Ahhh...The Cottage Life!

There has been so much rain this summer. Unusual for Ontario but I have heard the weather is acting strange in many places. We are normally into heat waves with high humidity. The kind of weather that makes you want to run to the cottage and go swimming every weekend. I will always want to run to the cottage but haven't even been in the water this year. It is about 10 degrees cooler than normal. In our great West Canada they are enjoying an unusually hot summer with out rain. Seems like we have gotten our weather reversed!

I have noticed with the change of weather an abundance of mushrooms are growing on my lawn. Since it is usually very hot, mushrooms don't tend to develope.

I have a video at the bottom of my blog, Canadian Please! In part of the video they talk about the zipper and Insulin being Canadian inventions and it got me thinking. ( Not always a good idea) What else did Canadians invent? There are slew of items, some have served to help people world wide and some are particularly for colder climates as Canada is for 5-6 months of the year.

• The undersea telegraph cable invented by Frederick Newton Gisborne in 1857 changed communication worldwide.

• In 1922, Frederick Banting, J.J McLeod, Charles Bestin had a major breakthrough in the study of diabetes with the invention of the Insulin process. 
• John A Hopps in 1950 developed the Heart Pacemaker. 
• The G-suit or Anti Gravity Suit was invented by Wilbur Franks in 1941, a suit for high altitude jet pilots.
• Actar 911 Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Manikins were invented in 1989 by Dianne Croteau . I taught with these for many years. They made CPR training portable.  
• Java, a software programming language, was invented in 1994 by James Gosling. 
• The snowmobile is huge in the northern countries. Invented by Joseph-Armand Bombardier in 1958, it remains a big ticket item to this day! 
• An absolute must to get around in Canada in the winter is the electric car heater invented by Thomas Ahearn in 1890. 
• Add in a little something that we all use every day, the lowly zipper.  The zipper was invented by Gideon Sundback in 1913 and I thank him for that!  
• From screwdrivers (the Robertson) to apples (Macintosh) there is a very impressive list. The world is filled with so many brilliant people and inventions! I found out a lot of information when I googled Canadian inventions. Do the same for your country .

My question to you, my fellow bloggers: What inventions were developed in your country?

Just a few years back in Georgetown there was a mail order seed house. The seed house had about 20 acres of land "smack in the middle of town" and grew flowers for seed, roots and bulbs. It was well known in the area and many a visitor to Georgetown was very pleasantly surprised to see the sea of flowers and wave of colour.
It came to pass, that the original owners passed away and the family, after a few years decided to sell the property to the town. An extremely lucrative arrangement. The town folk were mighty sad to hear this bit of news but became slightly less so when they heard that a "specialty" shopping mall, park with a skating rink and park area with a pond were going to be built.
A few more years past and many write ups in the newspaper about what the town proposed to do with the land. The story changed many times. I suppose that the Shopping plaza and the parks would not bring in the kind of "dough" that was wanted needed, so the plans changed. First a Catholic High School was built on the grounds. Well, we actually did need another high school in Georgetown. The Catholic students had to bus to a nearby town. Building this one would benefit many.
A couple of more years, sporadic work here and there by the town, making ,what I supposed was the memorial garden to the seed house. Didn't look like much from the roadway. Just this spring they built a park for children with play equipment and a little water park and picnic area. It has been well populated with kids this year. So part of the towns plans have come about.
I decided I would go and take a look at this memorial garden on the far side of the park. I was pleasantly surprised! There is still a little work to be done, but it really is a lovely spot. The kind of spot I would love to have taken the kids to in their stroller and sit and mediation while they slept.
There is a nice parking area, not too big and well kept. A pathway starts into the garden and down the path, over a nice little bridge. A small boy there told me there were trolls under the bridge. I said I would be very careful! There are a few benches to sit on scattered around. A strong young Oak tree stands guard before the bridge. Many hardwood trees have been planted in the park and will one day reach great heights. Spirea and Euonymus flank the bridge.

Waiting for the storm to hit. Can't you feel the power that lays within?

An Inuit Legend

 http://www.firstpeople.us/pictures/polar-bears/polar-bear-profile.html

 The Woman and Her Bear

Long ago in the far north, there lived a village of people known as the Inuit. They lived on the shores of the icy Arctic, and they depended upon the bounty of the salmon and seal and the creatures of the snow to feed themselves. All the young men of the village were hunters and fishermen. One old woman lived alone She had no husband and no sons to hunt or fish for her, and though her neighbors shared their food with her, as was their custom, she was lonely. She longed for a family of her own. She often walked along the shore, looking far out to sea, praying that the gods might send her a son.
One cold winter day, the woman was walking by the sea when she spotted a tiny white polar bear sitting all alone on the thick ice. At once she felt a kinship toward him, for he looked as lonely as she. His mother was nowhere in sight. "Someone must have killed her," she said softly, and she walked onto the ice, picked up the cub and looked into his eyes. "You will be my son," she said. She called him Kunik.
The old woman took her cub back to her home. From that day on, she shared all of her food with Kunik, and a strong bond grew between the two.
The village children loved Kunik, too. Now the woman was never lonely, for her son, the bear, and all the village children kept her company all day. She would stand by her igloo and smile as Kunik and the children rolled in the snow and slid on the ice. Kunik was gentle with the children as if they were his brothers and sisters.
Kunik grew taller and smarter. The children taught him to fish. By springtime he was fishing on his own, and every afternoon he came home carrying fresh salmon for his mother, The old woman was now the happiest of all the villagers. She had plenty of food and a son she loved with all her heart. She was so proud of her little bear that whenever he returned home, she would say proudly to anyone nearby," He's the finest fisherman in all the village!"
Before long the men began to whisper among themselves. They knew the bear was the most skillful fisherman of the village. They began to feel envious. "What will we do?" they asked each other. "That bear brings home the fattest seals and the biggest salmon." "He must be stopped," one of the men said. "He puts us to shame." They all turned and looked at him. They nodded slowly for although they were envious , they knew how much the old woman loved the bear. "We'll have to kill him. He has grown far too big," one man said. One by one the others agreed, for their envy made them stupid and mean. "Yes" the others said. "He is a danger to our families."
A little boy overheard the men talking. He ran to the old woman's home to tell her of the terrible plan. When the old woman heard the news, she threw her arms around her bear and wept. "No," she said, "they must not kill my child." At once she set off to visit every house in the village. She begged each man not to kill her beautiful bear. "Kill me instead," she wept. "He is my child. I love him dearly."
"He is fat," some of the village men said. "He will make a great feast for the whole village." "He is a danger to our children," the others said. "We cannot let him live."
The old woman saw that the men was determined to kill her son. She rushed home and sat down beside him. "Your life is in danger, Kunik. You must run away. Run away and do not return, my child." she wept as she spoke and held him close. "Run away. but do not go so far that I cannot find you," she whispered. And though her heart was breaking, she sent Kunik away. He had tears in his eyes, but he obeyed his mother's wishes.
For many days the old woman and the children grieved their loss. And then one day the old woman rose at dawn and was determined to find Kunik. She walked and walked , calling out his name. After many hours, just as the old woman feared she would never find him, she saw her bear running toward her. He was fat and strong, and his coat was shimmering white. They embraced, and the old woman whispered, "I love you."
But Kunik could see that his mother was hungry, and so he ran to get her fresh meat and fish. With tears in her eyes, the old woman cut up the seal and gave her son the choicest slices of blubber. Promising to return the next day, she set off for home, carrying her meat, her heart filled with joy.
The next day, as she had promised, she went to visit her son. And every day after that, the old woman and her son met, and the bear brought his mother fresh meat and fish.
After awhile the villagers grew to understand the love between the woman and the bear was strong and true. And from that point on, they told with pride and respect the tale of the unbroken love between the old woman and her son.

There are many more pictures and stories at:  http://www.firstpeople.us/pictures/polar-bears/polar-bear-profile.html

I LOVE waterfalls! Natural, man made,whatever. I have always loved the cool rush of the water, the stars flying off the mist as the power of the falls reveals itself. Or it may be the musical trickle as the water from a small falls finds it's way to the lowland. Regardless, I love falls. I have captured a few too many in  my travels that I would like to share with you.

Sorry friends! I forgot an important part of the recipe and can only claim mind fugue with the extent of everything going on right now. Very busy time for me.
I forgot to add 1 can of diced tomatoes to the recipe. How could one forget tomatoes! I realized it when I was thinking about Tomato Porridge.  (http://ahazymoon.blogspot.com/see ) Tomatoes are essential for this gumbo. I have revised the post below. I hope you didn't all run out and buy the ingredients yet.

So what is going on that I have the mental capacity of an 90 year old with some timers? I am trying to utilize a government incentive for people who have been laid off to go back to school for training. They only allow this if it will further the skills you already have or can prove to them that the skills you have are either not going to get you hired or that you can no longer physically do that line of work. I am going for both!
1)You have to find the course you want to take. Apply to the different colleges that host that program and get accepted into the program.
2) List all the jobs you have applied for and been turned down. (We are not hiring just now, but if you want to try again in six months we may be taking applications then))
3) Prove why you need a change of career.( Because I am way to old to play anymore, being as past jobs have left me with a really bad back and there is no future in my past line of business)
4) Meet with career counselors and college intake persons. This means a lot of traveling.  Also a lot of time spent on the computer.

I am still dealing with the specialists and going to appt's with them as well. Of course the specialists are miles away so they take a full day for one appt.
In a nutshell, swamped!
So please forgive my error and try the recipe with the tomatoes. You will love it!