Nancy Christie's Pruning Tips

Hi Everyone,

Here is Nancy Christie's hand-out to the Grimsby Garden Club members last night.  We had a great time with Nancy - and learned a lot from her practical and entertaining approach!

Stay tuned - Nancy is going to send us the information on the upcoming pruning course she's offering in Beamsville. 

Barking Up a Tree

How loud is a typical day? I wondered this when I was walking into the wind yesterday and it seemed to fill up my ears. Here are the measurements of a blogger who has serious hearing impairment: "I wake up to the flash of the alarm on my iPhone. (For those of us with hearing loss, there’s no point having an alarm that makes a sound, as we aren’t able to hear it.) The noise in my quiet bedroom room measures 44dB. I cough (87dB), then I get up and nip to the loo. Flushing the toilet registers 84dB. I go downstairs to let our dog, Tilly out. As I wait for her to come back in, I run the tap (85dB) and put the kettle on to boil (82dB). I pour water from the kettle into a cup (52dB), and open the door of the refrigerator (65dB). Then, I empty the dishwasher and put away the items, which make the following sounds: Crockery/Dishes  (89dB) Cutlery (91dB) Glasses clinking together (94dB) I pop some bread in the toaster and it makes a kind of ‘ticking’ sound as the control knob rotates. (70dB) I go for my shower (93 dB), then I dry my hair using the hairdryer (95dB). The loudest sound I was exposed to on this particular day, was the traffic noise when in the car with the windows open, which registered 99dB. The hedge-trimmer was the second loudest sound I encountered at 97dB.  She used the Decibel 10th app. Her article says that sounds louder than 85 dB can cause permanent hearing loss.  So I guess I met a big noise yesterday.  Here are abstracts of tree bark.

Barking

Heartfelt Expressions

What are the expressions we take for granted that relate to the heart? Dailywritingtips.com has 70 idioms with Heart. Here's what they say:  "Idioms that refer to what is the fanciful seat of our emotions as well as the factual core of our circulatory system are understandably numerous. Here’s a list of phrases and expressions that include heart and, for the most part, pertain to human feelings".  We don't even get to the letter 'c' with the first 10: 1. a big heart: said of someone kind and loving 2. after my own heart: said of someone with similar preferences or values 3. a heart of gold: see “a big heart” 4. a heart of stone: said of someone without sympathy 5. all heart: see “a big heart”; sometimes used sarcastically to mean the opposite 6. at heart: basically 7. bare (one’s) heart: share one’s feelings or thoughts 8. bleeding heart: said of someone who is conspicuously or excessively generous 9. break (one’s) heart: cause someone emotional distress 10. by heart: from memory Their listing of popular articles is intriguing so I checked out   100 small but expressive interjections. Here are some new ones for me: Hamana-hamana, variously spelled, and duplicated as needed, implies speechless embarrassment. Hup, from the sound-off a military cadence chant, signals beginning an exerting task. Neener-neener, often uttered in a series of three repetitions, is a taunt. Zoinks is an expression of surprise or amazement popularized by the cartoon character Shaggy, of Scooby Doo fame.

A Foggy Brain

The Google search image today links to an announcement that NASA has discovered 7 Earth-like planets orbiting a star just 40 light-years away.  There's an article on it here.  They are being called the seven sisters of planet Earth. We had a day of fog yesterday.  These is an expression known as Brain Fog.  "It's a vague sense of what you're trying to retrieve, but you can't focus in on it and the effort to harness the thought can be as draining as physical activity." I won't give you the link as the web page  is full of junk and keeps shifting.  Wikipedia's entry for it is "clouding of consciousness." Our fog yesterday was perfect for orchard images.  I found the infra-red filter in Topaz Black and White Effects, and that's the result in the two bottom pictures.  They have an eerie snow-quality to them.  And how different the light was during the time I was out.  The first picture is taken towards the west with a blue fog, and the second picture is taken towards the east with the grey fog.  You can see the orchards are being worked on.  There are piles of branches on the ground. The third picture shows a row or corkscrew willow graft trees.  This looks like a corkscrew willow and pussy willow crop.  They may even be harvesting the pussy willows now as I could see the pussy willows on the stems..

There in the Heart of Niagara

We continue on the Heart theme for February.  Is there a 'heart' of Niagara, as in: 'located in the heart of the Niagara Peninsula?' The West Lincoln Chamber of Commerce considers itself 'In the heart of Niagara' and is known as the "Hub of the Niagara Peninsula'.  West Lincoln consists of 'a number of hamlets and provides quaint settings for residential and small business development. The hamlets are Abingdon, Allen’s Corners, Attercliffe, Basingstoke, Bismarck, Boyle, Caistor Centre, Caistorville, Elcho, Fulton, Grassie, Kimbo, Port Davidson, Rosedene, Silverdale, Smithville, St. Ann’s, Vaughan Station, Warner, Wellandport, Wilcox Corners and Winslow'. That seems like a sprawling group to be a 'heart'.  We could consider a number of other claims for the 'heart of Niagara': Legends Winery - on the lake in Beamsville Foran's Marine - on the lake in Grimsby Ball's Falls - in the 'heart of Niagara's Greenbelt' - in Vineland off Victoria, with an historic village Peninsula Lakes Gold Courses - in the 'heart of the Niagara escarpment' - Pen Lakes is known as the 'jewel of Niagara' St. Catharines considers itself in the heart of Niagara Numerous airbnb listings in the 'Heart of Niagara' This seems like a common expression, and yet there doesn't seem to be a heart of Ontario, or heart of Quebec, or a heart of Canada (there is - but it's a poem).  One of our national heroes is listed as: 'Terry Fox:  Running to the Heart of Canada.' Or what about 'Discovering the heart of Canada in Ottawa', a sort of 'thought of heart.' Heart of America is a strong brand name for many things - movie title, charities, a beverage company, medical centres, etc.  The Boy Scouts of America are listed under the Heart of America Council.  The American Red Cross is listed that way as well. There is even a Heart of America Shakespeare Festival.  And where is the heart of America located?  Kansas City has made this claim. So our images today - the first shows the view of Hamilton from the Legends Winery.  The second shows the view of Toronto from the Mike Weir Winery (which claims the best view of Toronto).

Window Whimsey

February is heart month and there are many articles on heart myths, heart facts, and heart health.  The fact I found interesting is this one: FACT: A Broken Heart is a Legitimate Medical Condition Broken heart syndrome (or Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy) is a legitimate medical condition that was discovered by Japanese doctors in the early part of the 1990s. Today, cardiologists recognize broken heart syndrome on a global scale. Cardiologists refer to this cardiac syndrome as “takotsubo,” which describes the ballooning (or bulging) of the heart in Japanese. The syndrome is brought on by severe physical or emotional stress (i.e., death of a loved one, partner abuse, or extreme debt) that triggers the discharge of stress hormones, obstructs blood flow, and mimics a heart attack. Take the assessment questionnaire "here" to find out about your heart health from the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Our picture today is a wonderful symbol for heart health.  This is a roadside stand on Highway 8 that has seen better days.

It's Titanic

Our friend, Lex Parker, is working on a new project in Niagara Falls.  It is the interactive Titanic museum.  The press release went out in late January, so there are many articles on it.  The Canada Press article is here, and Lex's Facebook announcement is here.  His concept is shown in the articles - and its distinction is that the Titanic appears to be sailing through the building.  I've included the picture from Lex's Facebook page so you can marvel at the creativity. We checked the snow drops in the garden yesterday - they aren't blooming, but there are little white buds above the ground.  They are ready.

Valentines on my Flag!

Is there a heart symbol on the keyboard?  How would I place a heart in the text here?  On my MAC one presses control, command and space keys and up comes the character chart in a pop-up window.  There are many symbols available - this is the first time I've looked at them.  So our Valentine's Day is celebrated with these keyboard curiosities: Here are  'frequently used' symbols of hearts: 💑 👨‍❤️‍👨 💔 💓 ♥︎ ♥️ 💟 💕 👩‍❤️‍👩   Here are some 'smileys and people' images with hearts with distinctions of man to man, woman to woman, etc: 💑 👩‍❤️‍👩 👨‍❤️‍👨 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨  These are some of the 'symbols' with hearts: ❤️💛💙💔💕💓💖💟 This is in the 'symbols' for playing cards: ♥️ This is from the 'pictographs' symbols: ♥︎ I don't see the flag of Friesland  (a Dutch province)  in the flag symbol list - it has diagonal blue and white strips with red hearts - except the names of the hearts are seeblatts representing the seven regions along the coast.   I wonder what else has hearts in unlikely places.  I found thingiverse.com with all kinds of 'things' made in the shape of hearts via 3D printing using the MakerBot Desktop 3D printer.

Googling Up the Mountains

I noticed a parking lot at the bottom of Twenty-First Street - it is the curvy country road beside Twenty Mile Creek that comes up behind Cave Springs Winery.  Dezi and I went for a walk, and the winding path went along a little beaver pond, and went up into Jordan.  Cave Springs is the square building on the right.  This made me wonder whether Google has videoed any walking paths that aren't accessible to vehicles.  We could google up a mountain and visit places via the magic of Google.  I haven't found anything, but along my journey found this article from 2010: Nicaragua Mistakenly Invades Costa Rica, Blames Google Maps "Why did Nicaraguan troops mistakenly invade Costa Rica last week? Was it really because of a Google Maps error? Wired's Danger Room explains: Last week, Nicaraguan troops crossed the border, took down a Costa Rican flag and defiantly raised their own flag on Costa Rican turf. But the troops’ commander, Eden Pastora, told a Costa Rican newspaper, Google Maps mistakenly said the territory belonged to Nicaragua. Government officials in Nicaragua have also blamed a “bug in Google” for the error. Now, the Organization of American States and UN Security Council are being called in to mediate the dispute, and find a solution to the problem caused by Google. “Costa Rica is seeing its dignity smeared and there is a sense of great national urgency,” said Costa Rica’s excellently-named President Laura Chinchilla. Google has since apologized for the error (which can be traced back to bad information from the State Department) and is working to correct its erroneous borders. Most embarrassing, notes Wired, is that Google's competitor, Microsoft, uses correctly drawn maps. [UPDATE]: As commenter Nippon Tico points out, the troops crossed the border and raised the Nicaraguan flag well before learning of Google's mapping error; the Google excuse was made after the fact. What's more, the Bing map is also a bit suspect."

The British vs the Americans

Today I explored British vs American humour.   British: Q: Why isn't the England football team allowed to own a dog? A: Because they can't hold on to a lead. American: A man walks into a bar with a dog. The bartender says, "You can't bring that dog in here." "You don't understand," says the man. "This is no regular dog, he can talk." "Listen, pal," says the bartender. "If that dog can talk, I'll give you a hundred bucks." The man puts the dog on a stool, and asks him, "What's on top of a house?" "Roof!" "Right. And what's on the outside of a tree?" "Bark!" "And who's the greatest baseball player of all time?" "Ruth!" "I guess you've heard enough," says the man. "I'll take the hundred in twenties." The bartender is furious. "Listen, pal," he says, "get out of here before I belt you." As soon as they're on the street, the dog turns to the man and says, "Do you think I should have said 'DiMaggio'?" British: Q: Whats the difference between Cinderella and the England football team? A: Cinderella wanted to get to the ball. American: Q: Why did the coach kick Cinderella off the baseball team? A: Because she ran away from the ball. British: Why is England the wettest country? Because the queen has reigned there for years! American: A newcomer to Seattle arrives on a rainy day. She  gets up the next day and it's raining. It also rains the day after that, and the day after that. She goes out to lunch and sees a young kid and, out of despair, asks, "Hey, kid, does it ever stop raining around here?" The kid says, "How should I know? I'm only 6." Today we visit the Marie Selby garden in Florida in selective colour.

The Best of the Best

What is this website Best of the Best? I was looking for the top number 1 'things' and I found this British site,  It is a lottery for winning cars on a weekly basis.  The caption is:  Choose your dream car tickets.  This was started by William Hindmarsh in 1999, who says he loves cars. He grew up around his father's cars - Lotus Elite, Frog Eye Sprite and even an E-Type. There's a dream car winner every week so here's the latest winner story.  "THE STORY As a centre-forward for FC Le Mont in the Swiss football second division, Jorge Reixa knows a thing or two about challenging defenders for headers – which comes in handy when looking at the Dream Car Comp Spot the Ball photos! Jorge has been entering online for a while after seeing BOTB in Gatwick and last week he played for the half-price Ford Mustang GT. Christian was waiting for Jorge in the arrivals hall of Schipol airport earlier this morning with the incredible news that he was the 356th winner, taking him straight down the local Ford dealer to show him his new pride and joy. Jorge was ecstatic, particularly after getting the double delight of £10,000 in cash too - congratulations Jorge!" This is the way one wins: One has to identify the x y coordinates of a ball in a picture.  There is a panel of judges who are experienced football referees and ex-international players who use their expertise to decide where the centre of the ball is.  Game Credit is awarded for doing well in Dream Car Competitions, depending on how close you are to the winning position. It seems complicated, but extremely successful. The site says that  20 million pounds worth of cars have been won since it started.  There's an extensive array of all kinds of cars to be won.  I noticed a McLaren, a Maserati, and an Aston Marton as I scrolled down.   And there are cars with exotic names - a Vuhl, Caterham, and a Radical.  So in my search for the best of the best I seem to have found an example of that very thing. There are amazing things happening around us that are a testament to creativity in action.

Diana Sweets

Diana Sweets was a restaurant on St. Paul Street, the main street of St. Catharines. Our grandmother took us there for sundaes on a Saturday.  The interior is Art Deco from the 1920's.  It was a favourite spot for many decades, but eventually closed in the late 1990's. Benny Cooperman the detective in the Howard Engel novels would eat there.   The interior was stored in a Buffalo warehouse for a number of years.  And by good fortune, the Harley-Davidson store owner bought it in 2008 and installed it in the store.   I went in yesterday to see this piece of St. Catharines history. I was not amongst my cohorts in the store - I immediately noticed the  women with 'big hair' under backwards baseball caps. But I made my way to the important corner where coffee and espresso are available. It was enjoyable to see the booths and counter, along with the stained glass sign and the waitress uniforms.   The St. Catharines Standard article on the wall is here and a youtube video is here.  The video that followed was St. Catharines 1954.  The Hotel Dieu Hospital is in that video - I had captured the demolition earlier in the year.  It is now a flat space, awaiting the start of a retirement complex.  The big news yesterday, though, was spotting a Bald Eagle in the trees on the Lake beside the restaurant, the Lakehouse.

What's in a Name?

Elisabeth, Isabel, Izabel, Ebbie, Irene Isabella, Isabelle, Lyzbeth, Lisbeth, Eliza, Lisa, Lissa, Liza, Liz, Lizzie, Els, Elsa, Elza, Elisa, Belle, Bella, Betta, Beth, Betty, Bettie, Beetle, Bethany, Bess, Besse, Betsy, Buffy, Lily, Lilibeth, Bessie, Elisla, Liesl, Libby, Libbi, Lilla, Elspeth, Billie, Tizzy, Zabby, ... This is just a subset of the name variations for Elizabeth.  Perhaps because it is derived from Ancient Greek that it has so many variations in all major countries and languages. Its meaning in Hebrew  is "My God is an oath" or "My God is abundance".  The wikipedia section on statistics and name variants in use across the world tells us it has been among the 25 most popular names for the past 100 years. The name variant entries in Wikipedia are organized by full name, clipped forms, first half, middle, and second half.  And there is a separate section on nicknames. I wondered about the names with the most variants.  However, the search results were ask/answer websites. Many are targeted to naming babies with spelling variations to achieve a differentiated name.  I did find out that Shakespeare's name varied and there are six surviving signatures written by Shakespeare himself.  Most are abbreviated versions and it was a common practice then to use 'breviographic' conventions, or scribble abbreviations. Other examples given:  the name of Sir Walter Raleigh was written by his contemporaries either Raleigh, Raliegh, Ralegh, Raghley, Rawley, Rawly, Rawlie, Rawleigh, Raulighe, Raughlie, or Rayly. The name of Thomas Dekker was written either Dekker, Decker, Deckar, Deckers, Dicker, Dickers, Dyckers, or (interestingly enough) Dickens. So we dip into Spring today with our image of tree blossoms and the colour palette of spring on a heart of gold.