Anyone remember that band? How about Platinum Blonde? Trooper? Loverboy? Triumph? Glass Tiger? The Box? Corey Hart? Parachute Club? Doug and the Slugs? Where am I going with this? Not a clue. Just listening to the radio (my fave music station, BobFM,) and they played one of their songs. I am an ’80’s child afterall, there is no getting away from that one, so the music is imprinted on me. I will admit it, I love the music! I don’t miss the fashion one iota; the skin tight jeans, the big hair, the blue eyeshadow, but the music plays on. Canada had some great bands, who probably never made it out of the country. And some not quite so great.
Warning: Plug for Puffs
February 23, 2009 at 10:54 PM (notes and thoughts, random stuff)
Neber mind.
I just accidentally erased my whole post. That I spent the last 30 minutes on. Dogdamn it.
I’ll just say Puffs are great. Moisturizing tissues are fantastic, especially when you are blowing your nose every 15 minutes. I’ll pay whatever they want from now on. My nose would look like a lightbulb right now if not for puffs.
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Final point, I’m tired of being politically correct when it comes to people who believe freedom of religion only applies to them. I am not religious. I am not a christian. If you don’t like it, leave me alone. I don’t pester you, I don’t make you follow my beliefs, whatever they may or may not be, I have no desire to change you, I could care less. But you’re beliefs are no more important than mine, nor are they any more valid. You are not the final say, you are not the majority, and as far as I am concerned, you are dillusional. And if you think your posters proclaiming “The END IS NEAR” do not offend me, while the bus posters proclaiming “There probably is no god, now stop worrying and enjoy your life!” , offends you beyond belief, then whatever!!! If I could get a bumper sticker for my van, I would. Religion, if you look through history, is the root of all that is miserable in our world. Nothing good ever comes of it.
So if I’ve offended you, stop reading. Go away. I don’t want you here anyway.
Buying a virtual farm…
February 16, 2009 at 9:02 PM (notes and thoughts)
Okay, not really. It’s a good way to waste a few hours on the computer, and dream a bit. We’ve been talking about selling the money pit house, but not seriously. There would be so much work to do before we even considered selling. It is nice to look around, and imagine where we could live. Nothing huge, a few or ten acres, still close enough to Aylmer, hopefully the kids wouldn’t have to change schools, but that wouldn’t be the end of the world, and Todd’s absolute, high speed internet. I just want a place big enough for a few horses, a small barn, maybe a greenhouse, what the hell, let’s throw in a pool while we’re at it. Then I would never, ever leave home. Oh yeah, and under 200 K. By a lot. And yes, I know. Dream on. Like that is even remotely possible or available in this area. While I’m at it, I found a really cute yearling colt (male baby horse) that I would love to buy. Any investors out there??
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Now, back to reality. I am not looking forward to the March Break. I don’t know what I’m going to do with the girls. I have to find some kind of day camp for them, which will cost more money than I’ll make during that week. It’s ridiculous that Quebec and Ontario can’t bloody have the same dates for the March Break. Heaven forbid Quebec do anything normal! Or Ontario compromise! No, we must be different. We must be independant. We must not bend. I’ll have company for the Ontario break, which by then the girls will be back in school. The school is running a March break camp, which is ridiculously expensive for what it is. So I may as well find them something fun that they want to do, like Gymnastics camp, or maybe Music camp. (Boy, sounds fun, eh?)
Emma is not feeling well right now either. I’m dreading tomorrow if she is really sick, and then I’ll have to call in that I can’t come to work. Why does she have to get sick now? I just got my raise, I know there are some people at work that are not pleased, and would be more than happy to point out the fact that I’m slacking off (cause a sick kid = slacking off). Dog knows, I’ve not taken a single sick day for myself, even when I was miserably sick. And I have something coming up in a few weeks that I may need to take a couple days off. Murphy and his bloody laws can go stuff themselves. Wah wah wah. Yes, I’m whining and feeling sorry for myself. Damn it, if I can’t whine here, where then??
Allright. Enough already.
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Didn’t get any seeds started this weekend. We went and saw the movie ‘Coraline‘ on Saturday night. It was pretty cute, although a little scary for the girls. But they liked it. It is based on a Neil Gaiman novel. He is a fantastic writer – American Gods, Stardust (they made a cutie movie from that one too, really cute. We all loved it.) On Sunday, we went to the Jacques Cartier Park for part of Winterlude. Some really cool ice slides, tubing, and beaver tails were in order. It was fun. I plan to take them again after school one day this week, it shouldn’t be as busy, and hopefully they’ll get a bit more sliding in!
Accidentally…
February 11, 2009 at 6:46 PM (gardening, heirloom tomatoes, tomatoes)
Tags: gardening, heirloom tomatoes, tomatoes
I found myself looking through the cataloge of my favorite heirloom seed source, Baker Creek, last night. I still had Paul Robeson on my list of tomatoes that I wanted to try and didn’t have, so I figured I would go online and order it. Shipping is a whopping $3, whether you order one thing or seven. I somehow found a few more that I’d forgotten I’d wanted to try. So…long story short….I added more to my list. You know, the one I’m trying to pare down from 60 varieties or so to 10 or 15. Somebody slap me.
In my own defense, however, I spent less than $20 total, and that should be it for my seed order this year. I’m trying to pare down the list to have a better quantity of solid producers to sell at my little plant sales this year instead of such a large variety. I’ve realized that there are not a lot of obsessive people like me in my neighborhood, or at least not seed and tomato obsessed. They just want a solid tomato plant. Having said that, if anyone in the Aylmer/Ottawa area would like to request a specific variety that I have, please feel free. I can start it for you, and you can pick it up for free in late spring. I’ll post my list here and at my Tomato/Garden Blog – which I will try to start updating again on a regular basis. I just love starting toms from seed, it’s a weird thing about me. Kinda like I actually like cleaning stalls. Most people hate it, it’s a necessary evil when working at a barn but I enjoy it. I even enjoy doing dishes by hand. I find it relaxing. Okay, yes, I am very weird. I know that. My husband knows it. Just don’t tell him about the dishes thingy!!!
So leave a comment here if you want tomato babies. And if you’re looking for seeds, feel free to ask. I’ll try to get them out before spring! Seriously, I’ll have them out to you within a few weeks. Just leave a comment here so I know to check my email, and email me your addy.
When to start tomato seeds? Count back 8 to 10 weeks from your last frost date. If you have shop lights, and the energy to haul trays in and out as soon as the day time temps allow, then you can start sooner. You may also want to take the moon into account. The ideal time is shortly after a new moon, if you follow the old farmer’s ways, which is near the end of February this month. I keep meaning to test that theory out, but haven’t yet. Maybe this year I’ll try to keep better notes! I plan to start some this weekend, and the bulk at the end of February. By the end of April/beginning of May, the weather is usually nice enough for the plants to go outside during the day, and even spend most nights under my grow tunnels so the timing is perfect.
So here is the list:
Ananas Noir
Omar’s Lebanese
Green Zebra
Carbon
Orange Russian
Mortgage Lifter
Gold Medal
Black Krim
Pineapple
Black From Tula
Neves Azorean Red
Siberian
Kelloggs Breakfast
Hillbilly
Principe Borghese
Mr Bruno
Long Shelf Life
Jaune Flamme
Cherokee Purple
Black Plum
Black Pear
Black Cherry
Pruden’s Purple
Zigan
Box Car Willie
Cannabec Rose
Vah-tan
Vova Yellow
Stupice
Palmira’s Italian Heirloom
Rhoades Heirloom
Rutgers
Purpe Price
Reisentraube
Orange Jubilee
Russian Persimon
Clear Pink Early
Rouge D’Irak
Russe
Unikalny
Dar
Dubrava
Khirh
Jagodka
Van Hert Ohio
Russian Size
Giant Italian Paste
Silvery Fir Tree
Moscow Suburb
Memory of Vavilov
Kremlin Chiming Clock
Talalichinski
Blue
Jack White
Mers de Nom
Hoskins-Barger
and
Paul Robeson
Break o’ Day
Arkansas Traveller
German Red Strawberry
Moneymaker
Thessaloniki
Caspian Pink
Where have I been…
February 9, 2009 at 9:21 PM (random stuff)
Okay, I know it’s been more than a week since I’ve posted anything. Really just haven’t had much to say and I’ve been so busy and tired lately, that I’ve just had not much time nor inspiration. Not that I’m inspired now or anything, just feeling guilty.
So…Sunday was a beautiful day. So beautiful that it felt like spring. I spent some time shoveling out the back yard a bit, and digging out my seed starting trays. Yep, it’s almost that time. If you follow moon planting or the astrology calendar, February 14 is actually a pretty good day for planting seeds. Not as good as near the end of February, after the new moon, but still an okay day especially if you are getting a little anxious to start, as I am. Why not make Valentines’ Day extra special this year? Plus that makes it an easy date to remember!
I haven’t been able to ride for a while now. We’d had really cold weather for about a week. ThenI had the thingy removed from my knee. I got the stitches out on Friday, and the incision split wide open on Saturday. I’m sure I’ll have a wonderful scar on my knee now. It is healing up, and I have an appt to see my doctor on Wednesday, which by then will probably be too late to put stitches back in! Hopefully we won’t get another cold snap once it is healed, or riding will be on hold even longer. Poor North, we were really starting to click when I rode, and now it’s been almost three weeks. We’re gonna have to start all over again, which is much harder on an older horse like him. But he still gets his carrots, and brushing so at least he doesn’t feel totally ignored. It will be nice to start riding again though.
