We Have New Neighbors!

Well, Pilger does, anyhow! We have moved her to a new anchorage; Black River. Just down from the cheese factory. A little tricky to come into, but if you have been shown the expanse of rock shelf just under the surface, you can slowly move in. It seems to be a bit windy, and a rather long row, but there really is nothing to hit. Picton harbour is just too busy, plus you need to keep the anchor rode short-scoped so you don't swing and take someone's 20,00$$$ paint job off. Jeez! Why do people spend so much dough making their stuff pretty when it only drives the cost of insurance and become prohibitive to other plain folks? We rather LIKE out Trem-Clad! Touches up quite nicely and even looks "shippy". Oh well.
More pikkies to come when we get back from our next cruise, hopefully to Kingston.

The Hoop-Houses do it again!

Jim will be providing lettuces, green onions and whatever else pops up, to the Regent cafe. Here they are, the wee dickens! Started indoors March 7, transplanted April 1 (no foolin'!), they are going gangbusters! The plastic covers help the soil hold whatever heat it collects, keeps bunnies out too.
That top photo shows the hoop-covers off right right now. They are easy to get on and off, depending on how you design them. The supports are made by cutting lengths of some old strong pole-like stuff (in our case, some lawn chairs with the seats rotted off) and some poly-water pipe. Hammer the poles as far as they can go, then bend the pipe over to get the right shape, allowing enough length to not blow off in a wind. Get some 4mil plastic, attach it to 2x4 pine the same length as your raised bed. Roll on, roll off. Enjoy!

Wow, Spring Didn't "Spring", no, it got squirted out of the ground!

What beautiful weather we've had! We've been enjoying our forest walk, seeing all the junipers greening-up and hearing all sorts of song birds. There are some trilliums getting ready to join these wee snowdrops. Jim has been busy with the covered garden beds, transplanting some lettuces already! Green romaine and cimmeron (a tender, red-speckled romaine) destined for The Regent Cafe, if all goes well. We would also like to be able to supply the Milford Farmer's Market, but we'll see how the yield goes.

This handsome thing is a warm-frame.

It will eventually house our tomato and pepper seedlings, which will enjoy the stable temperatures afforded by the insulation. The weather has been so warm, and is forecasted to continue intil June, Jim is thinking of planting these seedlings early. If anyone has any insight, please let me know!!! I'm trying not to plant my herb-seedlings early!

Grow a garden, save yourself!

No pikkies this time, just me, blabbing away. I was at a meeting at a friend's house, when I saw the cutest wee bag made from a pair of pink corduroy pants, previously sported by a very fashionable 6 year old. It was a zen moment. Handy. Lots of pockets. Great never-slip-off-even-when-you're-chasing-boys strap.
Here's the thing: I have had a mini-pile of recyclable pants and some bits of fabric just waiting for some innovative designs to burst from my head. The wait was on! No head burst! I chopped, picked out stitches, even sewed sweater-to-blue-jean panels, but could never decide how to finish them. No inspiration. So the pile just sat there, eventually finding its way into a rubbermaid tote, which made it official that I had just begun a Fabric Stash. In my mini house. But no Coco Chanel moments. Then the Pink Pant Purse.
They chopped the legs off, sewed a bottom seam along the, well, along the bottom, then made a strap out of the legs. Duh! No buckles, pewter zipper-pulls or other adornments. My product line will be rolling off the table promptly! With these pants, I will save the world!
You see, this meeting was an idea-gathering session for the Communityy Action Prince Edward County/Quinte. They are putting a presentation & workshop together to take it to the streets: we can all do something to lessen our carbon footprint. It's fun, we get to work together and it is more meaningful than simply buying energy-efficient light bulbs.
If any of you have heard of Transition Towns, you'll know what I am talking about. (The rest of you can visit http://www.transitiontown.org/ and have a better look.) The Community Action group has the same idea.
What it all comes down to is this: People get overwhelmed by the news that our planet is slowly beginning to overheat due to excessive carbon dioxide(and other greenhouse gasses) and this will cause climate and weather to change: More unstable weather events, fiercer storms. People become unnerved when they hear that the extraction rate of fossil fuels will soon peak, then decline, then become a very expensive commodity/way of life indeed. The biggest unknown is...when?
The Community Action Group, and Transition Towns, want you to know that there is a way to build resilience to these things in your community. A few ways to do this include:
1. Plant a garden: fresher food will contain more of its nutrients and require far less fossil fuel to deliver it to you. Plan a community garden in your neighborhood. Save your own seed and be less reliant on genetically modified seeds.
2. Support local businesses selling locally produced goods and items. Keep the money in your own community to support your own families, cut gas emissions by allowing them to commute less and by yourself NOT jumping into the car to have a fun trip to Walmart.
3. Whatever your heart's desire, get it into action! James and I have a passion for growing our own food, saving seed and sharing with others so we planned for a Seedy Saturday (seed and info exchange) right here in Picton. We are also going to be producing lettuce and some veggies for The Regent Cafe. Our friend David wants to be able to walk with his wee son to get fresh veggies so he is working towards establishing a farmer's market for downtown Picton. You get the picture, just do it!
4. Of course, turn off your computer when not in use, lights too, plan to drive your car less, make a trip count for a few errands, take the bus.

And make a Pink Pant Purse. reduce. re-use. recycle. But do get started.

Recycling

We got a sexy, new (er) car! Can yuh make out the sleek lines, the bold colour and brand new tires? Well, neither could we, not this snowy lake-effecty morning.
But we're pleased to have recycled yet another hunk of steel, this one being a Hyundai Accent. The old Honda was dragging its ass around, waiting to be retired. Anyone need parts for a '95 Civic?

Almost Spring!

Pilger waits in the ice of Picton Harbour. I had forgotten to bring my trusty camera on the day it snowed, hence I missed the shot of coyote tracks going up to the stern and leaving a wee yellow spot. Judging by the other sets of prints, some two-legged boot-wearer came for a close up.

The second picture is of a coyote in our back yard, he/she was just standing there, waiting for Robbie to come out to "play". Quite a big dog.

Anyhow, we are spending our days doing all kinds of interesting things. In our garden musings, for t'is the season, we have decided to see if a Seedy Saturday would take hold in Picton. Seedy Saturday is the brain-child of an organization called Seeds of Diversity, see www.seeds.ca . They promote home gardening and seeds saving. The website is a great one one, full of info on cultivars, heritage varieties, gardening info and , of course, a full listing of Seedy Events near you! At a SS you would bring seeds you have saved from your own garden, or one that you helped along, and swap some of yours for someone elses of a different variety. Being our first year, most attendees will not have any of their own seeds, so they may help themselves to some some of ours, to get the ball rolling for nest year. There will be a talks given by the Pro's, addressing certain gardening topics, including composting, actual seed saving and possible treatments of certain species, say some who knows a whole lot about every variety of tomato known to mankind. More updates later!

We have gathered an interested crowd to help and possibly take charge in the coming years. We do believe that as many as are able should grow food for themselves. The quality and nutrition level of home-grown veggies has simply got to be better than stuff shipped from afar. If you save your own seeds, you will be protected from possible rising costs of foodstuffs.

The time is also right for a knitting club in Picton. How does "Wednesday nights at RoseHaven Farm Store, 7pm" sound? Maybe every other Wed. night.

Some things you can't Prorogue!

Snow. Sunrise. Dogs Who Pee. You can't stop any of these things. Can't bend the sun to fit your will. Can't fire snow. And if ya try to deny a dog his morning whizz, you'll find a wet spot in the house. But if you are just a power-hungry, sweep-whatever-under-the-rug kinda guy, you could try. I think those that lived with you would notice, though. The wet spot would start to smell. We would notice you chanting at the sun and snow, and think you were up to something.
Maybe you would say to yourself, "Maybe those I live with won't care. Maybe the wet spot will be 'under their radar' ". Do you really think they won't notice?
Mr. Harper, do you really think we don't care about what the Geneva Convention states regarding the treatment of prisoners? Are we supposed to forget all about how they were hauled off to face torture simply because you have shut-down shop for a while?? I'm afraid March won't be far enough away to strip our memories of the few but important statements made by Richard Colvin. And shame on you for saying that we don't care. Now you are hiding out in The House. God only knows what you will actually get up to.
I don't often rant on about politics, it rarely gets all up-in-your-face. This time, the Right Honorable Prime Minister has lied about what we canadians think of the Afghan Detainee mistreatment and is trying to sweep it under the rug. I say it's time to air the rugs and find out what is really going on in that great big House.
Find the Email address to you local MP and tell that MP how you feel!
In the meantime, I hope you have a happy New Year, enjoy those around you and make big plans!