Gardening ~ it must be spring :)

What a long exhausting day!! When we lived in Vancouver we had a community garden plot. I think I have mentioned this previously. Anyway it has taken me a couple of years to find another one in Surrey. There was actually 4 of them. Two had at least a 3 year wait list and we applied to the other 2. One is walking distance to our house but the plot is only 5' X 10". The other one is an organic one and is 16'X16'. Today we found out we got the 2nd one as well WOOOHOOO!

As it turned out both gardens had their orientation where we were assigned our plot numbers and given all the do's and don'ts. We also nominated/volunteered to be part of the committee etc. The smaller one is brand new, they are actually still building frames for our plots so we can't do anything with that one. The large one we got to choose our own plot (by first applied first pick)and as we were there early..I had the one I had wanted. We were seventh on the pick list and as each of the first 6 gave their numbers I would cheer that it wasn't ours!! But I wouldn't tell them which one I wanted to jinx it lol.

I have no idea why no one wanted it! When it was our turn I yelled out 55!!! When we went back after we were all done I was so happy. I guess people just thought it was overrun with weeds and old plants but what they did not realize was all mixed in with the old plants were nice clumps of rosemary, sage, lavender, parsley, cilantro, oregano, winter onions, turnips, several strawberry plants, peppermint and rhubarb!! And right next to our plot was a huge evergreen tree with a picnic table as well as a nice park bench to use :) How perfect is my life going to be!!

Will take pictures next time we go over so you can see our wonderful garden and know why I am so thrilled!

I really am part of an alien nation

Ok those of you who have been reading my blog for any length of time, know that I have been researching my family history for a very long time, almost 4 decades actually, which might be hard to believe considering I am only 53 years old. But I digress. I have talked about my maternal grandmother(Clara Prive)'s maternal grandmother(Marie Louise Cloure). I have talked about how many brick walls I have hit trying to find information on her. She has never shown up on any census ever anywhere in the world, there is no birth, marriage or death records anywhere. I have basically always said that this woman, Marie Louise Cloure, fell on the earth to have 2 children and then just as quickly fell off the earth again. Only through a very very hard road of searching have I been able to locate information that she actually had THREE children not the 2 that the family has always stated. But still no record of her parents etc.

Well on Wednesday while I was working, I decided to search a couple of sites that I had gotten some training on last month (we bring in different presenters every month at our family history centre to teach our patrons and staff on different topics). But it took me a while to get the chance to go and check out a couple of spots. When I was on one of the sites I just entered her name and hit search expecting to see the usual sorry no such name located. But it beeped...huh? So I clicked on the link and burst into laughter!!! The other 2 staff members that I was working with came over to see what was so funny and I said you know this elusive female ancestor that drives me crazy? And they said yes. I said you know you have heard me say many times that she fell on the earth from some other planet? They said yes. I said look at this screen. There in black and white was a site that dealt with UFO sightings. The report came from the Department of Defense. Most of the report was blacked out (which kind of made me go hmmmm what's that all about) but there was enough to read a description of the UFO and that there had been 4 adults and 2 children that reported the sighting all with the same description. One of the 6 witnesses was a Marie Louise Cloure as a child. But as she had been born in 1848 and this report was in 1949, I knew that this was not the same person.

But needless to say it did make me laugh and it did reinforce my belief that she really did fall on the earth from another planet to have her now 3 children and went back to her mother planet just as easily because I have never known any other person that did not leave some sort of paper trail. I do swear though that when Judgment Day arrives, I will locate her and have a sit down with her so she can explain to me why she has blocked my every attempt to find her.

Ingredients List

Chicken McNuggets®: White boneless chicken, water, food starch-modified, salt, seasoning (autolyzed yeast extract, salt, wheat starch, natural flavoring (botanical source), safflower oil, dextrose, citric acid, rosemary), sodium phosphates, seasoning (canola oil, mono- and diglycerides, extractives of rosemary). Battered and breaded with: water, enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), yellow corn flour, food starch-modified, salt, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, calcium lactate), spices, wheat starch, whey, corn starch. Prepared in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness). Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent. CONTAINS: WHEAT AND MILK.

oh yummy

More chicken

So today will mark the 3rd day of my 5 day chicken in a row on one chicken. Yesterday Keith said he gave dinner a 9 out of a possible 10. At first though he had scrunched up his nose asking what it was and kind of picking it.. he likes his meat and potatoes separate :)But he loved it..the idea is that you can get 5 meals out of one 5 pound chicken and with all the necessary items to make a full dinner all for 20 dollars or less depending on where you live. The author obviously does not buy organic or lives in an area that has cheaper prices. Mine came up to just over 25.00 (I eat organic Keith eats regular food) Tonight is going to be Sesame Noodles with chicken in a peanut sauce. I LOVE peanut sauce on Asian food ...Keith does not. He hates Thai food. But I will tell him to keep an open mind and think of yesterday's dinner :)

Will keep you posted :)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/sesame-noodles-with-chicken-recipe/index.html

Precious

This past weekend Keith and I had been out running errands when we decided to stop at Rogers to rent a movie. It had been a long time since we had seen a movie and thought hey it would fit our budget..wouldn't matter if BABY decided to come, we could pause it, plus I could watch it in jammies.. not a feat usually done in the theaters hehehehe.

It took forever to find a movie that wasn't R rated let me tell you :( How sad is that? But I finally came across the movie PRECIOUS. I wasn't all that familiar about the movie other then Oprah had given it a solid 2 thumbs up and that it had won several Academy Awards. So we popped the corn, got into our jammies, curled up on the couch together and hit PLAY. Well I have to be honest.. we never made it 5 minutes into the movie before we were trying to find the stop button on the remote control.

I don't think I have ever heard such foul language coming out of a young persons mouth in my life. I realize that it was a movie and as such they were "lines" just like any other lines.. but seriously I so wanted to wash her mouth out with soap as well as my ears and not necessarily in that order. Needless to say Rogers got an earful when the movie was returned as to why it only had a "14" as the rating. Are you kidding me? Are you saying that it is ok to have that kind of language for young teens? And what was up with Oprah endorsing a movie like that? I understand the storyline touched her ( I did eventually read up on what the movie was about) but there was no way you could NOT have done the same story line without the language. Either that or change the rating to give people the option of not being stuck on a Saturday night with popcorn ready and no movie!!

It's a BOY!!

I would like to introduce you to our newest grandchild!! It's a boy!! He is our 5th grandson :-D Conall Erik Keith Eugene..weighed in at 7 pounds 13 ounces and 21 inches long. Labour was pretty intensive for Linda though.. a lot more then with Rosaleen but each delivery is different. I will let Linda give more details as not sure how much they want me to say but mommy and baby are doing fine now and that is what matters. There is not a lot of hair on this little guy hehehe and too soon to say what colour it is going to be.. daddy's red or mommy's brunette. When I left baby had managed to latch on pretty good so I took that as my cue to take big sister home and leave mommy, daddy and baby to bond.

She did go from 3cm to 10 cm in 30 minutes flat and our doctor barely got there in time! Will have more pics tomorrow !!

I change my mind

I have always taken great pride in the fact that I have never had a cold or the flue in my life. I wore that like a badge of honour. I have been seeing a Naturopath physician for the last 5 months or so taking Prolotherapy treatments which I have talked about in previous posts. But 2 visits ago we decided we would discontinue them for now as they did not have the results we had hoped. I did get relief but not at the level I should have been. So he said he would get a hold of my family doctor and my physiotherapist (don't you just love it when everyone works together??)and devise a new plan of attack. So 2 weeks later I go back and after some testing they said I have a build up of toxins in my system that is fighting against me. He asked me if I ever got colds etc and I replied happily that I did not! He said that is NOT a good thing.HUH? I thought he was pulling my leg. He said colds, runny noses, flues etc are all ways the body gets rid of garbage we put in it.

Gee thanks.. I thought I had at least one good thing going for me. So they agreed that he would give me an IV solution and then send me home with a herb that would work at giving me more energy, let me sleep better and just give me a better sense of health. Once we could get that going then we would go back to the Prolotherapy. My inside voice was thinking woohoo we don't have to pay for the treatments for awhile as that was getting expensive.. but no such luck.. the IV and herb was about the same price. He did warn me that as it started working I would in all likelihood get sick, very sick as my body tried to start getting rid of the garbage.

For a week nothing.. I eventually figured huh they were wrong, that I obviously did not have a build up of toxins in me. Last Friday I was waiting for Keith to get home from work about 1am and all of a sudden I started getting nauseous so just laid on the couch. When I heard him drive up I went to get the door for him and never made it past the kitchen sink. By Saturday afternoon Keith had to call our home teachers to come give me a blessing as I couldn't stop heaving. He had been coughing for days at that point but still took care of me, changing the bedding, helping me in the shower, cleaning up behind me..then I would settle down and his fever would spike up and I would get up and try and take care of him, get him some ice water, take his temperature, get him some cool cloths, then I would crash on the couch.. and he would start his turn.

By Monday I was feeling better and started eating some soups and yogurts...next day better... by Wednesday night I started getting a bad headache so took some Tylenol and laid down on the couch waiting for Keith to get home from his work. By the time he got home at 3am I was coughing like there was no tomorrow. He asked how the heck I had gotten sick since dinner time. I just glared and said it was HIS fault as it was his cold I had gotten. But by the next night I thought this is not right, it doesn't seem like a cold not that I had anything to compare it to but I just kept taking my echinachea and chamomile tea staying quiet.

Then today it dawns on me what happened. It was this new drug doing this... ughhhhhh.. I change my mind.. I think I would rather have the toxins just the same :(

Rest in Peace

Tomorrow will be a hard day for Keith. Tomorrow his uncle will be buried. There was only 13 years separating them and he was more of a big brother then an uncle. They have always been very close and Keith has talked a great deal about his early years at his grandfather's cabin during school vacation and summer holidays. After his grandfather passed away and his uncle and aunt took over the cabin they always had an open door policy for Keith.

When Keith and I first got together, his uncle took me aside one day and told me to take care of his "little boy" and to make sure nothing bad ever happened to him or I would have to answer to him. I gave him my word I would. Over the years he has many times thanked me for keeping my promise, for standing by Keith, for always believing in him when it seemed no one did. When we lived in Regina, we spent nearly every weekend at the beach and when I felt that we were overstaying our welcome and told Keith we should camp at the campground, his uncle came up to me to ask if they had done something to upset me. I told him no and why would he think that. He said because I didn't want to stay there anymore. I told him we had 5 small children and that it was for their own sanity that we were at the campground. I reminded him that they were their father's children and when I felt they needed a time out I needed to make sure that there wouldn't be anyone they could run to that would override me. He understood that and we came to a compromise. We stayed at the campground to sleep but spent the days and evenings at the cabin.

When I got the call last week of his death I wracked my brain to find a way to break the news to him but there was no easy way. Keith could sense it cause as soon as he walked in he looked at me and asked who died. When I told him, I could see the wall shut down over his face and his shoulders squared back.

He has been going back and forth between the want to be there for the funeral and the need to be here for our grandchild that is due any day. He finally was able to reach his aunt by phone on the weekend and spent a couple of hours with her. She told him he knew how his uncle felt about his own grandchildren and great grandchildren and that is where Keith needed to be right now. She told him they would be dealing with the ashes this summer at a private ceremony and that he could come then.

Tomorrow will be a long day for Keith as well as other as other members of his family and my heart goes out to all of them. Rest in peace Uncle Harry rest in peace

Haysom, Harry Published: 2010-03-05 Harry Haysom 1940 2010 The family is sad to announce the passing of Harry Haysom on Friday, February 26, 2010, in Regina, SK at the age of 69 years. Harry was predeceased by his grandfather Harry Hodgson and his mother Elsie Ring. Left to cherish his memory are his wife Judy; children Bill (Noreen), Randy (Mary Lee), Brenda (Robbie), & Darrell (Angelique); grandchildren Troy, Chelsea, Bryanna, Brendan, Rj, Denby, Alexandra, Courtney, Alyson, Kyle, Layton, Jacelynn, & Curtis; great grandchildren Colten & Katelynn; siblings Bernard, Barbara (Larry), Frank (Jan), Marianne (Mike), and several nieces, nephews and good friends. Harry lived his life to the fullest and believed in giving back to his community. One of his greatest loves was sports with wrestling & football being his favourites. Memorial Service will be held on Tuesday, March 9, 2010 at 2:00 pm in the Chapel of Lee Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, donations in Harry's memory can be given to your local amateur sport group. 1453241 ">

www.saskobitsandmemoriams.com

2010-03-05

Haysom, Harry Published: 2010-03-05 Harry Haysom 1940 2010 The family is sad to announce the passing of Harry Haysom on Friday, February 26, 2010, in Regina, SK at the age of 69 years. Harry was predeceased by his grandfather Harry Hodgson and his mother Elsie Ring. Left to cherish his memory are his wife Judy; children Bill (Noreen), Randy (Mary Lee), Brenda (Robbie), & Darrell (Angelique); grandchildren Troy, Chelsea, Bryanna, Brendan, Rj, Denby, Alexandra, Courtney, Alyson, Kyle, Layton, Jacelynn, & Curtis; great grandchildren Colten & Katelynn; siblings Bernard, Barbara (Larry), Frank (Jan), Marianne (Mike), and several nieces, nephews and good friends. Harry lived his life to the fullest and believed in giving back to his community. One of his greatest loves was sports with wrestling & football being his favourites. Memorial Service will be held on Tuesday, March 9, 2010 at 2:00 pm in the Chapel of Lee Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, donations in Harry's memory can be given to your local amateur sport group. 1453241

Migraine Relief

Anyone that knows me knows that I have suffered with migraines since I was a teenager.. which I gratefully thank my maternal grandfather for being so kind as to let me inherit this from him :) I have been on numerous medications for it throughout the last 40 years or so.. some have given me relief but nasty side effects, others worked about as well as the glass of water I had taken with it. But about 10 years or so ago I came across this other product that has worked like magic. I went from a migraine at least once a week that lasted a day or two and about once a month or so I had one that lasted several days with nausea and major sensitivities to light and noise.

Since taking these, I now only get them maybe 1-2 times a month and a really bad one maybe every 3-4 months. I have never gotten any side effects from them. They work as a preventative measure. A couple of times I have thought that I can do without taking the tablets and within a month the migraines are back in full swing.

Now I am not saying that this will work for everyone but it works for me.

http://www.florahealth.com/flora/home/international/products/1425.asp

chicken chicken what's for dinner

I came across this site (Thanks Kim) and I love it! Although I either buy smaller chickens then the author suggests or we eat too much as I usually get only 3 meals from one. But I will try it and measure more carefully and will keep you all posted on how it works out!!

http://cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com/2009/02/1-chicken-17-healthy-meals-26-bucks-no.html

Cell phones vs House phone

Keith and I these last couple of months have been trying to cut down our bills. I hyperventilated at the sheer thought of it.. I kept telling Keith it was easy for him to cut back, he is out there in the real world and I am at home.. I needed my HGTV and my Food Network and my TLC..but we compromised and I agreed to let go of my "needs" if we could do it in short doses. So last month was cable...sigh...You don't know what you have till you don't have it anymore... oh well..

This month is the phone...Keith has been saying for a couple of years he doesn't see the need to have a house phone AND a cell. Well sure he doesn't.. he is not a talker... When phone companies came out with this call anywhere North America 24/7 for 19.99 a month we latched on it. Needless to say they no longer have it but it was too late.. I think when we got it was when they went broke with it hehehe I mean seriously have you met my mother? Where do you think I got my knack of endless talking???

But my rationale is now I will be tied to the phone. Anyone that has ever been in my house knows how our phone rings NON stop. So to only have my cell when I go out it would never shut off. As well with no phone in cars, I would spend all my free time answering voice mail. But I had agreed to work with this new plan so last week we went out to the local mall to all the phone kiasks to see what they had to offer. I told them all what our plan was now and what they could do. Every single one of them said the same... they could not even come close to match it. Gee thanks guys.. you were a big help. The only ones that came close were some we saw commercials for or found on the Internet. But they were not known companies and I did not want to go there.

So there lays my dilemma. What to do what to do.. Has anyone done that? Gotten rid of their house phone and just had their cells to use? How did that work out for you? Anyone know of a cell company that gives 200 free daytime minutes, free evening/weekend calling, 200 long distance minutes, free incoming and outgoing texting and web searches (although rarely used) a month and all for $39.99?

Saskatchewan

I know I know weird topic...but here it is. I was born and raised in Saskatchewan and moved to BC almost 21 years ago. I thought I knew every place and every thing in that province. But I have been proven wrong. I have been known to be wrong from time to time.. not often and especially not when I want to be right but occasionally. One of the pavilions that we visited over the Olympic time was Saskatchewan. Keith has a great love for that province. Not me. I love my family and miss them every single day but I can not say I have a great love for it. BC yup yup yup. But I learned a lot in that pavilion and thought you might like to learn something new this Monday that has nothing to do with medals or 100ths of a second time frame.

-It has more then 2 million hectares of parkland, 2 National parks, 34 Provincial Parks and 95 Regional Parks
-100, 000 lakes... (really?)
-A Saskatchewan angler invented the now famous read and while spoon style fishhooks ( I have like 10 different ones in a variety of sizes)
-They have the world's biggest uranium mine. They are one of the world's top uranium producers
-it supplies about 4% of all electricity in the United States- enough to power New York City!! Glad to know Canada is good for something other then gold medals hehehe sorry I could not resist.. tomorrow I'll behave I promise
-The Dakota Dunes Golf Links was named Canada's best new course in 2005 by Golf Digest and in 2009 it was named the number one golf course in Saskatchewan and Manitoba by SCOREGolf Magazine.
-It has the most golf courses per capita in the world.. again really?
-The province's incredible Aboriginal heritage shines through in teh achievements of its First Nations people. Allen Sapp is a world renowned Cree artist. He has a gallery in North Battleford and shows around the world.
-Every summer thousands of people converge onto Wascana Park in Regina to hear the Regina Symphony orchestra perform Symphony Under the Sky. The RSO is the largest continously performing symphony orchestra in Canada.
-Saskatchewan has 5 of the 10 most entrepreneural cities in Canada
-It is the world's largest exporter of mustard. Seriously? huh
-Has the largest ptoatsh industry in the world - it is a key ingredient in the fertilizer that helps feed a hungry planet
-Has more then hlaf of the world's potash reserves. They are to potash what Saudi Arabia is to oil
-the RCMP(Royal Canadian Mounted Police) headquarters is situated in Regina. Did you know ALL RCMP officers are trained there.
-in southeastern Sask you'll find North America's hottest oil play, the Bakken Formation. It produces over 58,000 barrels of oil a day. It is Canada's 2nd largest oil producers. It also accounts for 1/3 of Canada's energy production with coal, oil, uranium, natural gas, hydro and wind
-the wheat fields make it the breadbasket of the world.It also produces more canola, flax and peas then anywhere in the world.
-it not only produces a lot of energy but Saskatchewan is leading the way in reducing greenhouse gases and carbon footprints. The Petroleum Technology Research Centre manages the world's largest monitored carbon storage project. By projects end it will be like taking 8 MILLION cars off the road for a year (well living in a huge metropolis city it would be nice if some of those would be removed permanently so it wouldn't take so long to get to where I am going)
-they have the best fans in Canadian Football League
-in 2009 it broke records for the 5th consecutive year in investment initiatives
-they have a record 9.7 billion in mineral production in 2008 and have over 10 billion of committed project expansions so the future in mining is tremendous
-is home to almost 1/4 of Canada's cattle herd
-International scientists are lining up to do research at the Canadian Light source in Saskatoon, one of the world's most advanced synchrotrons
-the lower cost and less stressful lifestyles associated with small centres make it a great place to call home. It is still cheaper to lve there then in most of Canada

So there you go.. your history AND geography lesson all rolled into one afternoon of light reading!! And if you want to still know more (other then where my mom lives) go to www.gov.sk.ca