I tried an experiment today to see if people are buying into the 100 mile rule for fresh produce. I put out a basket with fresh leaf lettuce in it and added a sign saying "Please take". As of 10:00 tonight, only two out of six bags has been taken. Guess people aren't as green as we have been told!
Off on holidays for a few weeks. Going to Kelowna, Vancouver, Vancouver Island, back to Kelowna and then home. We have booked a cabin on the island and also a 5 hour salmon fishing trip. Yumm! We are going to catch and eat!
After a week of untimely deaths and riots, I want to leave you for a few weeks, with a post that will calm your souls. Nothing calms mine more than gardening and gardens. This year everything is at least 3 weeks behind thanks to global cooling. By now my baskets should have been overflowing with flowers, maybe in the time we are gone they will pick up the pace. Thankfully I have a wonderful neighbour who watches over my baskets for me.
The journey so far:
The sprouts, still being coddled inside.
What I did with them when I booted them outside:
1. Moss baskets, they take a long time to put together, but they are much more natural than plastic baskets.
2. A homemade fountain and various pots surrounding it.
3. This is a very busy place. My old wagon crashed on the rocks, and was abandoned by all but the gnome. The fountain has attracted all manner of animals, from ducks to frogs to ship Captains. It seems everyday I find something to add to the pond.
4. Another gnome has found a home on our bench along with some baskets that are just starting to bloom.
5. I go to garage sales to get my baskets. It just so happened that I collected some baby furniture, and it makes great planters and a fun theme for one corner of the yard.
6. Remember Rigger not being allowed into the veggie garden when we were planting it?
7. Well, this is the garden now, the potatoes are flowering and I am hoping that we will have beans (green and yellow) by the time we get back. New baby potatoes and fresh beans with salmon....Yummm!!
Those are not weeds in the garden, that is dill, and I am taking 32 sandwich bags full of it to my family in Kelowna. It is easy to freeze and it retains most of its flavour even frozen. Dill and salmon and lemon...hungry yet?
Take a break, relax, forget about politics. I will be back soon, hopefully with a picture of a huge salmon I caught!
One of my posters has alerted me to the fact that there is a hockey challenge coming up!
Hosted by Wild Rose M.P. Blake Richards and Airdrie-Chestermere M.L.A. Rob Anderson, the game will feature MPs versus MLAs, with hockey stars assisting both teams -- to raise funds for the Airdrie and District Victim Services, the Bow Valley Victim Services Association, Cochrane and Area Victim Services and the Chinook Arch Victim Services.
Sounds like a lot of fun, so if you are in the area, why not go watch! Of course, Airdrie is very close to Calgary and you know how much we Edmontonians like Calgary sports teams. HA, just kidding, I love the Flames, when they are on the golf course! I hear Rona will be the coach, so there is hope! It's all for charity, and you know how giving Conservatives are, so show up and give to a great cause!
This is an unpaid announcement made out of the goodness of my charitable heart! But just this once, unless it's Dogs with Wings, then I can blab about them endlessly!
Who is the next target of the Liberals? What poor soul needs to be saved no matter what they might have been convicted of in another country? How can our judges interfere anymore in another countries jurisdiction, because an admitted murderer might be Canadian. Let's see what has happened so far:
Brenda Martin
Shockingly, Martin wrote, after being repatriated to Canada by federal authorities, her short stay at the Grand Valley Institution for Women, near Kitchener, Ont., made her long for a return to her Mexican jail cell.
She felt "threatened," she wrote, and was ready to go back to the jail her supporters fought so hard to free her from.
"Eight days into the Kitchener, Ont., prison, I was ready to go back to Mexico! I would much rather be in a Mexican prison than a Canadian one," she said.
Nice, we spend $82,000 to get her back to Canada, release her almost immediately, and she still wants to go back to Mexico! Ex-PM Paul Martin even visited her in the Mexican jail. That was a media stunt so the Liberals should pay that $82,000 back to taxpayers, as they were the ones, with the help of the MSM that made such a stink about this convicted Canadian. Why do Liberals think that other countries judges are to be ignored, while our judges are infallible?
Next we have this creature:
Cannon's request that Montana spare the only Canadian on death-row in the U.S. comes after a Federal Court demanded that the Harper government resume clemency attempts for Smith.
In 2007, the Harper government said it would no longer seek clemency for Canadians who had been tried and sentenced to death in democratic countries.(The guy admitted he killed them!)
Smith's lawyers successfully fought that policy, saying it amounted to government approval of capital punishment, and violated the Charter of Rights.
Smith won, the court ordered the clemency attempts to continue, and last week, Cannon told the Commons it was obeying the order.
The Charter of Rights according to the judges applies even when a crime has been committed in another country. The judges are getting "golly", they are making decisions that overstep their powers, and those powers are awesome!
Next we have this total miscarriage of justice for Canadian taxpayers:
With those words, Maher Arar finally loosened the long yoke that has followed him around since he was deported from the U.S. and sent to be tortured in Syria in 2002. It happened after the R.C.M.P. provided false information about his ties to terrorists.
He accepted a long awaited - and much cheaper - settlement package from the federal government Friday. He had originally been asking for $400 million. He settled for $10.5 million, along with another $1 million to cover his legal costs.
For not torturing him, we paid $10 million, that makes no sense, and I expect more "I am innocent" claims to be brought against the Canadian taxpayers. They will win, our Liberal judges guarantee it. Here the next guy who we all know is going to sue us:
"If we would let a Canadian citizen be tortured and then permanently exiled, without any charges, without any court, without any due process, if we hadn't stopped that, then we would have crossed a line."
However, Abdelrazik's ordeal isn't finished as he remains on a UN blacklist, which bars him from seeking employment.
His lawyers could also launch a suit against the Canadian government if Ottawa was implicit in sharing information with Sudanese officials which led to Abdelrazik's arrest, said Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae.
However, with or without a legal case, Rae said the Canadian government should reveal if it did indeed share information with Sudan.
I guess us silly Canadians should go to a foreign country, get arrested, claim torture and come back to Canada and file a $500 million lawsuit against Canadian taxpayers. Sounds fair to me. Not.
Liberals have been interfering in all these cases, yet in the case of Arar and Abdelrazik, they were both arrested and tortured on the Liberals watch. Think about that, the Liberals ignored them and now that they are out of power, they are digging up their own dirt!
Understand that many negotiations need to be done in private, with the two nations affected, without interference by the opposition (Liberals you are NOT the government, get over it). Yet we get this Liberal MP sticking his arse into something the government has jurisdiction in.
"How can he be encouraged when this has gone back (to the lower court) for the sixth time?" McTeague said.
"The reality here is he shows a distinct lack of interest by making that kind of a comment, because it demonstrates in spades that that simply means another rubber stamp that continues to put the life and Mohamed and his brother in jeopardy."
McTeague, the party's consular critic....Funny how they don't mention that he is the Liberal parties critic, nope the MSM can just distort facts if it means they have a story that makes the Conservative government look bad.
I'm sure I have missed other "victims" the Liberals want rescued, it makes me wonder if any Canadian got killed under their watch.
As a Catholic, I pay close attention to what the Church is preaching, but that does not mean that I blindly agree with everything they tell us to do or think. This is one of the times that I have to disagree with the Pope.
In Charity in Truth, which should be released next week, he is expected to point out the failings of capitalism and lament the world's roiling markets, exploited workers and the harsh disparity between rich and the poor.
"Many conservatives will be shocked and disappointed by the encyclical, which will reflect Benedict's skepticism toward unbridled capitalism based on greed," wrote Father Thomas Reese, an American Jesuit scholar and an expert on the Vatican.
"Unlike President Obama, who wants to reform a system that he believes is out of control, Pope Benedict wants to rethink the whole system."
Rethink the system into a communist state? Leave politicians like Obama out of this, or you will wear his defeat. Obama supports partial birth abortions.
Unbridled capitalism based on greed? Does the Church not preach 10% of your wages go to the tax exempt Church? Have you seen how the Pope lives? This Pope is a total disaster, he is doing more to drive people away from the faith than to unite them. "Harsh disparity between rich and the poor"? I might have accepted that from Mother Teresa because she lived what she preached, but from a Pope who lives in luxury, not a chance.
"We're in a desperate world," Fr. Rausch said. "To have some kind of clear teaching on how economic decisions impact on people is probably a good counterbalance to the typical American emphasis on 'Let the market be free. The market will solve its own problems.' "
The Church should stay out of the market, that is none of their business, except for how their billions donated by Catholics are invested. Let the Catholics be free than. Free to give nothing to the Church, because the Church invests that money in the "free markets" they are about to condemn!
It's time for the Pope to get back to the roots of what it means to be a Catholic. I have always been proud to be a Catholic, mainly because in a world with disintegrating morals, the Church has stood firm on issues like abortion. They have given clear guidance that we could follow. Even when I questioned some of the Churches stances, at least I knew what they stood for, and I could make my own decisions based on their teachings. It is not so clear anymore what they stand for, and that is disappointing in a world that needs a clear moral compass.
"Part of the role of the pope is to be able guide the Catholic Church and help it to read the signs of the times."
Said Prof. Gillis: "He is addressing the entire world, including non-Catholics. He is being a voice for the voiceless."
He is NOT being a voice for the voiceless, he is taking a stance from his own personal viewpoint. If he could really read the signs of the times he would understand that we are looking for clear moral direction, not a discussion on capitalism.
We lived through multiple Priests who lost their own moral compasses, and we gave the Church a chance to redeem itself by setting an example. I have yet to see that happen. Greed in the form of capitalism is not at fault for the existence of poor people. The Church is at fault for the decline in attendance at Mass because the people are losing faith.
Maybe the Church should concentrate on their lambs and forget about the lions.
This Friday night funnies edition is dedicated to one of my favorite posters, MaryT and her husband (the strong, silent type). They are celebrating 55 years together this week! MaryT sends me many of the jokes you read here. Thank you Mary, and may you and your husband have many more years together.
Comments made in the year 1955! That's only 54 years ago!
'I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $10.00.
'Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before $1, 000.00 will only buy a used one.
'If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. 20 cents a pack is ridiculous.
'Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging 7 cents just to mail a letter
'If they raise the minimum wage to $1.00, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store.
'When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 25 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage.
'I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying DAMN in GONE WITH THE WIND, it seems every new movie has either HELL or DAMN in it.
'I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it down inTexas .
'Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $50,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the President.
'I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now.
'It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet.
'It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work.
'I'm afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business.
'Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to government.
'The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on.
'There is no sense going on short trips anymore for a weekend, it costs nearly $2.00 a night to stay in a hotel.
'No one can afford to be sick anymore, at $15.00 a day in the hospital, it's too rich for my blood.'
'If they think I'll pay 30 cents for a hair cut, forget it.' ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A teacher gave her class of 11 year olds an assignment: Get their
parents to tell them a story with a moral at the end of it. The next day
the kids came back and one by one began to tell their stories.
Ashley said, "My father's a farmer and we have a lot of egg laying hens.
One time we were taking our eggs to market in a basket on the front seat
of the car when we hit a big bump in the road and all the eggs went flying
and broke and made a mess and the moral of the story's,
'Don't put all your eggs in one basket'!
"Very good," said the teacher..
Next little Sarah raised her hand and said, "Our family are farmers too.
But we raise chickens for the meat market. One day we had a dozen eggs,
but when they hatched we only got ten live chicks, and the moral to this story is,
'Don't count your chickens before they're hatched'.
"That was a fine story Sarah. Michael, do you have a story to share?"
"Yes. My daddy told me this story about my Aunt Shirley.
Aunt Shirley was a flight engineer on a plane in the Gulf War and her
Plane got hit. She had to bail out over enemy territory and all she had
was a bottle of whiskey, a machine gun and a machete. She drank the whiskey on
The way down so it wouldn't break and then she landed right in the
middle of 100 enemy troops.
She killed seventy of them with the machine gun until she ran out of
bullets. Then she killed twenty more with the machete until the blade
broke. And then she killed the last ten with her bare hands."
"Good heavens" said the horrified teacher, "What kind
of moral did your daddy tell you from that horrible story?"
"Stay the hell away from Aunt Shirley when she's been drinking." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Of course animals make your stress levels drop, so de-stress with this one:
2nd woman: ' Hi ~ my name is Sylvia...How did you die?'
1st woman: ' I froze to death..'
2nd woman: ' Oh~ how horrible!'
1st woman: ' It wasn't to bad. After I quit shaking from the cold, I began to feel warm and sleepy, and finally died a peaceful death...What about you?'
2nd woman: ' I died of a massive heart attack. I supected that my husband was cheating on me, so I came home early one night to catch him in the act. But instead, I found him sitting watching Television all by himself.'
1st woman: ' So what happened then?'
2nd woman: ' Well I was so sure that there was another woman in the house that I began running through all the rooms like a crazy woman. I searched the attic, then I searched the basement...then I went through every closet, I even looked under all of the beds. I kept this up until I had searched everywhere, and finally I became so exhausted that I just keeled over with a heart attack and died.'
1st woman: 'Too bad you didn't look in the freezer first....then we'd both still be alive!!!' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Two young boys walked into a pharmacy one day, picked out a box of tampons and proceeded to the checkout counter.
The man at the counter asked the older boy, "Son, how old are you?" "Eight," the boy replied. The man continued, "do you know what these are used for?" The boy replied, "not exactly, but they aren't for me. They're for him. He's my brother. He's four. We saw on TV that if you use these you would be able to swim and ride a bike. Right now, he can't do either." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For your mindless game of the week, we have Fly swatting, it's tough, that swatter doesn't go where you think it will!
Congrats again to Mary and husband, may next year be richer than last year, it will be if you take the time to laugh.
I watched PM Harper make an announcement today, Pier 21 will become a national museum, he got a standing ovation for the announcement. CTV didn't bother to put it on the front page, and this was before any of the other events of the day. They also cut off the comments very quickly, guess they can't stand any positive coverage, even from themselves. Watch the videos on the right side of the page.
Then I read about Farrah Fowcett passing away. She suffered so much, it was almost a relief to hear that she had been released from that pain. It was nice to know that Ryan was with her at the end. A very classy lady.
Of course, the shocker of the day was the death of Michael Jackson, it was totally unexpected. I was driving home from work and the guy on the radio was talking about how he had been taken to the hospital suffering from a heart attack, by the time I got home and turned on the TV, he had been declared dead. Sad. He had such a roller coaster life.
This day reminded me of when Princess Diana died, and shortly after Mother Teresa followed. The world was so obsessed with the death of Princess Diana that Mother Teresa's death was all but ignored. I'm sure that Mother Teresa wouldn't have minded being overshadowed, but it was too bad that her good deeds got lost in all the media hype.
Farrah dies on the same day as Michael Jackson, and the news as all Michael, Farrah's death is being ignored, and somehow I suspect that she wouldn't mind. Personally, I think everyone has it backwards, and that they should be mourning Farrah far more than Michael. She had more moral fabric than Michael. She was a much better role model for our children than Michael.
So a new poll is out, haven't really seen it in the MSM, but have been busy so I might have missed the coverage.
Okay, so we have a tie, but look at two numbers, Ontario and Atlantic Canada. The Liberals are usually around 40% in both areas. This table clearly shows that the Conservatives are ahead in both areas. Most shocking is Atlantic Canada, with the Conservatives at 33% and Liberals at 25%, this rarely happens. It is usually 40% or more for the Liberals. Look at the Quebec breakdown, yikes! The Liberals have gone from first place to only 29%.
Iggy only comes out ahead in Quebec, all other regions, even Atlantic Canada are supporting PM Harper.
Conservatives win this 67% to 53%. Very positive for the government, but you won't hear that in the MSM.
This question is so biased they should be ashamed of themselves. First of all, they make sure they put Conservative in front of government for every option, why not just government? Secondly, only one option is positive for the government. Why not a simple question...The government has done a good job. Yes or no. That would not have gotten the result their client wanted.
PM Harper wins most categories, but Iggy has a 6% drop in the "inspires confidence" category. Most impressive is PM Harper's huge lead in "a strong and decisive leader" PM Harper 43%, Iggy 28%, I wonder how that will translate into votes.
Now, it's only a picture in time, but it looks good for PM Harper, the Iggy bump is disappearing the more often he opens his mouth and talks. No policy, all negative, doesn't seem to be working, even in a recession where the Liberals should be way ahead.
This has been one of the top stories all day, it's HUGE CTV tells us, HUGE!!! Why, it's a Conservative, you know those knuckle dragging (FIFE), rednecks from Alberta are at it again. Last week it was Iris Evans telling people that the best thing for children was to have one parent stay at home, this week it, well, this is just so upsetting to me as a female, I can't control my anger.
The blog posting was framed as advice for girls, and read: "Ladies, always smile when you walk into a room, there is nothing a man wants less than a woman scowling because he thinks he is going to get shit for something and has no idea what.
"Men are attracted to smiles, so smile, don't give me that 'treated equal' stuff, if you want equal it comes in little packages at Starbucks," the post read, referring to the artificial sweetener available at coffee shops.
Okay, he told ladies to smile, and that treated equal is a sugar. Well my poor little delicate female ego is just shattered that he could be so uncaring and well, just, just, just....such a dinosaur. I mean really, smile? Doesn't he know that feminists can't smile they are so bitter? That's just cruel to make them think that they would have something in life to smile about, you know with how the equality fight is going for them.
Really, equal pay for equal work has been law for years, just ask the human rights commissions. What this neanderthal fails to understand is that the fight for equality will only end when administrative assistants get the same pay as engineers. That's true equality!!! Go sisters go!
Notley said the comments fly in the face of the struggle for women's rights.
"It's a traditional way to undercut them and say 'oh you're just so angry, just be nice,' and particularly women are undercut that way. So he may not even realize how his comments contribute to sexism, but they do," she said.
NDP MLA Notley is in the same riding as NDP Linda Duncan, it's a university riding, need I say more? Feminists are angry, they are the ones that contribute to sexism but no one dares call them on it. It's okay for them to rage against men, but let a man tell ladies to smile and it becomes headline news! What fight for women's rights? Are you back in the 60's?? Don't you dare lump all women into your agenda, I'm perfectly happy having nothing to do with your sort of woman. All you do is yap about equality, you care nothing for aboriginal women who truly have no rights, you are weak, pathetic examples of what real women care about. Why aren't you out protesting the death of Neda? ....crickets... Feminists and unions are the dinosaurs.
Now, I can say all of that, because I am a woman, but it won't stop the attacks, because I am a Conservative woman, and that is what they can not stand. Look at how they continue to attack Sarah Palin, it's pathetic how scared they are of strong independent Conservative females.
CTV is digging up anything and everything they can to slam Conservatives, even if it's only Alberta Conservatives. Hey, it worked for Obama didn't it? Try out their new comment section where you can vote thumbs up or down on any comment. So far I have noticed that sometimes my vote won't register at all no matter how many times I click it, but if I click on the same comment but reverse my vote, it gets accepted. The most disturbing ones are when I vote and the number changes to a lower number. Something fishy going on there. How can I vote for a comment that is sitting at 120 and then it goes to 50?? Has anyone else noticed this?
Sexist? Give me a break. How's this for sexist....You lads should smile more because the ladies like to see a smiling face, it will get you more dates. If you want the girls to be interested in you take dentistry at university or plumbing at college, they like a guy who can support a family and accept responsibilities. Also it's a good idea to shower everyday, and use underarm deodorant, don't forget to wash behind your ears and for heavens sake brush your teeth! Also, get your drivers license as early as you can because having Mom drive you to the movies with your date is not going to impress the girls! Open doors for ladies and the elderly, and get a summer job if you want that new game. (Heard at my house lately) Now I wonder if this will make the front page news tomorrow? HA!
The HUGE scandal, is a pathetic attempt to smear a Conservative MLA seeing as the MP's are all back in their ridings.
Re: Ignatieff's Lousy Week, L. Ian MacDonald, June 18.
A blind man's view of an elephant never ceases to amaze me. L. Ian Macdonald's take on last week's events in Parliament is at least 100% off the mark.
For the first time in over a year, Michael Ignatieff has forced Stephen Harper to act Canadian -- by solving a disagreement through negotiation and compromise.
Minority governments can function very well if both sides want them to. Pearson proved that and we got some of our greatest policies during that time -- the National Health Act to name just one.
Harper deliberately misspeaks when he says that Canadians elected him to govern the country. Harper isn't very good at math; there are more MPs against him than for him.
Ever since his government has held the reins he has done everything he can think of to make Parliament dysfunctional by making every vote a confidence vote. That's not the way a minority Parliament works, and what's worse, Harper knows this.
But thanks to Iggy, the Prime Minsiter got off his high horse and decided to negotiate. Stephen Harper has lived here all his life and he still hasn't figured out how to be Canadian. Maybe he needs to live abroad for a while to figure it out.
Linda Schwey, Outremont, Que.
Lady, when you have your head stuck up the elephant's butt, you are just as blind! It just happens that this lady is from socialist Quebec, so I guess we need to try to understand her thinking.
PM Harper, is the Prime Minister because in our system, his party won more votes/MP's than any other political party, therefore they are the government. I guess she is still hoping for a lefty coalition to grab power from the knuckle dragging Conservatives.
Acting Canadian, that would be Iggy, he's just visiting after 34 years. He only needs 2 more years as an MP then he gets a Canadian pension for life! Sweet! Iggy thought he wanted an election, then he didn't, now he might, but not necessarily. When asked if he had tried to meet with PM Harper, Iggy did not answer, because he was so busy getting crowned by the backroom boys, he didn't bother. He told us that Harper was going to wear the recession. So who was making Parliament dysfunctional? Let's see....
Just weeks after the election, the NDP, Liberals and Bloc tried to form a coalition of the socialists, but being socialists they held meetings and signed agreements, and not much else, so poof...the Canadian citizens, acting Canadian, clipped that idea in the bud.
How dysfunctional is that?
The NDP and the Bloc both refused to even read the budget before they came out saying they would not support it.
How dysfunctional is that?
This caused the instillation of Iggy as the new Liberal king, crowned without a vote.
How dysfunctional is that?
But Linda is blaming PM Harper for a dysfunctional government? Give your head a shake lady. Take off your lefty tinted glasses and understand that Iggy blundered badly, he showed only weakness not leadership. He backed down, he settled for a committee not an election. Seeing how lefties love useless committees, I guess lefties might think he won something, but he didn't. Even my 16 year old knows that Iggy is just visiting, he saw the ads, he had no clue who Iggy was before seeing them. I suspect many people who are here "acting Canadian", like Iggy, saw them as well.
The opposition has given no help to the government during a recession, they have been too busy playing silly opposition games.
How dysfunctional is that?
What is dysfunctional is the opposition, they refuse to work with a Conservative government, on principle. Principles, they have no principles, that's dysfunctional.
Politics used to be about going to vote. That all changed as I became aware of all the harm lefties were doing to our social structure. Ordinary families are under assault, and have got to get involved, before it's too late, before society has been changed for good. My blog is an attempt to raise issues that impact families, or ones that just plain bug me!
