Winter Has Arrived

Old Man Winter has arrived here in Prince Albert yesterday. Yesterday morning it started to snow and didn't stop until it left about 1 inch of the fluffy white stuff. Prior to yesterday we only had a skiff of the stuff.

Time to dig out the toques, mittens, scarves, boots and snow suits. Soon there will be families of snowmen taking residence up in our yards. The kids will be digging out their tobogganing and waiting for enough snow to head out to the hill for a fun day of sliding.

Time to set up my back yard bird feeder. This will be the first year that I have one set up. I read an article in a magazine about attracting birds to your back yard, types of food that is best for them, types of feeders etc. I am hoping to be able to get some awesome photographs this winter of birds feeding at the feeders.

My son is thrilled that it snowed as now it will be much easier to track the deer this hunting season. He and a couple of his friends are heading out this weekend for in search of a trophy buck. Michael will be home for a week in which he hopes to fulfill his dream of getting a nice size deer.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

John McCrae
(1872 - 1918)

"In May, 1915, on the day following the death of fellow soldier Lt Alexis Helmer of Ottawa, John McCrae wrote his now famous work, an expression of his anguish over the loss of his friend and a reflection of his surroundings – wild Poppies growing amid simple wooden crosses marking makeshift graves. These 15 lines, written in 20 minutes, captured an exact description of the sights and sounds of the area around him.

Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae left Ypres with these memorable few lines scrawled on a scrap of paper. His words were a poem which started, “In Flanders fields the poppies blow…” Little did he know then that these 15 lines would become enshrined in the innermost thoughts and hearts of all soldiers who hear them. Through his words, the scarlet Poppy quickly became the symbol for soldiers who died in battle.

The poem was first published on 8 December 1915 in England, appearing in “Punch” magazine."- Quoted from http://www.legion.ca/Poppy/campaign_e.cfm

A poem that so many of grew up knowing....not necessarily understanding the true meaning of it until we grew up.

The armistice to end the First World War takes effect at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. This year marks the 90th Anniversary to the end of WW I. Like so many others I too had family that fought in WW I. Our family was one of the lucky ones whose loved ones returned home. My Great Uncle Clarence fought in both WW I and WW II, he returned home both times.

The Canada Remembers Program endeavours to keep alive the achievements and sacrifices made by those who served Canada in times of war and peace; to engage communities in remembrance of these achievements and sacrifices; and, to promote an understanding of their significance in Canadian life as we know it today.

Each year in November, Poppies blossom on the lapels and collars of over half of the entire Canadian population. Since 1921, the Poppy has stood as a symbol of Remembrance, our visual pledge to never forget all those Canadians who have fallen in war and military operations. The Poppy also stands internationally as a “symbol of collective reminiscence”, as other countries have also adopted its image to honour those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

This significance of the Poppy can be traced to international origins.

The association of the Poppy to those who had been killed in war has existed since the Napoleonic Wars in the 19th century, over 110 years before being adopted in Canada. There exists a record from that time of how thickly Poppies grew over the graves of soldiers in the area of Flanders, France. This early connection between the Poppy and battlefield deaths described how fields that were barren before the battles exploded with the blood-red flowers after the fighting ended.

Just prior to the First World War, few Poppies grew in Flanders. During the tremendous bombardments of that war, the chalk soils became rich in lime from rubble, allowing “popaver rhoes” to thrive. When the war ended, the lime was quickly absorbed and the Poppy began to disappear again.

The person who was responsible more than any other for the adoption of the Poppy as a symbol of Remembrance in Canada and the Commonwealth was Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian Medical Officer during the First World War.

So to all the men and women both past and present who have given so much so that we as Canadians can enjoy freedom and democracy - Thank You!

God Bless you all!

Credits:
Thank you to Leanne a friend of mine from Fabulous Canadian Freebies for the use of Lest We Forget graphic used here. You have an amazing talent with graphics, thank you for allowing me to use this one of yours.

General Remembrance Resources - an awesome resource to learn more about Remembrance Day.

Canada Remembers - Veterans Affairs Canada

Royal Canadian Legion - The Poppy Campaign

Quick Update

This morning I decided to make some changes to my blog's appearance. So please be patient with me in my efforts...you may see some funky colors as I go along. With being on dial-up it will take me a bit longer than if I had high speed.....there are time when the pages just won't load until after many many tries.

I will try my best to keep up blogging as well.

So watch for developments of the upcoming changes to Corinne's Place!

Have a wonderful day! Off to town to pick out paint for the girls bedrooms and start the move from our room upstairs to downstairs.

Blog Candy

For those that don't know what Blog Candy is...it is something new for me as well. I actually learned about it today as I was reading a crafting blog. Blog Candy is a contest that you can enter by leaving a comment and answering a random question as well as providing a link on your blog to their Blog Candy. They usually offer these Blog Candy contests once they receive so many hits to their website.

Here is what Suzanne is offering for her Blog Candy.

Suzanne over at Scrap Bitz has some blog candy being offered for reaching over 50,000 hits to her site. So follow the link below over to Scrap Bitz for your chance to win the awesome Blog Candy.

http://scrapbitz.blogspot.com/2008/11/biggest-blog-candy-evah.html

While your there don't forget to take a look around her site, some awesome ideas.

Good Luck to everyone that enters!

Crafting and Blogs

Last night I tried my hand an making handmade Christmas Cards. Using the bit of supplies that I had the 3 that I made turned out pretty good. I have started making a list of things that I need for making my Christmas Cards. I think I am going to be come totally addicted to card making as I am to everything else I try for the most part.

So in my quest to create handmade cards for Christmas this year I started googling Christmas Cards, Verses, etc. I found lots of Blogs that have to do with Crafts....especially Handmade Cards. My hubby sees what I am doing and just shakes his head. I'm sure thinking not another craft! You see I dabble in many different areas from scrapbooking to stained glass to quilting and many more. Speaking of which I have to get the thumbs knitted on to the mitts I am making for my daughter.

There are so many ideas out there for making cards and scrapbook layouts. The blogs I have found is amazing and the ideas they share are awesome. There area few craft blogs that I will be following. I hope as I get a few cards done that I will post a picture here for you all to see.

So with my list in my purse I shall be watching the Dollar Stores, WalMart and Adams for sales and supplies. After Christmas is when I will find some good sales but the question is will there be much left.

Some of you on my Christmas Card List may receive a handmade card, all depends on how many I get done. My goal is to do a few this year and next year I hope that all my cards will be handmade.

Until tomorrow have a wonderful Sunday and happy crafting!

Little Rants & Raves

I go away for 2 days and come home to a house that was a disaster...more than it was when I left. I am sure my girls think they are made of sugar...if they were to put their hands in dish water I am certain they think they would dissolve..there wasn't a clean glass to be found in the house......so last night after 3 1/2 sink fulls I finished all the dishes. I will be glad when we start remodeling our kitchen....I will have my dishwasher installed. For now it takes up a spot in my porch waiting to be put to good use. I guess I have lived this long with out a dishwasher I should be able to wait a bit longer. Plan is to have it in sometime in the spring. On the other had they had cleaned up the living room.

While I was in Regina I made stop over at Michael's Craft Store.....I picked up some new stamps & a couple of punches as I am going to try my hand at making some handmade Christmas Cards this year. I am so excited to try making the cards....still need to pick up a couple of things here but for the most part I am ready to start. If all goes well, I may take this project on for next year...will watch for sales after Christmas to pick up some supplies that I will need. I am very excited to try my hand at making cards....I enjoy scraping so I think I will also like this. I need to set up a space downstairs where I can have my scrapbooking set up at all times so that I can leave everything out instead of having to unpack and pack everything back up each time I want to work on something.

Well that is my little rant and rave for today!

Re-Connecting

Reconnecting with family is always a good thing. Recently I experienced the joy of reconnecting with family that we haven't spoke to in nearly 13 years. My husband's nephew and his wife. It wasn't that we haven't thought about them or anything like that...lives change and sometimes you loose contact without meaning too. My niece was the one that mentioned to me that she was wanting to make contact with her cousins that she hasn't seen in as many years and thought she might have found them on facebook but wasn't sure. So I checked into it and sure enough there they were. Immediately added them as friends to my face book as was thrilled when my they responded. My other niece and I have been messaging back and forth catching up on each other's lives.

It is wonderful to be able to make this connection. My husband and I are saying it would be so nice to go visit them at their house or have them down to our place for a visit and catch up. For now until we can visit each other we will continue to chat through facebook and over the phone.

My daughters are thrilled to find that they have cousins in their age group. They hope to be able to meet them one day soon. The last time they would have seen each other they were all little toddlers and don't really remember anything about spending time together.

Family is precious and should never be taken for granted as one day you may find they are gone for one reason or another.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween

May you have a Spectacular Day!

Hard to believe that is Oct 31st. The kiddies will be out in their costumes in full force tonight. There will be witches, ghosts, Hanna Montana, Monsters, Vampires etc. There will be pillow cases full of candy and pranks played. What are your plans the this Hallowed Evening!

Hubby has picked up the Halloween candy, yes we left it to the last possible minute, otherwise would be picking up more again as the kids would have eaten it all....okay we would have helped out with that. lol Sent my son his costume on the bus, he is off to a party tonight....there will be a pink cat prowling around the city of Saskatoon tonight! That's right the Pink Panther will be in town for the evening....you may even see more than one of them around.

The girls are off to party's with their friends...neither is driving which is a good thing.

Well I will be short and sweet today! Wishing everyone a safe and happy Halloween!

Halloween

With Halloween only a few days away now, started to think about past years of Halloween Celebrations from Trick or Treating as a kid, to school dances to getting dressed up and going to dances or the bar with friends. One of my favorite things to dress up as was a witch or the bride of Frankenstein.

Just a few years ago my husband and I went to a local dance. His costume was awesome....we didn't walk in to the hall together. I told everyone he was meeting me there as he was coming from LaRonge from work. People believed me when I told him I was waiting for him to meet me there. Made it look real as well....every time the door opened I would turn to see if he had arrived. He picked up this mask of an old cigar smoking man, over sized pants, shirt (stuffed to fit) & rubber boots walked with a cane. He was priceless. The entire evening everyone was trying to figure out who he was. Al was getting so hot under the mask that he couldn't wait until the end of the evening to reveal who he was. The mask fit perfectly couldn't tell where the mast stopped and his skin started around the eyes.

In true tradition my girls are leaving it to the last possible minute to decide what to dress up as. This year they are completely on their own as I am out of town tomorrow - Wednesday & Thursday. I am sure they will come up with something good. A visit to Value Village and they will come home with a costume of some sort, retro and all. It seems weird to hear my girls say they want to dress like the 70's or 80's, especially since those the years that I grew up....I guess it reality it is no different than when I was their age I liked to dress like the 50's or 60's.

Its Been A While

It has been a while since my last post. I think it was just after my father passed away. So today I decided its time to start getting back into the groove of things. Enough of putting off till tomorrow what you can do today. So figured today was good as any day to get back to my blog.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We spent the weekend with friends in Flin Flon. The Korte's maybe our friends but they are more like family to us. It seemed like we barely arrived and we were leaving again. Time flys when you have fun.

Last weekend Al and I went to Regina for the SK Apprenticeship Board Awards Banquet. Al mentored one of the guys on his crew that received the award for the highest marks over all in his class. Al won this same award in 2003. So after the banquet we took the shuttle over to Casino Regina. Last time I was there was in 2003. Anyways I don't really play the casino games very much but that night plugged $20 into the slot machine and won $216.

Hard to believe that Friday is Halloween. Hopefully it won't be too cold for the Trick or Treater's this year.

Well that is all for today will be back tomorrow to write more.

Till then....God Bless