In My World

Today's Prompt: Truth If there's one undeniable truth you have learned in life . . . ? There is no such thing as free.  Anything that says it is free generally has a cost attached to it.  Look at the silly toys and promotions to encourage children to eat junk food and parents to purchase that kiddie meal.  The cost is included in the meal.  Getting a discount on your cable means someone else has to pay more.  Eating samples in a store generally ends up with you buying the product.  Maybe not at that moment, but there is a good chance you will.  Receiving a used washer and dryer generally means the donor needs to get rid of it, doesn't want to pay to get rid of it and makes themselves feel better by giving it to someone.  Chances are that a matter of weeks after it is installed it will break down and cost a lot of money to be repaired or removed.  I could go on and on but that would be depressing. Let's just say I never trust that ...

  What's on for supper I don't know what do you want I just can't decide the fridges freezers pantry . . .  nothing but ingredients.

                                                         In My World with Pam Hedden inmyworld@live.ca 226-504-6660 June 2023 Thu., June 1 @ 10am - 1pm Ladies’ Day Out Online online & Pam’s Join us online or in person in my studio to chat and create . . . every Thursday morning.  Fri., June 2-4@ 10 am-6 pm Let’s Party! online I'm having a party. A mixture of FB Live, Messenger room and in person. There will be fun and games, introducing new products, make n takes, mini classes . . . all sorts of fun and prizes. Tue., June 6 @ 1 pm For Beginners and Beyond online & Pam’s Tue., June 6 @ 7 pm For Beginners and Beyond Join in a discussion about the art of Scrapbooking while enjoying a delicious snack and beverage. Afterwards, we will be creating a two-page layout using the ideas ...

Today's Prompt: Camping Did you ever camp out in the backyard as a kid? I wish I had some photos to share but . . . yes . . . we definitely camped a lot when I was a kid.  I don't remember camping in the back yard though.  We camped in parks and at least two summers I remember camping at my aunt and uncle's farm near Port Stanley.  When the kids were small, Hal and I took them camping a few times.  We took our grandsons and niece on a road trip in a borrowed motor home one summer.  That was fun.  A few years ago, Hal and I took the seats out of the van, put in an air mattress, stove and cooler, and spent a long weekend letterboxing.  Now-a-days my idea of camping involves a king size bed and a mini bar and shower.  

Flummies (flum`-meez`) n. - traditional Labrador trappers' bread using a mixture of flour, salt and baking powder The Flummies are a four piece music group which are home-based in the Central Labrador community of Happy Valley - Goose Bay. The band plays traditional accordion music, their own hits, plus a lively mixture of country/rock. The Flummies are prominently known for recording and preserving the historical, cultural and traditional songs of Labrador. The indigenous influences of the Innu, Inuit and Metis people have been intertwined over the last century, to produce songs known as "Labrador music". Songs which tell stories of the people who have survived hard times, and those whom have seen all the beauty the Labrador landscape has to offer. Since their 1988 release of their second album, "Songs of Labrador", The Flummies have many, many albums and frequently perform around the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, across Nunavik. Included in their tour...

Tantoo Cardinal shines as a world-famous Anishinaabe musician who returns to the reserve to rest and recharge . . . only to discover that fame and the outside world are not easily left behind. Anchored by Cardinal’s captivating performance, Falls Around Her is an empowering story of a woman reclaiming control of her life and land. The movie moves at a gentle pace for the most part which helps you feel the peace "Mary Birchbark" is trying to attain. The stormier moments make you realize that finding peace is not as easy as you might think.

Today's Prompt: Oldies What songs can you still remember from when you were young? I can't tell you the title of the song I just listened to on the radio but I know all or most of the words to just about anything by the Monkees, Beach Boys, Mamas and the Papas, many of the girl groups of the 60s, American Pie and The House of the Rising Sun. Yes, I am the same person who can't find my glasses or the power cord for my gps . . . but I know the words to Ticket to Ride by the Beatles . . . LOL.

Although the crater itself is buried, its location (arrows) is marked by a subtle surface depression. Coordinates 44.4578°N 76.6333°W, Ontario, Canada The Holleford Crater is a meteorite crater near the community of Holleford, part of South Frontenac, Ontario, Canada. It is 2.35 kilometres (1.5 mi) in diameter and the age is estimated to be 550 ± 100 million years (Ediacaran or Cambrian). Although there is a surface depression over the area, the crater itself is not exposed at the surface. Holleford Crater is located on the Babcook Family Homestead Farm properties (including the original Babcook Homestead Farm, established 1803, owned by the family of the late Frederick and Jean Babcook, at Hartington, Ontario (about 1/2 hour north of Kingston Ontario). (It was the birthplace of the last surviving veteran of the Canadian army in World War One, Jack Babcock, who died on February 18, 2010 at the age of 109.) Starting in the 1960s, the site has been visited frequently by geology students ...

The Wife's Tale  by Lori Lansens is definitely a good read.  My hand isn't working well yet this morning so I'll just leave you with this published review . . .  Library Journal Review Mary Gooch is beyond shock when her husband leaves the night before their silver anniversary party. Jimmy Gooch has always loved her, but with each new trauma-two early miscarriages, her father's death, even the loss of her feral cat-Mary has felt less worthy of his affection and more hungry. Now weighing 302 pounds, Mary can't seem to move past her malaise. Finding $25,000 in their bank account, Mary flies, for the first time, from their small Canadian town to her mother-in-law's home in Southern California, determined to wait for her prodigal spouse. While there, she loses her appetite but discovers a measure of self-worth through the "kindness of strangers." VERDICT Lansens's (The Girls) portrait of a woman who hides behind the Kenmore as protection from ...

Today's Prompt: What is Art? How do you define "art?" Thomas Merton  in  No Man Is An Island : Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. When I am stressed or sad or bored or just being . . . I can count on art to bring me joy and share my feelings.  Art is how I keep happy . . . how I express myself.   

Who doesn't love Tom Hanks? In fact, some days I'd like to be Forrest Gump.  Forrest Gump, is considered slow-witted, but thanks to his Mother he was never left out of anything.  In fact, he had many adventures including being a college football star, a soldier in Vietnam, the captain of a fishing boat, and a ping pong champion, These adventures have allowed him to be part of many historic moments.  It is an awesome story. Academy Awards, USA 1995  Won Best Picture Wendy Finerman Steve Starkey Steve Tisch Best Actor in a Leading Role Tom Hanks Best Director Robert Zemeckis Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published Eric Roth Best Film Editing Arthur Schmidt Best Effects, Visual Effects Ken Ralston George Murphy Stephen Rosenbaum Allen Hall Nominated Oscar Best Actor in a Supporting Role Gary Sinise Best Cinematography Don Burgess Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Rick Carter Nancy Haigh Best Sound Randy Thom Tom Joh...

I love movies.  Favourites are watched over and over again.  The Godfather movies are among my favourites. The Godfather is on the Top 100 Greatest Movies of All Time (The Ultimate List) by IMDb  in first place.   The Top 100 Movies of All Time (Best of Rotten Tomatoes) lists The Godfather in 7th place . . . still near the top. I love this movie.  Maybe it is just that I love so many of the actors in this movie -- Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Abe Vigoda and so many more.  I've always had a soft spot for Abe Vigoda from his days on the TV show, Barney Miller. But really it has everything -- family, love, drama, life, death.  What more could you ask for? The Godfather was nominated for 11 Oscars and won in three categories -- Best Leading Actor, Best Writing, and Best Picture. If you are looking for something to binge watch some rainy summer day why not The Godfather I, II and III.  And if you are really into the Godf...

Today's Prompt: Food Obsessions You know how many people are obsessed with bacon?  What foods are like that for you? As in, what do you eat an abnormal amount of or add to lots of meals that many people don't add it to? I love sushi.  I love any restaurant that serves sushi . . . although Plaza Sushi and Asuka Japanese in St. Thomas, ON remain my favourites.  I will even eat the sushi from grocery stores if I am desperate.   Sushi is my food obsession.  It's not my only obsession . . . but it is #1.

our lives are full of magical moments that bring us great joy when we recognize appreciate them don't miss the magic joy

Today's Prompt: Seeing It What's something or someplace you'd really like to see someday? I have a long list but here are the top three places I'd like to see someday: 1.  All across Canada 2.  Ireland and England and Scotland 3.  New Zealand and Australia 4. Iceland

I'm turning into a book reading machine . . . LOL . . . Rebecca Kauffman's tranquil Old Order Amish life is transformed when she suddenly has custody of her two teenage nieces after her 'English' sister and brother-in-law are killed in an automobile accident. Instant motherhood, after years of unsuccessful attempts to conceive a child of her own, is both a joy and a heartache. Rebecca struggles to give the teenage girls the guidance they need as well as fulfill her duties to Daniel as an Amish wife. Rebellious Jessica is resistant to Amish ways and constantly in trouble with the community. Younger sister Lindsay is caught in the middle, and the strain between Rebecca and Daniel mounts as Jessica's rebellion escalates. Instead of the beautiful family life she dreamed of creating for her nieces, Rebecca feels as if her world is being torn apart by two different cultures, leaving her to question her place in the Amish community, her marriage, and her faith in God...

I generally talk about people, places, and things on this blog but . . .  This post is about ME.   I have spent my entire life trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to please everyone in my life.  So many times that behaviour has backfired on me in bad relationships and bad decisions.  I knew I had to make some changes but had no idea how. And then a friend suggested we form a group to discuss The Happiness Project  by Gretchen Rubin.  The first attempt sputtered out quickly but one year later we were able to put together a group of women who were also searching for change.  Every month we read a chapter, discussed what we'd read, and made goals to reach for.  We were committed to holding each other up and small changes began to happen in our worlds.  So much so that we determined to repeat the project for a second year.  Some of us derived more or less than others depending on the timing of our lives.  What I learned was that ...

  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Finger Eleven is a Canadian rock band from Burlington, Ontario, formed in 1990. They have released seven studio albums (six as Finger Eleven and one as Rainbow Butt Monkeys), with their album The Greyest of Blue Skies bringing them into the mainstream. Their 2003 self-titled album achieved Gold status in the United States and Platinum in Canada, largely from the success of the single "One Thing", which marked the band's first placing on the US Hot 100 Chart at number 16. Their 2007 album, Them vs. You vs. Me launched the single "Paralyzer", which went on to top the Canadian Hot 100 and both US rock charts, as well as reaching No. 6 on the US Hot 100 and No. 12 on the Australian Singles Chart. They won the Juno Award for Rock Album of the Year in 2008. The same album was later certified gold in the US and multi-platinum in Canada. They released their sixth studio album, Life Turns Electric, on October 5, 2010; it was nomina...

The following plot synopsis was published in conjunction with a 1915 showing of the film at Carnegie Hall: "To gain power from the spirit forces, Motana, a great chief's son, goes on a vigil-journey. But though the tribal law forbids the thought of woman during the fasting, his dreams are ever of Naida; her face appearing in the coilng smoke of the prayer-fire he builds high upon a mountain peak. To forfend the anger of the spirits he must pass a stronger ordeal. He sleeps upon the Island of the Dead, then hunts and kills the whale; and raids the clustered sea-lion rookeries, a whole day's paddle out to sea. Naida is wooed and won by Motana, and splendid is the wooing. But Naida, with her dowry, is coveted by the Sorcerer. He is evil, old and ugly. Waket, Naida's father fears the baleful "medicine" of the Sorcerer, and also stands in dread of the Sorcerer's brother, who is Yaklus, "the short life bringer," and the head-hunting scourge of all the...

Today's Writing Prompt: What Do You See? What do you see, right now, as you're reading this prompt? The room where I spend most of my time and it is kinda messy right now.  I often leave out projects I am working on.  I love that I can see out my window when I'm working.  My rose of sharon bush attracts birds and I can watch their antics.  

I recently re-read Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro and I was reminded why I loved it so much the first time around.    Munro is the queen of the short story.  Her use of words is her gift and her art.  Amongst many acolades over the years, the highlight is winning the Nobel Prize in Literature.   In Lives of Girls and Women I believe she has written several wonderful, bittersweet, thoughtful short stories and blended them to form the perfect novel about a girl learning about life, love, pain, and death while growing up in small town Ontario during the 1940s. Read it!  You know you must.

Today's Writing Prompt: Parade Float Imagine you are in charge of designing a float for a parade that's all about you. What would your float look like? If I were to design a parade float that was all about me it would be big and colourful and I would be wearing a huge swirling dress and huge hat.  There would be a marching band leading the way and clowns at the back giving away free craft supplies.  I would make my sons and grandsons stay on the float dressed as famous Canadians to represent my love of Canada and history.  

  The Gray Ratsnake, is also commonly known as the Black Ratsnake or the Eastern Ratsnake. It is non-venomous and is Ontario's largest snake, reaching up to 2 metres in length. This elegant snake has a shiny black body with a white chin and throat. Rat snakes are extremely beneficial since they eat large amounts of rats, mice, and other pest animals. Farmers appreciate having snakes around for this reason. Enjoy this interesting article by the Nature Conservancy of Canada to understand and protect these endangered snakes.

Today's Prompt: Disappointment What has been your greatest disappointment in life? I was disappointed that I couldn't learn to do ballroom dancing.  But at least I tried.   I was disappointed when a trip had to be cancelled.   I've had a few big disappointments in my life as well but I just push forward and onto something else.