Chaos Starts the Week

My gosh!  I spent the weekend at the home of oldest and youngest grandchildren.  What a hoot!  I left for their place around lunchtime on Saturday and arrived back home Sunday about 9 pm.  I was going to stay longer but our real estate agent called to see if they could do the first dog and pony show Monday morning.  That meant I had to get home Sunday night in order to do the spit and shine for the showing.  I didn't get into bed until 2:30 in the morning then was back up at 8:30 am to do the last minute touches.  At the same time I knew dumb and dumber were coming out to fix our satellite dish for the internet.  As I puttered I hoped they would show up after the dog and pony show.

The dog and pony show went well with 7 agents and our agent attending.  The one comment was the stairs to the sunporch needed painting so I was on the phone to one of our kids who picked up the paint and came out to prep the stairs.  The intention was to do the first coat of paint today but I started it after dumb and dumber and $290.25 left.  Apparently when the high winds moved the satellite dish they also damage part of it.  The nice thing is I managed to avoid paying HST on the part, so take that McGuinty!  By the time I finished the first coat of paint on the stairs (inner supports, landing and runners) it was time for dinner and Corrie.  Then it was time for laundry, a bit of blogging and the quick realization I think I'm coming down with a cold.  And so the week started...

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

My Gosh Where Does Time Go?

My beyond cruddy satellite service went out last week which put me into dial-up mode while waiting for dumb and dumber to get here to fix it.  In the meantime I tried to continue on with blogging as best I could but between dial-up and going to visit the grandkids I am very much behind!  It doesn't help that the house is now officially listed again which has added to my to do list.  Somewhere along the line I've lost almost a week and where did the time go?  Honestly!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - Happy Hallowe'en

This past week we were able to share and enjoy the excitement of a much younger generation's anticipation at dressing up and going door to door trick or treating.  My gosh, how times have changed.  I can remember rushing out the door to be on of the first kids to get Mrs. S's famous fudge then scurrying along as fast as my legs would go to get Mrs. M's popcorn balls and Mrs. T's peanut butter cookies.  Well heaven forbid that the little ones can enjoy that now.  Everything must be wrapped in unopened packages and we daren't give them any fresh fruit either.  At some point the custom of Hallowe'en is going to go by the wayside.  We are really blessed to know what this wonderful tradition was like as children, watch our kids enjoy it and now get to see our grandkids enjoy it.  Traditions are blessings.  They help to ground us, link us to our past and give us a bit of comfort in an ever changing world.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Thoughts About Charlie Sheen

My gosh Charlie Sheen has had an uncanny knack of getting himself in the news lately!  It wasn't bad enough with the last round of attention he is once again in the news for apparently trashing a motel room while in the company of female companion that resulted in him being detained for a psychological assessment.  Now this is just downright sad.

I love watching Charlie Sheen in Two and a Half Men.  The interaction is just priceless but at some level under shadows Charlie as a person.  Some where the line between fiction and reality has been crossed.  On Two and a Half Men Charlie plays Charlie, a self absorbed, boozing womanizer of rather shallow values.  It is easy to find a lot of fault with his character in this show and yet he is good looking, charming and has a sense of humour mixed with sarcasm giving him a lot of points as far a being the handsome bad boy.  And this is where it should have stayed, all fiction.  Instead he has brought the fictional character into real life or perhaps he brought his real life character into his fictional character which may explain why he plays it so well.  At any rate on tv it is cute, amusing and downright funny, in real life is it far from being cute, amusing or funny.  Somehow knowing his ongoing personal struggles takes a bit of enjoyment out of watching his online persona.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Internet Follies

The internet has become such a large part of our lives that going without is no longer a practical option.  It now is a major way of staying connected with family and friends, finding information quickly and a source of entertainment.  I had wonderful high speed DSL two houses ago.  Our last house while have a lovely location was rural so at that time the only internet service available was dial-up.  When we moved here which is also rural we were able to get satellite internet service that according to them was a step up from dial-up.  It has been absolutely nothing but a pain in the kester!  I'm not kidding if a mosquito is so much as even remotely being near the beam the signal goes out.  Then there is the wonderful FAP graciously approved of by the CRTC.  It means that at some magical bandwidth trigger of which the satellite service does not have to reveal they will throttle down the service to lower than dial-up speeds.  Essentially what happens is you pay 100% for 40% at best of the advertised satellite internet speeds.  Now would you go into a restaurant, order a burger and pay full price if they brought you out less than half of the burger?  Not very likely but the CRTC in their ultimate wisdom on how to screw the consumer thinks so.  And Dalton McGuinty doesn't think spending over $50 for crappy satellite service is not enough so he so graciously added HST to our service increasing the price to just a little over $60. 

Our recent satellite internet outage got me thinking.  The CRTC endorses ripping off the conusmer so even though we are paying a bit over $60 for the service we really are getting $24 worth of bandwidth per month and McGuinty is pocketing about $7 thanks to his handy tax grab aka HST.  My husband put me on his office internet account for $20 per month.  Right of the bat if I stay on dial-up I will save over $40 per month and dear old Dalton will get a lot less of my money.  But it gets better than that!  The CRTC also has screwed up the National Do Not Call Registry meaning if you register your phone number to prevent telemarketing calls the reverse actually happens.  Telemarketing calls increase!  Apparently the CRTC thinks this is acceptable but it's not like they are the brightest lightbulb in the pack.  Oh and I should mention we pay for our phone service so each telemarketing call actually costs us and somewhere along the line they think they have the right to call us?  Wrong!  The only ones who have the right to call us are our family and friends.  On the brightside if I go back to dial-up rather than get a second phone line I will use our main line that will give all the lovely telemarketers a busy tone saving me the hassle of having to add them to my call block list.  All around dial-up internet is looking rather pleasing!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Life Unconnected

Yesterday we experienced very high winds.  As a result our crappy satellite internet service got even crappier with the winds moving the dish out of alignment.  The connection was lost about 3 pm yesterday so I've been without internet!  Let me tell you life unconnected is weird.  The repair is expected to take anywhere from one day to a week depending when dumb and dumber can get out here.  My husband has real high speed at the office so added dial-up access for me so I am now on dial-up for the time being.  However, I'm thinking going back to dial-up until we move might just be the way to go. In order to maximize the savings it would mean learning to do a bit more offline.  Apparently Blogger didn't like my dial-up service but that must have been a Blogger glitch or a connection error as reconnecting got the picture to upload.  Anyway, life unconnected is an experience I really don't care fore.


Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Wordless Wednesday - A Tree in the Forest

A Tree in the Forest

October 7, 2010

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Round and Round We Go

Who says Mother Nature doesn't have a sense of humour?  I spotted this little guy on one of the kitchen cupboard knobs at our vactaion home and just had to take a short video of him.  Enjoy!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

A Short Meme

I've been blogging now for over four years so by now if you've been following my blogs you will know that family is my first priority.  I love cooking, gardening, traveling and if you dig a little bit further into some of my blogs you will know I am a nature lover, have a serious shoe fettish, have a very low tolerance for telemarketers, hate the HST, love a multitude of crafts, am a Photoshop® enthusiast and avid DIYer.  Oh I forgot one of the most apparent things you already know about me.  I love gnomes!

I thought it would be fun to share a short meme.  A meme is a blogging term for sharing a few personal details on my blog for you the reader.  I actually wrote a much detailed meme to share but then decided it was a bit too reveals.  So here are a few things I haven't shared before:

• My favourite snack food is broccoli
• I sleep with thumbs tucked in under my fingers.
• My favourite and most used small kitchen appliance is my KitchenAid® stand mixer.
• I started blogging in April of 2006 and still enjoy it.
• I'm a chronic multi-tasker and musser.  I'm not sure which is worse.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - The Weather Held

We have had the very good fortune to enjoy milder temperatures the past week.  I turned on the gas fireplace a few times to take the chill off the family room but didn't need to put the furnace on.  This is quite different than last year where the furnace was turned on much earlier in the month.  The longer we can leave the furnace off the better as home heating in Ontario has increased by 8% thanks to McGuinty's greedy HST tax grab.  The milder temperatures meant the gardens produced longer so mid-week I will still harvesting small amounts of peppers and tomatoes.  It was nice seeing others out puttering in their gardens as well.  While it did cool off with rain some nights and one short afternoon hail the frost that threatened passed us by.  In short we were blessed with beautiful autumn weather!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Oh Those 'Happy Days'

I was quite saddened to learn of the passing of Tom Bosley on October 19 at the age of 84.  He played the role of Howard Cunningham, the patriarch of the sitcom Happy Days that aired from 1974 to 1984 on ABC.  Set in the 1950's the show was a reminder of gentler times that stressed good family values.  Thanks Tom for the Happy Days you shared with us.  You will be remembered fondly in our hearts forever!  RIP

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Highway Construction

Highway Construction

October 7, 2010

It is inevitable that highway construction goes hand in hand with road trips.  As road trips go while we did run into highway construction both ways we experienced minimal delays.  At some points heavy traffic congestion was more problematic than any construction.  We were very lucky!  Both construction and traffic congestion tend to bring out the worst in some drivers.  We saw one horrid accident that was obviously fatal on the way down, had one very close call in heavy traffic while there but other than that it was fairly average traffic sprinkled with a few bonehead moves. We had for the most part clear, dry road conditions too.  My gosh, looking back we really did have wonderful traveling conditions both ways.  Here's hoping the next trip will be just as smooth.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Railway Bridge

Railway Bridge

October 7, 2010

My gosh I sat down and wrote one of the best memes ever for today's post.  A meme is blogger terminology for disclosing a little more information about yourself for your readers to enjoy.  It was great but then I decided to not post it.  Going through pictures of our recent journey home from our vacation home I spotted this amazing railway bridge.  Railway bridges fascinate because of their elegant structure.  They are based on firm foundations that allow them to stand the test of time.   In a lot of ways they remind me how very important firm foundations really are.   They are a good metaphor for the roos necessary to establish yourself in this world.    So for now you will have to wait until I am comfortable with posting the meme as written.  In the meantime I hope you enjoy the photo of the railway bridge.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Wordless Wednesday - The Causeway

The Causeway

September 27, 2010

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Farmland USA

Farmland USA

October 7, 2010

In many ways I am a country girl at heart.  Until this last house we always lived in small communities but until we move from here we are officially rural living.  This house though is really like in a miniature community of about 20 families only half of which live here year round with the other half seasonal.  While we do have land and some of our neighbours have chickens we still don't have chickens.  It is not suitable for larger livestock like goats, sheep or cattle although technically if we could make the livestock fit there would be no restriction to having them.  If I had my druthers we would live on a proper farm.  I'm thinking a turn of the century, two story farm house with at least one huge red barn and a brick silo.  I would want chickens, goats, sheep, a couple of pigs, a cow and whatever else I could fit in.  I would hound the auction sales for an old antique tractor like on Green Acres.  Honestly I would be in seventh heaven!  However, life is taking me on a different journey equally exciting so for now I get great pleasure traveling through the countryside.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Bear Taking Pictures

Bear Taking Pictures

October 7, 2010

The return trip from our vacation home to home took us about 28 hours.  Over that period of time we saw a lot of police cruisers.  Eleven cruisers with lights flashing and sirens blasting almost bumper to bumper few by on the south bound lanes at one point.  We saw several people pulled over with the friendly cruiser lights behind them.  We followed one cruiser for about twenty miles.  That was rather painful as drivers all around decided to be on their best behaviour.  It was nice when he finally took an off ramp.  There were cruisers everywhere!  This one conveniently set up shop near IKEA likely because all the great deals there attract speeders trying to be first in line to save money.  For those who don't know, a bear taking pictures is CB lingo for police with radar.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - Getting Back into Routine

This past week has been all about adjusting from a three week vacation followed by a weekend of Thanksgiving celebrations.  Now it is time to get back into our home routine that with any luck we will have established before we head out again.  It's also been a week of change especially on the blogging front as I took the steps to take one of my blogs in a slightly different direction and one of my blogging networks has introduced changes that need to be worked into my daily routines. 

If you think about it daily routines are themselves a blessing.  They help us get through the day hopefully not too flustered.  At the end of the day thanks to daily routines we can sit back, enjoy a sunset and say this has been a good day.  The nice thing about daily routines is they become second nature and they aren't written in stone.  When they are disrupted we feel slightly out of sinc and yet the routines quickly re-establish.  I was surprised at how quickly my daily routine at home established itself at our vacation home and upon returning home how once everything settled down the rountines were just there like an old friend :)

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Rarity Mountain, Tennessee

Rarity Mountain Tennessee

October 7, 2010

Shortly after getting on the road for the day we made a bit of a detour to see Rarity Mountain off of I-75 near Jellico in Tennessee.  This really is a scenic drive but also is an eco-friendly lifestyle for those living there.  It is an 5,000 acre gated community with upscale, rustic homes set in beautiful treed lots with moss line paths.  There is a golf course as well.  We only toured a small section not going into the community at all.  It was very pretty though!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Smokey Mountain High

Smokey Mountain High

October 7, 2010

On our way to our vacation home we hit Tennessee at night so there wasn't a lot to see although the altitude changes did trigger a sinus attack.  On the way back we woke to the beautiful view of the Tennessee mountains having stopped over night.  We made a couple of side jaunts to enjoy the view.  Tennessee is such a beautiful state!  I just love the fog over the mountains that do make them look smokey, don't you?

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

The Tower

The Tower

October 6, 2010

As you know we are now home from a wonderful three week get away.  Getting there and getting back was a good 26 hours each way.  My husband and I get along quite nicely most of the time but honest to goodness put in the small confines of a vehicle and that is a whole other issue!  Thanks to Lucy things are a lot more peaceful in the car but still I've been known to get rather on the testy side especially in heavy traffic.  The complete idiocy of some drivers is enough to have me sitting on pins and needles!  One thing I do in heavy traffic is take pictures.  It helps to keep my mind off of those drivers willing to put their lives and others in danger over their bonehead moves.  Pictured is one of the towers I spotted along I-75 going through Atlantic City, Georgia.  Neither of us were impressed with the traffic but at least we hit the traffic at a rather descent hour before it got worse.  You can see how congested the traffic was in the picture.  This is definitely not traffic I want to be in!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Wordless Wednesday - Tampa Skyline

Tampa Skyline

September 18, 2010

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Are We Going To Mash That Turkey?

A lot of people don't realize I have a few linguistic problems.  Sometimes they can be a bit funny.  Yesterday was our Thanksgiving feast.  Mashed potatoes were on my brain but when I went into the kitchen to ask my husband about the turkey it came out as "are we going to mask that turkey?"  Well we just broke out into hysterical laughter!  I think you really have to understand both of us as we really do have wicked senses of humour.  This was one of those slips of tongues that just triggered fits of laughter!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Happy Thanksgiving! The Wild Turkey

Wild Turkey

September 23, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spotted a flock of wild turkeys a few days ago.   I thought it was rather fittingpicture given that today is our Thanksgiving.  I managed to get this close-up picture on one of them. Wild turkeys are quite large birds but impressive looking birds!  What do you think?

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Blog Your Blessing Sunday -

My husband and I have just returned from an amazing three week trip to our vacation home so there are an abundance of blessings to report.  We enjoyed wonderful, problem free traveling both ways.  Each way we stayed in a motel  over night rather than pushing through non-stop.  We were able to enjoy a fresh start in the morning arriving at our destinations tired but not exhausted.  We enjoyed some very lovely meals while sharing a lot of laughter and good times with our friends.  Thanks to Wi-Fi and internet connections at both destinations most of our online activities continued as normal.  From start to finish the entire trip was absolutely wonderful!  Not only did we get to enjoy friends who visited from home but also new friends we have made there.  What a blessing it is to be able to do a bit of traveling, thoroughly enjoy ourselves then return home relaxed and refreshed ready to greet Thanksgiving and autumn!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

A Bit of Nostalgia

CocaCola® in Glass Bottles

October 6, 2010

On our way home from our recent vacation we stopped at Magnolia's Plantation for pecans.  I spotted the neat open top pop cooler sporting glass bottles of CocaCola®.  I may be dating myself but I can remember when most pop came in glass bottles.  Given that any pop cans contain Bis-phenyl A in the coating I still prefer glass bottles or soda fountain pop but then I seldom drink pop.  Still this type of display brings back a touch of nostalgia :)
 
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Homeside

We are homeside so I'm working on getting back into a routine.  It will take me a few days though.  I brought home a lot of really neat foodie things to work on over the next few weeks and we even stopped to see the original Sander's Cafe home of Kentucky Fried Chicken!  We stopped at a nice Amish shop as well so of course a few more goodies were tucked into the car.  Oh and I even did some jamming while away!  The only negative I brought home was a sinus attack likely triggered by going through Tennessee but possibly higher pollen counts as we approached home.  It was a bit rude coming from summer clothes to pretty much winter clothes and having to put the fireplace on but 'tis that time of year.

I'm not a shopper by any stretch of the imagination.  I seriously hate shopping at least the conventional way.  However, give me a flea market, antique shop or farmer's market and I could shop a good portion of the day away.  I managed to get a lot of great deals including 1200 count Egyptian cotton sheet sets for only $16!  I'm already looking forward to our next road trip :)

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Bewitched

Bewitched staring Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York followed by Dick Sargent and airing from 1964 to 1972 was a favourite of mine but surprisingly not until after being married.  Having kids ourselves I could certainly appreciate the convenience a little magic would bring if only to keep on top of the housework!  There are many a day that little bit of magic would really have come in handy!  I still enjoy watching this great American sitcom on the retro television channels.  Enjoy!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Wordless Wednesday - Reflections

Reflections

September 17, 2010

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Police Punch Buggy

September 27, 2010

My husband and I play the punch buggy game when on road trips.  Hey it helps to pass the time and gives a few laughs.  I must say today I am officially winning having scored an old VW van but I'm sure that will change very quickly as my husband has eagle eyes for punch buggies!  I picked up this adorable Car 59 punch buggy at the flea market.  It is die cast metal with door, boot and hood that open in scale 1/24 of a 1959 VW Beetle painted as a police car.  The license plate is California BUGGIN!  It really is cute, don't you think?

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Mr. Perfect

Mr. Perfect

September27, 2010

Honest to goodness my husband really is Mr. Perfect as far as husbands go.  I decided to get him a stand-in so he can take the occasional day off of being Mr. Perfect.  He says cute things like "Sweetheart, your hot bubble bath is ready" and "Good morning!  I've made you breakfast in bed again."   He even has a beautiful big smile just like my husband's.  Isn't the stand-in simply adorable?
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - More House Guests

Over the past two weeks we have had two groups of house guests with the groups overlapping by a day so it has been quite busy but fun.  This past week we shared a lot of laughs and good food with great friends!  We did a good bit of sight seeing.  It was nice just enjoying their company!  What a blessing it is to have such wonderful friends.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

The Effects of the HST

If you have been following this blog you will already know some of my views on the HST.  I wrote how to avoid paying the HST in Ontario and ways to fight the HST.  I've taken many stabs at Premier Dalton McGuinty's colossal and greedy tax grab.  An unexpected side effect of the HST is how it has affected the rest of Canada.  The HST has been in effect in BC and ON for three months now.  Let's see how well this tax is performing:

• slowed down house sales
• slowed consumer spending
• increased the federal deficit
• increased the inflation rate Canada wide
• created a tax revolt in BC forcing a referendum on the HST 
• if you believe the propaganda has created 6,300 jobs in ON

Well, it certainly does look like the HST is moving Canada into the 21^st century, doesn't it?  I give Dalton McGuinty and his sock-puppets full credit for this horrible fiasco! On a personal level, how has this affected us?  For the most part it has had a minimal effect.  Yes we are paying HST on electricity, internet and home heating that at present rates have added about $20 per month ($240 per year).  Occasionally we have to pay HST on gasoline but for the most part we avoid this by fueling outside of Ontario.   We are shopping and vacationing outside of Ontario.  Nothing is purchased in Ontario unless it is food through local farmers, orchards or organic farms.  We've cut back further on our electricity usage moving towards more solar.  All of our solar equipment will be purchased outside of Ontario as well.  We are also working on using a US internet provider that will eliminate our ON internet provider.  We did a trial run with one US provider but maxed out the bandwidth too quick for it to be feasible to make the switch.  The thing is that service worked better and was cheaper than our satellite internet and there was no HST.  We will be trying to connect to our vacation home US internet via Wi-Fi hot spot at home.  Apparently there is a good chance it will work!  If it doesn't it's just a matter of time before we find a US mobile service that will work for us.

Dalton McGuinty is driving people away from shopping or using services in Ontario.  Instead of that extra $20 collected it could be used towards buying consumer goods in Ontario.  He doesn't see that people are fed up with his dishonesty and taxing until we have nothing attitude.  This is going to be a very difficult for many Ontarians as they realize the full effects of the HST on just electricity and home heating, both of which increase during the cold winter months.  I also don't think McGuinty realizes we now live in a global community so Ontarians do have options for avoiding the HST.

I would be curious as to how many Ontarians will simply choose to leave Ontario permanently and how many will choose to live outside of Ontario for a good portion of the year?  While I've seen no reports on this effect of the HST, I'm sure it is happening.  The HST was directly responsible for our decision to buy a vacation home outside of Ontario and it is a major factor in us choosing to live outside of Ontario for extended periods of time.  I think this will be a growing trend for many!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

The Need For Roots

Roots

September 24, 2010

One of my favourite quotes that can be found in the footer section of this blog is:

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One is roots; the other, wings."--Hodding Carter

This quote has a profound meaning especially when it comes to genealogy but also parenting.  As parents it is our responsibility to give our children a firm foundation on which to build their lives.  However giving them roots means so much more than a value based foundation (eg. love, honour, respect).  It means nurturing good family relationships with extended family members so our children know their family history.  Too often people flounder as adults simply because they do not have a firm foundation based on values and family history.

It is interesting to look at tree roots.  They may be gnarly, intertwined and far from visually appealing.  In many cases you won't see them at all.  Yet the roots of a tree can extend a distance greater than three times the size of the tree's canopy.  It is the roots that nurture the tree while providing strength and support.  So it is with people...

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Fiftieth Anniversary of The Flinstones

Anyone our age and younger has likely seen one or more episodes of the cartoon, The Flinstones.  Who can forget lovely Fred with sidekick Barney, wives Wilma and Betty, and children Pebbles and Bam Bam?  That Yaba Daba Doo was the best!  It was a great, wholesome cartoon that everyone loved and it's popularity continues today thanks to television stations like Nickelodeon and Retro TV.  Today is the 50th Anniversary of the first airing of The Flinstones produced by Hanna-Barbera Production that ran from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966.  Here's a video of the original theme song.  Enjoy :)

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Wordless Wednesday - Blue Stripes

Blue Stripes

September 27, 2010

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

The Old Carriage

The Old Carriage

September 23, 2010

I find it rather fascinating what some ingenious folks use for lawn art.  My weakness is garden gnomes but others get so much more creative.  I spotted this cute little and obvious quite old carriage sitting beside a house a few days ago.  It's cheery red and yellow colour made a lovely contrast against the white siding while adding a touch of whimsy.  The carriage was being used to hold a couple of potted plants as well.  I really like the unique look!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - House Guests

This past week we have had house guests for the entire week.  House guests are different than the visiting for an evening guests.  With house guests you get to see them first thing in the morning before the coffee has clicked in and the tongue starts working let alone the brain.  It brings a whole new level of tolerance that sometimes is achieved through gritting the teeth and biting the tongue rather than saying something to cause hard feelings.  At the same time it gives the opportunity to fine tune our entertaining skills.  We are very blessed to be able to share our lives with others this way.  It adds an additional element to enrich our lives!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Getting the Wind Knocked Out of Your Sails

I tend to be an extremely good judge of character.  That ability has always served me very well.  Yesterday someone I considered a friend said something that seriously knocked the wind out of my sails.  I won't go into detail but I will say that at best I was shocked and went into retreat mode.  I think what really bothers me is this is someone I trusted and welcomed into our home.  To hear that type of comment totally floored me!  I honestly cannot believe that someone in this day and age with all we know can be that horribly ignorant.  And life goes on, another lesson learned...

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

The Alligator Walk

I am fascinated by wildlife and always have been which means I like taking pictures and videos of wildlife any chance I can get.  I thought this was a rather good video of a smaller video I spotted at our vacation home.  He is not as big as the largest ones we saw but still a good size.  It's scary to think that one night I actually walked along an alligator infested road [I'm seriously not kidding here and it was after midnight] and lived to tell about it but that is another story!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Wordless Wednesday - Pink and Blue

Pink and Blue

September 16, 2010

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

The Gator

The Gator

September 17, 2010

Yes, this gator is very much real!  We spotted him up on land in the side yard of a house bordering the exit road out of the park.  There is a large pond just to the lower left hand side of the picture just out of the camera's view. The day before we could see his head just barely above the surface of the water.  He is a good size gator but not the largest one in the park.  Gators wander from pond to pond so they are a fairly common sight within the park.  Isn't he impressive?

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Oh My Gosh! Funny Comment Spam

Have you ever heard that song about the girls all get prettier at closing time?  I'm thinking that applies to comment spammers as well!  Honest to Betsy I get this comment on a pickled egg post on my cooking blog that did a one-ninety relating eating eggs to increased sexual activity and if my readers couldn't eat eggs they could click on the handy link provided to by Viagra from a reputable online source
.  
Ok, let's think this one through.  I'm female and most of my readers on my cooking blog are likely female.  Unless we are aiming for something else I'm pretty dog-gone-sure that we would get a heck of a lot more jollies out of a brand new KitchenAid stand mixer.  Now don't get me wrong but I can mix up a great batter that would do a lot more  than Viagra using one of those bad boys!  What the heck!  Are comment spammers so brain dead that they seriously think any blogger worth their salt is going to let that comment through?  Definitely not but any blogger worth their salt is likely going to use that bit of nonsense as blog fodder

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - A Peaceful Week

The past week despite all of the going ons was rather peaceful.  Don't get me wrong as it was an extremely busy week but the overall mood was peaceful and that in itself was a real blessing.  It's funny that regardless of how busy you are physically and/or mentally if your mind is at peace all is well.  And so it was :)

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

The Horse

The Horse

September 15, 2010

I grew up around horses and learned to ride at a young age.  Horses fascinate me.  As a rider you put a lot of trust in the horse but in return the horse puts a lot of trust in you.  It is a two way street.  A few days ago we received an email from the kids of one of our grandkids now a toddler sitting quite prime and proper in the saddle.  For such a little one it was quite impressive to see.  The little one is a natural displaying proper form and posture all naturally and that is rather rare for someone so young.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

My How Times Have Changed

Amstrad PC Computer System Discs

September 13, 2010

My goodness when I look back on our computer experience it is astounding just how far we've come in a short period of time.  When I was in secondary school we were introduced to computer punch cards using Fortran.  I proudly brought my spent cards home so they could be turned into a Christmas wreath for the front door.  Years ago we bought an Atari 64 that one of our kids was just mesmerized by.  Said kid would sit for hours and I do mean hours punching in line after line of code for the simple reward of seeing a small white ball bounce across the screen.  When I went back to university I was still working on an old electric typewriter which was a step up from my even older manual typewriter.  Back in secondary school I learned touch typing and a Pitman shorthand both of which I still use today.  Think of the shorthand as an earlier version of today's internet lingo like LOL.  The electric typewriter was upgraded to a self correcting electric typewriter the same year.  Then I discovered computers!  I learned a whole new language called Linex and learned how to search using Gopher and get email through Pine.  If that wasn't bad enough I was introduced to Mac.  All of a sudden a whole new world opened up.

My husband declared that the self correcting typewriter was not good enough for academics so he brought home a brand new Amstrad PC that ran on MS Dos®.  It even had Gem Paint™ and Wordperfect.  I think we had that computer for a couple of years before we upgraded to Windows 3.1.  Fast forward to now and having gone through a lot of operating systems I am still comfortable working in Linux, Windows, dropping to Dos and Mac.  For daily computing I prefer Mac while my husband uses Windows.  My computer is dual OS both Mac and Windows XP.

Just look at the size of those discs though and they were only write protected with a small piece of foil tape!  Over the years the discs got smaller and smaller but always increasing in storage space.  Next on the scene for us were the 3¼ floppies with the hard case then came CDs and now memory sticks that likely could hold more memory than our old Amstrad could!

It's rather fun reminiscing about computing and how much it has changed in a very short period of time.  It's also amazing to think of how much we've learned over the years about computing and everything that goes along with it.  I wonder what the next 20 or so years of computing will bring?

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Wordless Wednesday - The Roald Amundsen

The Roald Amundsen

September 4, 2010

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

The Ontario Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) Update

It's now been over 2 months since the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) came into effect into Ontario.  Despite election promises of no new taxes, Dalton McGuinty effectively increased taxes on 17% of consumer goods in Ontario.  The HST has had a bit of an unexpected effect though in both BC and ON as well as the rest of Canada.  BC has announced it will scrap the HST if voters demand it.  No such announcement has been made by the ON government and it is doubtful if there will be given McGuinty's greedy tax grab policies.

We have been finding ways to avoid paying the HST as well as voicing our displeasure over the HST.  In essence we have decreased our support of ON businesses for most consumer goods but we continue to support local farmers, growers and producers.   This isn't about the actual monetary costs of the HST either.  It is a matter of principle that we don't agree with the HST and the less of our money going to support McGruinty's greedy tax grab the better!  Overall the HST has had little impact on us other than purposely avoiding paying it if we don't have to.  Here's a few ways we've of avoiding HST or minimizing the HST we must pay:

• stopped buying any plastic shopping bags - We use mainly cloth shopping bags but occasionally end up having to buy a plastic bag at the grocery store.  The store charges 5¢ but did you know that HST on that is 1¢?  That's ridiculous! So we have made it a point not to buy any bags at all there.
• reduced our internet service - We were paying $70 for horrible satellite internet service which is the only high speed service available to us in our rural location.  Now that HST is added to the service we reduced it to the lowest available package of $50 per month plus HST.  The next option is to go back to dial-up or cancel the internet service all together.
• took our house off the market - We listed the house in March so planned to have it sold before the HST kicked in July 1.  The HST now applies to land transfer fees, real estate fees and lawyers fees so on the sale of a house that can really add up.  Once the HST kicked in it was obvious that those extra charges were hindering the sale of our house so it became one of the deciding factors in taking the house off the market.  If we ever put the house on the market again it will be privately which will at least save us the cost of HST on the real estate commission.
• general shopping - Since the HST kicked in we have dramatically cut shopping in ON for any item that has HST on it.  If it is something we really need then we look for the item used. Kijiji and eBay are great places to shop for used items from the comforts of you home without using the gas of yard sales since gasoline now has HST tacked on.  If it can wait it goes onto our shopping list for buying in the US when we can bring them back duty/tax free under our personal exemption allowed based on the length of time out of the country.  
• gasoline - We buy gasoline as much as possible in the US.  For day to day driving of the vehicles and when traveling any distance in ON then we still end up buying gas in ON so pay that HST but for the most part we can avoid a good chunk of the HST on gasoline.  We always fuel the boat in the US so that eliminates that HST.
• haircuts etc. - The HST now applies to services like barbers, hairstylists, nail salons and those types of things.  I trim my own hair and gave up on nail salons in favour of the all natural nail so pay no HST on these services.  A friend cuts my husband's hair for free so again no HST.
• hydro - There is now HST on our hydro bills based on the kWh used.  We are already well under the average household use of 1,000 kWh per month which makes us very good candidates for going solar.   We are moving in the direction of solar while using less electricity every chance we get.  I will guarantee you we won't fall into the ON solar plan where you sell back hydro for 84¢ per kW generated because McGuinty has already cut that price to infuriating farmers who bought into the scam.  We have a 5 year plan to be completely off the grid.
• natural gas - There is now HST on the natural gas we use to heat our home.  In our little corner of ON home heating in the winter is a must, something McGuinty fails to realize.  Aside from using good energy conservation methods we are also moving towards solar for subsidizing our home heating and we may convert our fireplace from gas back to wood that we will buy using cash through the underground economy.
• using the underground economy - The very fact that an underground economy exists means the above ground economy isn't working.  The HST has strengthened the underground economy.  Cash talks!  If we need something done around the house that we can't do ourselves it is as simple as putting the word out to find someone who will do the job for cash, cheaper and without HST.
• vacations - Our vacation home is in the US as is our other favourite vaction destination.  If we fly, we fly out of a US airport since there is now HST on flights out of ON.  Most of our two or three day mini-getaways are in the US as well.  This avoids having to pay HST on motel rooms.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Out With the Old in With the New Old

Old and New Old

September 9, 2010

I've had a cell phone for years dating back to when I was on the road all the time.  My first cell phone weighed about five pounds or at least it felt like that some times.  It looked like a huge, long walkie talkie.  It took up a good amount of room in by briefcase!  Despite it's large, cumbersome size it kept me in touch with my family and provided an instant support system when away from home.  That cellphone was changed out for the cutest little Nokia that I eventually customized with a denim case.  It was just adorable and while it survived a dunking in the toilet [don't ask] it did not survive swimming from the boat.  I was not pleased at that turn of events but my husband replaced it with a cute little Samsung flip phone.  My kids were quite helpful customizing my phone by adding the Adam's Family theme song for the ring tone and adding other sounds like beeping when I closed it along with a couple "I love you Mom" messages not quite spelled out in those terms.  At any rate, I really liked my flip phone.  I wasn't using it a lot with not being on the road as much but it was nice knowing if the power went out I still had a phone and I always carry it with me just in case my husband's cell phone dies.    The flip phone is not all that old at only about 5 years but I guess as technology goes it's old.  The problem has been the battery or the fact the battery hasn't been holding a charge.  It was down to needing to be charge every other day without even using it but it would die rather quickly if I did use it.

One of our kids checked my cell phone for the SIM card than said they had a cellphone it would fit in.  Now one thing about our kids they are huge techo gadget people so they will buy techo things that I will drool over but won't part with the money for.  When they upgrade I usually get first dibbs.  So my SIM card fit the cellphone our kid wasn't using and now I have it.  This is a cute little phone with a lot of features including a camera and walkman.  Unfortunately my Adam's Family ringtone didn't survive the change.  I couldn't find it either so I downloaded the Brady Bunch theme song.  What the heck.  I will get a chuckle everytime the phone rings!  And there you have it me enjoying a new old.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Blog Your Blessings Sundays - Tomatoes

This past week was all about enjoying tomatoes.  I've been picking tomatoes in the garden and cutting vines to root for my indoor continuous garden.  I been working on canning hampers of tomatoes into various tomato products.  So far I've put up fire roasted tomato sauce, fire roasted tomato basil sauce, fire roasted Italian pasta sauce with mushrooms, and marinara sauce over the last two weeks.  This week I canned seafood cocktail sauce, pizza sauce and salsas.  And just in case the focus hasn't been on tomatoes we have been eating tomatoes every chance we get.  Toasted tomato sandwiches and BLTs make for quick easy meals during the tomato canning season while not adding heat to the kitchen.  All those little bits of great sauces that aren't enough to fit into a mason jar are used for meals as well.  So this thime of year it is all about the tomato!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

A New Breed of Garbage Pickers

We don't use a lot of commercially canned foods because I do a lot of home canning.  By a lot I mean if I can put the food up myself I won't by commercially canned foods so that means I'm well over the 1,000 jar per year mark.  The end result is unlike our neighbours we don't put our recyclables out on a regular basis because they really don't add up enough to do so on the regular biweekly schedule for pick-up.  We put out a large clear blue bag of recyclables as we need usually a couple of times a year.  The other day my husband put the recyclables out the night before collection.  There were two bags.  On the way out the driveway he noticed one bag was missing and the other had been ripped open to remove the metal cans leaving the plastic behind.  The metal cans was missing from all of our neighbours bins as well.  Now this is just a sign of the times.  Someone is coming by collecting the cans that they will in turn take to the metal recyclers.  I wouldn't mind except we pay for recycling through our taxes.  If the recyclers don't collect enough there is a good chance the municipality will cancel the program entirely.  So we have a couple of choices.  Either we put the recyclables out the morning of collection and wait for them to be collected or we take them to the recylers ourselves.  At any rate one person is working towards destroying a program for their own personal gain.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

A Tomato Kind of Day

Old Tomato Ad

I'm working on the fourth hamper of tomatoes for the season today.  On today's processing plans are seafood cocktail sauce, pizza sauce and salsa.  Any tomatoes left after making those three products will canned whole.  By day's end I will have several jars of wonderful tomato products to add to the pantry.  As with most canning sessions this year the day has got off to a late start with canning going into the late night, early morning hours.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Grandma & Papa's Cow Mugs

Grandma & Papa's Cow Mugs

September 4, 2010

A few years ago we had the great pleasure of meeting one of our kid's soon to be spouse.  As a way of breaking the ice the kids gifted us with these extremely cute cow mugs.  I think they are just adorable!  Now that the grandkids are toddlers Grandma is always looking for something just a little special to surprise them with.  I spotted the cow mugs in the cabinet so thought they would be an excellent way to connect the kids who couldn't be here for the brunch with the grandkids. 

Oh my gosh!  The grandkids loved these mugs!  The two oldest grandkids were just a hoot as they discovered the cows hiding on the bottom of the mugs.  They petted the cows and had quite the conversation about the cows.  Their faces were shining with animation as they excited talked about the cows.  I'm still chuckling over it.  And these are the things memories are made of!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Wordless Wednesday - The Europa

The Europa

September 2, 2010

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Battling the Nasties

This certainly has been the year of battling nasties on more than one level!  On the home front,  spiders have become a huge problem.  Four venomous (toxic to humans) spiders have been identified on our property including the brown recluse spider with the funnel spiders reaching huge numbers.  While funnel spiders are non-aggressive so the chances of being bit is low their sheer numbers greatly increase a chance encounter.  They are everywhere!  I finally decided we had no option but to take drastic measures by hauling out chemical insecticides something I try to avoid at all costs. 

Yesterday I loaded up the pressure pump spray with the first insecticide that would take care of the funnel spiders in the cedar and boxwood hedges.  They were my first target.  Then I reloaded with a residual spray to treat the outside of the house, sunporch and garage.  Tomorrow I will do a bit of back tracking to check for any active webs left on the hedges then spray targeted areas of the house indoors.

We last treated for spiders in 2007 so hopefully won't have to treat again until their numbers get to the point it causes a potential risk.    At any rate we should see a significant decrease in the venomous spiders and spiders in general while driving all spiders back from the house lessening the chance of a chance spider bite.   It was a productive, preventative action day.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Grandma's Lego Bin

Grandma's Lego Bin

September 6, 2010

All three of our grandbabies were here for brunch on Saturday.  They are now very active toddlers so I guess I'm going to have to start referring to them as our grandkids.  Grandma has a large plastic tote filled with Lego building blocks that they like to play with.  In fact every kid that visits us knows about the Lego bin and it is quite common to see the entire bin dumped out onto the floor so they can look for their favourite pieces.  It's also common for the adults to join in the fun of building something with the kids.

Lego has always been one of my favourite toys!  This bin of Lego has quite a long history starting with the first pieces of Duplo (large Lego blocks) we bought for our first kid's first Christmas.  Each Christmas more Lego would find it's way into the house.  One Christmas small packages of Lego from McDonald's even hung on our tree.  There's the little girl's Lego in pretty pastel colours, camoflauge Lego, glow in the dark Lego and moving Lego.  There's even a few rather old instruction sheets for how to build certain things.  I really should laminate those!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - Rain, Family & Friends

This past week started out to be so very hot and humid but full of blessings.  Lack of rainfall this summer has been a real issue for local farmers and home gardeners.  Wednesday, the day we were hosting a large dinner party, the forecaste was hot, humid and thunderstorms.  It rained during the wee hours of Wednesday morning and a bit during the day but cleared enough to enjoy eating outdoors for the dinner party then it rained overnight.  Thursday and Friday we woke to more rain with clearing in the afternoon.  The rain was very much welcomed!

The dinner party was a huge success!   The event was not without a bit of sadness though as we found out one of our friends who did not attend had recently been very,very sick resulting in the partial amputation of her leg.  Our support, thoughts and prayers are with her and her family as she goes through the healing process! 

On Friday a couple of our kids arrived with our second grandbaby, now a very energetic toddler, to spend a couple of days.  This little one is just a real hoot!  Those great big, brown winkers remind me so much of one of parents at that age and you know Grandmas and Papas are very prone to falling under the spell of the huge puppy dog looks grandbabies can give.  The following morning a couple more of our kids arrived for brunch with oldest and youngest grandbabies.  We try to get together this way as often as possible.  Not only do we get to enjoy our kids and grandbabies, the grandbabies get to enjoy a strong family support system.  I think it is wonderful that our grandbabies do play dates together and get lots of interaction so not only are the cousins they are friends, just as their parents are friends with their sibs.  All in all there were many blessings all around!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Just a Reminder Come Election Time - Dalton McGuinty

[from my email files]

My comments:  This email has been circulating throughout Ontario and each time Dalton McGuinty adds another tax or does something else behind closed doors it is added to.  What isn't mentioned in this email is how Dalton McGuinty evoked an ancient law to give police extra powers during the G20 Summit in Toroto which results in a huge abuse of police power stripping Canadian citizens of their constitutional rights and freedoms, turning Toronto into a police state.  This has resulted in several lawsuits against the Toronto Police that will ultimately end up costing Ontarians millions of dollars. Dalton McGuinty's actions with respect to the G20 brought both shame and shock from Ontarians as well as the rest of the world.  It is very important to remind Ontarians of the negative effect Dalton McGuinty has had on this province since becoming Premier of Ontario. Thanks to Dalton McGuinty's leadership Ontario has gone to hell in a handbasket!  Re-electing him would be a horrible crime against Ontario.

-----

PLEASE READ, PASS ON AND REMEMBER NEXT ELECTION.  THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT:

Here is what our Premier has done for Ontario in the past seven years.  Remember...he had a no tax increase election message/campaign:

• He has increased all the licensing fees from your car to your boat including fishing and hunting.
• He introduced the health care premium  (not called a tax) and some couples pay as much as $1,500.00 a year.
• He has put an ECO tax on many containers such as paint cans and window washer fluid most and people still don’t realize it until they see the bill - he kept that one real quiet.
• He put a disposal tax on all electronics.
• He put the disposal tax back on tires.
• And now he has passed the HST tax - the largest tax on the province ever and the only other tax in Ontario that ever came close to this in the past was the health care premium.  He passed this bill even though 76% of the people in Ontario were against it.
• This HST will provide the Province with an additional THREE BILLION dollars a year.
• Soon, July 15th, we will all have our S.M.A.R.T. Meters on which we will have to pay perpetual rent and will end up doing our laundry in the middle of the night.  We are also going to pay big time for air conditioning from now on because when we need it the most it will be in the prime time of usage.
• Let us not forget the E-health scandal with 1.2 billion dollars wasted and paid out to friends and relatives.   What was Mr. McGuinty's answer to this? “ Well, if the people of Ontario don't like it, they can show it in the next election.”  Nice attitude.  This after he fired the CEO and then gave her a severance package of $300,000 - not bad for only being on the job for seven months.
• And what about the SEVEN BILLION DOLLARS windmill power plant contract that he awarded to KOREA ?  One would think there was some place in Canada or North America that could have built these.
• He also closed the emergency rooms in Port Colburne and Fort Erie because there is not enough money. There have been two deaths since then because by the time they got to St. Catharine's it was too late.
• But he then awards a hospital in Toronto three million dollars - of course, that was in the riding where there just happens to be a by-election to replace George Smitherman!
• He has taken the richest most prosperous province in Canada down to one of the 'Have-Nots' and, over the past six & one half years, has increased the budget deficit from $5.6 Billion dollars to TWENTY SEVEN BILLION DOLLARS and he still has a year and a half to go.
• And don’t forget his nice little salaryincrease of  $40,000.00 a year - millions of people in the province don’t earn even half of that.
• Have we forgotten all the MPP’S who also got a 14% increase? And now that they've had their increases he comes out with a new budget to freeze all provincial employees wages for two years - a bit late don't you think.
• He increased the hydro tax by 10% in April of 2010.
• He has increased the tax on liquor and wine by 10% in May of 2010.
• He continues to permantently 'Blight' landscapes across the province with unsightly wind turbines.

But, Mr. McGuinty will retire with his nice comfortable pension and all his benefits paid.
I hope this gets passed around the province of Ontario and everybody remembers the way we got screwed by Mr. McGuinty and the Liberal party and - remember - not one Liberal MPP had enough guts to vote against any of the above.                    

Wake up Ontario ....!!

And all pensioners got no raise at all over the past 18 months!!!!!!!!!

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Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

My Nemesis

Golden Rod

September 26, 2010

Golden rod is a very pretty but aggravating weed especially for those allergic to it.  As someone who enjoys allergies year round I can't tell you how much I look forward to the enhanced symptoms from various pollens, grasses, ragweed and golden rod.  I love the wonder red, swollen eyes that look like I've been crying for days but what I really look forward to is the nasal congestion at night followed by constant drainage during the day.  Oh wait, I also get extremely excited at the sneezing fits!  They are awesome!  Thanks to those I get to try on several outfits in a day.  Yes siree, there is nothing like seasonal allergies to brighten up your day!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Good Morning

Some mornings I'm exactly as pictured - LOL.  Honestly those are the days I'm behind before even getting up and it takes me until noon to wake up enough to function.  Today is one of those days!  I can't even think enough to tweet on Twitter.  It's the tell tale signs of the busiest time for canning.  The night before I was up late canning the third hamper of tomatoes this season.  In return I have 7 L, 5 - 500 ml and 1 - 250 ml jar of gorgeous fire roasted Italian pasta sauce with mushrooms.  Then I was up early yesterday to get things ready for a dinner party we were hosting.  I've managed to get a good part of the cleanup done this morning from last night's party just by puttering here and there for a few minutes at a time.  The dishwasher just finished running so will be ready to empty shortly.  I still have to label the jars of sauce that are still on the counter then they can be moved to the pantry.  Home canned foods should sit undisturbed for 24 hours once out of the canner to avoid and detect any sealing problems.  I have a small amount of hand washing to do then once that is all put away I can do a final wipe down through the kitchen and it will be ready for the kids and grandbaby when they get here for dinner.  They are staying with us for a couple of days so that should be quite enjoyable.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Wordless Wednesday - Sunset on the Boat

Sunset on the Boat

August 18, 2010

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010