How does your garden grow???

Radish sprouts !!!!

It's OFFICIAL ...

It may be a case of channeling ... or it could be an outright case of reincarnation ... or it could be a trait that dogs share in common ... but whatever the cause, at 2:34 am this morning, Flute completed her metamorphasis into Marley of book and movie fame ...

I seldom stir to the throaty rumble of passing thunderstorms, and the series of storms that rolled over Brandon last night would not have been an exception to that rule, had it not been for Flute (aka Marley) who stood on my bed, hair standing on end and barking loudly and deeply at the flashing of lightning and the rumble of thunder ... then, as the storm picked up in intensity, she proceeded to romp through the house barking loudly as the unseen interloper ...

Thankfully the storm passed and she settled shortly after 3 am, allowing me to return to sleep ...

Oh, and Oboe for his part remained happily and quietly asleep through it all ...

What I did today ...

This is the garden in my back yard ...

I started planting it yesterday ... I finished it today ...

It has:
- rhubarb
- lettuce
- onions
- beets
- carrots
- chard
- snow peas
- regular peas
- yellow beans
- green pole beans
- radishes
- spinach
- spearmint
- watermelon
- pumpkin
- squash (two varieties)
- cabbage
- cauliflower
- summer savory
- parsley
- oregano
- chives
and
- potatoes

with the exception of one brief excursion by Oboe, and a visit to the lettuce by Flute, I was able to get the garden done without canine assistance ... but my digging obviously inspired them to begin their own "garden" a few metres from the garden I was working!!!

Next week I'll work on creating the flower border in the front ... in the meantime, I'll keep you posted on the "how my garden grows"!!

What Oboe did today ...

Tough life being a dog ... Flute was in a similar pose on the Love Seat ... not sure how Oboe gets away with flaunting the rule of "no dogs on the couch" ... Hmmmm ...

Happy Birthday to Canada's Quints ...

Seventy Five years ago today, just outside of North Bay Ontario, Canada's Dionne Quintuplets were born ... their early years were market with what can only be described as unabashed exploitation ...

From the carnival like Quintland where people could come and gawk at the girls for a fee, to the countless advertisements, oodles of money was seemingly made from the five little girls. Yet nary a dime ever flowed to the family, or to Annette, Emilie, Yvonne, Cecile, and Marie.

Now Seventy Five years later instead of a carnival setting, we instead have the wonders of reality tv that offers a glimpse into the lives of multiples from the comfort of our homes ... the exploitation continues, and the damage it brings continues in the lives of other families ... it's funny, the more things seem to change, the more they really stay the same.

For now though - Happy Birthday to Annette, and Cecile, the two remaining sisters !!!

Hello !!! (Falcon Cam)

In Winnipeg a pair of Peregrine Falcons have been nesting on a ledge on the downtown Radisson Hotel.

The progress of thier three chicks can be monitored by watching the Falcon Cam sponsored by CBC Manitoba, Shaw Cable and The Radisson.

To see what the camera has to offer click here and check out the Peregrine Falcon Cam for yourself.

For our listening and viewing pleasure ...

From "Playing for Change" - a beautiful rendition of Bob Marley's One Love ...

Priceless ...

Oboe and Darby ... the ying and yang of dogs ...

Oboe joins in the chorus ...

Yes, as insane and bizarre as it may sound,

today we adopted a new puppy - a Poodle/Yorkie cross,

named Oboe.

Needless to say, Beetle, Ms H, and Noahkila were delighted.

Flute is still warming up to the idea ...

Tonight, everyone settled in comfortably in Beetle's bed,

and for the moment Flute is doing okay with her new friend.

Happy Birthday Young Man ...

It's hard to imagine that it was 15 years ago,

that he arrived in the world after a long day

AND night of labour ... in the wee small hours

of the morning my son made his entry.

I remember walking him down the hall

of the hospital where in the darkness

a voice from one of the 12 rooms asked:

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

I stepped into the room and answered,

"A boy."

The light above her bed snapped on,

and the organist from the church I served,

sat up in bed and smiled.

"Elma, I'd like you to meet my son ..."

It seems like only yesterday ...

... and yet the river of memories has

moved ever onward, leaving along its shore

moments of laughter,

moments of anger,

moments of frustration,

moments of tears,

and moments of complete joy.

There have been so many moments,

and I THANK GOD for EVERY ONE of them.

I have a wonderful son,

and I fear I may not tell him that enough.

Happy Birthday Noahkila,

may it be as joy-filled as our lives have

been because of you !!!

I'm still proud of introduce my son to the world,

he's a good kid, and fast becoming

a fine young man !!

Sharing the day with Noahkila ...

Comedian, Politician,

and perhaps one day Congress man,

Al Franken

Canadian Actor,

Raymond Burr

Actor
Judge Reinhold


Composer, singer,
and voice of Supertramp
Roger Hodgson

Physicist, Activist,
Nobel prize winner,
and humanist,
Andrei Sakharov.

Flute and her crew ...

For 45 minutes tonight, Flute rolled and romped around the backyard of our neighbours with thier two dogs - Bauer (the brown boxer) and Cooper (the American Bulldog) ... the three of them had a blast ... now Flute sleeping soundly on the love seat ...

Celebrating the B-days ...

Happy Beetle Day !!!!

Happy 10th Birthday

Beetle !!

Sharing a B-day with Beetle ...

Cher


Dave Thomas

Bronson Pinchot (aka Balki)

Hockey Great

Stan Mikita

Hollywood Squares fav

George Gobel

Legendary Rocker
Joe Cocker

Jimmy Stewart.

Wheat City Journal Contribution ...

A couple of weeks ago, a young man ended up in the Red River in Winnipeg, nor far from this site ... the outcome of this happening could have been tragic, had it NOT been for the actions of a gentleman by the name of Feron Hall.

Feron boldly jumped into the river and rescued the young man from an icy fate ... since then Mr. Hall has been touted as a Hero by everyone from the Mayor of Winnipeg through to Members of the House of Commons in Ottawa.

He is for his selfless actions, a true hero who acted on impulse and rescued a stranger in distress ... Feron summarized the entire event at the hospital when he left by kissing the young man on the forehead and saying - "I love ya man."

The world needs MORE Feron Hall's ...

Oh, did I mention Feron happens to be Homeless??

Click here to read my latest contribution to Brandon's Wheat City Journal - it's my reflections on Feron and his actions, and the response of the communities around him to his selfless action ... he's a hero on many levels.

Peace.

This is a rototiller ...

Today with a borrowed/loaned rototiller, I started turning the soil in my proposed backyard garden ... I was surprised AND delighted at how beautiful the dark dirt is ... Visions of veggies and edible plants are DEFINITELY dancing in my head ...

Other than a certain canine deciding that the mysterious implement is a NEW TOY ... one that would readily twirl her leash AND HER into a knot in a matter of seconds ... it was a wonderful experience to watch the soil be churned into garden !!!

Tomorrow my shovel and I will work at opening MORE of the grassed bits and turning it into garden space ... by this time Thursday I might have a presentable garden prepared for seeding and planting ... if only the temps would go about near-freezing !!!

It's been a good day ... spent the middle hours hanging with one of my favourite five year olds while his mom went shopping ... he kicked my butt (something HE took great delight in) in two games of Fish, several board games AND on Wii bowling ... many, five year olds are good to keep the ego from getting too big ...

Now between supper, soccer and bed, I NEED to get an overdue article done for Westman Parent ...

All in all, a good day !!

WOW !!!

It is remarkable how much easier it is to change the headlights in my van when it is NOT minus 40 ... the last couple of times the bulbs needed changing came right smack in the middle of winter ... today, the sun is shining and the temps are chilly, but I'd sooner change the bulb when it's hovering around 15C any day.

The hardest part of the WHOLE process was the bike ride to Canadian Tire with Beetle on her new bike ...