Thought for the day......

"Do you ever wonder about those people who spend $2.00 a piece on those little bottles of Evian water? Try spelling Evian backwards."

With that being said let me share with you a photo of one of my favourite watering holes....all the mountain fresh water you could ever possibly want......Have a great day all!!

Saturday Scavenger Photo Hunt

This weeks theme is "Pink"......I searched my photos and all I could come up with was this photo I took after my manicure and pedicure.....I love pink ......


If you would like to join in on the fun please check out tnchick for all the instructions.

Happy hunting and happy weeekend to you all!

Help! My brain has gone on a hiatus without my permission. No seriously.....I can't seem to think for the life of me of anything witty or charming or exciting that has happened which is post worthy.

Hubby built me a three tiered flower box last week...this past week I spent shoveling gravel and dirt into it and then went plant shopping....the box is complete...and pictures will follow.....but boring....hubby built a concrete slab for our garbage and recycling and water hose....boring......we went down to the boat....hubby had to do some minor work...great..I cleaned...cool blue heron right on the dock camera ready...I thought...only to find my batteries went dead....missed the shot....boring......shovelled more topsoil to fill in holes on the lawn and planted more seed...been watering daily....boring.......

Back at work....doing same old same old....don't mean to trivialize what I do...but some days....boring......

Since I started this post a few days ago things have picked up around here. I have a full house. My brother, brother in law and nephew arrived on Tuesday. My brother is here as a respite. He just underwent surgery for the removal of one kidney due to cancer. He is skinnier than a rake and I am on a mission to put some weight on him. Supplement drinks and three square meals a day should help....I hope. Brother in law and nephew oh and their dog Cooper are here to go out fishing.

Last year brother in law spent a month with us fishing and helping out around here. He hasn't put down a fishing line yet, but he did manage to get 60 very large prawns which he cooked up to perfection as an appetizer last evening. I should have taken a picture of these prawns they were huge and delicious! Nephew is going home tomorrow only to return for a few days next week.

This afternoon two of my daughters arrive for the weekend. I am really looking forward to their visit, but more so to help balance the sexes. I am feeling a tad out numbered and overwhelmed by all the testosterone that is in the house right now I mean even the dogs are male!

I am hoping for good weather so we can get out and do something this weekend like getting out on the boat.

Have a great day all!

Driving Antics.......

I have a long commute to work. I drive in from a rural area into a urban area. Where I live the posted speed limit on the highway is 110km, most people travel at about 120km. This speed limit goes for about 35km and then goes down to 90km which people then might slow to 100 or 110km.

Like any commute you see all sorts of things and believe me I have seen my share of accidents,car fires,animals and wild life. The thing that never ceases to amaze me is the behaviours of some drivers.

The other day when I was driving to work I swear the stars must have been colliding and sending someone of the most aggressive drivers my way. I have always admitted to the fact that I have a lead foot and more times than not exceed the speed limit. It was very evident when I owned my mustang and got 3 speeding tickets in less than a year. Something I am not proud of, and I paid substantial financial penance for my driving behaviour.

Back to the other day. I drive fast....generally I admit I drive about 10-20km over the speed limit. In my experience even when you are driving fast there is always someone who is on your tail pushing you to go faster. At a certain portion of my trip the traffic increases significantly, the posted speed limit goes to 90km but of course most people continua to travel at 100km or more. The road becomes twisty that is when I think some drivers think they are Mario Andretti and love to push the performance of their vehicles....I don't know but something comes over some of these drives, it's like they get highway possession, they become more aggressive....you look in your review mirror and they are in you back seat...you consider pulling over but traffic is moving much slower in the next lane due to logging truck, commercial vehicles and now holiday campers and boats.

Although I like to drive fast, I always keep my distance from the vehicle ahead of me. I remember when I took driving lessons one thing they instilled was the 2-3 car length rule and now some 25 years later I still abide by that rule, much to the chagrin of other drivers. You can imagine what happens then.....other drives are forever cutting in front of me.

We have heard lots of talk about the aggressiveness of today's drivers. Older folks blame it on the young ones...young one's blame on the slow old pokes and so it goes. Well in my observation we are all to blame. Being a female I hate to admit this next comment...but I think we are some of the worst offenders of aggression when it comes to driving. So back to the other day, it was all women who were the aggressors. They were driving like crazed over hormone under medicated women on a mission. The age of these women ranged from mid 20's to maybe early 50's. The behaviour on one such driver was so frightening that I actually gasped at what she did.

I was in the fast lane (designated speed 90km) I was doing 110km. A semi truck was beside me in the slow lane a vehicle approximately 2 car length ahead of me. I was looking in my rear and side view mirrors when I saw this vehicle come out of no where travelling at excessive speed...she wanted to get into my lane.....she sped up almost colliding with the rear of semi truck....of course she wanted pass....the moment that the opportunity arose she scooted out missing the front end of my vehicle by mere inches and then she cut in front of the semi. I am sure she would have been on my tail but I had another women who had been riding my tail already. What I find so amusing is that they often don't get that much further ahead. More times than not you meet up with the at the red light. The crazed woman in the white car was now to my right talking on her cell, smoking and looking for something not sure how she even managed to focus enough to put he foot on the gas peddle or brake for that matter.

Yup, I have to admit I was embarrassed to say I was part of the female race. I have witnessed this so many times on my commute it is frightening. People doing everything except pay attention to the road. I can't help but wonder what is it that makes these people drive and behave in this manner. What's going on in their lives to make them drive this way? Do they even have any insight as to their driving antics and the impact it has on other drivers? I think not.

No wonder we pay such high insurance premiums....maybe instead of pointing the finger we all need to look at ourselves and realize we are all to blame. Drivers who drive to slow are just as dangerous as those that drive to fast. Do we really need to be multi tasking while we are driving....shouldn't driving be our primary focus..eyes on the road....be observant of your surroundings. Or what about driving for the conditions, slow down in the rain...make sure your vehicle is in good running order, ensure you have good tread on your tires......but most importantly let see if we all can slow down just a bit.....me included......as the commercial says...."Speed kills".

Saturday Scavenger Photo Hunt

This weeks theme is "Creamy" The only thing I could think of that I had a picture of was this cake I made at Valentines. It was very creamy with the whipped "Cream" strawberries and Belgian chocolate. Oh and it tasted pretty darn good as well.

If you would like to join in on the fun please check in with tnchick for all of the instructions.

Happy Weekend to you!

Head or Tails Tuesday

The theme/prompt for THIS week, June 16, is:

HEADS - Lost
*OR*
TAILS - Found

Make any kind of post using either theme/prompt. You can even use both.


I was trying to think of something I lost recently but I can't think of anything except maybe my mind....but then hubby says lovingly I've lost my mind farily often. So then I started thinking about lost things or items.....for example the saying....."I've lost my marbles"

or " The Lost boys" in Peter Pan



Little Bo Peep "who lost her sheep"

So now it's "Tails" things that have been found well of course I could say I have found my marbles...or the lost boys were found or that I never had any sheep to lose....but no....things I have found are:I found that I really enjoy going for walks with my step-son and just chatting about life.....

I've also found that there are a lot of great swimming holes and adventures to be had on this island....
If you would like to join in on the fun please check out Skittle's Place for all the instructions. Hope you have a great day!!!

A little bit of Island history....

Have you ever had one of those days when you don't know what is in store and it can go either way? Well I experienced one of those days on Friday.

Hubby had to drop off some samples to a client and so I thought I would join him on the outing. The area in which this client lives is surrounded by a golf course and waterfront property....a pretty posh area. Anyhow, it made for a nice drive. After completing this task I suggested we go to a Provincial Park not far from where we were called Rathtrevor Provincial Park. I love this park...it has wonderful trails for running, there are fabulous campgrounds.....the beach goes out for ever...it's just a great family park full of all kinds of adventures.

So we headed towards Rathertrevor. Hubby hadn't been there in awhile and was really amazed at all the foliage and the huge trees. As we were walking along hubby commented on one of the many thorny floral bushes that we frequently saw along the trail. In my very amateur botanist opinion I told him what I thought it was.....it just so happens that while we are having this discussion this lovely elderly woman carrying a small picnic cooler asks us if we thought there was beach access ahead....we assured her there was just a few meters ahead. As we had now started conversing with this woman my hubby took it upon himself to ask her if she knew the name of the flower we were looking at....she said it was a Wild Rose and gave us the Latin name....we chatted a bit about the trees and how the species seem to really intermingle...we said our goodbyes and continued on our walk.

After a lovely walk through the trails,which bordered the campsites we made our way along the beach route and back to our vehicle. Well as fate would have it we met up with this dear woman and her husband.....my hubby made some comment about us meeting again...this led us chatting a little longer as we made our way to our vehicles.

She mentioned how much she and husband loved visiting Rathtrevor and proceed to tell us that they were on their way up to Telegraph Cove. When we heard this we were excited as hubby and I have wonderful memories of Telegraph Cove. I asked her if they were going Whale watching and how much we loved it there. She said no that they were going there for a memorial service for the woman who used to run the post office(she was 94). We gave our condolences. The woman then went on to tell us she grew up in Telegraph Cove and that is was her grandfather who named the Cove. She told us about how her father ran the lumber mill there and the house that he built. As it turned out hubby and I had spent a weekend in the house that her father built...and we went out whale watching on what use to be their family boat. Hubby and I were just awe struck. She then proceed to bring out what was a family album, but actually had been made into this incredible book. I asked her if they ever considered publishing this book but they said no...they didn't think anyone would be interested. I wanted to beg her to allow me to have a copy. We eventually said our goodbyes and I wished them a safe journey all the while I felt so fortunate to have met this woman.

This woman and her family I felt were not only part of British Columbia history but more importantly played an integral part on the development of the lumber industry on the northern part of Vancouver Island and the "telegraph line".

Her grandfather came to the northern parts of Vancouver Island and established the Telegraph line during World War II. If you click on the link above under Telegraph Cove it gives a brief history. I kick myself for not asking her name.....but because I was so impressed with what she shared I did a little research and figured out who the family was. Her father was Fred Westall...it was his father Marmaduke Westall who named Telegraph cove.

I felt so privileged to have met this woman and to hear some pioneer stories first hand! In 1980 the North Island Gazette printed an article about her father and stories of the early days in Telegraph Cove. If you are at all interested here is a link to that article about Fred Westall. and Telegraph Cove.

A sight to behold.......

We have been fortunate with the weather these past few weeks. Yesterday hubby and I decided that we would go out on the boat for dinner and if the conditions on the water allowed we would go fishing. Our destination was Tribune Bay on Hornby Island.

Conditions were perfect. We chose to go right into the bay as hubby wanted to do something to the engine. The sea was calm, as smooth as silk. We pulled into the bay and were able to come close to shore. It was only a matter of minutes for him to do what he needed.... because the waters were so calm we decided to head out towards an area called Floura Islets..it's a group of very small islands where the salmon like gather. We were told that just a couple of days ago a pod of killer whales made their way through this area. I know the seals love this area because of the fish. Yesterday was no exception the seals were abundant.

We dropped the line...it wasn't long before we both got bites on our lines....at one point hubby struggled with something for over a half hour only to lose the hook in the end.....but it was sure thrilling seeing him work the line and the rush you get when you think you got something.....unfortunately it only ends up being a fishtale as you have nothing to show for your efforts......except this time I did get some photos of hubby working the line.....

We fished for most of the evening....we may have come home without any fish but what you are about to see was amazing.

We were trolling our way home when off into the distance we saw something surfacing quickly and then down and up again.....at first we thought is was more seals....but there were to many of them......although this is not a very clear photo when you click on it you will know exactly what they are.......

Hubby immediately headed towards the school of dolphins. These are Pacific white-sided dolphins. Seen in these waters but hubby says the last time he saw them was about 10 years ago. It was thrilling then as it was yesterday. These dolphins are very playful and love to swim in the wake of the boat. We followed them for about an hour. It was truly a sight to behold.

My camera has a video component to it so I was able to get some video footage of these amazing creatures.....hubby made a post to Youtube.....

Dolphins June 2009
This link will take you to the short 34 second video....I was able to capture them underwater before they surfaced......it was breath taking......

After our adventure with the dolphins we made our way back to the marina under the guidance of this beautiful sunset......

Happy Saturday to you all!

The dispensable children.......

Seems like everywhere you turn these days there is a new term coming out to describe or lable a disorder or syndrome. Today for example I was reading the Globe & Mail when I came across this article on "Post Adoption Depression" and piqued my curiosity. After reading the first few paragraphs I started to get angry, but I couldn't pin point why I was angry and where those emotions were coming from. I read further. This couple after having 4 biological children said they really wanted to adopt children. So they ended up adopting 2 boys from Guatemala. The first boys was adopted as an infant the article goes on to say this.....

"The minute she laid eyes on her adopted son, a seven-month-old Guatemalan boy, Michelle Brau knew something was wrong, she says.

Instead of joy, she felt dread. Instead of wanting to comfort the infant, she found herself not wanting him at all." I love children," says Ms. Brau, who lives in Springville, Utah.

The article then goes on to say this......"But she couldn't bring herself to love her healthy new son, nor a second boy, aged 2, whom the couple adopted from Guatemala months later."

So here we have a woman who already knows she has unhealthy feelings towards the infant son but then few months later they are adopting another boy! Am I crazy or is there something wrong here?
First of all why didn't she seek immediate counselling, secondly why on earth would she want to adopt another child and thirdly why did the adoption agency allow this to happen.

This story does not have a happy ending. After five years this husband and wife give the boys back to the adoption agency. Once the boys were returned to the agency she goes on to say that she started to feel better. She started to feel better? What about the turmoil and emotional heartache she and her selfish husband have caused these boys? What about their biological children...for 5 years they are lead to believe these two little boys were their bothers their siblings, part of the family and now just because mom is suffering from "Post Adoption Depression" these boys become disposable. Shame on the parents and shame on a system that would allow this to happen.

The purpose of the article was to draw attention to this disorder...although this has not be officially recognized by the psychology as a disorder. Suffers do share very similar characteristics as moms who suffer from post partum depression.

Unfortunately, I didn't get that from this article at all. As I said I was angry...this to me just reinforces that children are dispensable....I can remember times when I was so sleep deprived because one of my children would be up all night with a cold, or crying or whatever and I can remember my mom(who had 12 children) saying " well you can't send them back, so you better get used to it"....harsh words maybe but true. Those days do pass....and no you can't send them back....but now apparently you can.....why did they chose to send the adoptive children back...why didn't they put their biological children up for adoption....so many questions I have about the actions of these parents and how that was allowed to happen.....shame on them....

Here is the article....Post-adoption Depression

In trying to find the above article on the Internet I did come across many research articles on this topic, so it is more common than I was aware of. Although this was the first article that I read that talked about the parents sending the children back to the adoption agency.

Where were these children's rights? How was this allowed. I think those parents need some serious counselling and the biological children would benefit from understanding that what their parents did was not the norm in adoption cases. What an extremely poor example they set for their biological children.

Our Inaugral Trip.....

Over the past couple of weeks we have been experiencing some unseasonably warm weather. Last week in particular the mercury rose to 31 Celsius in and around where I live. I was fortunate to have 3 days off last week, so hubby decided we should go out on the boat. Thursday morning was sunny and hot!!! We decided that we would head out on the boat late morning unsure as to whether we would spend the night but packing in order to make it a possibility.
Our journey started by cruising up Bayne Sound...

I didn't take this photo but it is an aerial shot of Deep Bay marina, where we moore the boat, we headed north out of the bay towards Comox....the Island in the distance is called Denman Island and the Island behind that is Hornby Island.

Anyhow we made our way up the sound. The waters were calm and the conditions were perfect. One of the many things this area is well known for are the oysters. There are many many oyster farms along the coastal waters.....as we were making our way up the sound we came across one such farm which was actively in use...the workers were clearing the cages of the oysters.....

It was really quite a production they had going on. Anyhow having watched them for a little while we continued on our journey. We made it up to Comox harbour got fuel and made arrangements for moorage for the night. After that we headed northeast to an area called Goose Spit...


Again, this is not a photo I took but it shows you the park in correlation to Comox. This area is very popular for boaters of all ages. In Comox harbour they offer sailing lessons for all ages and the hold regatta out and around Goose Spit area.

The following day we were up early with the sun and birds....especially the loud crows and seagulls. We left the harbour by 0800 after hearing word that there were high winds and swells, we change our course for return and opted to return via the sound again rather than heading to Lambert Channel. We experienced about 3 foot swells and we rolled a bit...hubby enjoyed it....I on the other hand was a tad nervous. Once past the open waters and in the shelter of the two islands the waters settled and we actually dropped a line and trolled for a little while. By mid morning we had made our way back towards Deep Bay but we were not ready to call it a day. The winds had settled down and hubby convinced me we should head towards Lambert Channel and Hornby Island. So that is what we did and I was so thankful. There was a chop on the water but manageable. We made it to a place called Ford Cove on Hornby Island a lovely quaint little spot, but what amazed me the most was the rock formations and how the water had eroded the stoneIn this photo you are looking from the beach in Ford Cove on Hornby Island and you see the east side of Denman Island and in the background are the mountains of Vancouver Island.

I think this photo is pretty cool....you can see all kinds of faces and figures in the stone.....

In this photo you see how the ocean eroded the stone to make a web like pattern.....again....way cool!

It's amazing how the vegetation just adapts to the surroundings.......After walking around and checking out the store and shops we made our way back to the boat and continued on to another cove where the Denman Island ferry comes to Hornby Island. There we went to the famous Thatch Pub, known for it's thatched roof and eggs benny on Sundays.

We moored the boat on that rickety dock and yes the tide was out as well...we made our way to the pub for a beer. We met a lovely lady who was from Oregon who said she has been coming to Hornby for over 20 years and was staying in Ford Cove but was out for her hike. There are many wonderful hiking trails on Hornby and she is an avid hiker and said she never tires of the Island. After our chat we made our way back the boat and decided that we would drop the fishing line again and see what we could catch. Got lots of bites but nothing on the line.....boo hoo.

Eventually we made our way back to Deep Bay. After tidying up the boat and loading up we decided that seeing as we didn't catch any fish that we would go and have fish and chips for dinner.

This was a great start to the boating season.

The Eight Meme

So my dear friend Skittles aka Barb tagged me for this meme.....

8 THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO:

1. Spending time with hubby this evening
   
2. Getting the soil and plants for my garden
   
3. The tomatoes ripening and the peppers to be ready for eating
   
4. My daughter coming to visit
   
5. Thursday and Friday so I can go boating with hubby
   
6. Fishing with hubby
   
7. Camping and more boating
   
8. Seeing what tomorrow brings
   

8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY:

1. Went to the washroom on the dock only to find out it wasn't opened yet
   
2. Fishing
   
3. Cruised Bayne Sound
   
4. Went to Ford Cove for the first time
   
5. Bought a framed print of a beautiful purple Iris
   
6. Went to Thach Cove
   
7. Had a cider in the pub
   
8. Had fish and chips for dinner
   

8 THINGS I WISH I COULD DO:

1. Have more patience
   
2. Paint a picture
   
3. Be mechanically inclined
   
4. Be content
   
5. Enjoy the moment
   
6. Be a dancer
   
7. Write a song
   
8. Spell better
   

8 SHOWS I WATCH:

1. American Idol
2. Morning news
   
3. Deadliest Catch
   
4. UFC
   
5. Hell's Kitchen
6. What ever is on at the time
   
7. Movies
   
8. More of whatever is on at the time
   

8 FAVORITE FOODS:

1. Fish - any kind - any way
2. Shell fish prawns and crab
   
3. yogurt
   
4. Spaghetti(veggie)
5. Chicken
   
6. Salads of any kind
   
7. This time of year Fruit and lots of it
   
8. My homemade double chocolate chip cookies
   

8 PLACES I’D LIKE TO TRAVEL:

1. County Cork Ireland(my grandparents birth place)
   
2. Dubrovnik(my father's birth place)
   
3. Texas(to meet my friend Shelley)
   
4. New Foundland
   
5. Spain
   
6. The Alaska Highway
   
7. Cycle more of the Kettle Valley
   
8. Drive across Canada with my hubby

So now I am to tag 8 people......but I am not going to do that....if you want to play along please copy and paste and have some fun....just let me know it you did the meme so I can come and check out your responses.

Finding balance

I didn't mean to stay away so long....I really didn't.

Since I have started back working full-time it certainly doesn't leave me much time for anything and as a result my blogging has suffered. When I am struggling to get all the things done that I can on my two days off, blogging is the last thing on my list.

With the wonderful summer like weather upon us I find myself outdoors, cutting and trimming the lawn, cutting back brush, and tending the garden. Even though I'm an early riser some days getting up at 0700 doesn't even give me enough time to do all that I want to do in a day.

I have read so much lately about finding balance in one's life. Finding time for self, others and your community. I have really tried to do something for myself everyday...it's like they say pay yourself first, but sometimes there just isn't enough to go around. That's how I feel about myself. My days are full....but with what. In reflection I find that working 5 days a week a real adjustment for me.

Having worked most of my nursing career doing 12 hour shifts with 4 on and either 4 or 5 off it's hard to go to 5 on 2 off. Case in point. With my 8 hour shifts we do a lot of on call and hence mandatory overtime. An afternoon shift which is 1600-midnight with being on call till 0600 the next morning can and has translated into a 15 hour shift and then you have to come back that afternoon and possibly do it all over again. It's a bit of an adjustment and one that the jury is still out on. I enjoy my job, but I am not sure about the 8 hours. Everyone has told me that even though we shut down operating rooms in the summer the overtime is crazy. I don't mind overtime I just want my life as well.

So this leads me back to finding balance in my life. I am still not 100% post surgery. I have try to get in my yoga and weight training as much as possible, but again sometimes that suffers as when I come home from work, doing a work out is about the last thing I want to do.

As of late birding has been one of my passions. I have really taken a keen interest in learning about the birds in my area. My bird feeder and property are a great start. This spring alone I have observed close to two dozen different varieties of birds on my property. I started a birding blog in order to help me journal the birds that I have seen and to use it as a reference point and connecting with other birders. As you can imagine this to takes time....so although I may not be busy making a post on this blog I am busy posting on my birding blog.

Family is also very important to me. With my children and siblings living on the mainland I take every opportunity I can to connect with them. Trips to the mainland are often a whirlwind. At the beginning of May my brother hosted a "Decade" birthday. His eldest son was turning 30. As it turns out 2009 is the year of the "Decade" birthdays in my family. We have someone in the family celebrating a decade birthday starting from 10 all the ways up to 70, so my brother decided to host the party......This was the cake.....there are "11" names on that cake......it was a pretty darn scrumptious cake....Every weekend in May was full with family visits and celebrations.

So back to finding balance. It's something I strive for. What do you do to find balance in your life? Or do you think your life is already well balanced?

Head or Tails Tuesday

The theme/prompt for THIS week, June 2, is:
HEADS - "Motion"

This is a Search and Rescue boat doing some training out on the Westcoast of Vancouver Island....I did not take this photo...but I wish I had....

What a wild ride that would have been....I would to have loved the opportunity to have been on that boat....happy sailing!!!

If you would like to join in on the fun please check out Home of Heads or Tails by Skittles

Camera- Critters #60

It's Sunday and so that means it's Camera Critters.....Most of you know I am into birding and I have been photographing a lot of the birds which have been visiting my property as of late....here is a sampling of some of the birds.....

Tree Swallow

House Finch(Male)

This one I am not sure of....it has markings of a sparrow but also characteristics of a finch....any ideas?

If you would like to join in on the fun please check out Misty's Place for all of the instructions.

Happy Sunday to you all!

Heads or Tails Tuesday

The theme/prompt for today, May 5, is:

EDGE - "Any Past Theme"

Make any kind of post using any past theme! as your prompt. This is a good chance to do a theme you may have missed or just want to do again in a different way.

Well I think I would like to do mine on the week's theme "Down on the farm"

I have never lived on a farm....but growing up in a large family living in the city often we would get the question "why don't we live on a farm?" I never understood that as a child, but as I got older I realized people must have thought that with having so many children there would naturally be enough of us to help run a farm. I laugh at that. We were the farthest thing from being farmers. My mother was brought up having high tea on Sundays with little sandwiches and hence so were we. Digging horse manure or chicken poop was just not going to cut it.

Now many years later I still don't live on a farm...but I do live in the country in a beautiful area where I am surround by horses. The neighbours to the east of us have a couple of cows, and horses and I think chickens. That is about as close to farming as I am ever going to get.

Here's a lovely shot of one of the horses on the property across the road from us

Not really a farm animal but a frequent visitor to the property.

If you would like to join in on the fun please check out Skittle's Place home of Head's or Tails Tuesday!

Heads or Tails Tuesday

I am bit late on making this post but better late than never.....The theme/prompt for today, April 21, is:

TAILS - "Once upon a time"

Once upon a time there was a dog named Bert. Mighty Bert as he is known to most is a soft, gentle and playful dog. Bert's day usually consists of waking up...being let outside to do his business....he takes a walk around the property surveying the area and then shows up at the back door waiting for breakfast.

Well this morning Bert surprised us. Bert went out for his walk....not long after I see Mighty Bert coming down the drive....but what is that he is carrying....I take a closer look.....oh my goodness he has a rabbit in his mouth! A rabbit....well I can't imagine Bert chasing and catching any of these rabbits they are just to darn fast...and although Bert still has a lot of spring in his step, I don't think he has enough to catch a bunny.

So there he is with this bunny in his mouth and he is trying to find a place to burying it....he finds a place..and I watch him curious to see what he is going to do and to just observe his antics..... he finds a spot and begins to dig and digs some more... he puts the bunny in the hole and starts to cover it with his nose. I figure that had to hurt him as with Berts Lupus his nose is often raw. Once it was buried he moved away....but not for long. After awhile he obviously didn't like where he had buried it so he dug it up..and took it to the end of the property to bury it there....didn't like that spot either. So he brought it up to around the house....by this time hubby was watching as well, Bert by this time had put the bunny down....at that point hubby went and got some plastic bags and disposed of the bunny. The End.

If you would like to join in on the fun please check outHeads or Tails created by the one and only Skittles.

Sometimes I wonder if they think we have cotton between our ears

I love Reader's Digest. I am not a subscriber but my father in law is and I get all of his editions once he has read them. Yippee for me. I love most of it's regular articles..the word power, laughter, best medicine and the likes. Like any magazine it has it's monthly focus, April's focus was titled " It's a Wonderful World, how you can make it even better" Well needless to say it did peek my curiosity. What they have done in this edition is taken folks from around the world and demonstrated what they have done to conserve energy or save the planet.

There was a lot of informative information but the one that really caught my attention was the one from the US titled "Conserve Your Energy" an armchair environmentalist approach to saving the planet. The author John Tierney highlights his points on saving the planet.

His first tip was one on "Skip a trip"...well no problem there...I don't have the bucks to take a trip..haven't had any for about 3 years now...so there you go..according to him I could have saved the planet all this carbon dioxide from the flights I would have taken .....then of course he goes on about how to save energy by sealing your house...you know put the stripping around the doors or windows blah blah blah....or better yet drive fuel efficient cars, use cruise control, monitor your water-heating bills,use your dishwasher, use your laptop and let it nap. The one the really caught my attention was "Stay Married" Dang ...where was he when I was getting divorced......gosh according to him I would have been more energy efficient if I had stayed married apparently getting a divorce I now use twice the amount of energy......well dah....there are two households...but I gather that is his point.... but according to him I gather he is saying I should save the planet before my sanity ......hmmmmmmmm. I don't think I needed a degree to figure that one out.

So I am wondering is he saying we shouldn't have vacation property either? Has anyone informed the rich and famous about this? I mean really how many actors and singers have homes all over the world, their summer homes, the winter get aways...oh the horrors of it all that they should have to consider closing down one of their vacation properties. So he thinks we can save the environment by not taking flights and maintaining vacation properties...ok then..fine. But if I go camping....don't I need a vehicle to get there? Don't I need some form of fuel to cook my meals? And well any camper is going to want their evening fire...wouldn't that contribute to the air borne gases? What is one to do?

If I understand Mr. Tireney correctly...I would be doing the planet a world of good(no pun intended) if I just lived my life in a bubble.....but wait...the bubble can't be made out of plastic..cause gosh that is so bad for the planet.....so some kind of dome constructed from man made products which of course were environmentally friendly and had the least amount of impact on the environment...I mean I wouldn't want to be destroying any endangered forest.....ok...that's it environment at all cost.....I think the Eskimos had the right idea....snow. I wish I was a good artist at this point...I have this vision of me living in this quasi igloo ....living only off of food that I had planted myself from seed of course.....and my form of transportation would be either by foot or dog sled. Yes in the ideal world.....

For heaven sakes....I am energy conscious.....I rarely use my dryer...my husband made me an indoor clothes line so I can hang my laundry.....if weather permits clothes are out on the line....I wash my clothes in cold water.....when I have to use the oven I often bake something in addition to the meal I am cooking.....the dishwasher gets turned on only when full.....showers are to a minimum.....yes I use wood to heat my house...but with having mostly glass windows...the house heats itself....I wear sweaters in cooler days......I recycle.....I reuse containers rather than buying new plastic containers for storage.....I buy in bulk decreasing my usage of plastics...I could go on. What I want to know is, what is our governments doing to decrease their impact on the environments? Great they put a carbon tax on us....hmmmmm not sure how that helps the environment...how does that stop the big corporations from exploiting the environment with it's toxic waste? No...it's just another money grabbing concept from the government to line the coffers of the already well to do.

If we are going to talk about environmental savings....let's talk about making things such as solar energy more affordable....give grants to the car industries to build more energy efficient vehicles and pass those saving on to the consumer and do away with the gas guzzlers.....there are many things the government could do...but they take the easy way out...and put it on the back of the working individuals.....and people like Mr. Tierney I think is living in a bubble and is oblivious to the daily workings of the every day working person who is trying to do their bit to save this planet.

Camera- Critters #54

This week I thought I might focus my critters on the ones that I have seen close to the water on in the water.....

Poor little crab...got himself all turned upside down....

An ocean shot would not be complete without a photo of a seagull....


And around here you have to have a photo of sea lions...in March when the herring are running the sea lions turn up in an abundance....this guy looks like he has had his fill on the herring...

Who would have thought you go prawning and what do you get in your trap...but a crazy huge star fish.

If you would like to join in on the fun check Camera Critters hosted by Misty Dawn