Man Wins or Does He?

Defeated
April 19, 2007

Yesterday started off with the promise of a gorgeous and mild day. The real estate agent was showing the house at 4:30 PM so I did the spit and shine routine then headed to the grocery store. I wanted something cooking to give a nice aroma so decided on a small sirloin roast along with fruit to refresh the never ending fruit bowl. That left me enough time to prep the meal, do a little blogging and relax. Since I would be home, the game plan was for her to show the outside first then I go outside while she shows the inside. Everything went according to plan. As always my camera is with me except when sleeping. This is the sight that just brought a great day crashing down!

I've blogged on my garden blog about the guinea hens wandering through the neighbourhood. Guinea hens are great escape artists. At first there was one they he brought his friends so for the past few months there were three. They make a lot of noise but other than that are quite benefical in the garden so I welcomed them. One of my neighbours built a shelter for them and another left his shed open so they had somewhere to rest. Then there were two. Rumour had it that a certain neighbour had trapped one.

Mid-afternoon there was a lot of noise from one of guinea hens so I looked outside. Sure enough there was only one but it was obvious this bird was greatly distressed. I wandered out to the water while the house was being shown only to this sickening sight. The cowardly person who killed the guinea hen simply tossed it into the water. This morning I have watched his mate desperately search for him. She is very distressed. It is such a sad sight to see!

The Finer Side of Allergiies

The real estate agent called yesterday wanting to show the house today. No problem except I don't think I've had much sleep in the last 96 hours. The reason being is allergies. People talk of the allergy season starting. Mine is year round but does get worse this time of year. So I'm doing the allergy twist aka not sleeping more than 20 minutes at a time. The allergy twist goes like this. One nostril gets totally plugged which signals your body to turn over allowing that nostril to clear but filling the other. Repeat as needed. This goes on all night or until you can't stand it anymore so you get up well before your normally would. Then another thing happens. Both nostrils clear then all heck breaks out. It is instant drip city! I mean running, drip I need a tissue right this minute drip! Now why couldn't it drip when I want to sleep? But that is not enough. The sneezes start and go on and on and on. I think my record is a sneezing spell of 14 and yes I did count them. I have boxes of kleenex in every room, three in our bedroom and even have them in the staircase. The decor du jour is kleenex boxes. I'm beyond worrying about whether they match the rooms. If there is kleenex in the box, there won't be for long! My nose is a bright red, my eyes constantly watering and hot dang, I look pretty good for this time of year considering I don't wear make-up. I've got the bestest ever allergy shiners you have ever seen! Eye Shadows R Us should market this look!

Oh and just to complicate things, the hot flashes are a real treat. That gives a nice blush and glistening glow to my face providing you can get within viewing distance. Yep, allergy shiners mixed with that flushed glow of hot flashes..I am seriously looking my best right now. Oh I don't know maybe just a touch of flu or something like pneumonia and I might have a bit of highlights. But wait a minute, I forgot to mention the bloating. I must admit I do love the puffy look. It makes me look a lot bigger than I actually am. I suddenly have these things that look like muscles but I'm pretty sure that's just an illusion. We won't even go into the mood swings despite HRT. Hopefully my doctor is reading this one!

Portals...

Sunset
April 17, 2007

Last night's sunset was gorgeous and I managed to take several good shots along with this fluke zoom shot. It reminded me of portals. As you know I like Harry Potter. The wizards in the books uses various means of moving from one location to another including portals. In the Harry Potter series, portals tend to be normal looking objects with magical powers allowing the wizard to enter. Portals are not new in the literary world though. A rabbit hole was the portal in Alice in Wonderland, a garden gate was the portal in The Secret Garden, the wardrobe is the portal in the Narnia series and the car was a portal in Back to the Future. Then there's the most reported portal from those who have had near death experiences. The portal is a tunnel with a bright light at the end.

It's interesting to ponder on portals especially on a dull grey and rainy day. Do they exist? Is there any proof that they do not? Are dreams a type of portal taking us to another plane of existence? Have you ever woke from a dream that was just too real? Something to ponder...

Sad News fro Virginia Tech

Our condolences and prayers go out to the victims, families, college community and extended community of Virginia Tech.

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - Family

I have a whole list of blessings to share from last week but somehow this video of our grandbaby just seemed perfect. She is now 3 months old and this video was taken Easter weekend. That's my husband's hand and if you listen carefully, I make a short comment right at the start of the video. She's going to be a social being! It is on my desktop so every time I get a negative thought, I just play it again. This is what it's all about...family!

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.

Interesting Clouds

Clouds
March 25, 2007

Winter has returned here despite a couple of very warm days early last week. By mid-week we had hail and fallen temperatures. Easter brought colder temperatures and snow. The cold spell has lasted all this week which is both good and bad for me. There are things that need to be done outside but it's too cold. Snow was predicted for yesterday and again today. On the bright side I've been able to focus on tasks indoors.

April's Moon

Moon
April 9, 2007

The skies have been so cloudy lately so I just had to take the opportunity to take a photo of the moon again. The first picture came out so the background was almost black but the the moon was fuzzy. The second was similar but a bit better. Finally I got this shot and because I'm playing with new brushes for Photoshop by Obsidian Dawn I did a little embellishing. I need to play with these brushes a bit more.

Fluffy Clouds

Clouds
Mar 29, 2007

It has been a whirlwind of activity here! Our kids have been down to help do a massive clean-out in preparation for listing the house. We had two family Easter gatherings and our first grandbaby was baptized Easter Sunday. The poor little angel is so exhausted from being passed around from person to person. They were down to help me on Wednesday, went home for doctor's appointments, then back down early Friday morning. She's becoming quite the globe trotter at 3 months of age! Despite all the work, stress and activity we so enjoyed all the kids home. That's what it is all about.

Today is the dog & pony show as one of my kids call it. The house was officially listed yesterday so around 11:30 am all the agents from the real estate firm will be parading through the house. I seriously hate the process of selling. People always comment on your stuff, decorating choices and homemaking skills even though they should be looking at the house itself. It's still our home but while listed I view it more as a house waiting to become a home. I think that is the only way I can deal with the process of selling.

Have a great day!

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

This morning our first grandchild was baptized. She looked like a little angel in her long, handmade gown. She slept through most of the service, waking just during the baptism and then again for pictures. The poor little darling is getting tuckered out from being passed from one person to the next as everyone wants to hold her.

Last week proved chaos can increase. With the help of our family, we were able to survive both the chaos and stress. It was a very family focused week! Last week's blessings were:

1. love
   
2. hope
3. determination
4. a baby's innocence
5. family support - emotionally and physically getting house ready to show
6. family memories - tears, laughter, pride and stories as we went through several boxes of pictures and kids artwork
   
7. extended family gatherings
   
8. spring cleaning - doesn't sound like a blessing but has made getting the house ready a lot easier
9. no pink in the sink!
10. quiet reflection
    

Happy Easter 2007

In the Process of Buying a New Home

Sunrise
March 28, 2007

I can't believe it has been less than a week since we first walked through the house we were interested in purchasing. Since then it has been an emotional and tiring roller coaster of activity. We walked through for a second time, put the offer in on Saturday and now are nashing out the details. Our real estate agent is working double time on this one as the owner keeps changing details. Yesterday everything was a go until the owner decided one more thing had to be changed. We can't list our house until the offer is finally settled. Here's the real kicker! That owner is buying a "specific property" if that falls through, our deal would fall through and whoever has a deal on our house would be cancelled too. Talk about stressful!

New Blog Your Blessings Sunday Banner

I was playing in Photoshop this morning and decided to make my own "Blog Your Blessings Sunday" sign. I hope you like it. The past week has been eventful with a few serious decisions to be made. Still we found time for love and laughter. For that I'm grateful.

Last Week's Blessings

1. family support - emotionally
2. close family relationship
3. new life in the garden - lemon balm, chives, thyme, rhubarb
4. beautiful skies
5. chatting with an elderly couple in a retirement home
6. being able to donate clothes to charity
7. compliments from new visitors to our home
8. finding a good real estate agent
9. digital camera
10. only 2 hrs 20 minutes in dentist chair
    

tears...

Sunset
March 28, 2007

Last night's sunset was gorgeous. I'm not going to say a lot right now as I leave in a few minutes to visite Dr. Torture aka dentist. 'Nuff said.

Moon

Moon
March 26, 2007 7:40 AM

Despite several attempts at trying to capture pictures of the moon I've had little success. This picture was taken at 16x zoom with a Canon PowerShot A540. It is a bit grainy but I think it is a pretty good picture. I have a telescope and watch the skies quite often. I really need a camera that works with the telescope to take descent pictures. Yesterday the sky was a vivid blue so the moon was still visible in the morning. This picture captured Mare Serenitatis one of the maria on the side of the moon that aways faces earth.

The moon fascinates me. It is the Queen of the Night being worshipped by ancient peoples and affecting our whole being. We only see one side of the moon as those with maria. Maria are lava plains covered with dark lava rock. The largest is maria is Ocean of Storms and the other is Sea of Tranquility. The far side of the moon has few maria because the crust is thicker.

Today's weather was equally warm, too warm for the time of year so it was no surprise when our second thunderstorm of the season rolled through. It hit with a furry with high winds and large rain drops that turned into driving hail. March's wrath was upon us for a good 20 minutes creating large pockets of water everywhere. While we've had a brief reprieve the skies are again threatening shortly.

Mute Swan

Mute Swan

The swans have been with us for much of the winter. They are such pretty birds! They are usually in pairs and quite often we have six visit us at a time. It's always a treat when they bring the new family along. For a long time I have been calling them tundra swans because that is what I was told they were and we do have tundra swans fly over during migration season. However, these swans seem to be here for much of the year and their beak does not match that of a tundra swan. Being curious, I called our local conservation authority to help me identify the swans. They are Mute Swans because unlike their close look-alikes they don't make noise but don't let that fool you as they can be very aggressive especially when nesting. They are very large birds that are rather easy to tame if you feed them. They will keep coming back.

The feral Mute Swan population has expanded throughout the lower Great Lakes Region. They are a good example of an introduced species that originally was not indigenous to Canada. They are not without problems as beautiful as what they are considering they compete for food and habitat against indigenous water fowl. The Mute Swans are very territorial when nesting often to the point of controlling and entire pond, effectively removing a nesting area for indigenous waterfowl, according to the conservation officer, They are also a good example of what can happen when a foreign species is introduced into an ecosystem.

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - A New Reminder to be Thankful

I first saw the concept of Blog Your Blessings Sunday on blue panther's blog while surfing on Blog Explosion. The idea of taking time to be thankful for even the smallest things in life isn't new which explains the old saying of take time to smell the roses. So, I have joined in this quest to share my blessings weekly. My goal is to find 10 blessings from the previous week and post those each Sunday.

Last Week's Blessings:

1. my husband - He is my best friend, lover, confidant, mentor, strength, and support. He's always there for me through everything!
2. my children - They are amazing young adults with goals and dreams yet know family comes first. They remain very close and in almost daily contact with us and each other.
3. our new grand baby - She's a little miracle! What a wonderful delight to have this little angel in our lives.
4. our home - We are so very blessed to own our home! It isn't fancy but is in a good location with a nice view, fairly inexpensive to maintain and allows me to put good food on the table through gardening. It shields us from the world, comforts us and gives us strength
   
5. my cooking skills - These are a true blessing and one for which I am very grateful.
6. compassion - My new dentist is overflowing with compassion! I found him by fluke out of necessity and with my dentist phobia that wasn't easy. He has gone over and beyond trying to keep me calm and comfortable. He is the first good dentist I've ever had!
7. approaching spring - I'm very blessed that this time of the year sees a building of anticipation and lessening of the dull grey days boosting my mood and energy levels.
8. gnomes - They spark a bit of childhood imagination and make me smile. These little people bring blessings to the garden in so many ways!
9. internet - I've been blessed this week to receive several pictures of our new grand baby, keep in touch with relatives living out of country, do a bit of online genealogy, share some of the pictures I've taken with others through my blogs, communicated with many people I will never get the chance to meet, and met a lot of nice bloggers.
10. just being - The past week was very stressful but I am still thankful for just being.
    

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.

To the Dentist...

Sunrise this Morning

It was a beauty of a sunrise this morning predicting what was to come. I spent a wonderful hour and half in the dentist's chair but at least it was shorter than last Tuesday's appointment. Now, I have a major phobia where dentists are concerned which meaning serious getting sick well before the appointment. Knowing I had to be there before 9 am really set my day off to a bad start. So they started the work and I only sniveled a couple of times and I didn't bite anyone! By the time I was finished I felt positively nauseated but stopped at the grocery store anyway. I came out to great my husband to pouring rain but pleased with my purchases. One quick stop at a specialty market and I was ready to head home. Numbness is good sometimes!

Three good things that happened today: my new garden gnomes arrived, I didn't bite the dentist, I made cookies!

Out of sorts...

Fog Over the Water

A couple of days ago the temperature fell suddenly creating an almost instantaneous blanket of fog on the water. I really think this picture sums up how I'm feeling right now. The first major problem is the neighbours so we are seriously considering selling. Life is to short to deal with this type of nonsense if you don't have to. So Thursday, we go to look at a new house. It is bigger so I'd have an actual dedicated craft room, guest room and two other bedrooms. The down side is it basically has mature landscaping. I'm sure I can work a vegetable garden in so one step at a time.

The second major problem is my mouth. I finally went to the dentist who was going to pull a wisdom tooth yesterday but couldn't get enough freezing in. Instead, I'm sporting two very nice white fillings and gosh do they ever look nice! Talk about an ego boost. The problem is the wisdom tooth that is half in and half out has to come out as it's already been abscessed once and they have to freeze my teeth for deep cleaning. Because he does it in quadrants for sissies like me that means four more trips with the first one on Thursday. That means with my dental phobia anything I eat between now and Thursday will promptly be coming back up. By Thursday morning I will be sleep deprived and I'll be sniffling back the tears. I'd love to be in one huge fog just until all the dental work is done. Just knock me out, do the work and let me go on my merry way, the way life is intended!

The Beauty of Storms

Triple Lightening

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2007

Mornings

Mornings are one of my favourite times of the day. I love watching the sunrise to great the day and hear the birds twittering as the world seems to come alive. During the growing season it is the best time to be out in the garden. Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning does ring true. Some of the most gorgeous sunrises give way to the nastiest weather throughout the day. Another way to tell nasty weather in on the way is to observe the moon on a clear night. A hazy ring around the moon means precipitation will be coming.

Mornings have been a bit rough lately with the time change. Both of us are still a bit sluggish. I'm gradually getting back into my morning routine, rising earlier while it is still dark. The anticipation of what the day will bring plays heavily. Whatever the day unfolds, mornings hold a clean slate for us to shape.

Counting blessings...

A Dream?

Many of us have been blessed to never have been homeless or even very poor. Even a good portion of the poor have it considerably better than the home in the dream. People are truly blessed in North America and the vast majority of people have only seen on television how the very poor or homeless live. Sometimes when we are stressed over financial matters, we may have nightmares over being homeless but for most of us that will not happen.

I was playing with filters trying to get just the right look because somehow the harshness of the picture with all it's truth of how we as a society treat our poor just seemed too raw. Through the filter it does look dreamlike and more like a home in the woods, not the reality it is. Here is the actual photo in all it's rawness. It was taken from the bridge overlooking Cumberland River.

Not A Dream!
Shanty on banks of Cumberland River, Nashville, TN

We visited Nashville, TN for a few days to celebrate New Year's Eve 2005, greet 2006 and see the area. We had a grand time. There were so many things to see, so much great food and ringing in the new year will be an unforgettable experience in so many ways. The cabs were very busy so we decided to walk back to where we were staying. It was dark and from below the bridge I could see a few barely twinkling lights on the river bank. I thought it was a funny time to be fishing and thought no more about it. The next morning we walked over the bridge and to my amazement saw shanties. I was actually stunned to think of people living like this and at the same time could empathize with them for how much they wanted to create their own home. I had to take pictures!

This photo shows how desperately people want to be part of society to the point they will even construct make-shift homes using the cast-offs of such a wasteful society. It was set up so home-like and organized complete with a front and back door. I'm assuming the tent is his or hers version of a washroom or grooming area. The carpeted path lead me to believe this person was likely using this water for drinking and bathing. There was even a small garden bed in front of the shanty. Obviously this person has a desire to get his message out much like any of us who blog or communicate in other ways to a larger audience. I did read the scriptures but will reserve comment leaving that up to you the reader to ponder on, the scriptures not my lack of commenting.

We were told that the shanties are fairly common along the banks of the river in Nashville. The city removes them once or twice a year but they keep returning. The sad thing is, someone is actually making use of things others have tossed out but when the city clears the banks, that stuff all goes to a landfill. We were also told that some of these people can become quite agitated or aggressive trying to protect what little they have, much like anyone else. Sadder still that we as society ignore the plight of these people. It's so easy to pass judgement on them from the comforts of our couches in our warm houses, our bellies filled as we contemplate what to watch on TV or what latest gadget to buy.

Daylight Savings Time 2007

January 2006
Nashville, Tennessee

Daylight Savings Time always throws my body out of kilter so I'm basically in brain fog heaven right now. It's two weeks earlier this year as most of you know. I had to download an update for the Mac that only took 4 hours on dial-up. No problem but then I had to stop everything I was doing and reboot. Sunday morning I was wide awake at 5:30 am only to find out when I sat down to the computer it was 6:30 am. It took two cups of coffee and several times checking the other clocks for it to finally clue in that I had lost an hour. So now it's Monday and my timing is still off. It will take a week or so for me to adjust!

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.

The Sky on Fire

Sunset
March 4, 2006

The weekend has been sleep deprived and riddled with neighbour problems. Well those would have been bad enough except I have a dentist appointment today. I had an abscessed tooth in November. I'm still trying to clear those dang antibiotics from my system! So today, I'm going to go to the dentist, a new one, to see what needs to be done. The problem is I HATE dentists and have a complete phobia of them. The very nice receptionist said they have nitrous oxide. Hell, I want to be knocked entirely out and that is just for a dental x-ray. Besides, dental x-rays have been known to scramble the brains. Any radiation does affect the DNA and the teeth tend to be fairly close to the brain, last time I checked. This is just not shaping up to be a good day!

Mini Iceberg

Our Iceburg

From the house our mini iceberg was impressive. It almost looked like there was a polar bear on it. It's gone now since the water is moving again. Such a beautiful spot and so many problems...

I'm in a very pissy mood today and something you will seldom see on this or any of my blogs. My neighbours have been at it yet again! We live beside a 7 unit scums-are-us unit where one tenant dictates to the owner what he can and can't do. The owner is scared of this tenant or believing his lies so I've decided after almost four years of dealing with this bs, I'm taking matters into my own hands. Yesterday I put up several several posters in response to their f%^&$#@ orange line marking the property line. Do you know how many people have actually stopped to look at that dang line! Yep, it is the talk of the whole village and she who put it there doesn't want to take responsibility or pretends it doesn't exist while we take the dang fallout. So yesterday after a nice conversation with a passerby and hearing that she who put it there was sluffing it off saying she didn't know who did it even though we have pictures to prove she did it, I decided on the posters. Then I called a nice place that has those portable signs. Guess what is going to be in place by mid afternoon? I'm tired of dealing with this bitch and guess what her rights end at my property line. Period! But I'm not done with her yet. That sign will be lit for at least one month, on our property and not a dang thing she can do about it. Second, I am just in the right mood to set up a new blog not using my blogger ID and hosted elsewhere about these f$%#@(*^ neighbours, complete with pictures. They seem to thing they have all the dang rights while we have to just take it up the arse? I don't think so. And if I think I can get media coverage out of this I will. They put that line down to embarrass us now it is time for them to see what embarrassment is all about!

End of rant and sorry to my readers who have never seen this side of me and like won't again. Sometimes in life you have to make a stand and this time I'm making one!

Sunset over the Water

Sunset
February 22, 2007

It has been a rough weekend yet nothing was going on. Friday and Saturday nights I fell to sleep easily enough only to wake around 3 am. By Sunday night I was too tired to sleep, if that makes sense. Still I finally drifted off to awaken at 4:30 am and have been up ever since. Over the weekend I've become increasing irritable and this morning I just can't get warm, all clear signs of being overtired.

A restless mind is often the cause of not being able to sleep. My problem is quite often my mind just doesn't want to sleep. It does have a mind of its own, no pun intended. So here I sit, needing to update my blogs with a mind that just doesn't want to co-operate. Oh sure, it will give me hints that sleep would be nice but as soon as I try to sleep, it's a whole different story!

One of the questions I'm often asked is why blog? Blogging is a type of online diary but it can be so much more. I started my first blog on gardening then followed it through with another on cooking, one on homemaking and this one on a catch-all but mainly genealogy. So mine are fairly categorized. For me, blogging makes sense. First you can write on any topic you want or none at all. Second the blog hosts make it easy to change your layouts and add posts as needed. Readers can interact with you which makes it a little nicer than home pages. I can remember when they were all the rage! So I think overall blogs are an improvement on home pages allowing the author to share with others what he or she chooses to.

Apparently there are now sites that pay you to post to your blog and of course the adware didn't take long catching on to the popularity of blogging. I have definite opinions on both of these tactics. I think using a site like payperpost.com reduces the quality of the author's posts. They become no longer unique and part of themselves. In short they are no longer sharing what it was they had hoped for when the first set up their blog. They've lost part of themselves. I hate the looks of the "I'm being paid by for this post" icons. Honestly, that will turn me off anyone's blog immediately! Second, blogs were meant for sharing information both personal or theme based, not for advertising. To my fellow bloggers, get those ads off your blogs! I visit your blogs to read what you have to say, learn a bit, to view your pictures, enjoy your humour and sympathize with your pain. I don't want to see ads, sorry!

Welcome March 2007

March Came in Like a Lion
Zone 6A, Ontario, Canada

March came in like a lion yesterday with freezing rain, snow flurries and high winds. Today isn't much better. The sun came out for about 10 minutes this morning then all of a sudden everything got very dark and we had a nice snow squawl with white-out conditions! Right now the sun is trying to shine but the skies again look ominous and the winds are now fiercely howling. It's typical March weather changing minute by minute and never knowing what to expect, very bi-polar if you ask me!

I haven't been doing as much genealogy as I should because I've had other commitments. This is the perfect time for doing research inside given the weather conditions outside. A few days ago, I received a couple of emails from a cousin also doing research. Each contained a picture, one of a family member's homestead and the other of a family group photograph. I would have been able to get a picture of the homestead myself but not of the family group photograph. This is why it is so important to make whatever contacts you can when doing genealogy research. Genealogists love sharing especially tid bits, family stories and pictures. Quite often these little jewels will appear in your inbox or through a phone call as the person is going through some of their data and is generous enough to share the information. So keep those lines of communication open and active!

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

Shimmering Water

Shimmering Water

I thought I would share this picture with you. I take a lot of water pictures because we live on the water. Hey, it is a perfect opportunity! Anyway, I am trying to learn how to use Adobe Photoshop better since up until I decided to try making a blinkie, I really only used it for cropping or resizing pictures. I took this picture of the water yesterday.

When the picture was uploaded I opened it into Photoshop then decided to play with filters and layers. The sun was very bright yesterday making the water and ice sparkle so I wanted to be able to capture that somehow yet the picture somehow was missing something. I started playing and this is the end result. I at least got that little bit of glitter I was after, something that spoke of how the light played on the water and ice. I think it needs a little more tweaking but am not sure what to do so this is the result for now.

Life on Waterfront Property

Yesterday's Water View

Our view changes daily which makes this a beautiful location! Yesterday the sun was shining and the sky was a vivid blue reflecting off the water. That is actual mist rising from the open section of water. Quite often this results in foggy patches that sometimes freeze on the trees and buildings but the sun was strong enough yesterday to burn any of those off. I noticed a bit of heavier frost on the rooftops and car windows but that was it. A short time after this picture was taken, the open are was a favourite spot for several ducks.

It's snowing today, dull and grey. The ice is moving so the ducks have moved onto calmer waters. I'm sure they are looking forward to spring as much as we are. At least the roads have been fairly decent for driving. A few of our kids are home for the weekend so it will be rather busy. We had a large brunch this morning then they were off to do other things for the afternoon. A large roast beef dinner is the plan for tonight. I'm looking forward to a weekend of spoiling my family!

Three O'Clock in the Morning...

Ice Statue

Mother Nature is capable of creating wonderful things. This is an ice statue she created under our furnace vent. I don't recall this happening before and am not sure if it is a good thing so called the firm that maintains our furnace and turned down the humidifier. Still I could not resist taking a picture and marveling at this creation. The photo was taken yesterday after the snow finally let up.

So, you are likely wondering at the title. The past few mornings I have awakened at 3 am and been unable to get back to sleep. This is not a good thing for me not only because of lack of sleep but because it is a clear indicator my asthma is flaring up. Why 3 am? The best I can figure is this is when the body's natural hormones are at its lowest meaning the natural levels of steroids is at its lowest. This means the body cannot keep in check inflammation in the lungs in check, a major component of asthma. Because of this the body reacts to this drop of hormones in asthmatics. I'm lucky in that this wakes me up and is a clear indicator something is triggering my asthma. But what? Since nothing has changed other than the door being open while they took the old washer and dryer out and brought in the new as well as the new appliances in general, nothing has changed. I've only been out of the house but directly into the car yesterday which is the first time since last Friday, the cold weather shouldn't be the trigger as this was happening before yesterday. At any rate I have been troubleshooting so hope to identify the problem quickly to prevent things from getting worse.

Oh a little humour in the 3 am thing: This morning I was again wide awake. I flicked on the food network and The Surreal Gourmet was on. He had three sets of triplets on the show and was featuring making recipes using only three ingredients. Do you think that was an omen?

Winter Storm

This video clip was taken this morning after the snow decided to stop. The wind was still fairly strong but if you listen carefully you can hear the ice moving. I'm still playing with the quality of the videos uploaded so this one is a little grainy. Sorry about that.

Disorder

Today's Water View

I don't do disorder! I need things neat and orderly in their place but more importantly time delays just kind of make me disoriented. It's not so bad if I can semi plan but that doesn't always happen as in today. I knew on Friday our new washer and dryer were arriving between 10 and 10:30 this morning. That meant I would have time to get up and do my normal morning routing before they arrived and I also knew laundry would be slightly delayed. Monday is laundry days here. It used to be Saturdays when the kids were younger and quite often more than that but with just the two of us most days, Mondays work well. It is the start of the week for us and that way we get any weekend laundry out of the way as well, plus we usually have a lot of company over the weekend or take off ourselves so Saturdays are just out.

Ok, so we had the plan all set out and I was ok with that. My husband disconnected the old washer and dryer, pulled them from the wall so I could clean and I figured just a bit of last minute tidying would get things in order in the morning. That meant I could sip on my coffee and take time waking up in front of the computer. Wrong! They showed up at 8:30 am with me still in my pj's. I hollered at my husband who let them in while I quickly changed. He had to be out the door so I had to take over. So much for my coffee or even trying to waken! They left around 11 am so there was the morning gone. The gas installer is due any minute. Hopefully that doesn't take long and I can get things back in order right quick. Hopefully within the next hour the laundry will be happily getting cleaned while I figure out what the heck to have for dinner. See what I mean, everything is out of kilter today!
© 2007

Overlooked Genealogy Resources

Sunset on Ice
later view, last night

We received an early morning call today letting us know an older family member on my husband's side had passed away. Visitation is this afternoon and this evening. The funeral is tomorrow morning at 11 am. I was going to post this picture on yesterday's entry and for some reason decided against it. So this picture is a tribute to her, knowing we will meet again!

Too often when doing genealogy research an important genealogy resource is overlooked - other family members. We let the valuable information slip right through our hands. Now why would that be? Sometimes the answer is quite simple especially for those not growing up or even knowing their biological family but other times the answer is more complex. Do yourself a favour - put any of that aside and pick those family tree branches! Send out information seeking letters. Most genealogy programs even have a function to set this up with a form letter and your contact information. I sent out ten of these on one branch of my family tree and got back only one but that did not discourage me because the one I got back gave me a heck of a lot of information. I also got a phone call from an elderly member of another branch when I did the same thing. We had a lovely chat and I found out so much about my great grandparents, all family stories but all very valuable information.

As a researcher trying to get the most of your research time, do not discount the family stories. Even if there are family problems, you can likely still gain information. You might end up being the peace keeper or the bridge that makes the difference. At the very least, you might gain just even a little tid bit you didn't know about your elusive ancestors.

I recommend using letters, interviews, digital cameras and tape recorders. As always please keep the feelings of your extended family in mind. Ask once and if you don't get an immediate reply consider something may be going on in their life that prevents them from answering. Always ask if a family member minds being recorded as some do not want that. I will tell you this is really a nice thing to have the recordings of your ancestors and other family members but don't push those who don't like the idea. The same applies to digital cameras. If at all possible get that picture but don't force the issue. Your job as a researcher is to get all the information you can without breaking any bridges. Do not discount the valuable information old Aunt Tilly might tell you!

A Quiet Day

Tonight's Sunset on the Water

Today has been blissfully sunny and bright. I've been watching the ice on and off much of the day and that isn't hard with our view. While the ice didn't appear to be moving this morning, sending thousands of little prisms in every direction it must have been moving enough with the current. By late afternoon a path had opened revealing the deep turquoise blue of the water, a direct contrast to the sparkling white and diamond like ice. I took this picture about a half hour ago. We are so very fortunate to be able to enjoy such beauty. No wonder my ancestors loved this area so much!

While I was prepping the photo for uploading, the sad news came on the television about Anna Nicole Smith. I hadn't had the television on all day so only just heard. What a terrible shame!

Ice on Water

Ice is amazing. It can be so beautiful yet cause so much damage and so many problems. This picture of the ice on the water was taken this morning as I pondered over my morning coffee.

I'm still feeling under the weather so another rather inactive day was forced on me. I decided to go through a small pile of genealogy papers. In the pile there were two thin spiral notebooks of my earlier notes from back about the time I upgraded my software in 1999. I tossed these aside then grabbed them up again and started flipping through the pages. I knew all confirmed information had been entered into my database but what, just what if I had missed something? All entries were written in my normal style complete with date of entry then follow-ups to the entries in other ink colours. It sounds confusing but the system makes sense to me. True enough everything of importance at that time had been entered into the database and carefully noted in red the date entered but I found a lot of little notes and my questions jotted beside so of my entries. Seeing these notes and questions with fresh eyes means more questions. So now I will spend my genealogy time doing a double check between these notes and my database, adding in new questions. Each question may lead to more information unlocking the past!

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!

Under the Weather

Waterview This Morning

I woke this morning with a horrible sore throat and feeling simply sick as well as tired from yesterday's activities. The house was blistfully quiet so I sat sipping hot coffee enjoying the view from our front windows. The sun danced off the water and ice sending sparkles everywhere. Somehow this made everything ok .

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) is scheduled for release on July 21, 2007. Like most Harry Potter fans, I am looking forward to this book so will be re-reading the first six books for clues as to what Book 7 may unfold. For me this will be a bitter sweet book as it is slated to be the last in the series and we have already been given the hint that some of the original characters will not survive. Also like many fans I have my ideas of what this book has in store and there have been many hints as well as speculation.

Please keep the families of two fallen firemen in the line of duty in Winnipeg today along with leaving a third fighting for his life in your prayers.
© 2007

Jack Frost

Back years ago through the eyes of a child I loved Jack Frost. He would come though the night when I was sleeping and paint my bedroom window with his amazing paint brush. Oh the innocence of someone with sparkles in her eyes! Fast forward to now and you know what, Jack Frost means energy loss. But for one brief moment, I was transported back to my childhood wonderment!

negative self talk...

Phynx Entrance, Luxor
Las Vegas, Nevada

This photo is of one of the entrances at the Luxor in Las Vegas. Designed after an Egyptian pyramid, this impressive casino and resort is a must stop at on your tour of Las Vegas. The Luxor has the strongest beam of light in the world. It can be seen from astronauts on space missions so this is rather impressive. Pyramids signify strength and endurance and they have been rumoured to restore inner balance.

Negative self talk is something we all do from time to time. While this is destructive and self harming, it really can really become pathological. My self esteem has always been on the low side. I don't know why, likely a combination of genetics, environment and patterning. So the last thing I need is me putting myself down! I think one of the biggest problems with negative self talk is recognizing it. We say these things to ourselves so often we aren't even aware but our minds begin believing these unspoken words resulting in a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is critical to recognize negative self talk and nip it in the bud before it has negative effects on your ego. After all, if you don't love yourself, who is going to?

Well that sounds great coming from someone with low self esteem, doesn't it? Even this question is negative towards my thoughts on the subject but I'll address that in another entry. I don't think I really became totally aware of how destructive negative self talk can be until I said some pretty nasty things, out loud, because I had accidently tipped over a bowl of food in the kitchen. My husband was home but out of earshot so I thought but clearly heard me berating myself for such stupid. I was so used to doing this when I was home alone, it just popped out of my mouth without even thinking! I turned around and there he was. Belying the astonishment on his face, he calmly asked if I would say those things to anyone else. When I replied no, he asked "Then why would you say them to yourself?". That got me thinking as to why would I say these negative things either silently or out loud to myself and ever since that time I have made a conscious effort nip these types of thoughts before they can do damage.

Recently, I had another eye opener. We were out as a foursome with another couple and as normal we gals paired together. Well, one thing led to another finally ending with body size and she made the comment she was "nothing but a fat cow". I automatically said, "Don't say that about yourself" and she seriously stopped short then realized what she said. We talked a little about the negative self talk and how it makes us believe things about ourselves that aren't particularly accurate. Later that night, my husband surprised me by saying he overheard our conversation and was proud of the way I handled that situation. So much for the guys doing their own thing but the compliment was much appreciated!