Friday, May 29, 2009

Party Toast



Four people in our family including yours truly celebrated a birthday this month.
That means alot of cake, even if two of the people in question never made it to reno house to celebrate. We celebrated for them !
Since I discovered the miracle of the egg free cake (add one can of pumpkin to any cake mix,add a bit of milk to give it the right consistency, pour into greased pan and bake) we have enjoyed three scrumptious cakes.
So what do you do with the leftover ready to eat icing ?
The man and I started a little ritual we call party toast.
Take a piece of bread, toast, becel it and add icing. Party Toast !
Party toast is solely an adult pleasure.We indulge in party toast when the kidlets are absent from the house. It's a forbidden joy,so good yet so bad.
The kidlets regularly make fun of our fondness for retro food such as cheese whiz,shreddies,wieners and baked beans so why would they like party toast ?
They don't deserve it. I urge every parent out there to have an adult party with party toast, don't tell your kids,hide the evidence and comment back on your experience.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Backus Mill





Tuesday, May 19, 2009

These are a few of my favourite stocks...




Whisker's on kittens, not for me. I prefer the markets to pussy any day.
My long term stock picks include my ultimate favourite go long stocks, Veolia (VE) and Clean Energy Fuels Corp (CLNE). Green can generate green $.
The old adage is , invest in what you know. I know tech,baubles and gadgets so have invested in Electronic Arts,Research In Motion,Apple,Microsoft and Palm.
I always expect Apple to be volatile but what I don't understand is Palm.Palm shouldn't be so flip floppy especially with this new release around the corner.
Electronic Arts (ERTS) is another brand which should be stronger,at one point I thought video games was the only thing keeping the world economy afloat. Everyone and their Mom games , the stock is steady but should be a bigger gainer.
I have also learned that there is a happy medium between trading penny stocks and the Warren Buffett method. You have to know when to hold em, yada yada.
Penny stocks are for penny stock traders.You will burn and die in penny stocks if you're not playing the game when the market is open. I promoted a penny stock for three days and pushed it up 46% before it went flat.During this time period,I sat at my computer during market hours (9-4) bought on upside and sold at the peak before it went flat.That's how I made my quick 50k, thank you QTM.
I'm happy I still have a strong bladder,is it true that stock brokers wear depends?

Nonetheless,I have learned the following from play stocking;

1. Don't diversify too much 5-6 stocks at the most.
2. Research is key
3. Buy what you know (see number 2)
4. Buy on upside, sell before it goes flat unless the stock has a steady return history.

Monday, May 18, 2009

This holiday brought to you by Labbatts, I mean Queen Victoria


The teenager will never be a brain surgeon,supreme court justice, concert pianist or world renowned historian. She does have some smarts and maintains a
"B" average. Some of her grades are simply outstanding and yet she struggles with the other half. I can't understand how she can pull off an 'A' plus in English yet skim by in Ancient History.
Through osmosis, the teenager has innate knowledge of Canadian history and like her Mom hates the ignorance of her classmates.
The argument of the week between the teenager and the "heathers" at the "snob by reputation" high school was based on the origin of "Victoria Day".
Several young ladies in Grade 11 who maintain a 4 grade point average were quite adamant that the stat holiday celebrated on the third Monday in May is to celebrate beer.
The holiday is hardly ever on May 24, so it's not connected to the date,it's connected to buying a case of beer.Everyone buys a case (24) of beer to celebrate hence the 2-4 holiday.
That's right folks, these senior high school students are dumb as doorbells.This blog is brought to you by the "stupidest generation ever" tm.

Wikipedia states,"Victoria Day (in French: FĂȘte de la Reine), colloquially known as May Two-four, May Long, or May Run, is a Canadian statutory holiday celebrated on the last Monday before or on 24 May, in honour of both Queen Victoria's birthday and the current reigning Canadian sovereign's official birthday. It has been marked since before Canada was formed, originally falling on the sovereign's actual birthday, and continues to be celebrated across the country on a fixed date and in various fashions, also being considered an informal mark of the beginning of the summer season. As a federal holiday, Victoria Day is a holiday for Quebec; however, the government of Quebec in 2003 made 24 May concurrently National Patriots' Day."

Victoria Day was established as a holiday in Canada West (Now Ontario) in 1845, and became a national holiday in 1901. The holiday has evolved as Wiki describes," It was noted that on that date in 1854 – the 35th birthday of Queen Victoria – some 5,000 residents of Canada West gathered in front of Government House (near present day King and Simcoe Streets in Toronto) to "give cheers to their queen,"[2] and on Victoria Day 1866, the town of Omemee, also in Canada West, mounted a day-long fĂȘte to mark the occasion, including a gun salute at midnight, pre-dawn serenades, picnics, athletic competitions, a display of illuminations, and a torch-light procession.[3]

Following the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, 24 May was by imperial decree made Empire Day throughout the British Empire, while, over the ensuing decades, the official date in Canada of the reigning sovereign's birthday changed through various royal proclamations: for Edward VII it continued by yearly proclamation to be observed on 24 May, but was 3 June for George V, 23 June for Edward VIII (their actual birthdays), and various days between 20 May and 14 June through George VI's reign as king of Canada. Elizabeth II's first birthday as sovereign was the last to be celebrated in June; the haphazard format was abandoned in 1952, when the Governor-General-in-Council moved Empire Day to the Monday before 25 May, and Elizabeth's official birthday in Canada was by regular vice-regal proclamations made to fall on this same date every year between 1953 and 1957, when the link was made permanent.[1] The following year, Empire Day was renamed Commonwealth Day, and in 1977 it was moved to the second Monday in March, leaving the Monday before 24 May solely as Victoria Day.

The reigning Canadian monarch has been in Canada for his or her official birthday twice: the first time being on 20 May 1939, when King George VI was on a coast-to-coast tour of Canada and his official birthday was celebrated with a Trooping the Colour ceremony on Parliament Hill.[4] The second time was when Queen Elizabeth II was in Canada from 17 May to 25 May 2005, to mark the centennial of the entries of Saskatchewan and Alberta into Confederation; no events were organized to acknowledge this fact.

Although Canadians have historically been loyal to the crown, the holiday's intent was to promote loyalty amidst a fractured Canadian society.
Canada was not yet a country, merely two colonies ruled by the elite with very few democratic rights and freedoms.

Immigrants from the United States were denied the right to buy land and many United Empire Loyalists who fled the US and persecution were frustrated by the slow reform of colonial government in Upper and Lower Canada.
Our "civil war" took place in 1837, the year Victoria assumed the throne and in subsequent years the government of the time was quite eager to inflame Canadian patriotism by any means necessary. Even a statutory holiday.
For more information on our civil war, take the jump to http://tripatlas.com/Upper_Canada_Rebellion.

The first "long weekend of the summer " is traditionally marred by tragedy, too often on our roads or in our lakes.
The first Victoria Day tragedy took place in my hometown of London when a passenger ferry named Victoria overturned in the Thames River, near London, Ontario. The boat departed in the evening with 600 to 800 people on board ,three times the allowable passenger capacity and capsized part way across the river, drowning some 182 individuals, including a large number of children who had been with their families for Victoria Day picnics at Springbank Park. The event came to be known as the Victoria Day disaster.
Since the victims were evangelical christians, I don't believe beer was involved.
Happy Victoria Day !

Saturday, May 16, 2009

One day at a time ...


I was such a debbie downer in my last post. Thank you for the advice on how to turn an upside down smile upright again. The universe is just one big ol biorhythm , just ask and ye shall receive. Some dude actually saw my kijiji ad and bought the rest of the morels... and at market price.It paid for the teenagers b-day celebration which consisted of chilli cheese dogs,orange pop and cake.I know the teenager wasn't particularly happy about staying in on her birthday but we made the most of a bad situation.All of her friends skipped out on her as it is the long weekend and they all had plans,church camp,army,cottage etc. Sometimes it totally sucks to be 17. In our family we have an interesting rule. You can celebrate your birthday once a year,but you can choose when you want to celebrate it. The teenager decided to move her birthday celebration to late June when she can have a pool party and all of her friends can celebrate with her.Alternate birthdays rule! The neighbours decided to plant a tree in front of their upstairs windows which will hopefully provide much needed privacy for both of us. Why pull down your blinds when you can block the view with a tree ? Yes , I know,small mercies. The man is feeling a wee bit better and I'm hoping that we can restart our grand plan on Monday. Our latest excitement is a pair of mallard ducks who really want to nest under our deck and we are doing our very best to stop their evil procreating plans. The renovator man is doing his very best Elmer Fudd to keep them out of our yard. Overall, a better week, more laughs and borrowed dvd's from the London Public Library have encouraged a positive karma.
The highlight was receiving an invitation to my stepdaughter's baby shower. I'm going to be a g-ma who isn't a Grandma but as much fun and quite a bit younger.We have named the fetus "Weezer" much to the consternation of his parents who didn't quite understand the need for a fetus name."Weezer" ,is a name of a band but was first the name of the youngest "Little Rascal" from the Our Gang series first seen on the silver screen waaay before my time. He was the cute little guy who pulled the wagon and never spoke,the renovator man thought it was an apt name for his soon to be grandchild. We're all excited about the grandbaby and the imminent move of his/her parents from the big smoke to cottage country. A grand baby and cottage country, it doesn't get much better does it ?
The universe smiles when you least expect it...

Saturday, May 9, 2009

How do I know I'm not a Stepford blogger Mom ?

... because I'm not that damn cheerful.
And I started two sentences with no no words.
I'm going straight to blogger hell.

That or I need an anti depressant to get me back to my stain free Tide washed clean blogger attitude.
It's always interesting to read Mom blogs about how cute and perfect their respective lives are or to read which new "blogger family tried product" is just that perfect. How do these women get paid to product promote via their blog ?
I always feel like I'm a two penny stock promoter when recommending stuff to my friends in the blogosphere. Hell, I couldn't even sell my yellow morels which popped up like magic in my pea gravel path.
I must have contacted half a dozen restaurants,had four kijiji ad responses all to no avail. I guess we will enjoy quite the feast with our steak this evening and dry the rest for later.
I did get a phone call from the Manic Organic's wife and partner who was very enthusiastic about my succulent find but couldn't travel to pick them up due to scheduling constraints.
One of the boxwood trees at the front of the house died over the winter and has to be replaced. The problem is, there is no exact match. I will have to transplant the other bush to the burm and replace both areas with something else.
My front yard is covered in dandelions despite the herculean effort that Katie and I spent digging them out. I have sixty pounds of dandelion debris to show for it and very sore joints and muscles. F#$ck, I feel ancient.
I'm continually pissed off with the world and people in general.Drunk drivers,people who go to Mexico and get swine flu,neighbours.
I know, I know, small potatoes compared to people who are experiencing financial issues but we have that bugbear on top of us too.
I believe in the power of positive thought but sometimes cracks in the facade occur.
What can you do when life gets you down ?

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Yellow Morels




We found a fine crop of 200 yellow morels ( Morchella Esculenta) in our backyard.
If you zoom through the house pics, the shrooms are coming up on the pea gravel path and in the area where the tent was pitched. After much research and discussion with others, we believe we have found gold in the back 40. Who would have thunk it ?
Will sell for market price.