You asked for it...

 

Here it is Carl... Just what you asked for!

peekvid

peekvid
Mark this site as one of your favourites...you can click on a movie or tv show to watch,right on your computer without any extra software to download... Annette put me onto this...and I can see I will be liking it...first show I'll be watching is Casino Royale!

Saskatoon Dad

Saskatoon Dad

If you've been following the news about the custody battle for "Baby Ian"...here is the website of the father who is fighting to have custody of his biological baby that was given up for adoption by his x-girlfriend. He didn't know she was pregnant with his child. Emil's cousin, Ken H. pointed me to this website, as the father is his brother-in-law. Verrrrry interesting reading and one wonders how much longer such a case can be drawn out!

Spring ahead!

Did you spring your clocks an hour ahead this week-end? Some people sprung them an hour back, and I am not pointing fingers or saying who, but he was Uke. I have mended his ways and now all the clocks are synchronized!
The next photo was taken two days ago, before the rain.




Taken yesterday after a night of rain.

Then there are these beautiful photos of Victoria that Sonia sent me. This is where spring is really happening. Note the flowers are blooming and not just sticking their noses out of the ground? Thanks Sonia, for reminding me that we live in Siberia!




Here's a cute one of Maddie wearing the latest style...that would be those leggings under her jean skirt...cute aye... didn't we have long lace undies in the sixties to wear under our mini skirts??? Seems to me, mine were red!


We spent the better part of the day looking through photo albums to find nice pictures of mom...well, no shortage...as she was at every important event in our lives,and even some not so important events!
Then there was their trips...to Victoria at Christmas to find that it snowed about two feet! And their trip to Vancouver for Xmas in 97 maybe? where it snowed another two or three feet for the most hideous winter ever. Them and Kenny Strange had to stay extra days before the highways opened up and we could drive them home....
Funny thing was that Emil was the only guy in the neighbourhood with a snowblower! He cleared the sidewalks and neighbour's driveways, much to their delight. Mom and Dad just stood in front of the picture window and watched him snowblowing all afternoon!
Then there was the big flight and trip to Quebec to see where we were living. We drove down to Montreal and went right down to the docks to see the grand cruise ships. Mom loved it all ( except maybe the plane ride there, where the plane had to return to Calgary after they discovered the door wouldn't seal up)( yeah, yeah, yeah...nothing to it mom...flying is a breeze...meanwhile I chewed my nails down to the quick as we flew lower and lower over the grain fields of the prairies, on our way back to Calgary). Mom never said two words while I prayed we wouldn't crash!

Then there was the time that just Mom and I took Sonia and little Annette ( she just turned two), in John's new GTX on a girly road trip from Rossland to Saskatoon! Nothing like driving a hot car on open roads across the prairies! Thanks John! That was a holiday I looked forward to and won't forget!! 16 hours there and 16 back, but we did it...with loads of fun in between as we visited Uncle John and Auntie Marge, Baba and Guido, and Sophie and George and countless others. Mom did that for me, to give me a little break from the life of a stay at home mother. She treated me so good..like a daughter,for sure.

Many funny moments over the years. My thirty photo albums are filled with so many beautiful memories and many a laugh, especially over the water and pie fights that seemed to ensue the moment we landed in Saskatoon! Hardly a dull moment when Emil was around! Tonight, Emil's cousin,Ken, who was the brunt of many pails of water and a few chocolate pies, gave us a call tonight to express his sympathy. His girls are 19 and 20 years old!!! Seems like only a few years ago, I took them shopping to a Saan store in Sakatoon! My my... Thanks for the call Ken. We certainly had a lot of fun at mom's place when you cousins came to visit... Remember moving the canoe for Emil off the back porch? Then Emil let you have it with a pail of water! Wasn't he a little mischief maker??? A photo album is a good reminder of the past, but our kids will have to load a cd into an old computer to see our pics. ( It will be like putting a long play record onto a record player to hear the songs of the past!)...So a word to my kids...don't get rid of every computer,even if they become obsolete, because I have another thousand or so photos on CDs!
"The Creator"

Mom Photos

I want people to remember the old mom, before her devasting stroke, in 1999. These are a few photos I pulled last night from 1998 and sooner. She loved her sons,John, Emil, and Lawrence, and loved her grandkids, and of course, was delighted when Sonia had two daughters. This one picture shows mom, myself and Sonia and the two great grandaughters, Kaleigh and Maddie,(as an infant). I took mom and dad down to Victoria to see Madeline, her new great grandaughter. It was a nice trip, just a month or so after Maddie was born,( her birthday is on March 31st). As you can see, all the beautiful Rhotodendrons were in bloom when we toured around the grounds at U.Vic and Beacon Hill Park. Mom loved flowers and loved to see them, plant them, and have them around her. Remember at her house in Rossland? She made a special purchase every year of the prettiest coloured giant pansies to decorate the little patch of ground in the front yard. I was always impressed, as I never even knew where you could buy such beauties.
In Christina Lake she had her border of double begonias, pom-pom-mums, and any other flower that could fill in the border. The front and back yard were an abundance of flowering shrubs, including beautiful azalias in shades of orange. We brought her a Smoke bush and she pruned it into a giant pom-pom of fluff that the neighbours oohed and awed over. Her vegetable garden was at first ,a feast for the deer, but once the fence went up, she was picking a bounty of everything from carrots to bushels of tomatoes and raspberries and cukes.
No-one could forget the sourcrout brewing behind the basement door, and the delicious resulting crouted cabbage rolls...half with tomato sauce for John, and half plain,for Emil!
At her house, it was all about food and that special tiered plate of candy,always full, on the counter. It was always about family and fun, and a card game to round off the evening...maybe with a bowl of chips or popcorn to satisfy our snacks, and later a coffee with some of her fresh baked gingersnap cookies and maybe that yummy coffeecake. She could cook,and bake,and just because she did it at work every day for years, it didn't stop her from baking and cooking the best foods in the world, right at home. Emil could always count on finding a nice little bowl of leftover cabbage rolls or creamed chicken in the fridge...before we even began to eat dinner!
The other photo, a little dark, shows Emil toasting his mom for her birthday! Yep, that was her favourite place...sitting on that lounge chair in the carport at their Christina Lake house. Here,we brought Kaleigh, who looks to be about four,so mom may have been turning 68...and looking all happy and healthy looking.
You can't think of mom without thinking of how happy and productive she was,and what a hard worker she was also. She always had time for everyone,and loved to see her grandaughters,as the photo showed when we visited Annette on our way back from Victoria. It is these memories that I want to portray her, being her everyday wonderful, giving self.... She was a beautiful person that didn't deserve to be stricken with a stroke that left her without a words to speak. Maybe she will have them all back now.I hope so. She was a mom to me and I will never forget all the good things she did for me, Emil, and our family.

"The Creator"

Great Sadness

I am sad to announce that Emil's mom , Annie, passed away peacefully last night with Lawrence at her side,at Hardy View,after a short bout of flu that brought the whole facility to a Quarantine. I will write more tonight about her life,especially before she had her stroke,which left her with aphasia,and a changed way to exist. Bless her now,as she goes to be with her family in heaven.

Sadly ,today is also the anniversary of the death of my very dear friend Evy, whom I still miss after all these years.

"The Creator"

Tweens!

Finally,finally, New pics of my sweet grandaughters! Aren't they getting all grown up? Kaleigh is sporting a new shorter hairdo. Looks great!
Maddie will be 9 at the end of the month...of course, I keep thinking she will be ten!I have her parcel all ready to send...too early? I bet she won't think so!
Note the piano in the background. Both of them are learning to play,and both sound very good at this young age...Keep up the good work girls! I am very proud of both of them!Thank-you for the pics!You two are bea-oot-i-ful and Granny misses you!
"The Creator"

Good Tuesday Morning...

Wow! Total white out out there...fog,fog ,fog. Its the In with a Lion thing. At least the weather is above zero out there.
So last night, a few of the gals met for Badminton, up at Chillers,at Six Mile. We did have some good laughs... that started out with my Fantasia show, then wavered over to a slightly morbid topic...loss of a husband. Of the five gals there, two had lost their husbands over the course of the last five years. Due to death,that is.
Zelda said she kept a journal afterwards. She has asked a friend to come and take it out of her bedroom drawer and burn it before her family ever discovers it,in the event of her death. She said that all of her anger and fears were scribbled in that book, including one page completely full of "WHY'S" "Why? Why? WHY Why?? WHYWHywhywhywhy???? The whole page with some Why's scrubbed in with the pencil and others trailing off.Her antics describing the Why's had us in stitches.
Then someone told her the third year was the worst...and it was. Sue said thanks a lot, as she is at 1.5 years and doesn't recall most of the first year, but is planning a big big F****ing party for next Christmas! Enough of being so sad.
So it was a bittersweet get together...laughs over who should come and clean out your bedroom drawers when you croak and a reality check as we grow older and how quickly your life can turn upside down. The good part is that these two women have made a good life with their kids and Sue is in the midst of planning a wedding for her son and so life goes on. It is what you make of it.

Have a great day on this more serious note and make the most of your day, your life.


"The Creator"

Texas Hold'em

Ok, Just practicing up for Vegas...The neighbours got together over at Bill and Marlene's tonight for Texas Hold'em...( Big League Poker!)
Elli had the chips set up in a little less confusing manner, tho your five bucks still translated into thousands...ten thousand. The lowest chip was a hundred dollars....and the highest, five thousand dollars.
Of course, at first, everyone is shy to bet with more than a few hundred dollars.

However,after each round(everyone played once), the Big and Small Blind ( ante) was doubled,thus increasing the amount it cost you to stay in the game.
When it reached around 32 thousand ,things started to get tense and we started to lose players,as they bet "All in" because they were growing short of chips.

Then there was a moment of glory when Emil kept raising the bet so much ,that one by one everyone folded except Bill and myself. When he raised it by about ten thousand dollars, I said to heck with it,and went "All in" with my remaining thirty thousand or so. Because, Emil had put so much into bets to grow the pot, he was caught off guard at my bold move.
(Bold and Crazy!)

We layed our cards down and played it out,and Voila! I was the winner by a hair! I had a pair of sevens and the river card turned up another seven to give me a full house. Emil's two high pairs were toast!
The remainder of the game grew crazier,and crazier, as it was between Bill and I to the finish, with the blinds being doubled at each hand. The very next hand after I toasted Emil, I was dealt a pair of Aces. What luck! I won that hand. The blinds were up to 30 and 60 thousand...Whew! I gave Bill the next hand and then he went "All in" on the next and final hand. I thought I was toast as my cards weren't great...a ten and a queen. A straight to the nine, with a pair of eights were on the table and my ten finished it off nicely, beating Bill's two pair for my big win of the year!
That was tense. I'd be a basket case if it for real in Vegas, but at least I had a lot of luck and some good intuition about sticking with a hand. I might be liking this game a little more!
[[Oh crumb... I just read some of the finer details about knowing the potential other hands besides what you have in your own hand,especially when it is down to two players betting against one another... I guess it was just luck on my part! I would need to learn a lot more to play Texas hold'em anywhere else besides someone's living room!]]
For five bucks each, it was a great evening of entertainment!

Have a fun Sunday!

Creator"

Coffee Break Spanish

Coffee Break Spanish
I have downloaded free Spanish Lesson podcasts to my Itunes program. Each one is only about fifteen minutes long and covers every topic that a tourist may encounter, from going into a restaurant to learning your numbers. The only thing I haven't figured out is where my first lessons went to after I listened to them once.In the meantime, each time I log onto Itunes, I get the next Podcast. With the new Ipods, one can load the podcasts right into their ipod and listen to them while you are on the go. And Podcasts are hot things right now...no end to the topics covered. I am only beginning to discover them, but many are available right through the Itunes store or through this website at Podfeed.net

Allison Girvin/Dinner out with Joyce

What a terrific way to end the week! Joyce had the foresite and perseverence to nab us the tickets to Allison Girvin's performance with her band at the Capital Theatre last night.thank-you Joyce! Not to mention our pre-entertainment...We enjoyed a nice dinner and beer at the Hume hotel before the performance, giving Joyce and I to catch up on the blab and share some laughs,as we usually do. Nice to have a sister so close!
Allison's show was great! She has a voice like a bird...clear and precise in every note! She basically performed the songs from her newly released album called Resonance....and more! The songs were a selection from mostly ancient works from various countries around the world...including Acadian Canada. With her massive black worley curly long corkscrew hair, and dressed in a patterned shamrock green gown with spagetti straps, she commanded everyone's attention before she even opened her mouth, and once that happened, she had the audience captured.

She pre-empted each song with a translation of the song, which was often pretty humorous, since these were songs from very early and tough times...usually involving a lover lost, or great adjectives describing love ( stronger than dragging chains behind me) or someone lost in a sea of milk....and then there was the woman who bore ( or dreamed she bore) a baby which then burned in her arms. She wrapped the ashes in a sheet and took it the sea where she was going to drown herself. However, the Lord told her to return to her room and she would find her baby alive there. With that one, the audience had a fair laugh.

With many, the translations were vague and ancient and mostly made no sense at all. Allison kept us in stitches with her interpretations, not to mention her stories of Finland where she learned a Swahili Song Called " Jumbo". Translated, it essentially only said a few words, like "Welcome to Kenya, Hello, Welcome!" the audience didn't care what it said, because it got everyone revved up,as the bongos played a lively African beat, and three or four other people, including her husband joined Allison singing the lively tune. I think, the audience would have been up and dancing, had there been room to do it!
One interesting fact,was that she grew up in Prince George...Hmmm...I wonder if her first singing instructor was the same choir master that Sonia had in the Maestro? singers...(Holy cats, I can't remember the name of the choir, let alone the name of the talented woman who taught fifty kids to sing.) Anyhow, Sonia learned well from her and continues to enjoy singing in a Women's choir today. Perhaps Allison Girvin had her start from the same instructor.
It was a packed house...totally sold out and if you missed it, perhaps there will be another performance at a later date.I would highly recommend it, if you enjoy a rich evening of song from a talented young lady who is well known to Nelsonites. Also, her CD, Resonance will soon be available at Otter Books and online at Allisongirvin.com once the website is up and running.


"The Creator"

In Like a Lion

Yeppers, the beginning of the week, looked a little bleak with a fresh coat of snow on everything,as you can see in the photo. The little footprints are from our resident squirrel, whom Silky is trying to sniff out.
The last photo is a beautiful Cubic Zirconia Star. Cubic seems to be the bling of choice these days. You can dress up your jeans, or deck out your fancy outfit, and it all looks divine! In fact,between cubic Zirconias and pearls, I don't know which is the most popular, but 2007 will surely see more women wearing both.

"The Creator"

Another Piece of New Silver

 

This is a terrific piece in our new line of silver that shows the frosty look created by the unpolished silver. Unpolished silver is one of the brightest whites in the world. Thus, it makes this jewellry show up beautifully on anyone's skin-even a paleface like me!

Howdee, Pics from Mexico!..

There is one thing about blogging that can drive you crazy...That is when something goes wrong and you aren't able to fix it. Now I am half asleep from changing settings to no avail. Sometimes, time is the best healer, so I will give it some time. One should be able to receive an RSS or Atom feed of my blogsite, into their Google News Reader, or into their Blackberry, or into a Google Gadget called Webclips. Mine was working fine until about two days ago, when it disappeared off the planet. In fact, it says that I don't exist.
Well, I do!
Ok, I got that off my chest!
Lynn just called and we had a little bs. Sounds like Nadine and Dick and baby made it back from Mexico all tickedy boo and rested. I think Georgia was the hit of the resort..She is so cute!
I'll load up a few of the pics that Lynn sent me ( that Nadine sent her) See, nothing is safe around me!


"The Creator"

New Pics from Eva

Cute ones of the skiers and Kenzie all dressed up for Valentine's day! She looks like she is all grown up with those fancy sunglasses...something like our mom would have worn in Vegas! Too cute! Thanks Eva for keeping us apprised!

"The Creator"

The New Mr. & Mrs. S.

Don't these two look fab? They are honeymooning at a Villa on Nanny Cay ..Oh the life of the rich and famous! Another email today, gives us one more glimpse of their special day...Wow! They did it in style, and all I can say is too bad we weren't there.

Now I can't wait for more photos and a video of the grand event!
Good Luck to the Newlyweds! Big huggies to my new sister-in-law...official, that is!

Nice Kitty

This is her favourite location when I am at the computer. Tonight she was right onto licking the tops of my fingers. oh yes, I was eating chocolate... in fact they were the best tasting yummies that I have had in a decade. Made by Hersheys, they are called Reese bicuits/cookies, they are to die for ... a tasty cookie dipped in milk chocolate to camoflage the peanut butter center. Yum Yum! I have to limit myself to two...
at a time.:-)

Looking for a birthday or Anniversary gift?

"The Creator"
Once again we have another disk pendant...this time in the white mother of pearl,for the same price. On the other bust, you'll see the beautiful blue tourmaline and pearl necklace that sits as a choker. It sells for $104.00,and the matching earrings are $49.00. There is a lovely bracelet to complete the set,and it is priced at ...lets see...%69.00...or $98.00...sorry , I can't recall for sure.
Some of our newest jewellry has unpolished silver on it to give it a frosty white look. The brilliant thing is that these pendants look fab on snyone's skin.
From that collection is the beautiful artsy one here, with a large citrine stone in the middle of it. You don't see too much of the unpolished silver, but it is there to brighten up the whole piece. That piece retails for $135.00 for the pendant...making it one of the most expensive silver pendants in the store.
These long clusters of gemstones in the next photo are a stone called pyrhnite, if I spelled it correctly. It is a pale lettuce green, and is mingled with clusters of little freshwater pearls. The cascading necklace comes in two other colours,- amathyst,and a turqouoise blu ,colour enhanced chelsadony. The cascade necklaces sell for around 128.00-$138.00.
A favourite of the stars is the deluxe Cz ( cubic Zirconia) Star shape. How sweet that one is, but you need to be a "Star" to wear it!It is also in the high society oprices of around $135.00.
Last but not least is another beautiful Cz piece in a mandala of Clear Cubics clustered together. It also sells for over a hundred dollars.
So don't hestitate...pop in next week to 459 Ward Steet and try some of the beauties on.
( ever tryt ot type witha cat licking the tops of your fingers...feels funny ,tha is for sure!) It is a wonder I can type,with all the cat hair that must be in this key board.

Just as I promised...

 

Just as I promised...some of the current stock of jewellry at Kolmels these days.
The turquoise pendant on the left is a beautiful disk a little larger than a looney and sells for $75.00. The silver neckwires sell for $15.00. The cascading turqoise one on the right has its own uniqueness in that large bird's egg sized piece of raw turqoise. It is priced about the same as the first one, I believe..maybe even a little less!

The earrings are all around $49.00 a pair.
The turquoise chunky bracelet is about $98.00.

PROPERTYCOP.ORG

PROPERTYCOP.ORG
How is this for the greatest idea? You register with Property cops, and then you will be allowed to create a database of your valuables that is kept securely. In the event that any of your valuables are stolen,Property Cops will then have the records of your goods, and will be able to identify you as the owner,if they retrieve your valuables from some crooks. I think I will take the trouble to at least get a few key objects in there, including the new car and our Satellite radio. Most everything has a serial number on it these days. It is a matter of recording the info at this site. You may also upload up to six photos for each object. I can't imagine how many bicycles get stolen each year, and how many just get auctioned off when the police can't find the owners.
Good Luck!

TGIF

 

Friday started out with the sun spreading its joy on one mountain above the ferry. Its great to start your day by at least seeing the sun for a few minutes! Last night was the first night that I drove all the way home in the last bit of daylight, but daylight nonetheless. That feels good! In a few weeks, we'll be springing ahead with a new beginning for Daylight Savings Time...March 11th, if I heard it correctly. Canada will join the USA in bumping up the date in order to conserve energy. All sounds good to me, with the exception of one's computer. It is set to change to Daylight Savings Time ,sometime in April...I think a person should be able to change it manually without killing off too many braincells.

The fellow with the dog is our neighbour, Cecil and his big sheep dog, Ko-Ko. Now don't go confusing that dog with a Labradoodle...
A Labradoodle isn't a registered breed, but the breed is indeed growing to be very popular idea,amongst people looking for a non shedding bigger dog. Labradoodles are being bred in a variety of sizes and coats. Just Google "Labradoodle" and see what comes up! My friend in Rossland, Margo, is in a dire search for a new Labradoodle pup for this spring. I'll post some pics when she gets her doggy!
Time to hit the hay. I aslready fell asleep on the couch watching Woody Allen adn Hannah and her Sisters. We had a somewhat busy day at work and by the time I did Walmart, the liquor store, and Safeway,and came home and put everything away, I was pooped. Not to mention the Emil unloaded his car load of stuff into the Vue before he took off for Vancouver,so I packed all of that in,also.

I took a load of photos at the store today,so I'll post some jewellry pics over the weekend. We have some beautiful pendants right now- many with gemstones as their focal point. Stay tuned.
Also, I have another site to post...remind me...
Oh yes, Expedia.com just announced a big Vegas Sale today, so check it out if you havaen't booked your trip yet. The prices look about the same as what we booked,or even a little better.

A Tale of Two Cockies

A Tale of Two Cockies
This is a delightful story about two Cockatiels in love. Unfortunately, it was brought to my attention after Valentine's day, but it is a good read anyhow.

Lodzi Home Page

Lodzi Home Page
Joyce pointed me to this web page that shows the travels of Lodzi...explorers of the world who were wending their way through Canada. Joyce and Morgan saw their crazy Hummer vehicle in Nelson yesterday. They were visitors to Cathy's class at Blwett School. As she said, what a better way to learn about explorers, than to actually hear from explorers themselves.
If you go to the gallery, you can see trip photos that make you feel like a small ant in this very large world of ours. Ok...time to get my cactus transplanted and also my little Palm tree that I bought a few weeks ago. Ciao!

They turned Pink

 

Yep, Just as the name suggests.."French Pink Pussy Willows"
I checked out of the pruning process and you can prune them back to nothing every spring, before they go to bloom. Every three years, you can go right back to the main trunk of the tree to encourage loads of new growth. The branches on our tree grew to be five feet long,once we fenced the tree off from the deer, last summer.Imagine, if it gets to grow right from spring...should be a pretty show next year as all.

29 cm new snow at Whitewater, it says...and a blizzard going on up in Rossland, so says the radio. It looks pretty grey out there. The pwere went off and on at least five times last night! I feel like some kind of Zombie today..best hit the shower.

More Snow!

 

Driving home last night was ugly...snowing big cotton-ball sized snowflakes in a hypnotic pattern. Made me feel like I was watching Pink Flloyd back at the Planetarium in Vancouver. Only problem, was that the music wasn't there.
Chris wrote to say he got tickets to see Roger Waters ( from the Pink Flloyd) in Buenes Aires. Sweet!I bet it will be terrific too.
Sounds like Chris and Carolyne are having a slow paced holiday now, enjoying the countryside of Argentina, heading towards the city of Mendoza which is reknown for wine country.It looks quite beautiful...sort of like British Columbia...just more heat at this time of year! okey dokey ..time for work...