SoCS: cheers

Stream of consciousness on Cheers; In Canada its said when you all have a drink and clink your glasses together. I’m usually tipping a ginger-ale.

Once I was at a wedding and someone in charge (a parent?) made me hold a glass of wine and put it to my lips. For Pete’s Sake; how can it be so important?

English people say ‘cheers’ when they say good-bye. It bugs me, I don’t like it. It especially bugs me when someone who was in England for a short time says it when they say good-bye. I hate that.

Cheers is what my friends down south in Tennessee and Alabama call those things around a taa-ble. Man, I loved that accent. I usually came home with a bit of it.  Worse when you do it down there and they notice. They think you are making fun of them.

It’s going to be hotter here in Canada than Mumbai, India. I’m going to make some fruity water (very thinly sliced orange and lime in water) to mix with pineapple juice and stay indoors. Cheers!

https://lindaghill.com/2018/06/29/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-30-18/

SoCS: Bugs: a big part of my life

Ha! Just yesterday I was thinking my life is being run by bugs! Well, maybe not ‘run’ but bugs are in my life way more than people.

First of all the mosquitoes are ferocious! After that heat blast and now rain they crowd by the door to get in. I can’t get in my car without at least three getting in with me. That’s dangerous driving trying to grab mosquitoes as they circle you looking for a tender spot.

I have one of those ‘Moroccan’ lamps I put a citronella tea candle in and leave by the back door when I’m working outside. that helps. It’s a good thing I don’t have kids and men around holding the door open. I slip in and out quickly closing the aluminum door behind me rather than waiting for the slow self-close.

Working outside its Deep Woods Off. No fooling around with natural ‘deterrents’. Going to work outside is a major commitment of sunscreen and bug dope.

Inside there are the ants. The tiny ants have finally left although an occasional scout or lost ant walks by. Now its the big black ants. You can’t leave a crumb of food or a drop of juice or they will find it and tell all their friends.  I have found the best natural deterrent this year; save all citrus peels in a jar of white vinegar in the fridge and spray this around the food area. I also have cinnamon sprinkled behind my sink faucets.

The big trouble is that I really hate killing things. I can’t just do the STOMP you’re dead thing. It’s a curse! I yell at them; “Go Away, Please!” really close to their little faces. I blow marijuana smoke at them and they go a little crazy. Why not? I’ve tried just about everything. One year I stained my counters using turmeric.

But there is a good bug life, too. The Swallowtail butterflies are incredible this year! They are fluttering around, playing with each other, floating by….. I’ve seen three different types, yellow and black. I do have lots of flowering shrubs which all bloom in June so its like heaven….. from indoors looking out the windows.

And fireflies….. oh man, so beautiful. The window in my bedroom is small and exactly the height of my head. I can lean on the wall and have my face practically outside. It faces my garden which is surrounded by shrubs and woods.  I turn out the lights and watch all the fairies twinkling. Last night I could hear the lake as the waves were stirred up. I can’t help but think how lucky I am.

The crickets are just starting. By August they will be driving me crazy at night.

Bugs, bugs lots of bugs. But they don’t bug me that much.

https://lindaghill.com/2018/06/22/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-23-18/

Apology accepted.

There are a lot of Americans apologizing to Canadians for their President’s outlandish and embarrassing behaviour. It’s all over TV, Facebook and even posts here:

https://topofjcsmind.wordpress.com/2018/06/16/apologies/

It’s OK. We don’t hold it against all Americans.  I prefer humour so I’m going to post a couple of photos that may be banned in America.

RDP; antediluvian

Rag Tag Prompt; antediluvian. And you say you use it all the time? Holy Moly. What a way to divide time; before and after the biblical flood.

Of course there are a lot of flood stories in many cultures which sort of proves it happened. Melting ice caps, perhaps? Who knows….. it was antediluvian.

Yesterday I was talking about a First Nation Reservation and there seems to be a lot of interest so today I will give the Abnishinaabe Creation Story.

 

I encourage everyone on Turtle Island (North America) to find when and where their local Powwow is and GO.

 

https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/06/17/antediluvian/

SoCS; reservation

I live in a strip of land that is between two First Nations reservations which is really one Reservation.

The pink area is Kettle Point. the darker green area is Stony Point.

At the onset of the Second World War the government forced everyone off of the Stony Point Reservation and told them to go live on Kettle Point so they could take over their home for an army base. They assured the people, with written documents, they would get their land back when the war was over.  They demolished all the homes and made an army base.

The ones who had family in Kettle Point moved in with their relatives, others were not so lucky. Some were displaced from the U.S. where their reservations no longer existed.

They didn’t give it back after the war. They kept for an army training camp and kept the beautiful beach for a Provincial  Park.

The families fought to get it back, taking their documents to Toronto and Ottawa for years and years with no action. Finally, one hot summer the younger generation, now crowded and needing their land back, forcefully took it over in a stand-off.

The end result was a First Nations man, Dudley George, getting shot. Police thought he had a gun….. he had a stick.

Since this is Stream of Consciousness, I could write on and on and now I want to edit it; if you are interested, Google ‘Ipperwash’.

I get so frustrated by the white people who have always lived around here and still resent them for getting this land back.  My  hairdresser went on a vent about; “They’ve had it back for so long and haven’t done anything.”  because the descendants are still living in the old army barracks.

They just ‘officially’ had it returned 3 years ago and got compensation. A good portion of the army camp still has land mines from training that have to be detonated. The Reserve has to send men out to be trained for that since the government did not do it.

It has to be worked out which families will get housing and where…. this all takes time.

I already have some photos from previous posts about this subject, I’ll step out of SoC for a bit to put them in.

It still chokes me up.  In the meantime; I’m looking for a new hairdresser.

https://lindaghill.com/2018/06/15/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-16-18/

RDP: Bastion

Rarely do I talk politics but todays prompt ‘bastion’ brings to mind our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is the bastion of Canadian values these days. We are known for our polite and possibly ‘meek’ nature which can be seen as weak by macho, aggressive alpha dogs.

Donald Trump, I’m sure, perceived Trudeau this way but is now having a hissy fit because he’s not getting his way. He has to insult Trudeau (or Justin as he calls him; to be extra patronizing) by calling him weak and dishonest.  The U.S. economic adviser called him ‘two-faced’.

Trudeau does not succumb to name calling and insults. He doesn’t call him Donald or mention how stupid and arrogant he is. He stands firm in trying to implement better changes for everyone in the world, including those whose voices are never heard.

Most of the G7’s collected billions of dollars to educate the world’s poorest girls; America and France declined to contribute.   https://globalnews.ca/news/4264640/g7-girls-fund-education-school/

The summit opened with a meeting on gender equality; Trump showed up late. Trudeau describes himself as a feminist and is a bastion of gender equality. We’ve all heard Donald’s views on women.

I’m old enough to remember his father being Prime Minister. He was flamboyant and free thinking, way ahead of his time. But when terrorists from Quebec known as the FLQ, French-Canadian separatists, kidnapped a Cabinet member and murdered him, Trudeau reacted swiftly with martial law. People were astounded that this ‘hippy’ peacenik Prime Minister would bring in the army. “Just watch me”, he said.

When someone is truly strong they don’t have to put on a big show to prove it. Now all the eyes of the world on two crazy, blustering cocks who could potentially destroy the planet.  What could possibly go wrong?

https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/06/11/prompt-11-bastion/

 

 

RDP; Ragabash

Ragabash That’s a new one. It’s very English: scoundrel, ragamuffin, idle worthless fellow, shiftless disreputable person.  Mass noun: rabble or riff-raff

My neighbour immediately came a to mind. He is 30-ish, doesn’t have a job and doesn’t have a car which you need if you live around here. He does work occasionally for a guy who does renovations but only sometimes. The guy he works for has to come and get him and wake him up. I’m not kidding. I’ve also seen someone honk his horn and pound on his door at 10:30 in the morning then give up and leave.

Once, when I was still at Sobeys, I was sadly leaving for an afternoon/night shift on a beautiful day, wearing my horrible polyester uniform, as he was going out to putter in his 10′ X 10′ garden.

“Going to work for The Man?”  he joked.

Oh boy, not funny. I was fuming for days. Yes, I am going to work so I can drive a car and keep my home. You are living in your girlfriend’s house who works full-time you lazy bastard.

On that day I decided I was never going to offer him a ride anywhere. You made your choice, buddy.

Recently I broke that rule. I’m retired now so I don’t have to feel so pissed off at him. “It’s none of my business” I keep telling myself. I was going to a local herb farm and asked him if he wanted to go. It’s owned and operated by one lady who works her ass off.

I overheard her asking him what he does and heard him say, “My girlfriend makes enough money to cover both of us.”  OMG, I’m biting my tongue off! She has student loans and they rent the house. She drives an hour to work everyday to work in a hospital. And get this; she wants to have a baby.

They moved in here about three years ago. He has not cut his hair or trimmed his beard since then. It’s so gross. (And I have to laugh at that because I remember my young hippy husband growing a beard and thinking it was great while his mother thought it was so gross.) Even worse is when he is shirtless, his skinny white body with that scraggly beard…. barf!

He thought he could cut his own firewood. Got 8′ logs and started to cut them with his tiny little chain saw. Didn’t get very far. Ordered firewood but then they had gas lines put in. That costs thousands of dollars. As soon as that furnace went in there were no more fires in their fireplace even though they have a mountain of firewood on their front lawn.

He always says he’s going to help me. So far that hasn’t happened, I think his chain saw doesn’t work. I have a few jobs that need a chain saw: I’m thinking of buying my own I’m so sick of waiting.

On top of that he is an expert at everything. He talks to me as if he was the older and wiser one and I was just starting out in life. I’m waiting for the right moment to say, “Just think how much you’ll know when you are 65!”

But then/ its none of my business.

https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/06/09/rdp-9-ragabash

 

 

SoCS; Rain

Rain! Please, we need rain. I’m so sorry to wish this on a Saturday but we need it here so badly. This area seems to cut rain clouds in half and send them north and south. It’s so frustrating to watch the radar moving across Michigan then just evaporate as they approach us.

It’s cloudy and the mosquitoes are ferocious. My 2 rain barrels are down to dribbles that take a long time to fill a bucket. If I walk away from the filling bucket I’ll forget and let it overflow, loosing precious rainwater. Standing by the bucket in a cloud of mosquitoes is a bummer, too.

Going outside is a major commitment of sunscreen and bug spray. The other day I tried to hang my wash on the line but was chased inside. I had to spray myself just to finish hanging my wash they were so bad. If I go out just to water the new plants, I have to spray myself with Deep Woods Off.

O, I’ve used natural sprays. In fact I use it on my neck and around my face, then I spray the Off! on my gardening clothes and hat.

I know more rain won’t help mosquitoes but frankly I can’t see them being any worse. We need a real ground soaker.

But the real reason I want rain today is that I want to stay in the house on a dark rainy day and watch movies. There is always something to do but today I don’t feel like doing any of it. I want to sit inside and watch it pour.

Right now its dark and cloudy. Please, please do it ….. rain!

https://lindaghill.com/2018/06/08/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-9-18/

RDP: Your Gonna Cry Pickle Juice

Now we are in a pickle. No fresh fruits of ideas coming here; we are thrown back into the vinegar of patriarchy. The Conservative Doug Ford was elected to be premiere of my province. That’s the equivalent to State Governor.

This guy has been a fan of Donald Trump and is just a watered down Canadian version. And like Trump; he’s not very smart. He got in with a large majority who believe that he will bring down their electric bills and gas prices. He tells people the bullshit they want to hear and they eat it up.

O, People. I knew he would get in but I’m so disappointed that so many of you voted for him. Luckily, NDP (New Democrat Party) made huge headway however it was mostly on people’s hatred of Kathleen Wynne and that’s largely because their electric bills went up a lot. At least Andrea Horwath will be IN YOUR FACE at every turn right, Mr. Ford.

He’ll ensure the rich get richer, the poor can go …. (who cares?) and group homes won’t be in THEIR neighbourhood, if at all.

Yes, its a sad day.

https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/06/08/rdp-9-pickle/

Since I edited this to fix my link; I’ll add something I got on Facebook yesterday;

OLW: Speak Out

“Unless we stand up and really create change, we are complicit whether we know it or not”

Heard this on a pod-cast about Bikram Choudhury (the “inventor” of hot yoga) and his downfall. His misuse of power lead to sexual abuse. The above statement was about those who see but do not speak out. It struck me how true it is with so many issues such as racism and poverty.

https://lindaghill.com/2018/06/06/one-liner-wednesday-bird-dog/