bigugli

If you are looking for non role type/ non stereotype toys you are going to have to look at some of the more independent toy shops. They are out there, and yes, more expensive.

Mastermind and Teachers Choice come to mind, but even they get caught up in some story specific toys like "Thomas".

Yes I remember Lincoln Logs and Tinkertoys. I got those under the tree alongside green ( Brit and yank) and grey (German) army men.

It,s,

 

Nice Bruce.

I forgot to put the big red coat on this morning.

The son dragged me out to try our hand at troutin over the weekend. I must admit, I'm not big on targeting trout beyond hitting a few smaller streams in spring. Only got one the whole weekend, but it was worth it. Lot's of shakin and jumpin.

The news that my Mrs has beat that nasty disease

 

Other than that...

A home much closer to L Simcoe and the Muskokas

Whats the difference between grappa, and moonshine?

 

I think Grappa is made with the left over grapes from making wine? Is that where the sugar content comes from??

 

I know whats in moonshine.....I read it on the internet LOL

 

S.

Grappa comes from the last squeezings of grape, and from wine that didn't quite turn out right.

As for shine, it was always made from whatever fruit was leftover. Old apples in the cellar, canned fruit turned brown from age, soft taters, etc... It all boiled down nicely. Used to be easy to find locals who kept a cooker in back somewhere.

I have the utmost respect for you guys that can tell the difference of a lower end whiskey and a very expensive one.In all fairness not seeing the label.

Could you taste the difference?and tell which one was the lower end one?.

The easiest way to tell the difference between grades of whiskey is simply how it finishes as you drink it. harsh vs. smooth, burn or mellow. The biggest giveaway is whether there is an aftertaste.

Maybe this time around, Jen will have it beat.

Thank you, everybody, for your prayers and best wishes. It means a lot to both of us.

Chemo is done. Dr. is pleased with the results. Touch wood, Judy and I can get back to a semi-"normal" life

Get those simple interlock foam mats if you want an insulator from the cold. Simple and effective

 

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/kids-reversible-tiles-24-in-0686044p.html

If you want brutal. Nothing beats Grappa. Some recipes are near bad enough to make you go blind

I never lost interest, but when the kids were small, priorities were different. Life got in the way of leisure for 7-8 years. I had a mass coronary and came back to my senses as to what was important in life.

Costco meat tastes like ....well. ....crap. Go see a real butcher. I raise beef. But dipietros in the k/w area comes to mind. Last time I was in there I picked up some 2 " thick t-bones. 5.99 a lb ...I can barely raise my own for that price. World of difference in taste from costco beef.

Used to love picking up meat from Stemmlers back when they still had the booth at St Jakobs

Disgusting;

 

http://www.blackfridaydeathcount.com/

 

Who in there right mind would go to any store on Black Friday is beyond me. In my opinion if you wouldn't normally buy something at the regular price and on Black Friday the item is 25%-40% off an inflated retail price, why all of a sudden go out of your way and risk your life to give away your money???

 

Makes no sense and I pity Black Friday shoppers, however I really do think it's also a reflection of the American culture.... As we've all seen scenes on the news of poor people in third world countries fight and scramble for food as if its there last, we have Americans fight and kill for an x-box, kitchen towels, and plasma t.v's .... A true sad state of affairs.

You have obviously never experienced the thrill of the bargain hunting mob at Honest Ed's.

I guess the other thing about Christmas that I cherish was this. I grew up in a home where Christmas was not 1 day. It was a season. Like a symphony, Dec 1st. started softly and quietly like an opening movement. it then quickened, a week before, to a rising crescendo and peaking as a glorious noise on Christmas Day, and the noise didn't stop til New Years Day.

There was something to do with Christmas happening every day. I could write a book on every activity we indulged in at Christmas.

Nothing beats Christmas Eve like a Scandinavian open house. Hanging around the kitchen for 2 weeks as Gram created all the special cakes, cookies, breads, and sampling them all. Then shopping at the specialty delis and butchers for the great treats. More sampling.

It took all day of the 24th to get everything ready. 2 full tables of food and goodies and copious stockpiles of beverages. By 6 o'clock, folks would start knocking at the door. Family, good friends, neighbours, would wander through our home until 3 in the morning. 50-60 people in the one night. all so happy to see one another. Those Christmases held a magic all their own.

It's been 20+ years since the last open house. The elders are all gone. Gram died a month after Robert was born. All the families scattered to the winds and seemed to lose touch and connexion with each other. The in-laws don't have those kinds of ties. Nobody seems to care for that kind of gathering any more?

My wife makes blankets in her spare time, here is a few, the larger ones are $500 and the smaller ones are $200. She makes quite a few of the smaller ones for baby blankets. She can design a pattern with pretty much anything on them , 3-4 month turnaround time.

 

These blankets are absolutely beautiful pieces.

For young fellows like that you need to go a little shorter. A 5' rod would do fine. If you are looking for near indestructible and taking a lot of abuse, (they are young lads after all) you want an ugli stik. Stick to a simpler reel.

I actually have a 5' ugli stik lite action that I use for drifting harnesses, and for bush fishing. Still more than capable of handling 30-36" pike without trouble some 10 years after.

I usually cook up a batch of elderberry brandy. Been too busy of late, so there will be no new batch for Christmas. Maybe in the New Year

I don't have any little ones to buy for at the moment . At least not for another 2 years

As far as current rules go, you need to go direct to farm. Any product for retail, past the gatepost, requires inspection, certification, and specific inoculants.. I know of one poultry farmer Elmira way, by word of mouth, but his flock had already been sold and culled by our Thanksgiving. Usually you need to order well in advance.

Most of the independent breeders I knew in Niagara are now retired or dead., and the local club folded. I used to run the poultry and rabbit show at our fair.

 

Best suggestion is to get a hold of your local breeders or feather fanciers club, or local fair board. They would be able to put you in touch with the right people

Even with sanctions in place i wonder how well they are or would be followed? This past year, our local papermill(towns main industry/source of employment) shut its doors. This past summer i seen the river thrive with walleye populations that normally migrated, and..... Crappie!!!! Could be a mere coincidence but its made me think

Enjoy it while it lasts. Under the new Fisheries Act, it is quite possible and lawful for vast tracts of the great white north to be turned into hazardous waste zones. Waters not habited or used by humans won't require environmental protection.

Does not have to be extreme, Dan. You're right about eating out though. Until 1970, we never went out or ordered take out, unless we were travelling .Even then, Gram used to pack a mean picnic basket. There was always all the fixings for sandwiches, slaw and tater salad, hard boiled eggs, etc... We were never hungry.

However, in 1970 we had moved down to Toronto suburbia, just 5 minutes away from Canada's first McDonald's restaurant on Keele St. Stepfather thought it was the greatest place on earth. Keele st., from Finch down to Shepherd, was "restaurant road" just outside the airbase. And Gord insisted we try them all. McD's, A&W, RedBarn, DQ, Ponderosa, Harveys, BurgerKing, etc... My Gram would just shake her head. Mind you Gram did have a weakness for fish and chips from Chico's, kitty corner across from Honest Ed's, and she always took me to the Woolworth's lunch counter when we went to downtown Toronto, but those were full days away from home. Going to Downtown Toronto was an adventure back then.

And that there is a key downside to industrial society. The byproducts and wastes of a modern industrial society. Poison and pollution.

Virtually everything you eat has been already modified by humans. We have been selectively growing and hybridizing plants and animals for thousands of years,

Quite correct. Cross pollination and selective breeding. Processes that occur in nature over thousands of years, but which man has accelerated. We breed together the biggest hogs and sows, bulls and cows, to sire stronger, heavier, more profitable herds. However, the only difference from nature is that instead of the biggest male in the local herd getting first dibs, we bring in males from other herds in other locales to blend with the females in another herd.

Then you have the accidents of nature, that prove viable and successful. I've had some wonderful crosspollinations in my pepper patch done by the bees. Mutant sized jalapenos, 3x normal size due to crossing with sweet bells, but after 3-4 seasons they revert back to original properties.

In horticulture, there is lot of tissue splicing of plants and trees, but the seed is either sterile or it reverts back to it's parent species for the most part. Hence most propagation is through taking rooted cuttings.

Gene splicing and tampering with DNA sequencing may prove one day to have benefit. However in the drive to push profit, industry, and government,always looks for the short gain while ignoring the possible long term consequence. No one wants to wait while long term effects and potentials are studied. Imagine what harm could have been avoided if they had performed long term usage studies on such wonderful inventions as DDT or Thalidomide. What really happens is that a new product gets fast tracked for public consumption, after 5 years of testing, and gets pulled after the long term consequences have already reared their ugly heads.