Saturday, March 29

Support Earth Hour, Brandon and Green Thumb Sunday

Support Earth Hour Comments from FLMNetwork.com

I hope everyone supported Earth Hour tonight between 8 and 9 pm. It was only an hour and I'm sure many of the younger generation saw what it was like before electricity. My grandson asked me what they would do if they shut the lights out. LOL I told him to have a conversation with his family and talk about what was going on in their lives. It would give them a chance to talk without any interruptions.

When I was a child, Grandma didn't have electricity. I'm not sure what happened when Ontario Hydro came to string the lines, but whatever it was, Grandpa told them to get off his property and not come back. So Grandma didn't have any modern conveniences. After dark the oil lamps were lit or the kerosene lantern. She cooked on a woodstove and had a gingerbread clock that had to be wound daily. An icebox sat in the northwest corner of the kitchen. Water was brought in from the well.

We live much differently today than we did back then and it seems that when the power is off, we are not able to cope. In my house there is one clock that is not powered by electricity. Without power, we have only gravity heat from the oil furnace, we use candles or the oil lamp and there seems very little to do. The last time there was a power outage here, I tried reading by the light of the oil lamp and that definitely wasn't easy. Shadows flicker on the page and make the words difficult to follow. We were lucky. The power outage was only for a few hours. Others in Ontario were not so lucky and had to live without power it for a few days.

Today we are all definitely spoiled with the comforts of electricity and technology. What would we ever do if there was a power outage that lasted for weeks? I'm not sure we could survive. For me, there is no way to cook. Even my BBQ is electric. If I have to go 24 hours without my computer, I'm lost because my job depends on a computer. I write online web content and without a computer I can't work. Without work, there is no money. Without money, there is no shelter or food, which are needed for survival. And what would I do without all of my online friends here in blogland?

Earth Hour has made me think back to the days of my childhood when I definitely knew how to survive without power. It's provided me food for thought. Has Earth Hour given you food for thought as well? Please leave a comment and tell me how you coped with the one hour without power?

In other news, Brandon phoned last night and told me that Jordan was having his friend, Daniel, sleep over. He wanted to know if he could come and stay with me. I know this is his way of getting away from his brother for a while. I talked to hubby and he agreed that Brandon could come.

When I picked Brandon up, he was delighted. It's been a while since he stayed over by himself. I asked him what he'd like to do and he said nothing, just relax and enjoy some quiet time. What a darling. It is the end of the month and I have writing to get done before my deadline. I worked on it and he played his game and watched a bit of TV.

Usually Brandon is an early to bed, early to rise kind of boy. Last night he was still awake at 11 pm. I told him Grandma was going to bed and gave him a goodnight kiss. (Don't let him know I told you this. He will only kiss me when no one else is around. After all he's going to be 13 in May.)

Brandon came in this morning about 7am and asked what was for breakfast. I got up and once we were showered and dressed, we went to Tim Horton's, which is a coffee shop that was started by NHL hockey player Tim Horton many years ago. They have delicious coffee and I don't go there much, so it was an excuse to indulge and have a treat. Brandon had a bagel with cream cheese and I had their breakfast sandwich. The place was crowded so Brandon wanted to know if we could bring the food home. He likes eating out, but not if the place is crowded. So that is what we did and we brought Grandpa back a breakfast sandwich as well.

Barry and Michelle picked Brandon up around 1pm. They were taking the boys out for the day. It was nice having Brandon here for some one-on-one time. We didn't do much, just enjoyed each other's company. A great way to bond.



It's Green Thumb Sunday, hosted by Tricia at As the Garden Grows. If you'd like to participate, just click on the link to find out how.

I made a discovery in my garden this week. My snowdrops are blooming. Yay! A sure sign that spring is just around the corner.


Snowdrops are a tiny flower that blooms early in the spring in southern Ontario. They are delicate and about a tenth of the size of a crocus. Each year as spring approaches, I watch for my snowdrops to bloom. This year, spring officially arrived and there was no sign of them. On Thursday I took a look and lo and behold, there they were blooming, so I grabbed the camera and took a couple of shots. Once the snowdrops bloom, the crocus won't be far behind and then the tulips, daffodils and hyacinths. I see that my hyacinths are forming buds. Soon they will be blooming and the fragrance will fill the yard.

That's about all the news from my corner of the world today. Enjoy your weekend and remember to take some quality time to spend with your family. ~Blessings, Mary~

18 comments:

  1. When the lights go out for awhile I can of like it. It to reminds me of the days of my childhood. I really enjoyed this post....Mary

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  2. I haven't seen snowdrops before, even though I have seen lots of pictures. We still have so much snow that I would not even be looking for flowers. I will have to plant some.

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  3. I didn't see much on earth hour. I didn't realize they were asking everyone to turn lights out for an hour. I think that would be fun to do. I kind of like it when our electricity goes out and we have to sit quitely with only candle light.

    Have a blessed Sunday.

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  4. I am so glad that you had some time with Brandon, I know you both enjoyed that. Your snowdrops are really lovely.

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  5. I've never seen these flowers. They're so dainty! Thank you for sharing them w/ us.

    :)
    Kimberly

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  6. Of course we observed the Earth Hour. It was no big deal to us as we have electrical outages a lot during the big storms. We ate dinner by candlelight and talked. By the time we were finished with our eating, the hour was up. I know a few that said "This doesn't make a difference at all"...meaning that it was an useless effort. But, I on the other hand think it DOES. If you consider 16 cents a kilowatt hour and the consumption of the power itself...if the whole world would do this, think of the energy saved.

    I LOVE your flowers. They are so dainty and oh so beautiful.

    Happy Sunday Mary.

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  7. Mary
    How grand to spend some one on one time with Brandon. We built a fire in the fireplace downstairs and I forgot all about earth hour as the Vanderbilt girls were playing basketball. I actually fell asleep in the loung chair and Prince watched the game. I did the meme and hope you enjoy it. Love the snowdrops. Peace

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  8. I’m catching up today … on your last 4 posts. I’m happy you’re feeling more energetic again and are able to get things done.

    I enjoyed your ‘lesson’ about Maggie Walker … and your ‘gratitude’ list. It’s wonderful to know Michelle is doing so well. You did a marvelous job on the ABC meme … and your Show & Tell this week (as always).

    I did my part for ‘Earth Hour’ last night and think it’s a wonderful idea to raise awareness. What a lovely evening & morning with Brandon! Your ‘snowdrops’ are lovely indeed … harbingers of Spring ;--)

    I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend! We’ve got some drizzles here in Southern California … and apparently can expect April showers all week.

    Hugs and blessings,

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  9. i LOVE one on one time
    with the grandsons..
    They like having us to theirselves too!!!

    your snowdrops are awesome, I had some at my OLD house but none here.
    What's a garden without snow drops???

    love you my friend..dEena

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  10. Snowdrops were my Mom's favorite flower because she knew that when they popped their pretty little heads up from the ground that spring wasn't far behind.
    We grew up cooking on an old wood cookstove, because Mom loved it, not because we didn't have electricity. It was a wonderful way to learn to cook.

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  11. Still feeling yucky, not breathing well, lots of congestion. Isn't it great that my annual physical is sceduled for in the morning. Maybe she'll give me a breathing treatment and a shot and I'll be good as new by midweek. I have plans to go to Alabama but haven't confirmed them.
    Back in the fall we saw the Bruce Willis movie, Live Free, Die Hard. It is about a terrorist hitting the computer networks that run our lives. We talked about what it would be like if this happened. We both agreed that we knew how to live simply but would do it better in the countryside than in the city. The city would be full of crime and looting. People who've never experienced simple living would not be able to survive without learning to work hard. When we had the farm(pre 1993)we often had power outages in the winter when the ice got on power lines. We had a Kerosene heater and a wood burning fireplace. We cooked on both and stayed in the living room all the time. I'm not sure what our water source would be like if we had to go back to that. The days of aquifers are over and city water probably wouldn't work without electricity. It's something to think about. I hate that we've become so dependent on technology.
    Mama Bear

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  12. Mary,

    I'm sorry to say that I forgot about the lights out hour. The only thing that saves me from feeling truly awful about it is that we do try very hard to conserve, recycle, reuse, and reduce. We have almost replaced all our incandescent bulbs with the squiggle low energy bulbs. I never use a clothes dryer - a commitment to energy conservation I made 30 years ago. We wash our clothes in cold water and when we do buy a new appliance, it has to have the energy star on it! An added bonus is that our electric bill dropped a lot.

    Still, as you said, we are spoiled these days. I can't imagine living without electricity. I'm sure we could do it if we had to, but I also think it would be a struggle!! About 20 years ago, we lost power for 4 days due to a severe ice storm. It was tough. My hat is off to our grandparents!

    I love the photos of your snowdrops! Beautiful!!

    I'm glad Brandon got to spend some alone time with you and Dwight. It sounds like a wonderfully relaxed bonding time! :-)

    Hugs,
    Tina

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  13. I completely forgot about green hour although I do try to conserve as best I can. One thing I do is use night lights in the evening and only put the lights on when I absolutely have to. It's a little but it helps.

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  14. Mary, I just love to have one on one with the grand kids. They need that as much as we do, especially for quiet time:) Your flowers are lovely, I think I might have those also but I thought they were called moon flowers?? I will watch for them to bloom and let you know.Have a great week:) love ya.
    Deb

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  15. Thanks for have the photo of the snowdrops,I really enjoyed them.one hour with out use electricity is simple.whe we had that monster of a blackout for days on end that was a apin.

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  16. I remembered Earth Hour when I did a Google search and the screen had a black background!
    Love the snowdrops--Happy GTS,
    Aiyana

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  17. I am still able to live without electricity, if necessary. It is a lot of work. Short of doing without their are lots of arrangements that could use less electricity.

    Your grandson will overcome his shyness is kissing Grandma! I still kiss my son and he is 39. I have no shame. As a single father I long ago committed myself to "motherly" as well as "fatherly".

    On another matter, did you see the article on Autism on CNN
    http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/03/28/sl.autism.irpt/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

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