Endings and beginnings

I  think it is our age. There has been so much progress and change within our lifetimes, that we can't help to see change.  Not that I'm saying all change is good, because it isn't.  I deplore the loss of communication and manners, that I blame on the speed of "communication" that has occurred over the past 20 years. Social media and text messaging have both contributed to people no longer talking, and we used to be told that the difference between humans and animals was our ability to talk.  There are many things that disturb me, about society, as I see it--not that I have the energy to try to do anything about it.

Well, I think I heard the other shoe drop.  I was waiting.  I cannot access e-mail on the laptop.  For some reason, he set it up as a hot mail account, and I no longer receive the Shaw e-mail. I will have to get onto Shaw and see if that can be changed. I also found out that when I click on an address within my newsgroups, it automatically goes through Internet Explorer, so now I'm writing down the address, and typing it into the Google Chrome.  Little things.

Rode our bikes today, and then had to fight the wind coming home.  However, Lotto Max bought breakfast for us with about $10 left over, so that was a good thing. The Juncos were through.  Twice a year for 3-4 days. They are such happy cheerful little birds!  And the crows are still using our birdbath to wash their food, but it disturbs me to hear about birds dyeing because of lack of ready water, so we keep cleaning and filling it. Two nights with frost and our whole tree turned yellow, but the geraniums look better than they have all summer, although it looks a little odd when their leaves are pink and orange as well.

Today, I'm grateful for a beautiful day.  There may not be many more this year.

Passenger Train Service

It was a sad day yesterday to witness the last trip of the Northlander passenger train. This train travelled from Toronto up to Cochrane and return, carrying people back and forth on a regular basis. I took it myself on occassion when going to Toronto on business trips. The Provincial Liberal government, in it's infinite wisdom, has cancelled all passenger train service to the North effective Sept 28. They say that people must now take a bus. As a matter of fact all the ONTC (Ontario Northland Transportation Commission) departments are to be sold off - this includes our current Internet server Ontera, and the Ontario Northland buses, with the lose of many, many jobs. The headquarters for ONTC is in North Bay. So yesterday Harry and I drove to the next town of South River where there is a train stop ( the trains just pass through Sundridge without stopping) As the train came to a stop many people on board travelling only because of the last trip, came off for a very brief talk including the two Northern NDP Members of Parliament who have been fighting very hard to preserve the service. The stop was only about 5 minutes but time enough for us to get pictures and wave at the engineers and conductors ( would be their last trip, and now likely without anymore work) It brought tears to my eyes seeing an institution such as this ending. The governement says that with a deficit, all expenses have to be considered and said ridership was not supporting the subsidies being given the rail line to keep running. Once again, the North gets ignored. There was a huge rally in North Bay at the Station, where the last train from the North going South, and this train we met going North from the South met. Hundreds of people turned out apparently. What a shame! Take care

sort of good news

This is coming to you via the laptop. Things appear to be functioning well (fingers crossed).  There is still a lot of "customizing" to do. They did away with Internet Explorer, and we now function on either Google Chrome or Foxfire.  I have to re-set all of my bookmarks.  They also updated my Adobe Flashplayer, and I was able to view the video lesson off the internet without too much problem ( at least, not nearly as much problem as before)  I also have to re-install all of my downloads, which will take time, but shouldn't be a problem.  Then I remember that I got in trouble downloading a magazine, so who knows what the future holds. We had been told that the fellow would be out to the house when he could make it, and he would call when he was on his way, but other than that they couldn't even tell us which day.  So, of course, he showed up yesterday while I was out in Selkirk at the gallery.  But we were able to get everything done, communicating via cell phone.

Yes, my surgery is October 22nd, but part of the delay was the surgeon taking an extended vacation over the summer.  When I was having gallbladder problems,I remember my doctor telling me to go into emergency whenever I had problems, as it was the ones who appeared to be having the most trouble that bumped to the top of the list. Mind you, that was in the 90's when waiting lists were really bad.  Still, I ended up waiting almost 10 years after my first attack, which meant that I had the full surgery, and a foot long scar, instead of the four little pin pricks that do the job now.

Loren and his children will be coming here on October 7th for Thanksgiving dinner,but the date just didn't work for Amber. We found out today that we may have a problem finding the suet we need for the dressing.  You used to be able to find it just about any time in the store freezer, but now they're dating it, and it isn't always there, especially when the women are starting their Christmas baking.

For today, I'm grateful that I'm able to use my computer again,and I'm grateful to have the glimmering of my next studio project, emerging from the back of my brain.

Welcome back - surprise for you eh?

Sometimes things just work out, right! Please try to sneak up on your laptop again and see if it will respond so quickly again. Sorry to hear about your stones and do take care - is 3 to 4 months the usual wait times there? Patty you have waited for quite a while haven't you - and is it still October 22 for your surgery? Cathy if the tender goes out for cleaning, I hope you and Jim aren\t tempted again, or that someone encourages you to do it because you were so good. Time for you to let it go and enjoy some other activites - like glee club. Have you joined the singing group?
I have a big box of geranium slip clippings each individually wrapped in newspaper now sitting in the house for me to overwinter. I wonder what will be next? I paid a few bills today and now wonder where the money went? It is only Sept 27 you say, and we still have to get through October - what is happening haha  Thanks goodness the freezers (yes, with an "s") are all full.
What is everyone doing for Thanksgiving next weekend? It seems like  forever, but it was actually only last year at this time that we had the usual gathering at Harry's Mothers and Harry and I feed everyone, and then two weeks later she died. So much has occurred in this past year it really is hard to get my head around it all.
Take care for now - glad you got to sign in Cathy. Now I will have to try a new recipe from the KISS book just to tell you all about it and then Patty will also know what I am talking about. Have you tried any Cathy?

OMG!!!!!!

I was just going to look at the blog and I logged in without even logging in!!!It took me right to the screen where I could say write something!  I am so excited I can hardly type.  I am using my new laptop and my fingers automatically go to where the keys should be, but they are not quite in the same place anymore.  Now to figure out what to say.  Work is work.  The caretaking, or lack thereof, has come to a head.  There is to be a meeting tomorrow with all the big shots involved.  The owners of teh company came out on Tuesday and demanded to see what we were complaining about.  First of all we are tenants, not owners, and second of all.... let us know you are coming.  Elizabeth spent over 1/2 an hour with them.  \some of their comments included.   "Show me the dirt!  Where is the dirt?"  "All the dust is coming from the basement... the walls are crumbling"   (sorry boys, we don';t have forced air heat)  One of my personal favourites was that "the marks on the bathroom floor are due to a chemical reaction between your shoes and the floor paint. It can't be fixed. Government services will have to repaint the floor."  (I went downstairs and grabbed one of their filthy rags, and wiped a stripe across the "chemical reaction"  It's a miracle!  It turned white and clean where I wiped.  I also wiped a strip in teh bathroom sink to clean up the scum.  Patty took pictures of all the dirt on the desks, etc. and the spots we wiped and sent them to government services.  I would love to be a fly on the wall at the meeting.  On a different note, I saw the doctor today.  I have numerous stones in my gall bladder, of various sizes, and I have polyps.  I have to have surgery.  Dr. Tariq will send a letter to Dr. Sandiwalla(?) and I should hear something from him in 3 or 4 months  SAY WHAT!!!!  Meanwhile, just keep taking lots of ibuprofin for the pain and try to adjust your diet.  If, however, I have a high fever and yellow skin or eyes, make an appointment.  I finally mailed your cookbook today Pati.  (what cookbook she says.... I just got rid of a bunch of cookbooks!)  This is the one Beth got when she was here.  |This way when she tells us about something she has made we will all be able to check it out.  Kik just got home.  I didn't realize it was so late. I made so many mistakes typing that it took me a long time to type this. I hope my computer screws up like this again!

Snow watch??

Just watching the news and there is a snow watch in some spots of the listening area - fortunately not close to us but there is another frost warning here. Today we picked the last of the tomatoes, and the green peppers. Have done down frozen peppers and done pickled peppers, and made tomato juice and still have many containers of small tomatoes left on the table - the little pea currant tomatoes that you can really only eat or make juice. Also cleaned out more flower beds and put away more ornaments - still lots to do though.
Today I received a parcel in the mail from my friend Sue, in which was enclosed a beautiful journal book adorned with little owls front and back. She said she was in the Chapters store in Barrie, On and the book was calling out to her "for Beth, for Beth" so she bought it and sent it off to me along with another long letter to read. She writes about her family, and friends, and people I don't know but does so in a way that entertains me and I realize how rich her life is. Maybe I need this connection and should not be so quick to say that her life is not mine, and that I feel detached when reading or listening to her. I should instead welcome her friendship and cherish even having a friend albeit not close.
Well, another day in the bag so to speak, so off to bed to rest up for tomorrow - I have a lottery ticket for tonight so all is good!  Take care

Bit of a giggle

thinking of you and Harry traipsing through the bush looking of berries that weren't there.  I guess each of us has to determine our own type of "togetherness".  Ours appears to be getting into heated discussions with computer technicians.  However, after our "discussion" with the technician in the shop this morning, my computer is undergoing a very thorough diagnostic check, a thorough virus removal to treat the 26 viruses it has picked up since they last checked it ( last week), possibly  a trial of a different anti-virus program, and conversion of the Vista to a Windows 7 operating system.  The only thing we are paying for is the actual Windows 7 program and we got that  for a very good price.  David took in our external hard drive back up system (?terminology? but you know what I mean) The young man was just going to use it to re-install all of our data, when David asked him if that data might not be virus compromised, since it save any data that is changed in any way from the computer itself..  Now the back up is going to be virus scanned as well.

What was of concern, was when David went into the bank, the teller saw his name, and then she asked if he was the Findlay who was having such a problem with the computer store across the street.  Of course, I went through all of that intense privacy training, being in healthcare.  Maybe other parts of the economy don't have such rigid rules.  They should have, as I was very annoyed.

The "stash Reduction" sale yesterday was a total failure.  Some of the ladies were quite happy buying from each other, but I was there to sell.  We had only 29 customers, after sending out flyers to everyone we knew, distributing 100 flyers at the quilt guild meeting on Wednesday night, and posting notices on two different on-line community bulletin boards.  I was so discouraged,  that David insisted we still go out for dinner, which was a nice break.  Now, everything we brought home fromthe sale has been put away, and will be forgotten--until next time.

Today I "bit the bullet" and finished the African quilt I've been making for our bed.  Not my best work, but a good, sturdy warm utility quilt, none the less.  Now, I can get back to the free motion quilting clas that I'm enjoying so much.

For today, I'm grateful that payday is only a couple of days away.  I'm grateful that I had space to tuck away the two rubbermade tubs of unsold fabric.  And I'm sure grateful for the ice cream bar I had for dessert at supper.  That was g-o-o-d!