opened and it doesn't take much for a hungry critter to get through the screens. The fresh apple pie I had baked for my husband was sitting on the counter cooling while the skunk more or less wandered between one screen and the next. The problem was there was no way for me to get to either to shut them without triggering the skunk. I used a broom handle to flick on the patio lights. Sure enough there was the skunk! Then I remembered a trick from our camping days. If you shine a light directly at their eyes they will mosey along. So I quietly got the big Mag flashlight and prayed that trick would work. Thank goodness the skunk headed towards the edge of the water. I could still seem him as I quickly shut the patio door. Had it been a raccoon instead of a skunk it would have been in the house after the pie! Come evening in the warm weather if the windows are open the patio door and kitchen window are shut to leave only an inch or two opening for air to get through but not the critters.

Yesterday I heard a bit of scratching in one of the upstairs rooms and discovered signs of something in the pantry. Nothing had been gnawed on that I could see. More than 90% of all the food is in glass, heavy plastic or metal containers but there are a few things a hungry mouse could get into. I did a walk-around and discovered a bit of wood coming out from under the eaves directly corresponding to where the noise is coming from in the house. So my husband is currently poking around in the attic to see if he can see anything. He'll put out more bait then get up on the ladder to see if he can get the hole plugged if there is one. What we think happened is we discovered a mouse free-for-all run under the side entrance. Three bags of cement later that problem was solved. What it looks like we did was trap a mouse in the house and the mouse is trying to chew its way out. In the meantime it looks like I will be spending a bit of quality time in the pantry organizing and doing more rodent proofing.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Wordless Wednesday - Walking the Rails

Walking the Rails
June 14, 2009

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Family Events

Lighting the Night Sky
July 11, 2009

My gosh we had such a busy but relaxing weekend! Friday night we went to Sam's Club and out for dinner in the US. Saturday morning we were awakened by a horrendous thunderstorm that threatened to cancel the day's planned activities but it cleared up late morning and actually turned out to be a grand day spent in good company. Sunday we spent the day with friends at the swim hole so will be blogging about that later.

As you know I am Canadian and love to share any Canadian content with even a blog Canadian Perspective dedicated for this purpose but Canadian content sprinkles through onto this blog as well as my other blogs. Saturday's annual event was hosted by a family member. It always falls in July as close as possible to Canada Day. The number in attendance reaches around 150. This really is a wonderful event held on their picturistic, farmland property in southern Ontario. Local foods and talents are always a feature which is something I really appreciate. After dark everyone settles in for a gorgeous fireworks show that would out do many communities! Some of the fireworks are originals made specifically for the occasion. It is just a lovely event with a good time had by all!

This year's featured band was SUDS (Shed Union District Standards) featuring D'Arcy Sloan, Brad Fishleigh, Darryl Twigg and Danny Wright. The band hails from Chatham, Ontario. The video pictured was placed on YouTube by me with their consent. [As of yet I cannot get the video to upload because it is too large for Blogger but might eventually upload to YouTube. I will post the video as soon as I get it uploaded.] I think they are quite good. The video is not as good as it could be but considering I'm figuring out using the new camera it isn't all that bad. So many of the big name bands started out exactly this way, playing a small events.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Evian Live Young - Roller Babies Advert

Oh this is so cute!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

The Learning Curve

Evening Skies
July 7, 2009

Virtually everything we do in life is a direct result of learning. Learning involves a learning curve which is simply the time it takes you to move from not knowing anything about performing that task reasonably well. The steepness of the learning curve depends on the complexity of the task as well as the intelligence level of the individual. Thanks to technology we are bombarded with ample opportunity to expand our knowledge on a daily basis. That doesn't make the learning curve static!

Several years ago I got my first digital camera with no flash or memory card. It simply took 8 to 10 pictures then I had to download them in order to use the camera again. The learning curve for that camera was by today's standards very minimal yet it was there and it formed the knowledge base to go onto the next camera. Over the past few days I have been put back onto the learning curve with the new Panasonic DMC-TZ5.

I'm one of those people who does read the manual. There is a lot more to this camera as far as settings go in comparison to the Canon A540! I am quite impressed with the quality of pictures I'm getting already but hopefully they will improve further as I learn more about using the camera's features effectively. Pictured is the sunset from Tuesday night and it really did look like that (without the frame and signature of course)! The Panasonic captured the colours in amazing detail and clarity which I attribute to the high mega pixels. I'm excitedly reading through the manual to learn everything I can about this camera. Now I need to find a forum where I can ask questions!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Wordless Wednesday - Diamond Crystal Salt Company

Diamond Crystal Salt Company
June 14, 2009

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

My Newest Toy

Panasonic DMC-TZ5
July 6, 2009

About 11 years ago I encounter my first digital camera. By today's standards it was very amateur not even having a flash or ability to a memory card. If I recall correctly the internal memory stored up to 8 low mega pixel pictures. It didn't matter to me. I was hooked! About a year later I upgraded to a FujiFilm FinePix that if I recall correctly was a 2 mega pixel camera with very low zoom. It was a lovely point and shoot camera that gave relatively good results without a high learning curve. After that I was on to a Canon PowerShot A530 that met an early demise a couple of months after buying it because apparently digital cameras are not supposed to be slightly bumped. I replaced that with a Canon PowerShot A540 which is a 6.0 megal pixels 4X optical zoom digital. Learning from my previous experience I got into the habit of hooking the strap securely to my wrist when ever I was carrying the camera EXCEPT once a few months ago. It dropped breaking one of the catches on the battery door. So I used painters' tape to hold the battery door shut. This solution worked relatively well while getting a few funny looks but the real problem was the failure to latch properly caused my rechargeable batteries to last for all of about 20 pictures at best. The solution wasn't because I was being cheap either, it was because I essentially didn't feel like doing the research for a new digital camera! Compounding that problem is my husband thought a nice digital SLR camera would be great so we just kept putting it off.

Last night we stopped at Sam's Club and checked out the camera section. You know how you pick up a camera and it just feels good in your hand, something like the right fit for a knife handle in the kitchen? Well I picked up the Panasonic DMC-TZ5 and it was love at first sight. Unlike the Canon with mostly plastic casing the Panasonic has a painted metal casing. To me not only did it fit my hand nicely giving me the point and shoot capabilities it added a lot of other features including higher pixels and zoom capabilities all in a much sturdier feeling camera. We bought it! This is a 9 mega pixel 10X optical zoom digital camera in navy blue and gosh despite the steeper learning curve I'm already taking a few great pictures. What a difference!

We are going to repair the battery door on the Canon. It will make a great back-up camera. My main camera will be the Panasonic so now we need to go shopping for my husband's camera. He's still wanting an SLR digital but that might change. The worst thing about buying digital cameras is the performance does change from year to year. One year Canon will be the top performer then the next year Panasonic will be the top performer. I actually paid less than half for the Panasonic and got a better camera than I paid for my FujiFilm! At the same time digital camera have basically become toss aways! A fairly descent digital can be found for around the $100 mark! If it breaks you can likely go out and buy one even better for less than what you paid. Oh the miracles of technology!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Old Landscape Relics

Relic of the Past
July 2, 2009

We've been on the road a bit more over the last few days so I have had a lot more photo opportunities. I've been know to pull over on the side of the road just to get a good picture even if it means turning around to do so. True it takes me (us) longer to get where we are going but we arrive in a much more relaxed mood. Taking the time to truly enjoy your road trips in this manner is well worth the little extra time taken to stop.

It never ceases to amaze me what a beautiful and diverse area we live in. Not only can we enjoy the splendor of the Great Lakes waterway, a nice jaunt through rural Ontario will get us to some of the nicest cities you can ever visit. Rural Ontario is just a delight to travel through! Scattered throughout the landscape are relics of days long gone. I love taking pictures of these relics if only to preserve a bit of Ontario history.

Pictured is a long abandoned cement silo I discovered last Thursday. I think is is a gorgeous relic that hopefully will be preserved for quite some time however, like many old relics that likely won't happen. At some future time the owners of the property will likely tire of it or need to plant that land so it will be leveled. Even in rural Ontario there are signs of vandalism that marrs old relics as well as natural features like hugh boulders. For unexplained reasons some individuals seem to think they have the right to mark up these features using paint. Someone obviously left their mark on the silo. While I could have Photoshopped it out, I didn't. I think it symbolizes the underlying conflict between youth and elderly rather nicely.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Road Trips - Self Important People

Fire in the Sky
July 3, 2009

The past couple of days have been rather hard with the road trips. Friday, despite the ever present drizzle most folks I encountered were in rather pleasant moods. I find driving in Canada for the most part to be rather pleasant with the exception of my favourite city Toronto, the land of the honk the horn if a mosquito flies by. Honestly, Torontonians (did I call them babies in a previous post?) need to nix the horn! I managed to get a few great pictures of the countryside and my Alma Mater, pick-up local honey, . We are so lucky to live in an area with such beautiful eye candy! You would think it would put everyone in a good mood but apparently not so.

I was scheduled to pick-up my husband late Friday afternoon in the city. So that means a chance to pick-up a few things I can't get at home. The car behaved nicely on the way there as it should but when I started it after my first stop it made this horrid noise. I immediately thought the power steering fluid must be low so called my husband to let him know. I finished all my stops arriving where I was picking him up just a bit irritated with traffic, the car and timing. I had about 20 minutes to kill so pulled into the meeting spot and decided to check out the outdoor plant section of one store. I spotted a Brandywine (heirloom) tomato plant, like I really need another tomato plant, and an eggplant so grabbed my two purchases and headed to the check-out. All of a sudden Miss Self Important with a fully loaded nursery card almost ran me over trying to get to the check out. Had I been walking just a bit faster she would have hit me for sure!

Here I am with my two pithy plants while she had a good 10 flats plus extras! Do you think she could have let me go ahead of her and check-out like any other considerate shopper would do? NO! I stood there 10 minutes with my two plants while her and the check-out person chit chatted while the cash registered remained silent. I got frustrated with Miss Self Important and the check-out person but said nothing because I do strive to be polite but honestly there is a limit! I quietly put my plants down, all 2 of them and walked out a bit sadly because I really wanted them. About 5 minutes my husband arrived, we chatted then he added the power steering fluid then we drove by the outdoor garden centre. The same Miss Self Important was still there. Little does she know her rudeness cost that store a possible customer. They could seriously have the best plants around and I would still not shop there! Customer service would dictate that a polite "let me ring her through with 2 plants" before I "ring through your 100 plants" or even oh I don't know how about "another cashier"!

To Miss Self Important bad karma does follow you. I believe karma can be a b---- but I really do hope you enjoy your plants. You likely did me a favour by preventing me from buying diseased or unhealthy plants but I will never know that. In the mean time bad karma has been known to affect whether plants survive or not. See if you are so important that you cannot be considerate to your fellow human beings I really doubt you have a green thumb!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Happy Canada Day!

Bobby Gimby's Canada Song

Oh Canada! You are 142 years young this year and what a fabulous history it has been!

To each and everyone of my fellow Canadians both home and abroad, I'm wishing you a very Happy Canada Day! It will be a day of celebrations here so we are looking forward to it. For those wanting to learn a little more about Canada please visit my Canadian blog.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

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

Bristol Zoo Parking Attendant

[from my email files]

From The London Times:

Outside the Bristol Zoo, in England, there is a parking lot for 150 cars and eight coaches, or buses.
It was manned by a very pleasant attendant with a ticket machine charging cars £1 (about $1.40Cdn) and coaches £5 (about $7).
This parking attendant worked there uninterrupted for all of 25 years.
Then, one day, he didn't turn up for work.
"Oh well,", said Bristol Zoo management, "we'd better phone up the city council and get them to send a new parking attendant."
"Err, no", said the council, "that parking lot is your responsibility."
"Err, no", said Bristol Zoo management, "the attendant was employed by the City Council, wasn't he?"
"Err, NO!" insisted the Council.

Sitting in a villa somewhere on the coast of Spain, is a bloke who had been taking the parking lot fees, estimated at £400 (about $560) per day at Bristol Zoo for the last 25 years. Assuming seven days a week, this amounts to just over £3.6 million ($7 million)!

And no one even knows his name.

-----

I got a chuckle out of this but thought it best to check out the story so did an online search. According to the Evening Post, the story is an urban myth that began circulating online about 2 years ago (more here). It likely was started as an April Fools joke. Still it is fun to ponder whether it could actually happen. Stranger things than this has happened!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

BYBS Celebrating Life

This past week week the entertainment world experienced the loss of Ed McMahon, Farrah Faucett and Michael Jackson. In the aftermath of the shock and cushioning the mourning is the celebration of life, of what these entertainers left behind - their legacy. How wonderful it is that we can look back and see this legacy despite whatever troubles and tribulations each of these entertainers faced during life.

This week really is a reminder to question ourselves about the lives we are living. It is a reminder that at any moment our lives could end. Are we living our lives the way we want to be remembered? Are we showing others we celebrate the joy of life each and every day? Are we leaving a legacy to future generations? It's hard to celebrate life when the wolf is at the door and times are tough but through that the greatest blessing is to celebrate life each and every moment despite its ups and downs!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

RIP Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson

Into the Night
June 23, 2009

Yesterday was a sad and shocking day for many. Early yesterday morning Farrah Fawcett lost her long fought battle with cancer at the age of 62 (more here). She was known as the 1970's "It Girl". I will always remember her as one of Charlie's Angels and her influence on hairstyles during that time. Everyone tried to mimic her flowing hairstyle! RIP Farrah and thanks for the memories.

As the storms went through yesterday I powered down the computer and television. When I finally got back online the shocking news of the sudden death of Michael Jackson was setting Twitter on fire. Like many I was shocked! Today fans worldwide are gathering in large groups to remember and pay tribute to the King of Pop. The world is a better place because of your music. You will be sadly missed. RIP Michael and thanks for the music.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Unsettled Weather

Evening Beauty
June 23, 2009

After such a cool, wet spring the weather as turned very hot and humid. We are very fortunate that due to our location we have not had to turn our our AC yet! Others have had theirs on for the last couple of weeks or more. The hot, humid weather always means the potential for severe thunderstorms. Yesterday we experienced several short power outages as the storms went through. There was amazing ground to cloud lighting. As I quickly type this another line of thunderstorms are almost ready to hit. It's already dark and very still with just a hint of thunder getting closer and closer. This series is quick moving as my husband called me less than 10 minutes ago with the warning. It was clear then! As the storms clear it makes for great photo opportunities. This was Tuesday night's sunset. Isn't it gorgeous?

Ok, time for me to power down.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Wordless Wednesday - Antique Beauty

Antique Beauty
June 14, 2009

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Labour Stopages

On the Horizon
June 22, 2009

I woke in a lousy mood! There was no rhyme or reason for this mood other than another sinus attack but really in comparison to most this appears to be a rather mild attack. An excellent time to get a rant on is when you aren't feeling 100%. So it didn't take a whole lot after turning to my favourite Toronto news station cp24 to really tick me off. First the Toronto city workers are on strike.

Well, all right maybe those jobs could go to some of the many in Ontario that really would like a job. Their union is not doing them any favours. Heck, Windsor garbage workers have been out on strike for 11 weeks now. The striking workers under CUPE receive weekly strike pay from CUPE National Strike Fund which amounts to a mere pittance to their normal pay, only a few dollars a week. I heard a figure of $25 per week but that hasn't been confirmed. At best it is no more than $100 per week. So in these hard economic times you tell me who can afford to have their pay cut to a few dollars a week? How long can striking employees last before food and utilities come onto the chopping block? How long can before house costs (rent, mortgage) can no longer be met. The sad reality is there are going to be employee casualties out of this strike. Sadder still is the ones affected by the strike that depend on daycare. Some of those folks are going to end up losing jobs simply because they cannot find immediate replacement for the daycare they had already arranged. I should point out that unlike the last city workers strike in Toronto the pope or queen or any other dignitaries are not scheduled to visit so the city is not under any pressure to agree to anything. In fact this time it looks like they might just wait things out. Just perfect! Just what Ontario needs is more people out of work!

Now if that isn't bad enough both Bombardier and the LCBO are threatening strikes. Bombardier actually settled with the CAW this afternoon. The LCBO is scheduled to walk out at 12:01 AM Wednesday morning. Here's the thing, Bombardier did a responsible thing settling the labour dispute to the benefit of all. The LCBO well, who really cares? I'll bet beer and wine sales will soar. Yes they want job security but trust me anyone being self-employed has never had job security and some days earning $10 an hour would be a huge blessing! So get over yourself already. Anyone wanting alcohol in Ontario will have either stocked up by now or will go outside of Ontario. Those near provincial or US borders will simply go across and get what they want.

An LCBO strike is virtually meaningless aside of the fact it is the first one in their history. It will hurt hotels and restaurants but you know the Ontario government aka Dalton McGuinty doesn't really care about small business in Ontario and that apathy is wearing off on other Ontarioians. LCBO workers will try to get their demands heard on deaf ears while the Ontario government loses $5 million dollars per day for each day of the strike and you know where they are going to come to make that up, don't you? As far as I'm concerned liquour sales in this province should have been privatized a long time ago. The government no longer has to be paternalistic. I think we can think for ourselves, thank-you very much. But what the province is really saying is drink up so we can fund our hospitals but don't drink and drive wink wink because we don't want too many people in our hospitals.

Today, I found cp24 news irritating because of the sensationalization and the irrational people dumping garbage wherever. I mean come one, seriously how much garbage can some one create in one day? And how much can garbage stink in one day? The media is feeding into the fear of the people and people are reacting. For shame! People in Toronto are flipping out because their garbage has not been collected for a day. Give it a rest! Honestly! We have garbage pick-up once a week and recycle pick-up every other week. It is not uncommon for us to put our garbage out once a month or once every 6 weeks and then it is one small bag. Why? We have learned how to reduce garbage and if anything the citizens of Toronto need to learn is to reduce their garbage. Simply tossing it out in a container does not take care of the problem! Those self-centred inconsiderate imbeciles who think they can just drop their garbage anywhere well deserve the fines given and I might add I think during the strike those illegally dumping should have fines doubles. I'd love to see environmentalists get involved in this strike. Reducing the garbage put out would solve a lot of problems including not having to have as many garbage collectors. That way the city could hire extra day care workers to keep those who really want a job working!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

BYBS: Happy Father's Day

To all the father's out there, I hope you have a wonderful day! I have a few special things planned for my husband who is the best father in the world. It will be a relaxing, family oriented day to let him know how much we appreciate his role as husband, father, grandfather and mentor. He fills his role without fail always a role model for his family, always providing, always supportive, always loving and laughing. He learned to be a good father from his father who learned to be a good father from his father. In return he has taken those lessons to become a good father and pass those lessons onto our kids, a couple who are now fathers as well. And so the cycle continues through the love of a father passed to his children...

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Speed Warning

[from my email files]



I always love opening email to find a bit of a chuckle. It might be a good idea to pay attention to this sign as it appears to have an element of truth to it :)

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Quiz for People Who Know Everything

[from my email files. Note it is not National Mental Health Day today, but feel free to pass this along.]

Quiz for People Who Know Everything

This is a quiz for people who know everything! I found out in a hurry that I didn't. These are not trick questions. They are straight questions with straight answers.

1. Name the one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leader until the contest ends.
2. What famous North American landmark is constantly moving backward?
3. Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons. All other vegetables must be replanted every year. What are the only two perennial vegetables?
4. What fruit has its seeds on the outside?
5. In many liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy, with a real pear inside the bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is genuine; it hasn't been cut in any way. How did the pear get inside the bottle?
6. Only three words in standard English begin with the letters 'dw' and they are all common words. Name two of them. {dweeb is not an answer}
7. There are 14 punctuation marks in English grammar. Can you name at least half of them?
8. Name the only vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form except fresh.
9. Name 6 or more things that you can wear on your feet beginning with the letter 'S.'
   

Answers To Quiz:

1. The one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leader until the contest ends: Boxing
2. North American landmark constantly moving backward. Niagara Falls - The rim is worn down about two and a half feet each year because of the millions of gallons of water that rush over it every minute.
3. Only two vegetables that can live20 to produce on their own for several growing seasons: Asparagus and rhubarb.
4. The fruit with its seeds on the outside: Strawberry.
5. How did the pear get inside the brandy bottle? It grew in side the bottle. The bottles are placed over pear buds when they are small, and are wired in place on the tree. The bottle is left in place for the entire growing season. When the pears are ripe, they are snipped off at the stems.
6. Three English words beginning with dw: Dwarf, dwell and dwindle.
7. Fourteen punctuation marks in English grammar. Period, comma, colon, semicolon, dash, hyphen, apostrophe, question mark, exclamation point, quotation mark, brackets, parenthesis, braces, and ellipses.
8. The only vegetable or f ruit never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form but fresh: Lettuce
9. Six or more things you can wear on your feet beginning with 'S': Shoes, socks, sandals, sneakers, slippers, skis, skates, snowshoes, stockings, stilts.
   

PLEASE DO YOUR PART... Today is National Mental Health Day. You can do your part by remembering to send this e-mail to at least one unstable person. Well, my job's done! Just don't send it back to me. I've already flunked it once.

-----

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Deadhead

Deadhead
June 14, 2009

Floating and hidden debris is always a problem for boaters though-out the boating season however, it is particularly problematic during the spring and after heavy storms. Deadheads are sometimes referred to as sinker logs. These can be very dangerous as they can punch a hole in a large boat and destroy a small boat. Deadheads are almost impossible to see at night. We found out about deadheads first hand a couple of weeks after we bought our boat. We hit a deadhead taking out our outboard. We were extremely lucky to be able to limp our boat to shore where were were able to secure it to a dock. From there we had to find a way home then arrange to have our boat towed and repaired. This brings up a couple of issues.

Some residents living on waterfront property toss yard waste into the water without realizing the danger branches and larger pieces of wood floating in the water present. This should never be done and in fact in most areas residents tossing debris into the water can be fined. It is quite common for residents living on waterfront property to have fire pits close to the water's edge as well as a variety of furniture on their docks or beach. During periods of high wind or storms it is common for firewood and any unsecured items on docks to end up in the water. It is very important that items on the dock be secured to prevent this from happening. Firewood and other items on the beach need to either be secured or removed when not in use. Unfortunately parks along the water are sometimes the target of vandals who toss picnic tables and/or garbage bins into the water. While boating you have to be constantly observant for any kind of debris in the water.

As a boater you have a legal and moral responsibility to help another boater in distress. There is a greater risk of serious harm or death on the water for boaters who suddenly run out of gas or breakdown. Any boater that comes across this situation should tow the disabled boat to the closest shore to get the boat out of harms way. In the event you come across a disabled boat with people in distress in the water, immediately call for help as you approach, get floating devices to them if they don't have one on, cut your motor then if possible pull them onto your boat without you getting into the water. Apply emergency first aid if necessary. Remain with the disabled boat until further help arrives.

Boaters also have a responsibility to help make the waterways safer for all. That means not dumping anything from your boat into the water and removing anything from the water that doesn't belong there. It goes without saying that the same rules that apply to drinking and driving apply to drinking and boating! Whenever we see something in the water that shouldn't be there we remove it if possible. This pay it forward environmental stewardship applies not only to our daily lives living but also when we are boating. If we can't remove the hazard (eg. picnic table, large tree trunks, other large debris) we report it to the Coast Guard who will remove it.

Last Sunday we encountered several smaller pieces of debris and the pictured large log. The floating log definitely could have done a fair amount of damage had a boat been going fast and hit it. My husband decided to try and get it out of the water. The problem was the log was almost water logged and very slippery. Pulling the log out of the water definitely was not as easy as it sounds! He managed to get a loop of rope around the log and pull it up onto our swim platform then secured the rope to the tow bar. Once the log was tightly secured we putzed to a safe spot where the log could be dropped of onshore. Notice the putz? We had to putz because if the log broke free plopping into the water there was the potential of damaging our boat. After enjoying that bit of fun we continued on to enjoy a wonderful day of boating including stopping in St. Clair, Michigan to enjoy a lovely, relaxing meal (read more here) and do a bit of sightseeing.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Wordless Wednesday - Peaking Through

Peaking Through
June 14, 2009

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Family Relations :)

[from my email files]



A little girl asked her mother: 'How did the human race appear?' The mother answered, 'God made Adam and Eve; they had children; and so was all mankind made. 'Two days later the girl asked her father the same question. The father answered, 'Many years ago there were monkeys from which the human race evolved. 'The confused girl returned to her mother and said,'Mum, how is it possible that you told me the human race was created by God, and Dad said they developed from monkeys? 'The mother answered, 'Well, Dear, it is very simple. I told you about my side of the family, and your father told you about his.'

-----
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Two All Beef Patties...

Have you ever noticed that the old becomes new again? A few days ago I saw a commercial bringing back that famous jingle "two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles on a sesame seed BUN". Back when I was considerably younger than what I am now this was a favourite schoolyard chant. I grew up in a very small community. We got exactly 4 channels on our small black and white television! I can remember the excitement when our small mom & pop grocery store brought in PopTarts® and freezer pizza. That was the extent of our fast food!

A couple of times a year we would ride the bus to the closest city to spend the afternoon shopping as my Mom never learned to drive. On those trips we always ate at the Metropolitan lunch counter. They made the best BLT's around and not only could you watch yourself eat but watch other shoppers thanks to the mirrored lunch counter wall. I was probably about 9 when the McDonald's restaurant was built in that small city. The bus drove right past it making it way to the downtown core where we shopped but we never went there because we would have had to take a cab and my Mom was always scared of missing the bus home. I was so excited when we finally rode to the city with friends and they stopped at the restaurant. I ordered my very first Big Mac®. I learned a valuable lesson that day. Sure the burger was good but it wasn't as good as the Met's BLT and the restaurant wasn't as interesting as the Met's lunch counter!

While I really enjoy eating out, to this day I am still not a huge fan of fast food restaurants. At 590 calories for a Big Mac®, 34 g of fat and 1070 mg sodium I'm glad I did not acquire a taste for fast food restaurants¹. The sad thing is that cutesy little jingle will dupe another generation into thinking this is good food. Some children actually eat one of these burgers every school day and then again on the weekends. No wonder we are seeing such a spike in morbid obesity in children, increases in diabetes and health problems due to excessive sodium. Isn't it amazing what an seeming benign little jingle can archive?

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

BYBS - Patience

The past week has really been about spring. So far it has been a cold and wet spring one that doesn't beckon you to the garden. The weather finally turned warm enough to spend a bit of time in the garden. If you have been following my blogs you will know we moved here in 2007. We have been doing a massive rip out followed by replanting. Unfortunately this has been a long and slow process as we slowly discovered what needs to be eliminated and what needs to be kept. Through this the real blessing has been patience. Patience to wait through the season to see what had been planted by the previous owner. Patience may be a virtue but in this case it is a blessing!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009