Stone Soup

After a visit to the optometrist a few weeks ago, I chose some new frames and I picked them up the other day. I have always come home with frames that were similar to my last frames but this time I made a real effort to choose something different. These are metal, like the last ones...oh oh...but they are a deep maroon colour, much darker than I have worn in many years. They are more square than I have ever worn too, and I kind of like the sides.

My health insurance doesn't cover everything on eyeglasses but every little bit helps. From $450 I will get back $200. I wear progressive bifocals, which freak me out when I go down stairs but for vanity's sake, they have to be progressive. I also got anti-glare which makes your lenses look thinner and anti-scratch. Pretty standard extras.

They also have sunshades that clip on by little magnets. Hmm...I wonder how long it will take me to misplace them!

Here is a tricky test...and a good one too since most of us reading this, blog almost daily or at least a few times a week. My mistake was #2. Have a go at it, click the image to take the test yourself!

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

Glenn brought me a couple of pieces of chocolate cake he made this week. He wants to loose some weight and can't do it with chocolate cake in the house so he brought it over to make Mom fat. I was happy to oblige him. As I munched, I mentioned I could use his help shoveling mulch into bags at the garden center. So I finished my cake and off we went.


Bag-your-own garden mulch is new to me. It was near closing when we arrived. Four girls stood around the cash doing nothing but I had to ask for service. I told one girl what I wanted, she pointed at the bags and asked me how many. I told her 4. She rang up $13 something with tax and we took the bags out to the mulch pile. While he was shoveling, Glenn noticed a sign that said $2.99 per bag (what I had been charged) or 5 bags $2.49 each. I could have had an extra bag free but the girl never pointed that out. I suppose I should have gone back into the garden center and made a complaint but I was tired.

Glenn did a good job packing those bags, they were so heavy! I couldn't manage them and was greatful he was there to help.

This week's Picture Perfect theme is Gossamer.

What a sight it was that greeted Bernadette and I last week when we left the theatre where we saw La Boheme. There are two high rise condos across the street, at least 22 floors, maybe more...they were draped in soft cloud. It seemed as if the sky had softly descended.

I am shameless...lifting this right off Cheri's page. If you don't know the answers just take a stab. And if you post the questions at your blog, nudge me and I will answer.

My name:

Where did we meet:

Take a stab at my middle name:

Do I smoke:

Do I drink:

When is my birthday:

What was your first impression of upon meeting me:

What is your impression of me now:

What's one of my favorite things to do:

What is one of my favorite movies:

What is the best feature about me:

Am I shy,outgoing,a rebel or a rule follower:

Do I have any special talents:

Would you call me preppy, average, sporty, punk, hippie, glam, nerdy, snobby, or something else (what):

What is my favorite food:

If there was one good nickname for me, what would it be:

What's your favorite memory of me:

What is my worst habit:

If you and I were stranded on a desert island, what one thing would I bring?

Name 3 interesting things you know about me:

If we had one night together, what would we do:

My sister Karen's cat Charlie, moved in with them a few years ago. They didn't choose Charlie, he chose them. It was winter and Charlie kept coming around their door; he seemed to have no home. After a few days, they started to feed him, outside. Then it was cold so they let him camp overnight in the garage but soon he was coming in every night. They couldn't let him in the house because of her other sick old cat...but good old persistant Charlie kept hanging around and eventually even sick old cat got used to him. Then sick old cat went to kitty heaven and Charlie finally became top cat for a while and took over Old Boots position on the sofa. Then Cinder came and I think I have blogged about this before.

Charlie likes to find warm pleasant places in the sun to relax in...and here he found one. He had to tip toe though the tulips to find exactly the right spot to lie in.

He is snoozing in her front garden where he can keep an eye on the house and the street while catching some warm rays.

From his sunny bed, Charlie also has a pretty good view of the tree and the birds who visit but for some reason do not care to hang around very long.

Perhaps they will get used to him too...just like everyone else at Karen's house did.

I was listening to CTV News tonight at 11:00 PM and they said that a McGill University research on 14,000 babies shows that breast-feeding increases the intelligence of your baby up to 7.5 points. This is the largest study ever done on intelligence related to breastfeeding.

Every Friday Mona posts a dare to photograph something and she sets the criteria. This week it must be something white and you must take the photo yourself. This week's dare is easy for me because I have lots of white accents in my home.

Here is a small collection of soft critters on my bed. The curly bear on the right has a tiny blanket that says Bestest Aunt. My niece, Melanie gave it to me.


Actually , there is lots of white in my bedroom.



And below is a candle sitting on a scarf on my dresser. It isn't a real candle, it's battery operated. I prefer the real ones but this is white and I will keep it until the battery runs out. These candles were given out to all 1200 employees in February at our yearly All Employee Communication Meeting...the candles represent Candlelighters an association to help children with cancer. All our Friday casual wear tax is going to Candlelighters this year and there are a number of other fundraisers for them in the pipeline.

Do you remember in 1969, when John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged a week-long 'bed-in' protest for peace at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal?

A 16-year old student, Gail Renard, managed to sneak in to the hotel, knocked on the door and asked John and Yoko if she could interview them for her school magazine. Security never was too tight around John, was it...and that eventually led to his death. But I digress...The Lennons agreed to the interview and even invited her to spend the rest of the week with them.

It was during this 'bed-in' that John recorded Give Peace a Chance and gave the Gail the hand written lyrics for the song, telling her that someday the piece of paper would be worth a lot of money.

That young girl, now a comedy writer and approaching her retirement years, is selling the lyrics at auction in July. They are expected to fetch $600,000. A nice little nest egg don't you think?

I am just sitting in the living room, feet up, laptop on my lap (oh I love wireless) watching the news while I check some blogs here and read my email. A segment on the news was about motor scooters and now I want one. I think the money I would save in gas would quickly pay for it. They start at $3,500 and go up to $10,000. I will look for the lower end scooter.

Well, maybe not too low end.

But one like below would do me nicely. My Honda Accord uses one grade above regular gas, and at $1.26 a litre, I think I need something less costly.

I will start looking for one. I could drive this (on dry days) from April to October and maybe even November. Of course, I will need a gas mask on the 401! Seriously, I am really thinking about getting one.

My eyes were a little better today...fewer episodes. Honestly, over the weekend I was sure I would have to go back to the opthamologist first thing Monday morning. Tonight, it seems to be clearing quite a bit...and I was on the computer all day too.

A bit of hopeful news...Lynda at work showed me an online update about the puppy I want to adopt...Biscuit's housebreaking is coming along. The foster is working on it with him. I haven't heard from the rescue people, they called my references and then I didn't hear any more. So, I left a voicemail today and also emailed the foster; she replied that the person doing the home visits has been sick and didn't let them know. I should be hearing from her soon. Soooo, please keep your fingers crossed for me. I want this dear little puppy.

I am just sitting in the living room, feet up, laptop on my lap (oh I love wireless) watching the news while I check some blogs here and read my email. A segment on the news was about motor scooters and now I want one. I think the money I would save in gas would quickly pay for it. They start at $3,500 and go up to $10,000. I will look for the lower end scooter.

Well, maybe not too low end.

But one like below would do me nicely. My Honda Accord uses one grade above regular gas, and at $1.26 a litre, I think I need something less costly.

I will start looking for one. I could drive this (on dry days) from April to October and maybe even November. Of course, I will need a gas mask on the 401! Seriously, I am really thinking about getting one.

My eyes were a little better today...fewer episodes. Honestly, over the weekend I was sure I would have to go back to the opthamologist first thing Monday morning. Tonight, it seems to be clearing quite a bit...and I was on the computer all day too.

A bit of hopeful news...Lynda at work showed me an online update about the puppy I want to adopt...Biscuit's housebreaking is coming along. The foster is working on it with him. I haven't heard from the rescue people, they called my references and then I didn't hear any more. So, I left a voicemail today and also emailed the foster; she replied that the person doing the home visits has been sick and didn't let them know. I should be hearing from her soon. Soooo, please keep your fingers crossed for me. I want this dear little puppy.

I had a bit of a scare this week. Back on Monday, the vision in my right eye, my only good eye, began to bother me. There was something dark just to the right of center vision and it was in one place but moving in place. It came and went in the morning, I thought it might be eyestrain, but by day end it was difficult to see through it. Of course, when something like this happens, we think the worst. I was lucky to get an appointment with an opthamologist for the next morning. He says it is aging! The vitreous is shrinking and the dark thing I see is the edge of my retina where it is pulling. Just to be sure the retina isn't detaching (he thinks it is not ) I will go back next week for an examination with my eye dialated. He says I will either get used to seeing through it or it will fall to the bottom and won't bother me as much. Trying to see around this dark thing is annoying.

Anyway, I am going to see an opera with Bernadette this afternoon and looking forward to it. It is something new, opera in a movie theatre, broadcast live from the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She says it is even better than live opera because the camera zooms in and you can see more detail. Also during intermission, they take you behind the curtain. I am looking forward to it!

Biscuit is a beagle who arrived in Ontario last Saturday from Kentucky via an Animal Rescue Organization. This is where they found a quick foster home for him....they are not a shelter but have a list of foster parents on call to accept puppies who were headed for the gas chamber. Biscuit was a stray who was picked up somewhere in Kentucky by Animal Services and the rule there is euthanasia after 3 days if a dog is not claimed. By providence, Biscuit escaped the gas chamber not once, but twice...and now he is here in Peterborough, Ontario.

I am driving to Peterborough to meet him tomorrow. I spent the evening filling out a 6 page adoption form, calling my 4 references to let them know they would be contacted, and emailing the agency and foster mother who is taking care of him. She says he is a gentle sweetheart who gets

along well with her other dogs, ignores the cat unless the other dogs are bothering her and then he joins in. He isn't housetrained yet...may not have been indoors much in his short life. He has been neutered and his shots are up to date.

Isn't he just a darling little dog? He weighs only 16 lbs but may put on a few more as he matures. I think he and I will be happy in my small condo. I am a tad worried about the house training but think I can handle it even though I am out all day...I will use a crate until he can be trusted.

Do you know a keyboard can have more germs than a toilet seat? After learning this I swabbed mine, at home and in the office, with disinfectant wipes.

I was reading about dirty keyboard solutions recently and read about a keyboard with a roach infestation. I am sure I would thrown it out but a cleaning method was offered instead. The biggest challenge is to remove the keyboard from your laptop. ( you have to unscrew many tiny screws underneath the laptop, then pry gently up being careful not to break the wires.) Then turn the keyboard upside down and submerge in a pan of pure isopropyl alcohol. This is the kind of alcohol used to clean heads of analog tape decks or vcrs. Swirl the keyboard in the alcohol, use a soft bristle toothbrush to clean between the keys, remove and cover again with fresh isopropyl alcohol soaking for 1/2 hour. Let dry for 24 hours, reattach keyboard...carefully.

I also heard that you can put the keyboard in the top rack of the dishwasher, run the cycle with no soap and let it heat dry. I have never tried this or the previous solution with isopropyl alcohol and do not know anyone who has. Let me know if you do!

The above seems a little extreme but maybe for extremely dirty keyboards one needs extreme cleaning. What I do is vacuum the keyboard occasionally and now, since learning about the toilet seat/keyboard comparison, I also wipe the keys with alcohol wipes.

Typing on a germy keyboard has to clog up your thinking--it is just bad feng shui!

What are three police cars doing in the parking lot as I leave the office today?

A young lady had arrived early for an interview this afternoon and was waiting in her car for the time to enter the building. Some men came up to her car, she rolled down her window a little and one of them said to her, "I have a gun. Get out of your car and give me your keys." They left with her car and can you imagine how devastated she must have been as she ran into the building for help.

The company I work for is located in what is considered a high crime area of Toronto but we have never had an such an incident in our parking lot. There are cameras everywhere, which I am sure will be very useful to the police.

What have I learned from this? We aren't safe anywhere. Always be suspicious of a stranger who walks up to your car. Never roll down your window, even an inch. Lean on your horn if they do not go away.

What would you do?

What are three police cars doing in the parking lot as I leave the office today?

A young lady had arrived early for an interview this afternoon and was waiting in her car for the time to enter the building. Some men came up to her car, she rolled down her window a little and one of them said to her, "I have a gun. Get out of your car and give me your keys." They left with her car and can you imagine how devastated she must have been as she ran into the building for help.

The company I work for is located in what is considered a high crime area of Toronto but we have never had an such an incident in our parking lot. There are cameras everywhere, which I am sure will be very useful to the police.

What have I learned from this? We aren't safe anywhere. Always be suspicious of a stranger who walks up to your car. Never roll down your window, even an inch. Lean on your horn if they do not go away.

What would you do?

Waiting for my first cup of coffee to drip. Yes, I am up late but yesterday morning I promised myself I would do this today...sleep in. ...be right back, the coffee is ready.

And now I am sipping coffee in bed with my laptop.

While I was waiting for the coffee I thought of what I was supposed to be doing today, attending the International Home Show downtown with a friend. We got our emails crossed and crossed again, I cancelled plans for the wrong day, now we are supposed to go tomorrow but I have other plans...oh gee, I will give her the tickets and she can go with someone else.

This friend was inspired, when she came for dinner one night, by by the lack of clutter here. I discovered a while later she had begun the job of clearing her own home of years of things she was storing. She donated to Good Will and advertised in Free Cycle and got rid of a huge amount of "things" that were cluttering up her life. She is enjoying the feeling of airy freedom she has created and it even takes way less time to clean the house.

Today, the final job. She is emptying her garage and will put back only what she absolutely needs. As she was telling me about it I found I was feeling inspired by her!. Downstairs pouring m ycoffee, I looked around and noticed "things" that were beginning to accumulate, on the counter, the top of the fridge and the chair....a little here and there. So, decluttering is the order of the day for me. I find that if I am not vigilant, it collects quickly and I feel muddled, unable to put my finger on what is wrong. To inspire me even further, the television is showing the staging of a home on HGTV. I love the before and after pictures. Perhaps I will take some of my own.

It is raining, it will rain all day long! It has been pouring so hard I can hardly see avross the highway outside my office window. I am not unhappy with that, as a matter of fact I am very pleased. The rain is melting our snow away. It is washing the salt away, it is cleaning all the grey and soon it will be GREEN!!!

I am wearing mismatched socks because tomorow, March 31 is the 3rd International MisMatched Socks Day when we wear mismatched socks in memory of our eccentric loved ones. Read the beginnings of this special day at Amy's blog.

Toronto did well for Earth Hour. The city managed to reduce hydro usage by 8.7% compared to another late March Saturday night. Across the province we reduced it by 5.2%. Downtown street level lights were on but above that the lights in office towers, hotels and condos switched off.

I live out in the 'burbs. Around my neighbourhood, most homes were dark. As 8:00 PM approached I opened my blinds tomake use of the last of the waning daylight. I lit a candle and turned the lights off. I was online for a while, thanks to my laptop battery which has enough juice to run for a few hours.

A friend of mine, tells me he missed the last hour of the hockey game because of Earth Hour and wouldn't you know it...Toronto BEAT Montreal. Of course, I had to call home right away. Sister and brother in law were sitting in the dark except the hockey game was on. Serves them right. Every home in Montreal had the game on to see Les Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Laughs (that's is what they call us lately). Well, I am pleased they watched us win! They are number 1 in the rankings and we didn't make the playoffs.

It does my heart good to see the city go dark, not from a crisis but voluntarily.

I have a web cam on my laptop and I am wondering how to use it. The little camera lens is at the top of my monitor. I can't see any way to launch it and I have searched for software that might work but there doesn't seem to be any. Do any of you know how to use it?

On this day in 1998 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Viagara!

This drug was originally synthesized to treat hypertension and angina but the chemists at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals found that while the drug had little effect on the conditions it was developed to treat, it could induce penile erections.

Pfizer decided to market the drug for impotence. Sildenafil, the chemical name for Viagra, was patented in 1996, and a mere two years later--a stunningly short time compared to other drugs--it was approved by the FDA for use in treating "erectile dysfunction," the new clinical name for impotence. Viagra's massive success was almost instantaneous.

An estimated 30 million men in the United States suffer from erectile dysfunction and a wave of new Viagra competitors, among them Cialis (tadalafil) and Levitra (vardenafil), has blown open the market.

The long-term effects of Viagra on men's health are still unclear (Viagra does carry warnings
for those who suffer from heart trouble), but its popularity shows no signs of slowing especially as the baby boomer population continues to age.

Happy Birthday, Viagra!

I am sitting on my sofa with the laptop waiting for Seal to sing on Oprah. When I got in the door the scene was rather emotional, but I missed the beginning so don't really know why...it was something about his childhood, which I gather was difficult.

Today, I lost it with a fax service company. They send me spam faxes I do not want, I call every day to have my number removed but get more faxes the following day. I called again today and instead of using the fax removal number I called their sales office. Didn't get a real person, of course. Left a message on their voicemail that if they do not cease and desist immediately I will call the advertiser featured on each and every fax and make a complaint.

I'm sure there will be more faxes in the morning advertising wet basement repairs etc. so do you think it would work if I actually called their clients? Hmmm, I wonder. Problem is I am too busy during the day to do it....but sometimes I wish...

Seal sang one song on Oprah...wonder if he will sing again. I like him.

I have been wanting to join Mona's Friday Dare, almost did it a few times then I popped over today and the theme is "signs of Easter in your home."

Oh darn, I thought to myself, there ARE no signs of Easter in my home, there is ice on my patio,it is too cold, too early and I haven't felt in the mood. So I looked for signs of Easter past. Hope this will do.

An Easter Bunny who appeared on my patio in a gift bag. For a while, I had no idea who it was from. It sits in my china cabinet now.

1

A real bunny who lived with me for a few weeks. Below, one night when he was naughty.

He was a houseguest who kept a messy room.

And liked to drink wine, liked it a little too much!

and below, a sign of Spring, my favourite Spring meal, usually serve this at Easter dinner. Leg of lamb stuffed with couscous with spring vegetables.

If you would like to participate in Mona's Friday Dare, leave your link here:

http://monaswe2007.multiply.com/journal/item/105/I_dare_you...

Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20). This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.

Here's the interesting info. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier! The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!

Today is the birthday of Theodore Seuss Geisel, better known to most as Dr Seuss writer and illustrator of whimsical children's books. He was born on March 2, 1904 and died at the age of 87 in September 1991. His first book, The Cat In The Hat, was published in 1957, I was just 7 years old. My parents weren't very tuned in to children's books but as a child who loved books I ran into Dr Seuss early at the library. I think his books may have been frowned on by educators at the time but he certainly was more interesting than Dick, Jane, Sally, Spot and Puff. See Dick run, Run Dick. Run. Seuss had greater appeal than those ,and by the time my children were born there was near fifty books published. I read all of them aloud with my sons and loved the stories and lyrical rhymes every bit as much as they did. A favourite was The Sleep Book, which left us all more stimulated than sleepy at bedtime, it was such fun. He published a few books with a serious and darker tone, The Butter Battle Book (protesting the nuclear arms race) and The Lorax which addressed the environment. He even wrote a book for adults, Oh The Things You Will See which became popular as a graduation gift.

My sons and I enjoyed many happy hours reading aloud when they were young and Dr Seuss was a memorable part of the experience.