Happy Easter Everyone!
What a lovely day we had today. Jackie came home for the weekend and Irene was out for the day. The weather was nice enough for us to sit out on the patio and enjoy the babble of the bubbling rock, listen to the many song birds in the trees, sip a cold Corona and puff on a Cuban Montecristo.
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New Liskeard is the team to beat
Catherine – Just wanted to share with you the news on the street. The Bantam Provincial Hockey Championships are this weekend in Kapescaping. Our local boys “Clarkson Hurricanes” are competing against Coberg, Hamilton, Grimsby, New Liskeard and Kapescaping. Your home town boys are the team to beat and it looks like they are going to go home winning themselves a provincial championship.
Spontaneous Fires in Sicily Continue to Baffle Scientists
According to Reuters, ever since mid-January, various electronic devices have been spontaneously combusting in the now evacuated town of Canneto di Caronia, Sicily; at this point, the fires are almost daily. The town has been disconnected from the larger electrical grid and was hooked to a generator, but that, too, caught fire. Even unplugged items have succumbed. Nothing seems to have burst into flame except where there is someone present to witness it, but the police no longer suspect a prankster — after witnessing wires catch fire without cause. Scientists have yet to explain the phenomenon (although unproven theories abound), leading many people to look to supernatural causes. 
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It Only Took 14 Years
No Garbage in the Adams Mine Lake. David Ramsay held a press conference in New Liskeard today and said that a bill will be tabled in Queen’s Park this afternoon.
Cheers to all the extraordinary individual efforts and the support of the community in the fight to save the watershed from contamination.
Poor stupid rural folk? I don’t think so. 
Game Day – Season Opener
The Bako Boys are at the Toronto Blue Jays season opener today. I picked them up from school at 11am and took them to the GO train to take them to the Skydome. They were meeting their father who surprised them with tickets for an early Easter present. They were very excited as this was their first time at the special celebration for the first game of the season. They went early to watch the warm up of course and hoping to talk to some of the players. Nick bought good seats and they will be kicking themselves that they did not take their gloves with them (to catch any stray foul balls). I did not go, so I guess they felt they didn’t need to protect their mother for this game.
Inventor of Low Tech Fridge Wins Award
This is Mohammed Bah Abba’s Pot-in-pot invention. In northern Nigeria, where Mohammed is from, over 90% of the villages have no electricity. His invention, which he won a Rolex Award for (and $100,000), is a refrigerator than runs without electricity.
Here’s how it works. You take a smaller pot and put it inside a larger unglazed pot. Fill the space in between them with wet sand, and cover the top with a wet cloth. When the water evaporates, it pulls the heat out with it, making the inside cold. It’s a natural, cheap, easy-to-make refrigerator.
So, instead of perishable foods rotting after only three days, they can last up to three weeks. Obviously, this has the potential to change their lives. And it already has — there are more girls attending school, for example, as their families no longer need them to sell food in the market.
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We Sold the Farm!
It finally happened. Out of the blue I received a very generous offer for the farms and they want to close by April 23rd. The buyer accepted our counter offer, plus a 5 year lease on our house. It never fails, you finally fix/build up a few things and then end up selling before you get to enjoy it. This will enable us to live here past Martha’s retirement date and then we can look for homes in…
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Belgium Dinner Party
This past Saturday we had our gourmet night at Butani’s. We celebrated the country of Belgium. We were greeted at the door with a choice of Stella , Leffe, or Gimay Belgium beer in stemware glasses. I liked the evening so far! I made an entrance wearing my diamond and everyone oohed and awhed. The meal was fabulous..we started off with steamed mussels in a wine/vegetable broth served with the typical Belgium staple of french fries and mustard mayonnaise (all mad from stratch). We followed witha Belgium Endive and fennel cold salad topped with shredded smoked dried ham. The main course was melt in your mouth lamb ragout , riced potatoes, and an array of steamed vegetables. We provided the decadent desserts. Chocolate mousse with whipped cream and a raspberry. Chocolate truffel cake and a tier tray of Belgium cookies and biscuits, and chocolate truffels. Coffee and cogniac in the lounge was the finale. Our next dinner is to be Armenian at Jakobsons on May 1st.
Party at the Pump
Last Wednesday, the boys played a hockey game. I was not going to have a dinner or celebration for my birthday. Nick surprised me though! We went to “The Pump” the local watering hole for a green beer and gosh and behgoraah… to my amazement found about 25 of our friends having a nightcap in my honour. This was the best way to have a party, no stress, just show up! Stephen even drove me home as my designated driver. ps. Peter even got a goal for me, the team won to advance into the finals. A perfect day!
Rosie will be missed
Our 18yr old cockatiel caught some kind of virus and died last week. She had not been well for about a weekand a half. We knew that she was ill and I warned the boys that she might die when we were away. Peter watched over her and he was the one to find her at the bottom of the cage. He was also the one to telephone us and relay the sad news. He has such a soft spot for animals. We took pictures of her a few days before she died.