Song for Friday...still in our thoughts

 The Titanic leaving Belfast, Northern Ireland

where she was built.

On Sunday it will be the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

On the east coast of Canada in Halifax, this is near to the cities heart.

Many helped in the rescue and recovery during the aftermath

and many are buried in the local cemetery.

82 Canadians died on this early morning in history.

Many immigrants on their way to start a new life also perished.

Who knows what impact any of those 1,500 who perished would have had on our world?

So today, a tribute to this majestic ship and all her passengers and crew.

Reportedly this was the last song the Orchestra played on board.

Have a great weekend all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Brj5H1XLTaQ&feature=related

All under one sky...

Last Sunday, my friend farmlady wrote about a rainbow

that popped up over her part of the world...

here's the post.

...and then on Monday morning it was at my house...

I liked to think that the same rainbow made the trip north

over night and paid me an early morning visit.

It was the best thing about Monday...

It kind of went downhill from there but thats another story.

I had read something yesterday which made me think of this rainbow.

A woman told the story of when she was a girl and her dad took her outside

one night to look at the moon, big, bright and full.

He told her that no matter how far apart they would be in their lives,

all she had to do was to look at that moon and know that somewhere, he was

looking at the very same moon.

She said it made her feel that the world was not so big and she was not always alone.

I like the analogy that we are all under the same sky.

It's a big one but not so big that you don't feel somewhere, someone

is cradled under that same big roof of this world.

Wordless Wednesday...

Remembering someone I never knew...

.

Today, Easter Monday marks the 95th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. This young Private would have been my fathers great Uncle and, as the clipping says, paid the ultimate sacrifice for Canada and it's allies.

Vimy Ridge was a high ground escarpment held by the Germans in WW1 and British as well as French troops failed to take this strategic piece of land.

On April 9th - 12th, 1917 , Canada sent in all four of it's divisions

of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and has become a symbol

of Canadian acheivment and sacrifice.

In the end, 3,600 Canadians lost their lives but did gain control of the Ridge, making

this a pivotal milestone in the Great War.

A 250 acre plot of the battleground is

 memorialized in France for the price these lads paid for freedom.

Next March, my middle niece Rachel is making a trip to England

and France with the school band and part of their itinerary will

be a stop at Vimy Ridge.

She has told me that she would like to find Private Quilty's grave

and to say thank you to him.

Tonight I will toast him as well.

From the Renfrew Mercury for 11 May 1917



Spring revisited...

The spring is in full swing.

The dawn chorous of birds plays outside my window

and the greening of the trees has begun.

Wishing everyone beautiful new beginnings on this Easter Sunday.



Nasty but tasty!

I am in search of the famed nettle.

O.K, maybe I don't have to search very far, in fact there

are plenty close at hand.

Healthy and many.

Up in the back of our property, in behind the hen yard, the nettles are at their prime.

Now is the time to use them as spinach, or in pesto as I'm doing...

"But wait!" you say.

"Aren't those things called stinging nettle for a reason?"

Oh yes!

Don't go hunting without these weapons of protection!

Gloves to save yourself from the histamines in these tiny spines on raw nettles...

...and clippers to snip the tops.

I find even with gloves, pinching them off can cause a sting

if you don't have leather gloves.

If you've never encountered the wrath of a nettle, believe me you NEVER want to.

The sting from these babies will be with you for days.

Kind of a combination of a burn and a bee sting.

BUT!

Nettles are so high in iron and good for blood purification, dandruff, allergies

and countless other things too many to mention.

A tea made from loads of them is great fertilizer for your garden.

The trick?

Steam them for about 2 minutes and the sting is gone.

I freeze steamed nettles on cookie sheets and pack them loosely in bags.

Use them for a spinach substitute, adding them to soups, spannokopita,

stews, tea or as I did, making pesto.

There are many recipes on the net for nettle pesto but

my take on it is that I still add some basil for flavour.

It's much more economical and probably more nutritious.

Just remember...

always use tongs and gloves and long sleeves and pants until

you've safely steamed them.

Good for your heart too!

So love them big time!





Song for Friday and movie review...

Last night we watched a fun movie called "Midnight in Paris".

It's the latest Woody Allen film which came out last year.

here...

Great theme...time travelling.

Something I always want to do.

And what a time and place to do it in!

Paris in the 1920's...

Jazz, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Picaso, Dali...

the list goes on.

The music was superb so here's a little music from the score...

listen...

Have a great weekend all!