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November 28, 2004
Freeze Up, Parades and Pileated Woodpecker!
Hi again!
Today the lake is almost totally frozen over--it started to freeze about 3 days ago--winter is coming!
Brrrr!
the Santa Claus parade was on Friday evening--started at 6:30 pm. The parades are at night now, they used to be in the daytime. This year's theme was tropical "In the Sun"! There were palm trees, shorts and swimsuits on various floats--luckily the weather wasn't too cold that evening!
We parked in Cary's yard and had coffee after and admired Cary and Cheryl's repainted livimg room and kitchen. They've done a lot of work on the house!
The last two days we've had a pileated woodpecker at the bird feeder! It not only eats the bird seed, but also tries to eat the feeder itself!
Roy and I did a bit of Christmas shopping this afternoon and went to the Red Eagle and Walmart.
I have to break for supper!
Posted by Cas at 5:32 PM
November 25, 2004
Survivor Thursday!
Just finished our weekly session of "Survivor" with its surprise ending!
It's very cold today--this morning it was - 19C at breakfast time! There were abour 8 red grosbeaks and some pine grosbeaks on the feeder this morning, a sure sign of winter! I took some photos of them and will get them developed shortly.
Alan popped over this morning for a quick visit--he will be leaving for Winnipeg this weekend with the girls and Casandra as her daughter has an orthodontist appointment.
Well, here is the latest Logic Puzzle to keep you all scratching your heads!
This one is called "SUMMER FUN"
One summer day, four children were engaged in some outdoor fun. Two were five years old, Of the other two one was six and the other was seven.
From the statement that follow, determine the age of each child and the outdoor activity in which each was engaged. One was flying a kite, one was playing with a dog, and two were playing catch.
1. Neither Ted nor the one who was flying a kite is the oldest.
2. Neither of the two youngest was flying a kite.
3. Theresa is older than the boy with whom she was playing catch.
4. Neither Tony nor the child who is six was playing with a dog.
5. Timmy, who is not the oldest, was not playing catch, nor was Ted, who is not older than Timmy.
age activity
Ted
Theresa
Timmy
Tony
Good luck! I will post the solution next week!
Posted by Cas at 8:24 PM
November 22, 2004
Sunday was Josh's day!
I ordered in some Chinese food and Shelby made Josh a chocolate cake with vanilla icing and I made Josh one of his special chocolate Skor bars cake! He and everyone pigged out! Alan came over with the three girls, Cary came over with his 2 boys--Cheryl was supervising the decorating of the Wilson's float for the Santa Claus parade, Guin and Allen just got back in time from Winnipeg for supper! They must have smelled the food!
It's hard to believe Josh is now 14 yrs. old!
Sally phoned just as everyone was getting ready to leave so brothers, sister, nieces and nephews said a quick hello! Then I got to have a lovely chat and catch up on Sally and David and Sarah's lives.
Sally said she's more than likely to visit us next September on her way out west==she just got back from a quick holiday and flew out to Vancouver and then met up with one of her friends and took the ferry to Vancouver Island. There was a big bike rally there--she ended up in Courtenay, of all places! That is where Roy's brother lives with his wife Gwene!!!!!! Wait until I email Art! Sally didn't know Art lived there or she would have paid him a visit--life is strange sometimes!
I am now tired after the Tai Chi and the drive home so I will say goodnight to you all and take care driving tomorrow!
:)
Posted by Cas at 8:55 PM
Winter wonderland!
I just got home from Tai chi and it is really nasty outside! Blowing wet, freezing snow and slippery roads--yuk!
This morning Guin and I saw a big eagle in the yard --it was just huge! gorgeous bird!
Well, I just finished doing the Logic puzzle about the Accomplished Sisters and I was so HAPPY! I got the answer right!:)
Here we go:
Considerations:
From statements 1 and 2, the sister who plays the clarinet speaks Italian, and the one who speaks Spanish plays the piano. From statement 3, Sheri must be the sister who speaks French, and she plays either the violin or the flute. From statements 4 and 5, Ellen speaks Spanish and plays the piano, and Renee must be the sister who plays the clarinet and speaks Italian. Therefore, it is Theresa who plays the violin and speaks German and Sheri plays the flute.
Summary Solutions:
Ellen piano Spanish
Renee clarinet Italian
Sheri flute French
Theresa violin German
I hope you enjoyed solving this puzzle!
Posted by Cas at 8:38 PM
November 18, 2004
blog cont. after "Survivor"!
The technology tha Tom Hanks used was like thie--he climbed into something like a black wet suit lined with neon-blue streaks and a tight cap and has hundreds of glistening white specks on his face. Computers recorded his movements and expressions which were then transposed onto his various characters.
This is an amazing revolution--with a few more technological evolutions actors would no longer be constrained by their own bodies. Harrison Ford could be 80 and still be playing a young Indiana Jones. Sean Connery could play himself circa D. No in a new James Bon movie!
The director of Polar Express said he got the idea from films like Who Framed Roger Rabbir, Castaway and Back to the Future and got the idea to use the technology about 4yrs. ago when Tom Hanks sent him the children's book which had some very beautiful paintings in it. He didn't want to do the movie as a cartoon, nor to do it as live action and so the process--called performance capture was invented. It is digitally rendered but there is no animation.
This info. was in the Chronicle Journal--the Thunder Bay paper. Isn't it grreat!
There is a web site that reviews movies called rottentomatoes.com so I shall have to check it out!
Auntie is now 92 yrs. old! I got an email from Beryl last week and she said she was still doing not badly but is now her memory is getting poorer. Beryl and Jim went to Barbados last winter! I must email her back, they are planning another trip and are looking at brochures.
Guin is working at the Lodge tonight and Allen is doing some work at the office, so we have a quiet house.
Posted by Cas at 8:17 PM | Comments (1)
I have been very lazy!
Time has just been flying by and I haven't written my blog stuff for almost a week!
We had a great birthday for Alan and bought some pizzas and had two birthday cakes--Choc.Skor cake and lemon cake with lime icing. Alan brought Amanda and Madison as Megan was out. Brad had Josh and Steph and Cary and Cheryl came too, the boys were tied up.
The next birthday is Josh's on Sundy so I will get some Chinese food and make his favourite cake and Shelby is making a cake too, so another full house on Sunday!
It's still cool but warmed up yesterday to about 10C.
On Saturday Roy and I are going to the Festival of Trees, and this year they are going to have a brunch too. The trees get decorated and then they are auctioned off for different charities.
Michelle Wright, the singer, will be in Dryden next week at the new Auditorium. Roy and I have tickets so I'm looking forward to another night out! We didn't go to any functions lastt year because I was so ill, so this year I am making up for some lost time!
We watched "Lost" last night and "Survivor" will be on in 10 mins. so I may break shortly.
I'm looking forward to seeing the new movie the "Polar Express ." Tom Hanks used experimental technology to morph into a little boy, a train conductor, a hobo and Santa Claus
break!..........
Posted by Cas at 6:52 PM | Comments (1)
November 12, 2004
Hi to the Birthday Boy!
Big Al is now 44! Wow, I am so proud of my big son--what a wonderful person he has turned out to be, despite having some problems recently, he is now on his new happy track!
We all wish him a great year to come and loads more! No more falling in big culverts!!
Tomorrow we are having cake for him, so if anyone else wants a piece, just come along!
Carol, Mom, Grandma, etc.!
xoxoxo
P.S. Alan was 9lb.3oz. when he was born, I don't know what that is in metric--they said at the hospital--"Put him on demand feeding"! I was nursing him so had to eat to keept up to greedy guts!
Oh well, it paid off!, :)
Posted by Cas at 9:53 PM | Comments (1)
The Greatest Canadian!
Has anyone been watching the series the Greatest Canadian? The final list has been narrowed down to 10 people and the website for voting in case you are interested is cbc.ca/greatest or the phone number is 1-866-303-VOTE
My final 3 have to include Frederick Banting, Tommy Douglas and Lester B. Pearson and I think I will choose Banting because his discovery of insulin has affected so many people all over the world. I don't think any sports personalities should be on the list, especially Don Cherry! Who on earth nominated him! Sports lovers will doubtlessly choose Gretsky and Trudeau will be on some lists. Well, I must now vote, so pause here!......................
Posted by Cas at 11:51 AM
New Logic Puzzle!
I hope you all finished the vacation trips puzzle! Here is the new one--Puzzle 5A 
ACCOMPLISHED SISTERS:
Four sisters, daughters of a Canadian diplomat, are musicians and also fluent in four Europen languages.Each plays a different musical instrument (the four instruments are the clarinet, the flute, the piano and the violin) and each speaks a different language.
From the statements below, which sister plays which instrument and speaks which language (one is Italian)
1. The sister who plays the clarinet does not speak French or German.
2. The sister who speaks Spanish especially likes her musical instrument, as she doesn't have to carry it to her music lessons.
3. Sheri doesn't speak German or Spanish, nor does she play the clarinet.
4. Ellen is not the girl who speaks German.
5. Neither Theresa. who doesn't play the flute, nor Ellen plays the clarinet.
Instrument Language
Ellen
Renee
Sheri
Theresa
Posted by Cas at 11:31 AM
Baby! It's cold outside!
The ground is freezing and the trees look all wintery, although there is no snow on the grounf yet.
Just heard on the TV that a vaccine has been developed for cervical cancer--this will mean that many women's lives will be saved, especially in poorer countries where Pap smears are not common. there will be many spin offs from this fantastic discovery.
One for the Guiness world record! An 84 kg. breaded and fried onion sets the world record!This bit of bhaji--a breaded and fried South Asian snack-swells to a diameter of 86cm. in a cook off event organizers said. The record was previously held by a restaurent in Yorkshire, the Veena Indian Cuisine
Restaurant and Takeaway who cooked up a 78 cm. around sncak weighing in at 59.6 kg. in Nov. 1999.
I had to break for my Home care nurse who just came to change my dressings, so now my ankles are stinging like crazy and I had to take a pain killer!
Posted by Cas at 10:18 AM
November 8, 2004
Fruit flies!
Just heard on C.B.C. radio coming home from Tai Chi, that the scientists have succeeded in cloning fruit flies! They cloned about 200 so far, but they are not too healthy. They are going to research the reason for this. The eggs of the fruit flies are larger than mammalian eggs! e.g. women's--hard to believe!
Howard Keele died yesterday--he was a well known singer and Hollywood star and made many musicals too.
Tomorrow Brad, Josh and Steph are coming for supper! Allen is making dessert and I will make Lasagna, etc.
Have a good evening!
Posted by Cas at 8:44 PM | Comments (3)
Answers to the last Logic puzzle! At last!
Puzzle 4A--Vacation Trips
This puzzle had me struggling! I ended up with 2 different answers! What a loser! I guess it wasn't one of my better weeks!
Considerations:
From statements 1,2 & 3, Joyce's husband is not Jack or John. Therefore, it is James. From statements 3 and 4, their surname is Adams. From statement 1 they are going to Atlanta.
From statement 5, Joan is not Abernathy. Therefore, her surname is Anderson. From statements 2 and 3, her husband is John. Their destination is Santa Barbara. Therefore, Jean and Jack Abernathy's destination is Tucson.
Summary Solutions:
Jack and Jean Abernathy Tucson
James and Joyce Adams Atlanta
John and Joan Anderson Santa Barbara
Keep up the good work and pat yourself on the back if you got it right!!!
I just re-read some of my earlier blogs and realized I didn't say anything about the new auditorium!
It certainly is a special place--we now have a place for, not only educational but cultural as well!
There are padded seats which are tiered in the concert hall itself, so no matter where you are sitting, you can see the stage as the seats are all staggered. Also, for the concerts, you can buy tickets ahead of time and choose your own seat. The concerts are organized by the Dryden Entertainment Series.
For the opening week, on the First Night, there was a Gala Opening and Michael Burgess sang. he has starred in Les Miz, Cats, Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon. In the first half he sang songs that were not too familiar to everyone, but once he got going on the musicals, we were really loving it! He had a wonderful tenor voice. His accompanists were excellent --pianist, saxophonist and guitar.
The next night was a combination of the Thunder Bay Symphony and a band from the East coast who played Celtic music--a mix of lively and quieter. Roy and I enjoyed the symphony more. On Friday night they had "Local Talent"! It was great! A big variety--songs,keyboard, dancing--both the Dryden School of Ballet (they did ballet and Jazz) and also the Zurka Dancers danced their little boots off!
The last three concerts that week were a country western singer (we skipped ) and Fred Penner.,
Posted by Cas at 4:46 PM
November again! Monday morning
Well, it seems I have been kind of busy and neglecting my blog!
Here are some words for for the younger set to puzzle over!
Is Grandma (me) a sexagenarian or a septuagenarian?
Also, what is a person who is an octogenarian?
Of course, all you big kids can do this too--stretch your brain cells!
A white elephant was spotted in Sri Lanka--the 11yr. old female appears to be the first recorded sighting of a wild albino pachyderm.
Rogue Waves--Surf's up, Way up!!
10 separate rogue waves taller than 25 m. -analyzed 3 weeks of global satellite radar data. Bad weather has sunk more than 200 supertankers and containers ships in the past 20 yrs..
Posted by Cas at 10:29 AM