Monday, May 28, 2007

May 28/07

Just waiting for my soup to heat up so I thought that I would post. I heard some distressing news on Saturday night when I was at a fundraiser for a women's shelter. Apparently, the women's shelter in Saint John, Hestia House, is closing. I do not know the details, but I assume that it is a funding issue. Um, it is not like the need has disappeared. Our provincial government can find the money to give million dollar tax breaks to corporations who make quicksand promises about creating jobs in our province, but the government can not find the money to adequately fund things like women's shelters. Let me see, the government will give a 3 million dollar tax break to a company who promises to create say 100 jobs in a call centre. More times than not, those jobs fall through in a few years. Would it not be more cost effective to properly fund women's shelters in the province so that those several hundred women and children who find themselves in them annually could get back on their feet and get ahead?

I did put a few stitches into my Christmas ornament, but I will wait until later this week when I get the camera back from Mom to post a picture. The weather was gorgeous here this weekend so I spent my time working around the outside of the shack.

Oh yeah! One of the entertainers from Saturday night made a joke that I must share. He said, "I am about to sing our new national anthem" and then he proceeded to sing "Alberta Bound".

Saturday, May 26, 2007

May 26/07

Not much to report on the stitching front except to say that I am busy doing the back stitching on my stocking and filling in those little pesky cross stitches that I missed the first time around. This weekend is Christmas ornament SAL so I will do that on Sunday since today is busy with running 6km, dyeing my hair, a fundraiser concert for the Sussex women's shelter and a birthday party for a friend. I need to weed a flower bed and wash both the car and my Adirondack chairs at some point this weekend.

I think that I have figured out how to do an indoor vermiculture compost bin with minimal fuss and muss. Ever since my little rat invasion 2 years ago, I have stopped putting any food into my home compost bins out behind the shed and send all the food bits off to the landfill composting facility. Rats horrify me! I have been trying to figure out how to do the vermiculture thing because it seems counter-productive to the whole environment thing to ship the compostable materials away by gas-driven truck to save space in the landfill. I have the bin and the compostable material, so now all I need to do is collect some wrigglers after the next big rainfall. My brother referred to me as the "Recycling Nazi" when he lived with me a few years ago so maybe I will not mention this little venture to him any time soon! Heck after 30+ years, he should be used to my kookiness by now!

My decluttering efforts are teetering along. One brother got rid of 4 boxes of junk at a fleamarket at the curling club and made enough money to take his girlfriend and Mom out to lunch at Holly's that day. The other brother took a garbage bag full of household items and 6 sets of blinds to use in his new place at CFB Gagetown. Then, on the other hand, I have bought several new items of clothing as I update my summer wardrobe, but I am enforcing the "1 item in, 1 item out" rule as I keep adding to the donation pile.

Well, I should get to my other environmental cause of running! My thought is that by losing weight (or 60 lbs or so!), then I decrease the gas consumption of my car and wear smaller clothes, using up less resources! Plus, it makes me a healthy being because my stress levels drop as I clear my mind and my body gets stronger.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

May 18/07

Not much stitching to report as I was in Toronto last weekend and then been working in between sleeping since I have come home. I had planned to stitch alot today, but my allergies played havoc with that. The sinuses on the right side of my face were so full that I was dizzy and nauseated when I woke up this morning so I spent a good part of the day asleep since even reading in bed was a challenge. So much for tackling all of the stuff I had planned today like paperwork and errands. Oh well, it is a cold and overcast day so at least I do not feel like I lost a nice day to boot. I hope to get the last of the cross-stitching done on my stocking so that I can switch to the back and half stitching soon.

The Habitat for Humanity seminar was really interesting. The people and the topics were very interesting. I did learn something about myself-----I am terrible at navigating despite maps and explicit directions! Oh well, if we had not missed a turn or two, Jay and I would not have ended up having supper at a great pub in Bolton ON before heading back to where we were supposed to be! In my defence though, I did manage to find my way downtown with minimal "being lost time" after discovering that the 401 off-ramp I needed was closed for construction for this past weekend only.

Friday, May 11, 2007

May 11/07


I almost forgot to post my April ornament. I found it on the Michaels website.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

May 10/07

I am online because I am avoiding packing tonight since the last bit involves ironing now that I have decided on the clothes. My flight leaves at 11:30am so I have lots of time yet to get around to shoving things into the suitcase. The reason for the trip is the Habitat for Humanity leadership training in a town called Nobelton, ON which is conveniently just past Vaughn where an IKEA lives! Well, I may not get to IKEA because I am travelling with Jay and she may have other ideas about where she might like to shop tomorrow before we have to be in Nobelton.

Did anyone else not know that the Canadian Charter of Human Rights does not apply to the native reservations? A recent article on the front page of the newspaper absolutely shocked me when I read that the reservations and their councils had asked to be exempt when the Charter was brought into effect and fight to keep it that way despite the efforts of some of the native womens organizations. Maybe I am just blind to these things, but how can the Charter not be a good thing when it guarantees equality for all genders, races and ethnicities, etc.?

Grumble, grumble, off I go to pack my mini bottles of shampoo and other necessary items and maybe dig out the iron to take out some of the wrinkles before the airline re-creases my clothes.