Happenings.

OK, I just had to post an updated photo with corrected spelling. I laughed so hard when I drove by and saw that they had fixed the sign!

We met a new neighbour who is renting the house on 30 acres next to us. Apparently it had been abandoned for two years and the new renter is a local tradesman. We heard all kinds of stories about the building and he is going to be rehabbing it and bringing it up to code. Oy, not a job I would want!

All seedlings are now in the greenhouse and doing quite well. The cukes and spinach are doing particularly well with the tomatoes holding their own, so to speak. Work continues in the yard and gardens - is it EVER done? Me thinks not. I got a great idea book from a company that grows perennials and I now have all kinds of ideas and visions swirling in my head!

We visited a local building centre, to order a new front door, and I was astonished at the fabulous new selection of floor and wall tiles that they have! It struck me as being very European in style and more ideas/visions are filling my head. I NEED to win the lottery!

Things are great at work with a new project starting that will keep me VERY busy for 3-4 weeks, at least. The only bad news at work was that one of the little lambs in the owner's herd was killed and partially eaten by a cougar. Poor little guy. The local wildlife trackers were brought in with their bloodhounds but I don't know if anything has happened over the weekend.

I've been getting a few inquiries lately from friends in the US, asking what Canadian health care is really like. Of course this all is the result of the giant health care debate raging in the US. My take on Canadian health care is that for what we have needed it for and used it for we have had no problems at all. In a lot of respects it is quite a bit easier to use than what we had in the US and I don't think it is any more expensive. I just think there is a lot of negative press and false stories going around the US media and that really is a shame. Sounds like politics as usual to me.

Couldn't resist.

I saw this on the way to work and just had to snap a quick picture. Of course I smudged the phone number to protect their identity.

What used to be - update.

Well, I've been on a bit of a mission lately looking up names from my past on Facebook. (yes, I am addicted to it) I found a couple of guys from High School and have reconnected with one. I also located two cousins who I have not seen in something like 35 years, maybe more! We are now connected on FB and exchanging messages to bring each other up to date. It's fun looking at their pictures and reading their reactions to mine. So far so good.

I've made up my mind that if someone does not want to reconnect then no big deal. I will not get all upset over it, figuring they have been out of my life for a while so maybe it is best to let a sleeping dogs lie, so to speak.

On another note we are still charged up from the Olympics and have been doing a lot of work in the gardens. We've also been making a point to get out on hikes on the weekends seeing that there are loads of trails within 15 minutes of home. We can explore the forest, walk on the beach or do a combination. Although I have not had the luck of finding wild asparagus like someone in Spain has been doing as of late.

That's all for now. Thanks for tuning in.

Can we revisit what used to be?

I find myself in a bit of turmoil these days. I recently found a feature on Facebook that lets' one search for people from a school and also pick a graduating year. This got my interest/curiosity and I plugged in the year I graduated from High School. (no specific year will be divulged in this post) I found a few people but not very many. Now, part of this is, I am sure, because my particular age group may not really get into FB. Another reason is that in my sophomore year I was in a auto accident, missed a semester, and was then tossed into whatever classes had openings in January. I was not a happy camper but was at the mercy of the public school system. That Fall, instead of going into Junior classes I was set back a year, to catch up, so was in with all sophomores. Ya with me so far? Anyway, while on FB doing the search I plugged in the year that graduated after me, which were the kids I spent my last two years of High School with. Well, lo and behold, I uncovered quite a few names, some of which were in a group that I hung out with and, truth be told, turned out to be the best friends of my entire school experience. After graduating I went into the 'real world' and didn't have any contact with them. Me being an only child and a bit lacking in social skills, even for an 18yr old, didn't really know how to keep in touch, something I still have relapses of to this day.

My predicament, if you can call it that, revolves around the fact that I asked two of them to be my friend on FB. I find myself wondering which way that will end up and if I should have even bothered. I have fond memories of those school years quite a while ago and ask myself what I really expect to happen??? Can we really go home again, even if for a short visit? I think we can, if we don't analyze the crap out of it. Or is that a bit too simple minded in this complex day and age? Maybe the past needs to stay in the past, not be dragged into the present kicking and screaming against all common sense.

Can Cold Water Clean Dishes?
This is for all the germ conscious folks
that worry about using cold water to clean.

John went to visit his 90 year old grandfather
in a very secluded, rural area of Saskatchewan

After spending a great evening chatting the night away,
the next morning John's grandfather prepared
breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast.


However, John noticed a film like substance on his plate,
and questioned his grandfather asking,

'Are these plates clean?'

His grandfather replied,

'They're as clean as cold water can get em.
Just you go ahead and finish your meal, Sonny!'


For lunch the old man made hamburgers.

Again, John was concerned about the plates,
as his appeared to have tiny specks around
the edge that looked like dried egg and asked,

'Are you sure these plates are clean?'

Without looking up the old man said,

'I told you before, Sonny, those dishes are as
clean as cold water can get them. Now don't you
fret, I don't want to hear another word about it!'

Later that afternoon, John was on his way to a nearby town
and as he was leaving, his grandfather's dog
started to growl, and wouldn't let him pass.


John yelled and said,
'Grandfather, your dog won't let me get to my car'.



Without diverting his attention from the football game
he was watching on TV, the old man shouted!

'Coldwater, go lay down now, yah hear me!'



Meet Coldwater !

Engineering amazement.

Creeping closer inch by inch, 900 feet above the mighty Colorado River, the two sides of
a $160 million bridge at the Hoover Dam slowly take shape. The bridge will carry a new
section of US Route 93 past the bottleneck of the old road which can be seen twisting and
winding around and across the dam itself.

When complete, it will provide a new link between the states of Nevada and Arizona .
In an incredible feat of engineering, the road will be supported on the two massive
concrete arches which jut out of the rock face.

The arches are made up of 53 individual sections each 24 feet long which have been
cast on-site and are being lifted into place using an improvised high-wire crane strung
between temporary steel pylons.

The arches will eventually measure more than 1,000 feet across.
At the moment, the structure looks like a traditional suspension bridge.
But once the arches are complete, the suspending cables on each side will be removed.
Extra vertical columns will then be installed on the arches to carry the road.
The bridge has become known as the Hoover Dam bypass, although it is officially called
the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, after a former governor of Nevada
and an American Football player from Arizona who joined the US Army and was killed
in Afghanistan.
Work on the bridge started in 2005 and should finish next year. An estimated 17,000
cars and trucks will cross it every day.

The dam was started in 1931 and used enough concrete to build a road from New York
to San Francisco . The stretch of water it created, Lake Mead, is 110 miles long and
took six years to fill. The original road was opened at the same time as the famous dam in 1936.

An extra note: The top of the white band of rock in Lake Mead is the old waterline prior
to the drought and development in the Las Vegas area. It is over 100 feet above the
current water level.

Sade rockin' it.