R.I.P Benazir Bhutto

It's hard to say why I feel bad about Benazir Bhutto's assassination, aside from the obvious fellow-human-being thing. It's not as though I understand her politics, or those of any of the cast of characters running (or trying to run) Pakistan, though it did seem plain to me that she was probably going to get killed sooner rather than later. Terrorists had already taken out 140 of her followers on the day of her arrival in country, and had been hoping to get her, too. It wasn't wise of her to be popping out of the roof of her car, yesterday. How could she not realize she was an easy target?
Perhaps she believed in herself as a woman of destiny, at the last, and thought nothing could stop her. For years, she was the daughter carrying her dead father's mantle, and then it became her own. That's part of what I liked about her, that sense of destiny. There are so few truly powerful women in the world, and here was an intelligent and articulate Muslim woman who refused to hide her face or her opinions. Despite all the accusations of corruption and forced resignations and exile, she always went back to Pakistan, as though she believed she was born to rule.
I saw a picture in today's paper of her, holding her two children in her arms. The next generation, I see one or both of them entering politics in 15-20 years: the next Bhutto. The boy's face was sad, as though he could see his future, written on the bloody pages of Pakistan's history.

A Very Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone! The last week I have been neglecting my blogging, due to the usual last-minute wrapping/baking/shopping binge, as well as party & visiting time. Saturday and Sunday we had early Xmas with Iain's family in Ottawa, returning on Christmas Eve so we could have a quiet evening at home after the candlight church service. Had a wonderful time in Ottawa, by the way - it's so great to see everyone, we do it too seldom.

Today we head off to Dodie & Myles' place for dinner and prezzies. We spent the morning opening our gifts to each other. Can't believe what Iain got for me - a turntable that hooks directly to the computer so I can upload all my vinyl (which we have to retrieve from the cottage, first, but that's a minor issue). I'm so excited to use it, as I have this vast collection of 70's progressive rock that no one else wants to listen to, so it is never on the radio, but that I still enjoy (I really am Living In The Past).

Have to post this pic of the lovely gift my friend Wanda (a.k.a. Martha) gave to us. When the gin is gone and all that is left is a beautiful blue bottle, it seems a shame to not use it somehow, doesn't it? Voila, a pretty dish soap dispenser!

Digging out

The view out the back windows of our place today. Iain spent about a half hour blowing out the driveway where the town plow deposited a bank of snow. We're glad we have the wee snowblower. Would have taken a picture of him working, but it was kind of dark outside still.

At the front of the house, it's getting hard to shovel off the porch, because the snow is as high as it is. We are glad we cleaned off the cottage last week - though we weren't able to get all the snow - because it will be pretty deep again, now.

As you can see, it was deep before we did it.

I hear the weather channel says it's going to rain on the 23rd. As much as I'd appreciate a respite from the snow, I don't think that's going to be very nice.

The weather outside is frightful

It's almost 8:00 p.m., and the weather outside looks as bad as it did all day. Iain has been out to shovel and snowblow 4 times already, and we've decided to leave it until tomorrow, now. The wind has picked up, so it's like a blizzard, and I'm very happy to not have to go anywhere. I feel sorry for anyone on the road tonight.
This pic doesn't really capture it, but it's the best I could do.
It isn't cold in the house, but just looking out at that makes me shiver. I'm going to head back down to the rec room, where the fire is keeping things cozy. Digging out tomorrow should be interesting.

OOOOHHHHH that is cold snow!!

Okay, well, you knew that, didn't you?

'Bout time I filed a report here, isn't it? Been a little busy, but not with anything too exciting, so I've been avoiding writing.

Spent Saturday shopping with the girls, which was great fun! Got a few gifts, and wore out my feet. Did get myself a nice pair of brown shoes, which I needed. No navy, though - no one seems to have navy shoes of the sort I want (low heel, casual but suitable for work, comfy).

Sunday we had a MARVELOUS pot-luck lunch at church. Christmas-themed, so we sort of knew what others were bringing, to make sure there was lots of everything. Turkey, potatoes, turnips, peas, carrots, stuffing, gravy, cranberry, yams baked with marshmallow, coleslaw, pickles, strawberry jello salad, buns! For desert: pie (apple and cherry), tarts, and timbits. I think that's just about everything, but it's hard to be sure. A good time.

Since we knew the storm was coming, we took the opportunity to decorate outside yesterday. It was cold work, but we were glad to get it done!

Today, I really hope the furnace guys come. It's cold in here! Good thing we have the fireplace in the basement.

We were out with the snowblower at 6:30 cleaning out the driveway. Iain went in to get ready for work, and I decided to figure out how to start the machine and run it myself. Took a while - I didn't see the push-button above the plug-in, and almost gave up trying, but then it got very loud all of a sudden, and I was off! Snowblowers aren't wonderful, really, especially not our little 7hp buddy (note to self: next model will be 12hp at least!), but with my back I want to avoid shovelling as much as possible!

Keep warm!

Christmas in November

We had an early Christmas last night, with Les and his girl Janice and little Maddie home for a few days. It was so nice to see everyone, especially Linda, who we don't get to see enough of. We never get her and Matt at the same time, but we will take what we can! All of us were entertained by Maddie, who opened all of her own presents, gave hugs to her moose, modelled her hat and mitts, and gave everything to Jennifer, who, she seemed to have decided, was her new best friend.

Yay for Snow!!!

The tree on our front lawn is laden! I love it (today, that is....in March, I'll be saying "what the !@!?").

The girl with the fuzzy head blathers on.

Gosh, what gorgeous day it was, for November! Beautifully sunny and clear, and even though it was cold it didn't matter; it was exhilarating.

We had a successful sale yesterday, raising over $800, though the money was not the main reason for doing it. Nice to have so many people drop into the church, especially familiar faces who used to be in the congregation but have moved on to other churches. Our little church family is much smaller than it once was, when Neil Steenson was our pastor, but we soldier along. We're blessed to have Pastor Bruce, who is enthusiastic and not afraid of hard work! There is lots to do.

I was tired last night, but so wound up I couldn't settle down and sleep well. It was also a bad night physically - my right arm aches some nights and keeps me awake, and it was one of those nights. So I got up feeling rather fuzzy in the head this morning, but I dragged myself to church anyway, and was glad I did; I needed today's message, which was about having faith when hope fades and fear comes in. This has to do with problems at church, and enough said about that.

Went to Ottawa and shopped for some gifts (several birthdays and early Xmas's this week), and then stopped at Sheila's for a quick hello. Now it's time for a well-earned brewski on the couch and a little mindless tv watching!

Bake and Craft Goodies

We're having our annual Bake/Craft Sale at the church on Saturday, and in anticipation of that I made my first ever wreath! It's all pine and cedar cones from around our cottage, that I picked up before we closed the place in October. I'm pretty happy with it, for a first effort, and won't be particularly displeased if it doesn't sell - Iain would like to keep it anyway.

The little bottles of Citrus Vinegar have a nice flavour, and I'm hoping someone will think them worth picking up.

I've also made catnip sacks again this year, which should make Brian happy! He usually purchases most of them for his and other family cats.


That's pretty much it for crafts, but I'm also selling chow-chow (green tomato pickles), salsa, chocolate fudge, orange wreath cookies, cranberry-walnut tarts, peanut butter cookies, and baked beans.

Mom has, as usual, baked up dozens and dozens of buns! A lot of them get sold before the sale; I think she's sold 12 dozen already. She also makes slippers for the craft table. I would love to be as with-it as her, if I make it to 90 years!

Although the stated goal of the sale is to make some upkeep money for the church building, the real reason is to get together with my sisters and some church friends and have a good time. Too bad our pal Debbie is busy with her new job - she's always a lot of fun.

Halloween

Meant to report here on Harry Street's Halloween Happenings, but I've been spending most of my spare time on other activities than blogging. My neighbour's grandson was too adorable to allow to leave without taking a picture, which I share here with you. We had 250 little visitors that night; we had planned for 180, but my other neighbour decided her dog would create too many hassles if she were going to the door a lot, so she donated 70 bags of chips and left her porch light off. I'm going to put together a mish-mash of video, to be posted later on youtube - but now I'm off to work!

Spears’s expenses report reveals the true cost of fame (Ottawa Citizen, 03 Nov 2007, Page A7)

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Spears’s expenses report reveals the true cost of fame

Ottawa Citizen
03 Nov 2007

LOS ANGELES Ever wondered how much it costs to live like a famous pop starlet in the late stages of a public breakdown? The answer, as revealed in court documents filed by Britney Spears yesterday, is $353,217 a month. The documents, which itemized... read more... Tech Tags: Ottawa Citizen newspaper World

I read this report the other day, and was dumbfounded to read that Britney gives only $500 a month to charity, while she spends $16000 on clothing. I was all set to jump on the "Britney's a Loser" bandwagon. However, it's just proof again that you can't believe everything you read; after I calmed down, I did a quick Google and easily found that the Britney Spears Foundation donates plenty of cash to a variety of worthy causes, including one of my favouites, Habitat for Humanity.

It's bad enough that the Citizen feels Britney's sad life is grist for the mill, but it's worse that they publish an article that leaves a worse impression of her than it should.

Music!

Talking to one of my most favourite brothers-in-law today, I learned that he has uploaded one of his songs. You can listen to it here. Nice to see he's keeping busy!

Moon yes

When we were at the cottage on Thanksgiving weekend, we did a tour in the boat, one last time before putting it to bed for the winter. We had a hitchhiker, a small dock spider who patiently waited for us to return to shore. I was not going to disturb him! I know what happens when you tease a dock spider .

This morning the moon was brilliant, and I just had to take a few pics: I'm supposed to be getting ready for work, but this is SO much more fun! Anyway, this is the street where we live. The neighbours are getting ready for halloween, as you can see!

Sunday Sunday

Another busy weekend, and unfortunately I had a bug on Saturday that took the fun out of that day. I'd wanted to go to Glenda Ferguson Tippins' book launch, but just didn't feel well enough.

Sunday was a busy day, however. In the afternoon I attended a funeral at our church for a woman who was a longtime member of the congregation and a sweet lady. A nice service, and it was beautiful weather to be at the graveside, too. I did get stung by a wasp in Dodie's car (that's the second time that's happened this month - how am I attracting them?), which wasn't pleasant.

Late afternoon the deacons (minus Debbie who was working) met with Don Crisp and John McIntyre in Arnprior. I always come away from meeting with them feeling uplifted; despite all the things that don't seem to be going right, they always make you feel that they understand and that there is a way forward. Very gifted men.

The evening of music at Elgin St. Baptist was a combination of the old and the new. Hugh Horner was supposed to be appearing with his partner George Towell, but George was in hospital, so instead Hugh's wife, daughter and son-in-law entertained us. We didn't have a programme, so I (per usual) can't remember their names, except he called his wife Ruby - but that wasn't her real name. They performed old-timey music, while the young couple did songs they had composed and recorded themselves. Beautiful voices, talented musicians. I was in awe of the young couple: he is a pastor and has two churches he serves; she is a youth leader. As such, they both must have already had a busy day before going to Arnprior to perform. And they have two children from his first marriage, so a busy home life too. Amazing.

So I'm going to not think of myself as a very very busy person, after all.

And speaking about the election...

...did anyone else find the voting procedure particularly idiotic this time? I felt sorry for the people working at the polls. This is how it went for me:



First, I gave them the note from the government which says where I live and that I can vote. Then, I gave them my license, to prove my address belonged to me (what if I'd been in the middle of moving and hadn't changed it yet?). Good thing I had that - a guy in Ottawa presented his passport and they turned him away (really - my imagination is good, but I didn't make it up). Then she found me on the list and stroked off my name. The lady beside her asked me to say my name and address, before she handed me my ballot. After I marked it, before I put it into the box, she asked me my name again.



In the city this may seem quite reasonable. In a small town, not so much; I know one of the women personally. It seemed silly.



Also rather a bother was how far we had to drive to vote. We used to always vote within 4 or 5 blocks, depending on which location they chose. This time, we had to go 1.4 miles! Have a look at this map: the purple shows how far we went to vote. Not a big deal, until you realize how large that route is compared to the size of Renfrew!

They also put the polls on the second floor. Which meant anyone who couldn't do the stairs had to go and wait for the elevator. I feel sorry for older folks who had never been there before having to fin the elevator amid the throng of children entering or exiting the ice surface at the rink. The area is noisy and chilly, and there are usually bags of equipment everywhere.

I feel better now that I've had my little rant. Have a good weekend!

The election that was

So, another Liberal majority government. Not surprising, but certainly disappointing for Renfrew County, as I envision another four years of:

• no progress on four-laning to Pembroke/Petawawa (the bottleneck at Arnprior on Monday evening extended about 6 miles; even under normal traffic conditions there is always a line-up of cars there).


• no progress on bringing high-speed internet to rural Ontario


• continuation of the funding of Catholic religious schools only (some religions are more equal than others, I guess)

Business as usual in the valley! I shouldn't complain too much, because we did vote for a Conservative member, here. Not that having a Liberal member for years did us any good. There is a perversity in Renfrew-Nippissing-Pembroke (why don't they just call the riding "the valley" and have it done with?) which causes us to elect a party other than the ruling one, just so we can continue to complain to people who don't care. We're always bucking the trend, or shooting ourselves in the foot, though I shouldn't use that analogy during hunting season, in case I cause offense. Our hunters are really careful, though you may have heard of the fellow who was critically wounded last week by another hunter who mistook him for a grouse. Hmmm.

Cottage Pics

Okay, I am relieved to report that my neighbours only cut down part of the group of trees, so from our property it still looks very bushy! I think the rest of the trees are on the other neighbour's property, and they left them alone. Iain always says I am way too negative. Of course, he is wrong, there's no way, not a chance. :)
On Friday night, when I was waiting for Iain to arrive at the cottage, I took this shot of the rain moving in. It was only about 6:45, but the sky was as dark as if it were much later. It was a little spooky!

Saturday and Sunday were gorgeous days, though, warm and sunny, and we got to do a lot of pre-winterizing cleanup, so we won't be so busy next week. Hope the weather holds, because we always like to do a long after-dinner walk on Thanksgiving Sunday.
Sadly, I must report that the birds again took all of our grapes this year. We were holding out for them to ripen a bit more, because adding a lot of sugar doesn't make for the best wine, but we couldn't get the readings above 17 on the refractometer. One day the grapes were there, the next they were gone! That's how it goes - we've decided that in future we will just pick 'em and add the darn sugar!

Here's some pics of the flowers still blooming there. The nasturtiums look like they'll go on forever, though I know that one good frost will do it for them.
The annuals I started from seed in the deck box are still blooming, despite the dry weather they've had to endure.
The sun is setting ever farther to the south, now, and the days seem very short. Just one more weekend, and then we say goodbye, at least until New Years.

Monday Morning Musings

Being addicted to the computer occasionally has its upside. You become a member of Facebook, and the next thing you know you are inundated with invitations to all sorts of useless applications from people who you didn't ever hear from before. This is not the upside of which I speak; the up comes from updates that you can get on things you do care about. This last week, my Aunt Margaret, who is 94 and completely "with it", broke her hip (well, there is now some debate as to what exactly broke, but she did require surgery). Through the magic of updates from my cousins on Facebook, I was able to tell my mom on Sunday morning that her sister had come through the surgery successfully, and was now back in her hospital room enjoying the benefits of good drugs to ease the pain. My mom marvelled at this; we didn't even require a phone call to bring us news (though we did require a phone line).
Yes, I'm so addicted that I have a computer and internet access at our cottage. Good thing, too, since there are only three tv stations that come in at all up there, and I like to check the weather network online. Also a good thing because Iain can check in on work stuff (though I wish he didn't have to).
Anyway, I also have another thing to rant about, today. I must have on my street the fewest per capita tree-huggers in the country. While everywhere else the concern is about global warming and the protection of the environment, my neighbours blithely axe every large shade-giving tree and opt for air conditioners instead. As I write this, yet another huge shade tree up the block is being cut down. I'm not holding out much hope that they will simply trim it up and leave the main body of it standing, to leaf out again. The tree is healthy and beautiful - the leaves haven't even begun to turn as yet, while the sad maple we are trying to keep alive in our front yard has lost half its leaves - and yet I'm sure they will take the whole thing down. It breaks my heart to see such waste.

And just in case you thought I didn't waste enough time...

Here is my latest accomplishment, courtesy of simpsonizeme.com:

If I were a character!

Weekend!

What a gorgeous weekend it was! Would that this weather could last until after Thanksgiving!


We are getting short on cottage time. Just two more weeks, and it'll be closed up for another season. This weekend we had to cut short our time there, because I had a church meeting on Sunday morning that I couldn't miss, so we came home on Saturday night. We had wanted to stay for Judy's Bluegrass, but it ran too late for us.


Judy Kuno is a remarkably talented woman who lives near our cottage. She does wonderful artwork and crafts, and has the greenest thumb of anyone I know. She's making an annual event of having a big party with friends and family performing at her place. I had to take a pic of the entrance to her property this weekend:

Judy does a lot of clever folk art. She is one of those people with "busy hands". I'm not sure if she even owns a tv; for her, spare time is used to create, not to watch.


We did see a bit of wildlife this weekend: a deer, on our way to the cottage (you can just see her face in the centre of the picture),


and we also saw a porcupine on the street near my Mom's place, after we dropped her off on Saturday night, but I wasn't smart enough to get a good shot.

Political Learnings

I have a question about politics:

Why is it that the only party that ever seems to hit the nail square on the head on hot button issues for me is one that has absolutely no chance of being elected in my riding?

In the current running the issue is the funding of religious schools. It seems that only the Green Party agree with my assessment, which is that the government shouldn't be funding any religious schools, which means the Catholic board should be amalgamated with the Public one, and we should have only one school system that is publicly funded.

I'm a Christian, but I think religion is best taught in the church and the home, being a matter of personal belief, and that the lack of church involvement at school doesn't mean a lack of morals, necessarily. If you want to send your child to a private school, good for you....just don't expect the rest of us to pay for it, except through charitable donations. And don't tell me the constitution ensures your right to a separate school; that just tells me we need to revise the constitution (yet again).

The only other option I can possibly agree with is to fund all of the various religious schools, because as ridiculous as it seems, this is the only really fair option. I don't like it, but it's better than the status quo, which is clearly unfair. That's the Tory option, and they will probably be elected in our riding anyway.

At one time in the not-so-distant past, I could have relied upon the NDP to campaign for the separation of church and state, and for fairness, but ever since they got a whiff of power they are more interested in getting elected than in doing the right thing. Power corrupts....

Just Cats

We all know that the internet was invented mainly as a forum for people to show pictures of their cats, so here is today's offering:

This is the cat who has moved into Sheila's neighbourhood and makes a habit of visiting her daily. When we were visiting on the Labour Day weekend, she dropped by several times, for scritches and photo-ops. She isn't allowed a pass into the house, but enjoys the warm patio stones and any attention she can get. This is probably as close as Iain's mom will come to having a pet, although she used to love having Angus the scottie dog.

On the home front, I couldn't resist taking this pic of Phantom curling up in this basket I hadn't gotten around to putting away.

As he's getting older he is becoming more cuddly, and often sits on my lap in the evening, which I do appreciate (there are few things as satisfying as a cat on the lap).


Jezebel was just napping in the sun when I surprised her.

I don't have a new pic of my little Stitches, because she wasn't hanging out with these guys.

April Wine

Oh what a night! Early September, 2007...April Wine played at the Renfrew Fair last night, and they were excellent. I'm not much of a concert-goer, mostly because I prefer studio music and find all concerts TOO LOUD, but it was a beautiful night to sit on the grandstand.

You forget how many hits AW has had, until they start reeling them out. Even with an encore they didn't do all of them. Too bad there weren't more people to see them...the place wasn't packed...but the audience there appreciated them.

Now, we must buy a "best-of" cd!

Cedar Waxwing

These pictures were taken in July, of a cedar waxwing munching on the seeds produced by a fuschia hanging outside our dining room window. Previously, I'd seen a hummingbird at the plant, which is not unusual. I'd also seen a robin trying to get at it, though I'm not sure why; perhaps it thought the seeds were bugs? It was a surprise to me to see the waxwing on the plant. I'd never seen anything eat the seeds before. The little guy just leapt all over the plant, hanging upside-down when necessary, to eat just about all of them. I would have liked to get a better picture, but he was easily frightened, and took off when I tried to get a better shot.

Saturday morning meanderings

I glanced at David Warren's column today in the Citizen; I didn't read it all, not being in the mood for his rant. One thing that struck me at a glance, however, is that he takes his coffee with honey. Is this common? The thought of it makes me blanch. Early on in my coffee drinking days I imbibed it black, and then over time switched to adding a bit of milk, mostly to cool it down. I will accept cream, though I don't like the way it changes the flavour of the coffee. Sugar is out - when I accidentally sip Iain's cuppa, I make the same lemon face he makes when he sips mine - so I can't imagine what it would be like with honey. Cloying perhaps?

We're seeing the Fullerton clan this weekend, and it should be fun! Also, we're going to the racetrack for dinner and to watch the races, and to lose some money on wagers. All part of the fun, of course. I enjoy playing the slots, though it isn't the same now that they've eliminated the coins. Something enjoyable about the clink of coins and the heft of the bucket when you take it from machine to machine.

Made in....anywhere but here.

The Ottawa Citizen ran articles this weekend by Shelley Page and Randall Denley about our country's increasing reliance on goods manufactured in China. I'm glad to see some concern about this, and I hope people will think about it a bit more.

I always try to buy goods made in Canada, or at least in a country with a better reputation than China. Sometimes, it's damn near impossible to do, however. Just try to buy an umbrella. Trust me, almost ALL of them come from China.

I used to work in manufacturing. The jobs I used to do are now done in the Maquiladora. I can imagine a young woman, dressed neatly, even if the clothes aren't new, leaving her cardboard-and-corrugated-tin shack in the morning, stepping over the open sewer that runs past every hovel, and catching a bus to go and do one of those jobs I used to have. She'll get paid a lot less, maybe 1/10th of what I used to earn. She lives in poverty. I know, because I was not rich on ten times her salary.

The jeans aren't much cheaper, if at all. Lives, however, seem to be going down in price all the time.

Mom

This Sunday we are having an open house to celebrate this wonderful lady's 90th birthday. She's my Mom, and doesn't she look great? We've been so blessed to have her for so long, and so healthy, too. She still lives in her own apartment, does most of her own housework, makes lunch for her daughters any time we say we're coming, goes to the cottage with us on weekends so she can work in her garden, and plays a mean game of cribbage. Nobody makes potato salad like she does, and her buns (dinner rolls, that is) always get rave reviews. I love her to bits, and so do most people who know her. This picture was taken at the cottage on the August long weekend.

Cottage Time

Blogging from the cottage presents a few challenges. We are on dial-up here, so I hesitate to attempt to upload pics. Also, staying online long enough to write anything is difficult - one wants to be off outside or puttering about instead. So....a quick hello is all you are getting for now! I'll add pics etc. once we are home again (or if it starts raining here....).

Weather Worries

I love hot weather. I especially love it when I'm on holidays for it, so I can be at the cottage. These nights our house is getting very warm. We have stubbornly refused to buy an air conditioner, which means the house has been getting progressively warmer for the past week. The thermometer reads 25C. this morning; I'm hoping the thundershowers forecast for tonight will bring in slightly cooler weather for sleeping. Hopefully they won't bring driving rain for extended periods that requires closed windows!


This reminds me of the Thursday night before our holidays last year, when a big storm went through, bringing an F2 to Combermere and several downed trees to our cottage lot. The old cedar we lost had shaded me lots of times since my childhood, and it was sad to see it go.



I'm praying it doesn't happen again this year, because we are starting to get low on nice trees on our property. The weather overall has been much like last year - very wet and cool for most of the month. That caused one of our tree losses last year - the ground was so wet, the wind just uprooted the tree.



Nothing like the damage done at Combermere, but still painful. I'd rather not start out my holidays this year with such a BANG!

Toronto the good.

This is the backyard of Iain's brother's place in Toronto. They have a mini-park - just beautiful! We spent most of the weekend just relaxing here.
They have several Rose of Sharon bushes, in lovely bloom.

Enjoying the summer

Ahh, summer. Would that everyone could have only good things happen. I know a few people right now going through very difficult times: serious illness and loss of loved ones. I've been there too, as just about everyone has, and this whole week brings sad memories for my family. Life isn't all about the sad stuff, though; that's just what happens in between all the good stuff. Gotta keep the glass half-full.

Kids fishing off the dock last weekend:

Monarchs a-comin'

Not that I really have time to do this, but just a quick note: last weekend, Iain and I went in search of Monarch Butterfly caterpillars (inspired by Wendy), knowing we had lots of milkweed on our cottage road, and voila! Not the quality of Wendy's pics, but it was nice to see so many of them thriving.

Binocular repair

News flash: I just discovered that I know how to collimate binoculars! Last fall I got a cheap pair of Bushnell (made in China - *sigh*) binocs as a promo gift at work. We didn't look at them until this spring, when we tried them in the back yard. Iain complained that he couldn't get the images to line up, and I had the same problem, so I was getting ready to chuck them in the next yard sale. But then I did a google for out-of-focus binoculars, and found that they can go out of collimation and are still fixable. The fixes looked intimidating (involving research and purchasing books), but one fellow said he took his apart and played with it, so I thought "what the heck"and took off both the lenses. I couldn't see anything to adjust, but then had the bright idea of switching sides, just in case someone at the factory in China had a left-from-right perception deficit, and VOILA! Now they work perfectly. I highly recommend trying this if you have a similar problem (or hit them with a rubber mallet until they go into alignment, another recommended repair method).

Baby Painted Turtle

Isn't this little guy adorable? Iain spotted him on the road, between our two lakes.

There's video at the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmL4UkhRhzg

A Star Lost

Sad to read today about the death of William Hutt. My favourite memory of him is in the part of Sir John A., in The National Dream. I'm always a little fuzzy on details, but I know I've seen him in a lot of shows; he showed up so many times on CBC, always a familiar face, always performing whatever part he was in exceptionally well. I had to run a check on IMDB, because I was SURE he was in some episodes of The Starlost; he was in one only.

Yes, I was a Starlost fan...

Aquilega

This is from my mom-in-law's garden, a columbine which she tells me is called Aquilega. Thought it was lovely and had to snap a pic! Sheila has a way with flowers. I love to sit in her back yard and just enjoy the beauty.

Splitting heartache

At the risk of upsetting any Anglicans reading this: what exactly was decided at the big meeting last week? On the one hand, they're willing to "bless" same-sex marriages; on the other, they aren't allowing their priests to actually perform the marriage. It looks like some fence-sitting is going on, but it may only be temporary, as they continue to explore this issue. Mostly they're trying to avoid a split in the church. That's what we Christians seem to do, mostly - split churches over theological disagreements. It's better than the alternative, however, as anyone who has perused Foxe's Book of Martyrs can attest to.

My church's official position is that homosexuality is a sin. I don't agree, but I don't plan to leave the church over it, if I can help it. I'd rather disagree from within. The nice thing about being a Baptist is the concept of "soul liberty", in which every believer is expected to search the scriptures for their answers, and the "priesthood of all believers" which means no one stands between us and God.

For some people the decision is simple: they point to a number of bible verses that they believe say homosexuality is sin, and that's the end of the discussion. You can't talk to them, because they have closed their minds. Others have given it a great deal of thought, and even have friends who are gay, and yet they still come down on that side of the fence. At least with them you can have a dialogue.

I'm not really going anywhere with this, except to say that I'm sad it has to be this way, and I really hope I don't have to go looking for a different church because of it, someday.

Lots of trouble

Okay, I don't want to get off on a rant here, but why are people rude and inconsiderate when the opportunity to be graceful is so apparent?

The story begins last year, when someone drove into one of my co-workers' van in our work parking lot. Left a HUGE dent in the side. They also left a bit of their paint, though they didn't bother to leave a note or try to find out the van's owner. Through a bit of sleuthing, however, my pal was able to track down the culprit, who, when the police showed up at her door, claimed that she had indeed left a note - but the wind must have blown it away. Right.

Then, about two months ago, somebody - I will never know who, probably - hit my car and left without leaving so much as a "gee, sorry about that" note on the windshield. I know, it serves me right for not walking to work more often, and I was parked in a spot I knew was more likely to be backed into, and I DO drive a car that has a lot of, shall we say, "experience"; so it wasn't that big a deal. Just a little upsetting. My mechanic pounded out the dent without losing too much paint in the process, and the car still runs well, so no biggie, right?

Well, about two weeks ago, one of my co-workers backed into a car parked in our lot. Being the good person that she is, she left a note on the windshield. The recipient of the note proceeded to leave numerous phone messages at her place (even after they had spoken on the phone and my friend had explained that she had to be out of town for the weekend but would contact her insurance when she returned), and the tone of the calls was not pleasant. This continued after the weekend, even though the insurance companies were involved (the offer to settle the matter privately was rejected), and finally my friend had to refuse to take any more calls from her. The funny thing is, if that person hadn't parked illegally in our lot - they weren't a patient - it would never have happened.

So maybe that's why the person who ran into me never left me a note: maybe they'd been treated rudely when they tried to do the right thing, in the past; then again, maybe they were just rude and inconsiderate like these other two jerks.

The moral of this story is obvious: don't park in Dewey & Humphries parking lot.

Pink Lady's Slipper

Here is a (sadly uninspiring) picture of a lady's slipper plant we were pleased to find on the lake last weekend. I feel I must post it, because, as Wendy says, without the picture - it didn't happen! And I was pretty happy about finding it. Not as nice quality as I'd like, though - I grabbed it off a video taken from our swaying boat. There is so much to see in the wild, but you have to be paying close attention; we had drifted by this clump of 3 flowers, when the bright pink caught my eye, and Iain had to double back. I was sure it was some sort of orchid or pitcher plant, but couldn't remember what it was. Myles identified it as soon as he saw the video.

Bugs

Iain had some travelling companions when we were out walking on Sunday. They didn't stay long, but they were welcome company.

He took this shot of an attractive moth as well. We haven't figured out what kind it is, yet.

Storm Video

....uploaded today (the Sens game last night prevented me from finishing it). Had to reduce quality to get it all on, so it will be interesting to see what it's like.

Speaking of the Sens: I hate to say it, because I'm a die-hard fan, but it looks like they are pretty toasty. Not many teams have come back from a 3-1 deficit in the cup round, and the Ducks have been outplaying them much of the time. It looks like they've finally met a superior team.

This is hockey, though - so I'll watch the next game anyway, and cheer hard. It ain't quite over yet. They've been great this year, and given all their fans something to remember, no matter how it goes. I'd still give Alfie the Conn Smythe, though I must admit I haven't been watching the western conference much, so there may be someone as deserving over there.

Being at the cottage in early June means you get to see the dragonflies coming out (not a minute too soon, either - I got munched more than a few times by both blackflies and mosquitos). Iain spied this guy on our front porch - he'd just emerged.

Although our weekend was cut short by one of Ontario Hydro's unplanned power outages, we still had a marvelous time. I'm working on a video of the storm that went through on Thursday, and it will be on youtube later today if all goes well.

Special Speaker

Yesterday at church, we had the great pleasure of having an old friend as guest speaker. Well, she isn't old, but our relationship is. Eleanor Filyer grew up in Renfrew; she came with her parent when her Dad, Steve Filyer, became our minister back in the 1980's. They left to go and serve at Bothwell/Clachan in the late 90's. Seeing Eleanor today was wonderful in a lot of ways. First of all, she's grown into the lovely, well-mannered and intelligent woman we all figured she would become, and we take a little bit of pride in that, because she started out in our church - though it's her parents who actually deserve the credit. What really got me, though, is how she has inherited her father's ability to paint a picture and then insert you into it, so you get the point of the message. Add to that her mom's sense of humour - Eleanor knows how to laugh at herself - and you have someone who is going to be a good pastor.

Her message was a good one for me to hear right now. I've been discouraged at church, because we can't ever seem to gain ground or momentum. Her advice was to keep looking forward, to continue to run the race - advice I've heard before, but needed to hear again.

Trees

There's been a lot of tree cutting in our area. Last year, two large trees in the lots to the east of us were taken down, one of them a huge weeping willow that Iain particularly liked. The trees looked healthy, and I was quite upset with our neighbours for removing them, but, in retrospect, I must admit that I am not a tree expert, and can't tell whether they were safe to leave up or not. We really miss them though, for their beauty but also for their shade; our house is completely exposed to the sun for much of the day as a result, and we don't have air conditioning.

Which makes the loss of the two huge silver maples on the lawn next door even harder to take. Our neighbour had the tree doctors in, and they advised her to remove them; even though they looked not bad, one of the trees was hollow, they said, and the other failing fast. So, yesterday those trees were cut down, and the space is SO EMPTY. When I look out the window, my breath catches in my throat, every time.

On a practical level, we are now presented with afternoon sun on the north side of the house. Our bedroom is going to cook. I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot of time in the basement, and I'm tempted to get an inflatable mattress, just in case. I absolutely refuse to have an air conditioner, as long as I can possibly avoid it.

On the bright side, our horse chestnut tree is in full bloom, and I snapped a couple of pics this morning (before the heat really gets to it).The pic on the left shows part of the lovely deck Iain built last year. Below is a closeup of part of a flower cluster.

Baby Turtle

People often wonder why we have a cottage, besides the obvious reason of having been given it by my parents. Cottages are a lot of work - almost like having two homes - and, even with no mortgage, they can be expensive. Well, here's one of the many reasons.

I know, you can hardly see him, but nestled beneath the leaf is a baby painted turtle. His shell was about 1 1/4 inches long, so he must have hatched last year, or possibly the year before. I found him when I was turning one of the kayaks over. He was just sitting there next to it, so I probably interrupted his journey to or from somewhere. Anyway, Iain and I looked at him for a bit, and then put him out of harm's way. He settled himself under this leaf, where he couldn't easily be seen, but where the sun still struck his shell, so he was getting toasty when this shot was taken.

I love this stuff.

Touring the tulips

There's nothing quite like spring to bring out the mellow. If it were just a tad warmer, it'd be even better, but seeing all the green leafy stuff is wonderful!

We had a Mothers Day outing to see the tulips last week. Iain snapped these pics. Most of the flowers were at their best, which I guess is compensation for the cool weather lately.