Retro Saturday

I had an hour to kill yesterday afternoon. 

We were in Bedford which is a suburb west of Halifax and about 35 km. from where we live on the Eastern Shore.

Ron had an appointment with an acupuncturist and while he was there I thought I'd go digging around at a couple of 'thrift' shops out that way.

First place was a Salvation Army shop in Sackville. In the past I had always found things of interest. Yesterday, however, was a different story. There were lots of people there for starters and it seemed that everything had been 'picked over.

On the way to the back of the shop I noticed two ceiling-light dome shades. They were molded glass and probably from the 1940's and maybe even the 1930's. I liked the soft yellow/gold colouring and thought they would fit a hall ceiling light fixture at home.

As you can see in this post I purchased them. They were only $3.99 for the pair. 

It was almost time to pick Ron up but before I left the store I quickly looked through the 'books' section. There was one on digital photography which I thought Ron would like, so I brought that up to the cashier along with the shades.

When we got home I was pleased to discover that both shades would fit the hall light fixture. Took off the old one and presto! It worked well.

Not an overly productive 'thrifting' day,  but for one hour it was enjoyable to pick through a lot of retro, by-gone artifacts from the past. 

How about you? Any 'good' finds lately?

Powerless?

Ever feel powerless? We all try to some degree to have control of our lives, whether it be the type of job we have or whom we choose to vote for in elections.

I mentioned last week that we in Canada are having an election on May 2nd. This time around I will not be supporting the political party I usually support. I have decided to vote 'strategically' and will be voting for another party.

The whole point of this strategy is to ensure that the present 'ruling' minority government/party will not get re-elected.

I do not agree with their philosophy on any of the issues and am worried what may be implemented by them should they get the majority vote they are so desperately seeking this time.

Am I powerless? Actually I do not think I am. I can vote for whomever I want in order to have the type of country in which to live. As we can see on the news a few countries in north Africa are fighting to have this right to vote for reform and change.

Now if more people here realized the power we have in our 'vote', I think they would look at the issues being presented by the candidates and vote accordingly. I hope the majority think the same way I do this time!

From Sophie's Perch

Yesterday was a beautiful day. As soon as Ron headed off to Dad's in the morning, Sophie and I headed out to the garden.


Of course Sophie thought this was great! The whole morning to play with Jim! Sorry Sophie but I have some things to do that have to get done before May.


After trying her best to 'help' me (she really does pick up sticks and believes she IS helping, but wants to eat them first!), she went to her favourite 'perch' to keep an eye on things while I was digging.

Two summers ago I discovered that the Rhododenrons I had layered the year before had 'taken root' along with a few 'volunteers' that had layered themselves. I put them in the nursing beds to get established.

They have done really well in these beds and are now ready to be transplanted into a permanent location in the garden. This is a great time to do it.....coolish not cold, and the frost in the soil almost all gone.

So where to put them? Last week I found a pretty good place along the western side of the garden under, but not too close, very large Spruce trees. They will get morning to noon sun throughout the summer which should be enough.

Rhodoenrons grow very well here in Nova Scotia mostly due to the acidity of the soil and they are relatively easy to grow.


So I needed about 10 holes dug. Good thing about these plants is that their roots are shallow and do not go very deep......they spread out instead of going down deep into the soil. This wouldn't take too long.

I will not be planting them until the weekend, besides I needed a couple of large bags of peat first to mix with the soil. I read that rhodos don't like rich soil but do well in lots of peat moss. It's true and this has worked for us over the years.


I kept checking on Sophie and she was either at a neighbours fence waiting for their dog to come out or over at her perch.


So the holes were done. Now to pull out the two year old pine trees I put in the compost bin over the winter to protect them. Most had survived the winter. I think I may have lost a couple. You can see a brown one there on the right.

I pulled out maybe half. The others were still frozen into the compost!! That's right, we still have some frozen ground here.....but not much. Hey, it's early April here in the north Atlantic!

By this time I wanted a rest. The sun was shining and it was about 11 degrees Celsius. Sophie was very comfortable in 'her spot'. I thought what a smart dog, if we humans could only look so relaxed. I thought why not give it a try.


So I went over by her and sat down next to her. She was happy, the birds were singing, I could hear the flag from across the road flapping in the breeze. Everything was there that I needed to sit and relax.

So I did for about a half hour, just the two of us looking and listening to what was around us. Of course Sophie would be sniffing the air constantly picking up scents that would get lost in my olfactory system.

Usually I would have 'kept going' in the garden till lunch. I was glad I looked over at Sophie and let her show me the way to just stop and enjoy what is happening around me.


And I did.

Contemplative Monday

" If we can learn to open the doors of our hearts, individually and collectively, then we will all arrive at the shore of peace."  Thich Nhat Hanh

Sunday's Selection

In keeping with yesterday's post, let's make this a completely 'retro' weekend!


I 'grew up' with Simon and Garfunkel. This is a classic and is done solo here by Art Garfunkel.
He does a very nice job.


Enjoy your Sunday everyone.

Retro Saturday

Been wracking my brain for this week's 'retro' entry. Started looking around the house for something that was old enough to qualify and something I hadn't already posted.


Then it hit me!  


I looked at a couple of photos on the wall in the hall that were thirty years old. That would qualify for 'vintage' at any rate!

Then next to this photo there was one from roughly the same time period.

Both of these 'items' were made in Nova Scotia and 'manufactured' by Nova Scotians. In fact the history of both can be traced back to the mid 1800's when their respective, original makers, arrived in Canada via the UK and France.


It was not difficult to find 'markings' on both that 'pin-pointed' that these were from 1948 and 1950 respectively. It's amazing what you can find on-line today!


Both have held up reasonably well considering the time that has passed. And I am certain that both items will be cherished well into the future.

Speaking of Bonding......

Another example of human/animal bonding. I wonder what the animal senses which makes it 'feel' this attraction for a human? And not to one of it's 'own'. Are we really that different after all? Just a little more evolved maybe.