A Net in Time

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ABC Blogging

X is for… An Excellent Time to Celebrate Canada’s Birthday

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Thank you for joining Amanda and I as we blog through the alphabet. This week, X!

On July 1st this year Canada will be celebrating her 150th birthday.   

To that end oh my, things are getting busy.
Stores is promoting their 150th birthday sales.
Communities are prettying themselves up.. for instance our town put up a lovely begonia bed made up in the shape of the Canada flag.
Towns are putting together bigger than normal Canada day events.

I have to admit, it’s rather fun watching folks prepare. 

Even funnier… on our family vacation (celebrating my mom’s 80th) my sisters (who don’t celebrate Canada Day) were busy talking about how they should have a party for all their friends this year.  After all, Canada’s turning 150 this year!

As to what we’ll do?   I haven’t a clue!  I’m not really planning a party (I’ll let my younger sister plan that).   I expect we’ll take in the town events, probably go out to the local provincial park and have a bbq supper, swim and walk (if the weather is nice that is). 

If you want to find out what’s going on across Canada, you can check out this site. 
 Celebrate Canada is a four-day celebration that begins on June 21 with
National Aboriginal Day, continues with Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (June
24) and Canadian Multiculturalism Day (June 27), and comes to a
spectacular finish on Canada Day (July 1). Find out what is going on in
your region and across the country!

If you are in Ontario, check out some of these Canada Day events.   Sure to be something to interest most anyone eh?  🙂 
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W is for … Winnie the Pooh

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Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh,
Chubby, little cubby all stuffed with fluff.
He’s Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh,
Willy, nilly, silly old bear.

Thank you so much for joining Amanda and I today for week W of blogging through the alphabet, we are so delighted to have you here!  🙂   Can you believe that we’re this far into the alphabet already?
Anyways, getting on with things here…

 Did you know that Winnie the pooh was named after a bear called Winnie?
A Canadian soldier bough her in Ontario.  An orphaned bear cub living in a trappers cabin.   He spent $20 on her and brought her along with him to England. She became the mascot of his unit, to the point of sleeping under his bed.
When he was deployed to the front lines he worried that Winnie (named after the city of Winnipeg) would not do well so he gave her to the London Zoo.  
At the zoo a young boy named Christopher loved Winnie so much he named his stuffed bear after her.  His love for Winnie (and his stuffed bear) caused his dad to start writing stories about Christopher and his bear Winnie.   (to learn more go here)
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The letter V, Canadian Style

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 HEY O…
Did you know
This year Canada 
 Turns the big 1 5 0!

Which of course got me to thinking about the origins of Canada.   It’s good to do that once in a while you know?    Thinking of the rivalries between the French and English, the First nation peoples, the Metis and the settlers. How we finally managed to come together as a country, despite all our differences and without a major civil war.   Really big battles yes, major civil war no.

Which got me to thinking about Queen Victoria. 

She was the queen when Canada became a country.  She was known as a strong advocate for Canada as a confederacy.   She never visited Canada, but her name is spread far and wide across our beloved land.   You could learn more about Queen Victoria here.

Which of course led to be think about Victoria, which is is the capital city of British Columbia and is located on Vancouver Island.   One day I would like to travel all the way out west with my lad, I’ve been out there to visit my sister but that was more to visit her and less to sight see.  🙂  It would be neat to visit Butchart Gardens and other tourist traps of Victoria, BC.  

And IN British Columbia you can find a small bird called the Hutton’s Vireo.  You can learn more about the bird here.  🙂

Queen Victoria to Victoria to Vancouver to a small Vireo.

 

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Blogging the Alphabet: S is for Skating

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Welcome to week S of blogging through the alphabet.  So glad that you can join Amanda and I.  I do hope you will join us by hopping in with a comment or blog post.  🙂

Skating.     It’s a part of life when you live in Canada.  When you have snow and cold and frozen water.. why not enjoy it eh?   We’re aren’t big into ice fishing, and I grew up skating on the family pond, so teaching our lad to skate seems a natural thing to do.

My hubby likes to skate as well so, he learned to skate. 🙂

 We started off using a skating aid.  I cannot tell you how much we liked this aid.  So many of the other ones we saw were these big bulky things that would never have fit in our car without be completely disassembled.  This one folded down flat and we could take it ANYWHERE.   The local park to skate on the small pad, the pond to skate on the hard frozen ice, the bigger city to skate on outdoor rink and also to local town arenas to join in the mom/tot/senior skate times.  It was GREAT.    

As time went on the lad learned to skate with just holding my hand.  I have to admit, I LOVE skating with my lad.  Even if he pulls me a bit off center (and I am NOT the world’s best skater).   But we could skate together and ….

 He learned how to fall.  and then how to get up.    First one leg up, then the other.   We started with using mom as an aid, but now he can do it all on his own.     He skated, but he often complained, “can I stop now, do I have to do this mom?   Skating isn’t fun, I don’t like it”.

Most of the time we chose just skate as a family, but one year to increase his confidence AND his love of skating (I really really wanted to foster that) we  decided to join in with our homeschool group at a group skate every Friday.   It costs more than the free skates we’ve been doing, but… this has the HUGE added side bonus.   He can skate with friends.  He liked it!  🙂

Do you see the happy grin?  The lad no longer thinking…how long MUST I be on the ice.  He now thinks.. do I HAVE to get off?   This is fun skating with friends.

He can stop and talk with other parents and learning skating skills from them (for some reason he listens better to the Dad’s saying, hey.. if you do this it works better).  I don’t understand it, but I’ll certainly take it!

Play tag is so much fun, and it’s great to hear “Your boy is skating better Annette”.   It is just so good to hear.  He’s really seeing that skating IS fun and not just something your folks make you do.

So should you ever be up in our neck of the woods on a fine Winter’s day, come join us in skating.  You’ll meet a happy lad who actually LIKES skating now.  🙂   It’s just the finest thing. 🙂   Though lately, I have to admit, I don’t skate much anymore.  I hurt my ankle badly two winters ago while skating and it took me much too long to recover.   I might get brave again next winter though.  🙂
I keep wanting to skate on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa. 

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R is for … raving, rabid, rabbits…

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So how do raving, rabid, rabbits fit into a Canadian theme?

Did you know that they are working hard to eradicate rabies from Ontario?   At least from SOUTHERN Ontario?  

We’ve had flair ups of rabies…due to dastardly hitchhikers coming up from the States, but the ministry is very aggressive in maintaining a 100 km rabies free zone from the US border.
How?
Helicopters and Twin Otter aircraft pepper hectares of forest with
vaccine-laced bait traps. Teams of hardened trappers patrol the
backcountry to inoculate thousands of skunks, raccoons and foxes — and
neutralize the hundreds more that can’t be saved.  NO RABIES!  NO RABIES!!!!!   (save us from New York rabid wild critters!)

How do rabbits fit into this picture? 
Well 
1. I raise rabbits and think they are a rather cool critter.   and
2. Rabbits cannot get rabies.  Go figure.  🙂   All the more reason to have more of them around eh? (okay… they MIGHT be able to get rabies, but the chances are so small as to be unimportant).

This is what one comes up with at 1142 at night when one realizes they have done the WRONG letter for the week.  I had a great post for the letter S (you’ll have to read it next week).

So today you get to learn about about raving, rabid, rabbits.  🙂
See.. THREE R’s!   

Normal rabid animals: Rats, skunks, foxes, raccoons (the normal hitchhiker),  deer, mink, and such like.

So anyways, welcome to week “R” of blogging the alphabet.  I’m hoping you’ll forgive my tired ramblings (see look a FOURTH R) and join Amanda and I anyways.

Rock on Week R!!!   (see see.. A FIFTH!!!)   🙂 

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Q is for Questions.. questions about Canada

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I put the question to the crew.
What questions do you have about Canada.

They came up with quite a few!

Join me and Amanda as we walk through Blogging the Alphabet “Q”, me with your questions and seeing what Amanda comes up.  🙂

Have I ever seen a glacier (no) and where to go to see one.  Here’s a list of Canadian glaciers!   🙂  
When we do have winter?   
Generally from December to March, though the latest I’ve seen snow fly was mid-May and the earliest was in October.   Our last couple of winters have been downright pitiful and both my guys are getting annoyed!   One winter we had snow up past my head!  IT WAS WONDERFUL!!!   🙂   We have four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter.  Each with it’s own beauty.

How does one pronounce Iqaluit

How about special holidays and celebrations there? My son got curious about that when he found out people in Canada don’t have
Thanksgiving in November like we do in America.

 Canadians have thanksgiving at a reasonable time…not rushing Christmas!  🙂  Check out Kym’s post.
 We also have Canada Day (July 1st) and various other statutory holidays. 
Holidays we do in Ontario: Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day, Family Day (February) not a mandatory day off though, Good Friday and Easter, Easter Monday. Civic Holiday in August, Labour Day and Thanksgiving (October), and Remembrance Day (November).  

What is the political system like? is there a president?
No president, we elect a prime minister.  We have three main parties, the Conservatives, the Liberals and the New Democratic Party.   Currently the Liberals are in power (don’t ask me what I think about that!).  🙂   Currently some localities are testing a ranked ballot system for the next elections, this system only kicks in when the winner of an election wins by less than a certain percentage (can’t recall what that is right now). It then takes into account the popular vote.   We do not vote on a regular schedule, there is a time limit to when the current government MUST call a vote, but there is no set schedule in place for when they can choose to call it.   As long a party is in power…more power to them.   Sucks at times but hey.. there it is.   For more information on how our government works check out this site.

How much of Canada is inhabitable?
This site is REALLY helpful in seeing the population densities of Canada.  I do hope you will go and look.   The image below comes from that page.  Current population of Canada (as of the 2015 Census) is 35.85 million.

Can we learn more about Quebecois music? 
Honestly… haven’t a clue!   🙂  BUT I did find this video on Youtube. 

Does pokemon go have any special pokemon you can only get in Canada?
Nope. 🙂

How about please explain the whole prime minister thing
   How about you explain the whole president thing.. TRUMP….  REALLY?????:)

What part of Canada do you live in?
 South Western Ontario, near London (not in England).

Do wives all over Canada not take their husband’s last name or is that just QC?

Personal choices, and they vary by region.

Are there any foods unique to Canada?
Nanaimo bars…many people love them, me.. meh Too sweet UNLESS they are frozen, then YUM!!!
Poutine
Tourtiere (meat pie)
Maple syrup.  🙂

What are some Canadian traditions?
Canada Day (Dominion Day) celebrated on July 1st.  Parades, picnics, fireworks.
Thanksgiving at the proper time in October (Americans are so mixed up).  🙂
Family Day is kinda new and makes people ask questions.  It’s a fun day though filled with tons of family activities in almost every part of Ontario.
I dunno though… we are quite similar to Americans but we LOVE snow (for the most part) and do a lot of winter activities, and if you don’t like hockey there’s something wrong with you.  (not really, we are pretty laid back and we’ll apologize if we’ve offended you (or think that we have).  🙂

What type of animals are indigenous to Canada that aren’t in the US? 
 Polar bears.  Seriously LARGE bears.  Don’t want to mess with them.
Canada Lynx
Moose
Beluga Whale
BigHorn Sheep
Canada Goose (though I know you see those down south as they migrate)
Beaver
Tailless frog
There’s a tiny black and red snake found up north but I can’t recall it’s name.
Here’s a video on the loon.

Do you have tea time, like the British, or do you do three meals a day
like most Americans…or do you do something totally different?
Three meals a day plus snacks.  🙂  At least in Ontario and travelling west.  Quebec… might be more French in it’s outlook but I’ve never been there.  French people don’t snack.

The relationship between Canada and the UK. What power does the Queen
have in Canada? What power does the UK have in Canada? (so maybe you
could explain the Lieutenant General to our American friends. And why we
pronounce “Lieutenant” and other words the British way. LOL)
Oh heavens, I hardly know where to to begin. I think perhaps I should do a whole separate series on Canada eh?  🙂  A BRIEF explanation.
 Each province as a lieutenant general who is the nominal head of state for the province and acts as the go between.  We also have a federal lieutentant general who is the president of the senate and resides over the chamber.  Here he/she handles debate and how legislation moves through the chamber. 
 The queen is the official head of state, and comes to visit and honestly.. has nothing really to do with the running of our country.  We love her (really we do as our Queen and there remains a strong interest in the goings on of her family) but our day to day lives are unaffected by her.  🙂

The British pronunciation of the French word “lieutenant” (as “lef-tenant”) is used by the Canadian Armed Forces, but the American pronunciation of “loo-tenant” (which is closer to the original French pronunciation) is sometimes heard as well.  But really to be proper it’s lef-tenant.

 My daughter would
like to know if you still call the police force in Canada constables. 
 Yes, we call them constable… what do you call your police officers??
 We also have mounties…but not in my area. We have a regular police force since we live in Ontario.  But for instance we’d say “Constable Stewart” not officer .. though they do respond equally well to officer.  🙂  For more about the RCMP (the mounties) see here. If you ever have a chance to see the mounties in action you should do so.  Seriously cool to see their mounted musical rides.  Saw them one year but can’t find a picture right now.

How Yellowknife, Northwest Territory got its name.
 The name Yellowknife comes from a Dene band, the Yellowknives, now long
gone, who once lived on the islands in the East Arm of Great Slave Lake
and carried knives with yellow copper blades.   Cool eh?  🙂

Do
people really call Prince Edward Island PEI, like in the Anne books?  
I call it PEI, as does everyone else I know.   The folks I know from out east call it that too, so I don’t see why your children shouldn’t.  🙂  Call it as you will.. I hope to visit it one day.  I’ve been through the west, someday I’ll go through the east. My mom and sister went out last year and they said it was simply marvellous.

If I missed anyone’s questions.. SORRY, not intentional, just how life happens eh?

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Prickly Pear Cactus

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Welcome to week “P” of blogging through the alphabet, I’m so delighted that you have stopped by to visit with Amanda and I through this whole endeavor.  How are you doing with it eh?

Anyways, recently my son attended the Project fair for our local homeschool co-op.   His project was all about his cactus.   

Part of the gig was for children to answer questions about their presentation, and one of the questions asked was “does Canada have any native cacti species.”   The lad hadn’t researched that idea so had no clue, people offered guesses, most saying no it didn’t, but I did google and showed the lad the response.  

Did you know we have FOUR cacti species?   In British Columbia, Manitoba and in Ontario?   I KNOW!!!  A total shocker!!!

In Ontario we have the Eastern Prickly Pair Cactus…and low and behold guess what!

On Sunday we had a preaching engagement up in Kingsville which is REALLY close to Point Pelee.. the home of the Eastern Prickly Pear so we actually got to see some!  I know!  AH!!!!   My boy child was SO delighted!!!

It could be found everywhere it seemed, but the lad did some research on it when we got home and found out that its on the Ontario Endangered Species list.   Habitat loss and human interference play a big role in it’s demise, with invasive species NOT helping matters at all.  

So if you see it growing in Ontario LEAVE IT ALONE!!!   Don’t trample it, don’t dig it up, just enjoy it in it’s native environment and pull out those nasty invasive plants that want to crowd it out!

Let it enjoy the sandy dunes, and open sun, and let it flower.  Let it fruit and spread it seeds (even if the fruit is edible).   Just let it do it’s thing and help it along instead of hindering it. 

Let other boys, like my son, be delighted in discovering cacti in Ontario!!!!

So what’d’ya say… do you have a “P” post?   Come on in and join us won’t you?   We’re delighted to have you stop in.  🙂

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