Hello again!

These heathens do grow like bad weeds...

Hello all! To be online again after such an extended absence is a major relief. It was the first time since '97 I've had no internet for more than a month... We were so poor all summer that we had to let the phone and internet go. I have become so very good at being frugal, my new motto is, "If it's free, it's for me!". Also, somehow it seems like the less money and fewer ingredients I have, the better my cooking gets. Not sure how it happened, but more on that later for sure...

We moved away from our house in Havre Boucher, where we lived for the last 8 years, (my Grandmothers old place and one of my most memorable childhood homes). It's in an old acadian fishing village in northeastern Nova Scotia, my ancestors have lived there at least since the early 1800s and likely long before that too, so I do have plenty of family and acquaintances in and around the community but very few real friends, sadly there was hardly even anyone to say bye to when we left. Oh well, c'est la vie.

Now they're having this big RC church sex scandal there because one brave soul finally exposed the abuse he suffered at the hands of the late Father Alan MacDonald, who was a well respected local priest in the 70s. I think that the shit hasn't even started to hit the fan yet, there were a LOT of altar boys this predator came into contact with who are still messed up, the stories have been circulating for years, but nothing was ever done by the church or lawmakers, despite having been informed of at least some of the incidents, up until now. We shall see. I don't understand how money could ever compensate for a ruined life anyway, all this energy should be put into preventing anything remotely like this from happening to any innocent child ever again. You might say,"at least he wasn't after the little girls too", but plenty of them were molested by the dentist in Antigonish while they were under the gas getting fillings they didn't need... Nothing was ever said or done about that either. Can you imagine trying measure such things in dollars?

We spent most of the summer in a one room cabin on a lake, seriously considering the possibility of relocating there permanently, but being the main dish washer/laundry person and cook in the family, with so many people to look after, I decided that we do need running water and electricity. So after managing to sell that uninsulated albatross of a house we were in, (albeit for way less than its worth, but to a family member and for enough to cover most if not all of my debts, no worries or complaints here :), we are now house sitting this wonderful cozy little house in the woods.

There's a woodstove here, which is another requirement for any place I'm to live in. There is also an oil furnace, but I haven't yet called the oil company to fill the tank, and that must be done before winter, it's on the list... We've been heating the place with free wood so far, since the beginning of September, (well dried scraps from local sawmills are free for the taking as are wind-falls and driftwood...)

This place is well-insulated enough that when I light a fire, it actually gets warm in the house, a completely new experience for me. There's a shed in the yard for my laying hens, an old fashioned claw foot bathtub, beautiful wood floors and walls and a huge screened in deck. Things are definitely looking up.

Cops seize $29,000 from B.C. man, who says he was collecting cans

When Trent and I lived in Vancouver we used to go to Wreck Beach, this wonderful clothing optional beach out by UBC. It's at the bottom of about a hundred fairytale steps cut into a steep rain forest hill under towering trees amidst lush ferns and exotic wildflowers. At the bottom of the stairs, (once you're past the disgusting but necessary johnny on the spots), this incredible sandy expanse full of Huge driftwood logs, (reminiscent of "The Beachcombers"), and an incredible assortment of the most wonderful, weird people I have ever known or seen... There were the regulars who actually lived there or in their vehicles and did, as far I could tell, most of the maintenance on the stairs, kept the beach clean, drove off any perverts or obnoxious fully-clothed voyeur type folk, and were the real activists in the beach preservation society... There was a plethora of vendors from morning 'til sunset, including Terry the pizza-by-the-slice guy who'd announce his arrival with a stack of pizzas by playing a tune on his bugle, Matt the jello shooter dude, the couple who sold bathing suit bottoms and sarongs, two major burger vendors, my personal favorites were Lucy the sandwich lady, "Sammitches...empanadas wit' hot sauce...sammitches...", and 'Watermelon', "Woo-hoo for melons... woo-hoo!", I sold jewelery, sunglasses, hackey-sacks and Guatemalan purses for this crazy old Quebecois guy called Michel for a short while... There were also of course always lots of people with coolers full of, "Icy cold bee-eer", for sale...

And then there was Frank, the guy who collected empties. He was there from dawn until dusk, picking up cans, all day every day. We'd see him on his way up the stairs with multiple jumbo garbage bags full, a few times a day. I'd sometimes idly wonder about how much money he might be making with his truck full of empties like that everyday, but rarely thought of him again until today I read this news article about some guy who got stopped in New Westminster BC, and the car smelled of marijuana, so the officers searched the vehicle looking for drugs. They found $29,000 in plastic baggies in his car. He says he had the cash because he's been collecting soda cans. . . I wonder if it's Frank?
The Canadian Press: Cops seize $29,000 from B.C. man, who says he was collecting soda cans

N S POWER HERBICIDE SPRAYING

N S Power is spraying herbicides on the trees along the routes of their power poles and lines. This is happening in Lunenburg County, in Halifax County and in other counties as well – possibly all over the Province.

The herbicide they are using is Tordon 101. This is a combination of 2, 4-D and Picloram. Both of these herbicides are toxic and can have dire consequences to mammals, birds and fish that come into contact with it. It also contaminates ground water.

2,4-D a chlorophenoxy herbicide, (one of the ingredients of the defoliant Agent Orange), is a known carcinogen and endocrine disruptor, this was made clear over a decade ago by Dr. Theo Colborn, author of Our Stolen Future.

"Despite industry efforts claiming the safety of this chemical, there is a large body of evidence indicating major health effects from cancer to immunosuppression, reproductive damage to neurotoxicity. The teratogenic, neurotoxic, immunosuppressive, cytotoxic and hepatoxic effects of 2,4-D have been well documented.

The report by the Ontario College of Physicians linked 2,4-D exposure during pregnancy and childhood to a two-fold increase in the incidence of leukemia
and in their study they also found links to sterility, respiratory problems, atrophy and non-hodgkins lymphoma.

Sweden, Norway and Denmark have de-registered the use of 2,4-D. The Province of Quebec enacted legislation banning the sale and use of toxic lawn and garden chemicals, such as 2,4-D in 2006. More than 70 Canadian municipalities, including Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Halifax have pesticide/herbicide bylaws. The list is growing monthly.

Pesticide companies say that the Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) of Health Canada has approved 2,4-D, and it is safe when used as directed.

But 2,4-D manufacturers spend millions of dollars each year pressuring governments worldwide to re-register 2,4-D based on safety studies which they fund. W5, an investigative news program, exposed another pesticide industry strategy by reporting that PMRA receives 25% of its funding from pesticide manufacturers.

When a government agency responsible for reviewing and certifying a product receives funding from the manufacturers of that product, all transparency and accountability is corrupted.

In 2003, the Auditor General of Canada stated: "...the PMRA is not adequately ensuring that many pesticides used in Canada meet current standards for protecting health and the quality of the environment".

The Auditor General of Canada concluded that “the lack of reliable information on pesticide use, exposure, and impacts is a major hurdle that continues to interfere with the Agency’s ability to regulate pesticides..."

For more information on 2,4-D see the following link

www.sierraclub.ca/national/programs/health-environment/pesticides/2-4-D-overview.pdf)

N S Power does have an alternative – they can cut the trees and brush that encroach on the power lines. Safer for all involved, especially the workers doing the spraying or cutting...

If you are worried about the plants, animals, people, and especially the precious groundwater being poisoned, please call and express your concern.
(The person to contact at N.S. Power is Robert Young at (902) 456-1820.)

The RAW MOM SUMMIT

This is an absolutely incredible series of teleconference interviews available free on mp3 for a limited time... After listening for a couple of days, all I can say is WOW. It's about time.
(I am not affiliated with the raw mom summit in any way at all...I even missed the first 2 days!)

• What to do about Fertility, Ovulation and Conscious Conception?
• How to prepare for a Healthy Pregnancy, Labor and Childbirth?
• What is Attachment Parenting?
• Which natural remedies to use when your children are sick?
• How to feed a meat-eating partner if you are vegetarian or vegan?
• What should you feed yourself when you're overwhelmed with cravings?
• How to get kids excited and involved in their own food-prep?
• What to do when our kids rebel against our healthy diet?
• What is going on with the Bees and why is it so important?
• How to shrink our Carbon Footprint?
• What is Sustainability and Permaculture?
• What Super Foods are BEST for kids?
• Exactly what IS the healthiest diet?
• What are the best ways to Raise Children Naturally?
• What are the lesser-known common pit-falls of a Raw Food Diet?
• Which foods help or hinder our Hormones?
• What are the issues around Veganism, B-12 and Protein?
• What do Raw children eat?
• How to get picky eaters to crave their veggies?
• Which foods help kids transition and stick to a healthier diet?
• What are the other Top Lifestyle Factors besides diet for longevity?

The RAW MOM SUMMIT is from June 22nd to June 30th. Every day of the Summit, you will receive a link to a special web page where you will be able to access the recordings for that day. You'll also be given access to a private community forum.

For nine consecutive days starting Monday, June 22nd through Tuesday, June 30th, there will be 3 interviews every day, including Jean Liedloff, the author of the ground-breaking book, The Continuum Concept, Susun Weed 'the voice of the Wise Woman Way', and many other brilliant people.

Each interview will be available free for 24 HOURS from initial broadcast.

Then the page will be password protected for UPGRADED participants only...

($97.us, w/ tons of great freebies and a money back guarantee.)

You won't be able to listen to the sessions whenever you want through this event. You will only be given access on specific days. You'll get the broadcasting schedule for these calls and access to each call will be given for 24 hours.

You will only be able to listen to each call during the specific times that they are broadcast, not during the entire event, and only for a limited 24 hours after.

Racist PETA Does it again...

What the heck are those toxic, misogynistic, over-privileged, simpleton PETA people thinking, when they create things like these horrible cartoons and idiotic media campaigns?

How is characterizing a race of gentle, thoughtful, sensitive people as slavering monsters chasing down the poor, innocent seals with caveman style clubs supposed to help anything? They were here, living off of, and being at one with the land since long before white man ever even thought to record his-story. To call this a mockery and degrading to the Inuit is a gross understatement.

If anyone in white bread, middle class amerika has an issue with how animals are treated, then just maybe they'd better deal with the more pressing, (and slightly more local!), issues like factory farms and the pet industry where animals translate into dollars as opposed to the thinking, feeling, interconnected with us beings that the Inuit and so many other aboriginal cultures have always known them to be. If some of the original peoples of this land are still able to hunt and make any sort of traditional living, for goodness sake let them be!

Joy in Death

Joy in Death

If tolling bell I ask the cause.
'A soul has gone to God,'
I'm answered in a lonesome tone;
Is heaven then so sad?
That bells should joyful ring to tell
A soul had gone to heaven,
Would seem to me the proper way
A good news should be given.

Emily Dickinson, (1830 – 1886)

RIP Grandma