All Aboard!!!

In my last post I was telling you about my adventures on the mainland with my girls. Well in order for me to get there and back I must take a ferry. The ride is 35 nautical miles or for those of us that don't understand nautical miles it is a 1 1/2 hour ferry ride. BC Ferries has a fleet of 35 ferries with the largest ferries being 560 feet(imagine 2 football fields)they carry 2100 passengers and 461 vehicles. The shortest is 111 feet carrying 133 passengers and 16 vehicles. If you are interested in ferries you can find out more about the fleet here and here. Below are some photos I took when I was leaving Horseshoe Bay on the Mainland and going back to Departure Bay, on Vancouver Island.

Leaving Horseshoe Bay Terminal

These mountains are part of the Coastal mountain range. There is a road called the "Sea to Sky" highway which will take you to Whistler, an international ski resort. This is where, downhill, snowboarding, cross country events will take place for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

That line just up from the houses is the "Sea to Sky" highway. You will have to take that road if you want to get to Whistler to ski or take in any of the downhill and Nordic events for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
This a sample of some of the multi million dollar homes around Horseshoe Bay area, this particular home has it's own dock and passage leading to the water.
I thought this picture kinda cool. The only way to get to this place is by boat. In the hazy background is Downtown Vancouver. That is not pollution you see it was low clouds.

That long stretch of land is part of Vancouver called the University Endowment Lands. The University of British Columbia is located up there. This is also considered a posh area of Vancouver, with the majority of residence being doctor's, lawyers and university professors. Around it's distant point you would come to Richmond where the International airport is and further along is the Tsawwassen Ferry terminal which brings people from Victoria which is the capital of the province. Not far from there are the San Juan Island group which is the gateway to the US. There is a little place there called Friday Harbour which is the border crossing.

Entering the Departure Bay terminal on the island.

Those pillars and the small building in the back...that is the terminal....and now I am back on the Island, only 45 minutes from home!

My visit to the mainland.....

The other day I made the trip to the mainland to spend the day with my girls. It was a spur of the moment thing but boy did we have fun.

While I was on the ferry I called my eldest daughter with whom I was going to stay, and asked her to make me an appointment with her hair dresser. My hair was in desperate need of a cut. I arrive at my daughter's just before one. Long enough time to drop off my bag grab a glass of juice and we were out the door to get my hair done.

The hairstylist was very pleasant and we chatted all about living on the Island. Anyhow, we finished off there and went next door to the restaurant my daughter works at. I know many of her friends and we had a little visit there. Quick telephone call to daughter number 2 to tell her we were on our way to pick her up from her friends, then swinging over to their house to pick up daughter 3 and then off to the mall. Oh we shopped. Apparently, Bebe is very trendy....and so it should be....have you ever heard of paying $104 for a pair of Lycra pants....yup...and $68 for a tank top? Well multiply that by 3 as I couldn't by for one and not the other. Oh and did I say number 2 daughter needed some boots. Then number 2 daughter decides she needs some new work clothes. Well I had to draw the line there. I broke down and bought myself something. My girls were teasing me telling me "She's back" The city girl is "back" Oh they wanted me to get all kinds of things for myself...and I kept reminding them where I lived. My rubber boats and sweat pants are a staple now. But I did break down as I said and bought myself a couple of things. Then I couldn't leave hubby out. So I bought him something as well. So, 4 hours later we are finally leaving the mall.

I told the girls I would make something for dinner and we would just hang at eldest daughters watch tv, chat and just enjoy. But we had to go to Safeway first to get much needed groceries, $100 later. We get home at it is 8:00 pm. I start cooking. I give each daughter a job. Eldest daughter who isn't the greatest cook but is really trying to learn says she will make the rice. I made a chicken curry dish, youngest daughter made a wonderful salad and middle daughter made an appie. Well dinner is almost ready and I tell eldest daughter it was time to make the rice. She gets it going, it starts to boil, I tell her it is boiling...she goes into the kitchen to tend to it. A few minutes later I look at the stove and smoke is coming out from the pan. I rush over to take it off. She had mistakenly turn the element to high...and well you know what happened. Then the fire alarm goes off. Middle daughter rushes to get a towel to sway below the alarm to shut it off. Can you imagine. Evacuating the apartment building for burnt rice. We got it shut off. She was devastated. No worries I tell her, live and learn. So it's after 9:00 now and we are hungry....to heck with the rice we eat the curry as is. It was yummy as was the salad. The best part ....was just hanging with my girls.

Next morning, I was up early, drove eldest daughter to work and headed to the ferry. I took lots of pictures I will share with you in my next post. The above picture of a ferry is very similar to the one I was travelling back to the Island on.

Cheers all!

What a surprise!!!

The other day I was telling you that for Valentine's Day hubby and I and his parents were going to go to a fun night with their power squadron group. It was a casual evening, pizza and raffles and live entertainment. What my mother in law and I didn't count on was what was to take place after dinner.

Apparently, my in laws enjoy Barber Shop Quartet . Each year they go watch international competitions. The group that performed for us has competed at many of those competitions. Anyhow, father in law along with hubby thought they would have this group come and serenade us at the dinner. As you can see from the folks behind us, I think they enjoyed it as well.

I think they sang about 4 songs to us. Afterwards we had our picture taken with them, and were presented with a long stem rose and a valentine card from our sweeties. We were very surprise to say the least. For someone who didn't want a big deal made out of Valentine's day...this certainly was a surprise.....Thanks again guys....hugs....

Saturday's Photo Scavenger Hunt

This weeks Scavenger Hunt is something "Antique".

So the hunt began, what do I have that is antique. Is it Great-grandmothers mother of pearl jewelry? Nope. Is it my mom's Cameo brooch? Nope. Is it my dining room suite? Nope. This is what I chose:

Many years ago I used to collected old and unusual bottles. A fellow I used to work with knew this and said he had this bottle and wanted to know if I wanted it. Sure I said. I have had that bottle over 20 years myself. I loved the workmanship in the glass.

This picture really doesn't do it justice....as I said the workmanship in the glass is amazing....

Happy Hunting....

Their stories.....

The two people I speak of in this post have never met. And yet their lives and experiences are similar. The common thread is their personal "Determination"and "Perseverance". This post is dedicate to them.

I call this "Whims Story"

The other day I was reading Whimisicalnbrainpan story. Whim tells us about the trauma she endure because of some else's total disregard for life. I have been reading her blog for sometime, I knew she had suffered some trauma and was suffering from post traumatic stress, but I didn't realize what caused it until I read this post and this. It brought tears to my eyes. What this woman has had to endure is beyond words. My dear friend "Whim" I like to call her, was burnt as a result of an attempted murder/arson gone all wrong. She tells her story as she can only tell it in the above post. The injuries she incurred resulted in her being a patient on a burn unit recovering from her injuries. The mental trauma she is still dealing with. After reading her story the only thing I could say to her was that I understood her pain, anger and frustration. Why? Because my husband is a burn survivor. I shared his story with her, in the hopes that it would give her some comfort and assist her in recognizing life does go on and it can be very productive. Although, once you read her blog you will see she is an extremely strong woman with an appetite to make the best of her life. Please read her tragic and yet amazing story. She is a true inspiration!

And then there is my guy:

After reading Whims story it got me thinking about my husband and what he has had to endured his whole life. Just getting a little teary here thinking of his story which I want to share with you.

His story begins at the age of 2 1/2 years. He got up early one morning and went looking for his grandma, with whom he spent many a morning having a cup of hot chocolate with. He couldn't find his grandma, but being the independent little boy he was, he was not going to be deterred from having his hot chocolate. While the rest of the house was asleep this little boy decides to turn on the stove in an attempt to heat the water in the kettle to make his hot drink. The kettle had come to a boil and this smart little boy knows it is time to turn of the element on the stove. In doing so, his pajama top caught fire. At first he tried to douse the fire by shaking his arm around. When this didn't work he started to cry and then scream. Unfortunately, his parents thought he was just rough housing with his brothers until the blood curdling scream came from this little child. His father came running downstairs only to see his child engulfed in flames. He grabbed him threw him down on the ground and smothered him in the rug in order to put out the fire and then ran to the car and frantically rushed him to the nearest hospital.

This little boy spent 6 long weeks in critical condition on the Paediatric ICU burn unit, with his mother keeping a bedside vigil. His journey only began once he was out of the intensive care unit and started his road to recovery. He spent 6 months in the hospital. He endured burns to 35 % of his body, the front of his chest, his back his neck and arm. As he spent so much time in bandages and medicated he forgot how to walk. He had to learn to do this all over again. He was isolated from others only to keep him free from infection. He had to learn patience, perseverance and a desire to not give up. Until he was 18 years old he spent every summer in hospital having grafts.

It is one thing to have to deal with the physical pain, but the emotional pain is another. He was teased as a child, because of his burns compounded with his unique last name. Children can be so cruel, and they don't even realize how cruel they are being. He was unable to participate in many of the average childhood activities, which made him an outcast. Out of sheer survival he became hardened and a bit of a tough kid. But that was only on the exterior. Those who knew him or cared to get to know him realized this tough kid had a heart of gold, and was the most gentle soul.

When I look at my husband I see this wonderful caring loving man. His scars to me are road maps of his life. The webbing pattern left on his back reminds me of what he has had to endure. I absolutely love them. I love how they look, and how they feel. They speak to me. He unfortunately needs more grafting as over the years his body has changed and the areas on his arm are becoming tight as is the grafting on his neck. He knows what he would have to go through in order to repair this and I don't think he's ready for it right now. Whatever he chooses I will be right by his side. He is a wonderful father, husband and son. I feel blessed he came into my life. He has never let his burns keep him from doing anything. He owned and operated a successful business, loves to ride his cross country motorbike, go boating and fishing with his dad, quadding, skiing both water and downhill, sky diving, and if that wasn't enough he started on his pilots licence, he was and still is up for anything that challenges him personally and physically.

I share these stories with you because I feel sometimes we get all wrapped up in our daily lives and worry sometimes about trivial things. Life as you see, can change for any of us in a wink of an eye. Whim and my hubby are two of my hero's that help keep me grounded.

Happy Valentines Day

Ok for those of you who know me...you know I am not a huge Valentines Day fan. But I just couldn't let this day go by without sending out lots of good wishes to you all. I wish for you all a wonderful happy day filled with whatever you want it to be filled with.

I for one will be sleeping most of the day...or at least I hope. Then Hubby and I will be going with his parents to a Power squadrant pizza fun night. When hubbies parents first asked us, I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to go. But then I thought, what the heck. I don't like Valentines anyhow, I get to go out and meet some new folks and just have a genuinely casual comfortable evening. Sounds good to me.

So cheers all, hope you have a grand Valentines Day!

All in a days work

As I write this, I am just home after my first night shift. As any morning at shift change, the night staff will have a little chit chat with the oncoming day staff. This morning was no different. We are chatting about the night and the previous day shift, when one of the oncoming staff tell me that a staff member she worked with on Monday was complaining about me. The RN who was complaining didn't like the fact that I agreed with a doctor's order for providing "one on one" nursing care for a patient. That really burnt my twizzlers. And needless to say upset me.

Let me give you a brief overview of those past two day shifts I have just finished. I started back on Saturday. It was a crazy day, busy, missed my dinner break, but that's ok I got out on time. I had a very sick, confused and agitated patient, who was on isolation and requiring a lot of my time. One of the procedures we did on this patient that day was insert a special IV line which provided for closer monitoring of her fluid balance and hemodynamic status. Because this patient was confused and restless it took two doctors 4 attempts before being successful getting the line.

I returned on Sunday morning, my day started off not to bad. I had two patients one cardiac and the same unstable septic patient I had on Saturday. Unfortunately, during night shift that patient somehow managed to pull out that special line. The internist is unaware of this and I have the pleasure of letting him know. The Internist calls and I give him the update. He is not happy. He comes in does his rounds and then sees my patient. At which time he informs me we have to put in another line. Again, two doctors later and a couple of attempts it goes in. Guard that line with you life I am told by the doctor and he proceeds to write an order for "one on one" nursing for this patient. I agreed with him. My rationale for this is, how can I or any nurse for that matter be able to watch this patient that closely when we have another patient and have to help out with relieving for breaks and process orders and so on. Anyhow, he ,makes the order and the nursing supervisor is made aware. She comes up and talks to the doctor, she then agrees and attempts to find us staff. Good luck. But she does find us a medical/surgical RN, I am just happy she found somebody as our day now is going from bad to worse. My other patient starts to have chest pain, and we get a patient going into respiratory distress and has to be intubated. Even with the extra pair of hands, we miss our breaks and work overtime. Long day.

Anyhow, day staff comes on this morning and we are chatting, when I am told that one of the RN's I was working with on Sunday was complaining about me and my decision to agree with the doctor to have the isolation patient on one to one nursing. You've got to be joking I say to myself. Doesn't my colleague realize the doctor was doing us a favour by making that patient a one to one? He recognized that we needed more help. And by him doing that it gave us more help. Albeit, didn't get us the qualified staff we need, but it did get us help. Help that we might not have gotten. Then I find out that this nurse is also complaining that she felt she was doing all the work. I can assure you she wasn't. She had a student nurse who was helping her, two of her patients were stable and both being sent out. When the respiratory distress came in, we all helped. I helped set up certain lines, get IV solutions, helped reposition the patient whatever I could do....there were also others around, she was not alone.

It really bothered me that this nurse choose to criticize my judgement without even speaking to me about it. Rather, she spoke to other staff telling them that she was pissed at me for agreeing with the doctor. I just don't get it. I missed my breaks that day as well and worked overtime. I didn't ask her to do anything I wouldn't do myself. This is not the first time I have had difficulties with this staff member. I know she targeted me that day because I was in charge, but holy cow batman. If you have issue with something let's talk about it. Don't spread untruths.

So I guess I am going to have to talk with her this evening. I don't want this to spread or continue or I would be just as guilty by not saying something to her and clearing the air. Maybe, I need to hear her side of things directly, before I get to upset over this.

The Passport Saga....

The other day I made a post about having to go get my youngest daughters passport. As you all know as of January 23, 2007 all air travel into the USA you must have a passport. This has caused huge line ups at the passport office and I have dreaded the thought of going. Anyhow, on Friday hubby and I made the trip. Thursday evening I phoned the 1-800 number for passport Canada to ask some questions to make sure I had everything I needed before we made the trip down Island.

Friday morning arrives early. Hubby and I get up at 0430 and are on the road by 0520. It is an almost 3 hour trek down island to the only passport office on the Island. The fog in some spot is as thick as pea soup. We arrive at our destination at 0745. We make it to the passport office only to find the line up is already 3 blocks long. People had been lining up since 0430 that morning. The office doesn't open until 0900. It is cold and overcast. We waited 7 hours outside in line. Then another hour once we got inside. While standing outside we met and saw all kinds of people. The older couple in front of us became our new friends for the day. At one point the the wife of the couple in front of us and I went into a shop across the street, only to have my hubby come running into the store saying that there was someone from the passport office outside previewing documents and handing out tickets. Well it was only a matter of couple of minutes and I was back in line. But the passport person had gone to the next person in line behind us and ending up giving that person the last 3 tickets she had. She said she would be out again in about an hour with 20 more tickets and if we tracked her down we should get one and hence would make it inside that day. I could not believe it. At that point, hubby and I had already been in line for 4 1/2 hours. It figures, that has been my luck this week.

We finally make it inside and get our turn at the wicket, and I tell the the clerk I am here to apply for my daughters passport. I pull out all of my documents. That's when it starts to go downhill. He didn't like the wording on my separation agreement. Told me there had to be some else. I told him that was all there was. He went to his supervisor who came out to tell me that it wasn't satisfactory and I must have something else. I didn't have something else. I tried to explain my situation but they weren't convinced they said I must have some other document. So my hubby gets out his cell phone and we call my lawyer, only to find out when he handled my divorce he was with another company and they had my file. I couldn't get a hold of the other company. I thought to myself there has to be something we can do. He then goes on to tell me that the photos weren't acceptable as they were to shiny and showed a bit of a shadow on one side of her face. So he fills out this form and tells us to take it to the company that did the photos and have them correct it. I tell him my daughter does not live with me that she is on the mainland. Oh, was his response, this opens another can of worms. I start to cry at this point and tremble. I am cold and tired and just exhausted. I must have look pretty pathetic because at that point the clerk took pity on me. But my problems to ended there. When he found out my daughter didn't live with me he then wanted documentation of her primary residence. Well, again I don't have anything like that. It was just a verbal agreement with my ex and I and my daughter. So now, I have to get my ex to write a letter and have it notarized...blah blah blah..... I just can't believe this is happening. Thank god my hubby was there....he was so good. The clerk was good as well. He was very helpful. But as I said it was the end of a very long day, and I still had my drive home to contend with.

Well, as I said the clerk opened a file for me. Told me I could actually fax and mail the additional documents to him and that I did not have to make another trip down Island. That is my silver lining to this story.

So I paid for the passport and off we went. They locked the office doors behind us. They were closed for the day!

So heads up all you happy travellers. Make sure you have everything, check and double check and even triple check before you make the arduous trip to the passport office.

Happy Sunday all!!

Saturday's Photo Scavenger Hunt

Today's theme is something "Broken". Well after my escapade of the other morning I am finding it hard to find anything feeling more broken than my sore body parts....

But I did. This is my daughter and friend. They were on one of those bicycle things you ride on the water. Well we were at our friends place and they had one on their pond...well pictures tell a thousand words. Before the girls went out on the water toy, we were teasing them about pond creatures....you can see how fast my daughter is moving to get out. That was too funny.

Happy Saturday day all!

When One Thing Leads To Another....

Do you ever have one of those days when you wonder.....how did I end up here doing this?

Well yesterday I kinda had a morning like that. You see I woke up at 3:30 a.m. by a loud thump. It startled me, and I thought oh what has Bert(my dog) gotten himself into. Now Bert has never ever been a problem in the house...he knows his bed and that is were he goes. Anyhow, I hear this thump and all kinds of things start to run through my head. Of course hubby is still snoring and oblivious to all of this. So, I get out of bed to investigate. I don't know what drew me to my laundry room, but I heard this glug glug going on...first I thought it was the toilet in the powder room. Nope it wasn't that. The glug glug continues. I crept slowly to turn on the light in the laundry room, I had no idea what I was expecting to see, but there before my very eyes was the culprit. A 9 litre tub of liquid soap oozings it's contents all over the laundry room floor. Well I rushed to pick up the detergant bottle, and of course the floor is slippy with liquid laundry soap so you can only imagine what happens next. Yes I perform a triple soe cow...oh where was the Russian judge I sure he would have given me a 9 for that performance. Anyhow, I get myself up off the floor and pick up the container of soap. It's to early to do anything about it now and I am sore from my fall, so I opt to take the towels out of the laundry hamper to cover the spill and told myself I will deal with that later.

So morning comes along and I am merrily blogging away, when I remember the mess in the laundry room. Oh god I don't want to go in there. Couldn't some nice cleaning fairy come and tidy up the mess...oh please oh please. Not so. I venture in not knowing what to tackle first. I decide to pick up the towels which are now soaked with liquid laundry detergent and throw them along with some other laundry into the washer. First load in. Then the floor. On my hands and knees I am mopping up this goo, when I realize it's travelled of course under the washer and dryer and around it. Oh good god what a mess. So I start to pull things out and washing this and that. But because there is so much soap I have to keep changing the water in the tub so lots of trips back and forth to the kitchen. Then I get to the side of the washer where I have to haul out my floor polisher, dog food, and paint cans. Meanwhile, the first load is done, or so I thought. For some reason I had to go into the powder room while in there I notice that the toilet was full of soap bubbles. There was so much soap in the water from the washing machine that it backed up into the toilet bowl. Dear god will this never end. Flush. Turn on the washer to rinse cycle again, hoping to disperse some of the soap which saturated those towels. Back to the cleaning beside the washer. I was wiping away when I looked up at my hot water tank. Oh the amount of dust on the top of that...I am ashamed to say. I get the vacuum out and start vacuuming the top, this is sounding a little A.D.D. don't you think......anyhow, I get all the dust bunnies when I think to myself I'll just give that a little wipe down with a damp cloth. Wrong thing to do. The damp cloth hits a wire and I give myself the biggest shock, it actually made me shout and jump back. It took my breath away, just then the phone rings, it's hubby. Oh what you up to......just electrocuting myself.....oh! Sorry honey can't talk have a mess to clean up. So back to the laundry room I go.

I have now recovered from the shock and I am back on my hands and knees...did I tell you I am doing all of this in my white housecoat which is now a lovely shade of grey. There I am washing the floor moving this moving that. When I guess I got something off balance and it fell and hit me on the head. I am not kidding. I should just have quit right then and there. But no I forge on.

There I am on my hands and knees when I notice something on the wall needs a wiping, next thing you know ...wipe here.. wipe there...oh I'll just get that...and before you know it you've cleaned and reorganized cupboards, washed walls. But in my case this job took me into my hallway where for some reason I felt it necessary to wash the trim around the doors and the doors. Dear god somebody stop me!! I did finally come to my senses and say this is enough. Who would have though that a spill at 3:30 in the morning would have led to all of this! I guess that's how one thing can lead to another!

Maybe I should have just stayed in bed!

Nothing special just some ramblings.....

Well it is that time of year and winter seems to be dragging on, even though the groundhog saw his shadow spring is still a ways off. I need a vacation. Somewhere warm and inviting. Some fun in the sun! I am taking my girls along. We haven't had a vacation in years.

So first things first. In order to travel, we need passports. My girls and I have had them in the past, but they expired and need to be renewed. My girls, unfortunately, haven't applied yet. My two eldest daughters are able to apply on their own. It's my younger daughter who needs parental signatures and documentation. So last week after I had applied for mine and was informed as to how long it would take I started to panic. I called the girls and told them to get a move on. I spoke with my ex and asked him about our youngest. The ex now advises me he won't wait in line up to get youngest daughters passport. So he is sending all documents back to me so I can make the 3 hour car ride down island to the only passport office on the island and then wait in line for 6 -8 hrs. Urgh!!!! There has to be a better way. But I fear there is not.

This whole passport thing is making me mad. If I thought for a moment that it would decrease the number of illegal immigrants and possible terrorists I would support it right away. But in Europe and countries where you have always had to have passports, they still have problems. So what does this solve. And then I hear that passports for the states only applies to air travel right now. Up until 2008 you can still get across the border by ground without a passport. Someone please tell me where is the logic in that? It's just more money in the government pocket. But that is for another post.

So I need a vacation. I've been searching the net...best flights, best places to stay...should I go to an all inclusive, should I rent a little house and get flights and accommodations separately? Oh so many things to think about. Whining...I know...sorry. So then it dawned on me. Why not go to a travel agent tell them when you want to go, how many and what your budget is and let them do that work...right? I mean isn't that what they are suppose to do? So I send out a couple of emails giving them my particulars. And what do they come back with...prices and things I had found myself on the net. So I am sorry I don't mean to be rude...but what is it these travel agents do then? Isn't their job to help you plan your dream vacation? Give you suggestions that works within your budget? This gal didn't even stay within my budget nor did she offer to continue looking. Am I wrong here? I know I shouldn't complain as I am fortunate enough to be able to even think about planning a holiday when many others are not. Anyhow, we are back at square one. Hubby and I are searching the net. I'll keep you posted if we have any luck.

So today, I spent the first part of my morning responding to comments people have left me. I always like to acknowledge people when they take the time to read my blog and post a comments. Thank you. So anyhow, I am replying to comments made on my bird post. When I noticed that three of the folks who left comments on my blog also referenced my blog on theirs. I am flattered folks....people like grandmocha who was sharing her snowy day with us, and comments on a card I sent her, go say hi to her for me would ya, and there's, Duward Discussion who liked my post on the Owl and the Pussy-Cat and has started on some childhood poems and stories she liked...check it out, and then there was Crpitt who I thought did the neatest thing on her blog...she was showing folks blogs that she visits everyday and she used something for each persons blog to identify them....great blog and worth a visit. There are so many great blogs out there....I love to visit all of them...but wow it can become time consuming...how do you all do it? I was thinking doing a little in the morning and a little at night. Try not to spend to much time at night as that is time I like to spend with hubby. But really folks...how do you find the time and balance?

So I have gotten myself involved in this scavenger hunt exchange. And for the past couple of days I have been on the look out for items to put in the parcel. Pea I know you are going to see this so I am not going to say what they are, but my goodness, it's not as easy as I thought, so I have to go out hunting again today. It's fun. I did one of these exchanges back in the fall, which was organized by my dear friend Pea. She has the sweetest blog. Full of all kinds of things to do and things she has made. She always has a happy birthday wish for someone. Anyhow, it is through Pea that I met my dear friend grandmocha...and now Pea is the person I have to exchange with for this scavenger hunt. So be on the look out Pea!

And so in closing my blog for the day I would like to leave you with a thought for the day:

Forgiveness

If you haven't forgiven yourself something, how can you forgive others?

~Dolores Huerta~

Have a great day, cheers all!!!

Things I see when I look out my window

It's been so foggy and damp lately, really indoor days. Oh how I long for the spring. I was standing at my kitchen sink this afternoon and looking out my window, when I saw something moving in the grass. Was it a small bunny? No. Was it a quail? No. I took a closer look and this is what I saw......I apologize for the lack of clarity...I was so excited to see it just there on the ground, I dashed to get my camera. So I was a tad shaky when I took these shots.


It is a male Northern Flicker. Part of the woodpecker family. Although consider odd for woodpeckers. According to the books the Northern Flicker spend a great deal of time on the ground eating ants. They say they can extend their tongue a good 5 centimeters(2 inches)beyond the tip of their long, curved beak. Now don't even let your minds go there......The Northern flickers let their presence be known by sending out a piercing single pee-yew as softer version of the Pileated. In the absence of a dead, hollow tree, flickers will also seek out metal stove pipes, and believe me I have heard them on my metal chimney pipe. In the winter months in order to attrack a flicker you can put out some suet in your backyard...they also like berries and fruit. I have my compost in the backyard and I think that is part of the attraction. Northern Flickers are widespread throughout the Pacific Northwest Coast area. They can be seen year-round but are rare in northern BC in winter.

The Steller's Jays, the provincial bird of British Columbia, are the western counterparts of the eastern Blue Jay. These year-round residents live on forest slopes among evergreens. These guys love to visit my bird feeder and scare away the other birds. They have a very loud call. I have had up to 14 in my yard at one time. Pretty birds but can be pesky.

How unique is your name.....

The other day I was chatting with my sister. Her daughter is expecting her first child next month. I asked my sister if she knew of the names they had chosen and she didn't but was anticipating the name of the child to reflect a traditional name.

It got me thinking about my name. I always wondered how much thought my parents had put into coming up with my name. I've never really been terribly fond of my first name, my maiden name was as difficult to say as it was to spell. Then I got married. My last name then became easy to spell but awkward for people to say. I get more jokes and teased about my married name than I ever did with my maiden name. Then I got divorced and remarried. I have not taken on my husbands last name as of yet. But boy we have fun when we combine his last name with mine. People just look at us in disbelief and say...were joking.

Anyhow, I've been hearing a lot of talk lately about "Goggling" your name to see what you find out. Well one of the things I found out is this. There are 16,498 people in the United States with my first name, and 4,710 people with my married. And when I combine my first and last this is what I get....

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Childhood memory

I was looking for a book in my library the other day and to my wonderful surprise I came across a book " A Treasury of the World's Best Loved Poems" I sat back and just started reading some of the poems. Then I came across one of my all time favorite childhood poems....this poem I read to my girls time and time again...I remember we had this beautiful book just for this Poem, the pictures were so magical...it got to the point where my girls and I would recite part of the poem in an almost musical fashion. The name of this poem.....

The Owl and the Pussy-Cat

by Edward Lear

The Owl and the Pussy-cat went sea In a beautiful pea-green boat; They took some honey, and plenty of money Wrapped up in a five-pound note. The Owl looked up to the stars above, And sang to a small guitar,

"O lovely Pussy, O Pussy, my love, What a beautiful Pussy you are,

You are, You are!

What a beautiful Pussy your are!

Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl, How charmingly sweet you sing! Oh! let us be married' too long we have tarried: But what shall we do for a ring?" They sailed away, for a year and a day, To the land where the bong-tree grows; And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood, With a ring at the end of his nose,

His nose, His nose,

With a ring at the end of his nose.

"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will." So they took it away , and were married next day By the turkey who lives on the hill. They dined on mince and slices of quince, Which they ate with a runcible spoon; And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand, They danced by the light of the moon,

The moon, The moon,

They danced by the light of the moon.

I smiled the whole way through typing this poem. I started looking at the words and I could hear my mothers British accent, she would use words like this all the time. I honestly can't remember if she ever read this poem to me or my girls...but I know she plays a roll in my enjoyment of this poem.

Lear wrote many whimsical poems

The Owl and the Pussy-Cat was written in 1871. If you would like to find out a little more about Edward Lear or read a few of his poems thisis a good site.

Saturday's Photo Scavenger Hunt

You know when I saw the theme something "Gross", I first thought what on earth could I possibly post. Working as a nurse I have seen so many gross things that I think I am a little bit immune to gross. Until today when my hubby showed me this picture....and well...to me the slimy look of this creature just oozes gross to me......

During the Tsunami in South East Asia in 2004 many deep sea creatures were washed to shore...this lovely creature was one of them it is called a Chimaera pup.

February the month of love.....or is it?

It's February 1st and if you haven't already noticed the stores have all kinds of Valentines Day stuff out. It officially starts the month of "Love".

Now I don't know about you, but Valentine's has never been one of my favourite day's. As a matter of fact I think is one of my least favorite day's of the year. It rates right up there with going to the dentist, and we all know how I feel about that. I mean really, if you have a sweetie shouldn't we be telling them everyday how much they mean to us. Do we really need Hallmark telling us to express our feelings or the flower and chocolate industries telling us we love them even more if we freshen up their day with roses and sweeten them with chocolates? Again, if that special someone is so special, why do we need a special day to tell them? Do you remember when you were a kid and we use to pass out Valentine Day cards? At the end of the day you would notice who got the most cards and who didn't get that many. How cruel was that? It's funny because I used to love making up my cards and handing them out. But I guess there must have been something wrong and finally some administrator somewhere caught on that some children were being left out. The next thing you knew you were getting a class list with every one's name on it and you made out a card for all of the students. Kinda defeats the purpose of sending a card, but then at least no one felt left out.



I remember when I was newly separated and how weird it felt and how uncomfortable I felt about being single. But just for that one day. I felt like I should go hide somewhere. This was the day for lovers. Restaurants would be packed, flower shops would be buzzing, what was a single girl to do? It was so depressing. I could hardly wait for the day to be over, so I could get on with things. I remember one time getting a bottle of wine and calling my girlfriend who was also single at the time and we sat around drank wine and had appies and bashed Valentine's day.

So what is Valentine's Day really all about? Do you know? I don't, not really. I know it is based on the story of St. Valentines. So, being who I am, I did a little research and this is what I found out. St. Valentines the martyr, was a bishop who was imprisoned by Claudius. You see Claudius felt that married men were more emotionally attached to their families , and thus would not make good soldiers. So to assure quality soldiers Claudius banned marriage. Valentine,seeing the effect this had on the young men and their mates, met them in a secret place and joined the couples in marriage. Claudius learnt of this and had Valentine arrested. Claudius was impressed by Valentine's conviction and tried to convert him to the Roman ways but Valentine refused to recognize Roman Gods and even tried to convert Claudius. On February 24, 270 Valentine was executed.

While Valentine was awaiting his fate, he came in contact with his jailor. The jailor had a blind daughter. The jailor requested Valentine to heal his daughter. The story goes that through Valentine's faith the daughters sight was restored. Just before his execution, he asked the jailor for a pen and paper and signed a farewell message to the jailors daughter "From Your Valentine" a phrase that is used to this day! If you would like to know more you can check out this Valentine site for more information.



So do I acknowledge Valentine's day? Yes. Do I make a big deal out of it? No. If hubby would like to get me flowers or something fine, but I tell him not too. I suggest we go grocery shopping buy something special for dinner that we both participate in preparing it and have a candle light dinner and just enjoy each others company.



Don't mean to be the grinch who stole Valentine's Day, but am I alone in thinking that Valentine's Day is over rated?