“You are not permitted to oppress the worker…”

In a society where large corporations are corrupt and money-hungry, this story reminds me why I am a Christian.  I believe this post is relevant because it shows what true community can and should accomplish.

Why I love my community

Bargains!

1. I posted a wanted ad on our local online bargain forum for a Budgie cage and supplies. – within the same day I had one woman reply that she had a little travel cage stored away somewhere and would be happy to pass it on to me. I got another reply from another woman saying they were budgie owners and over time had accumulated three extra cages, and I could take my pick. In addition, she had a huge assortment of budgie toys and accessories and I was welcome to take them all. We stopped there today and we have a HUGE lovely cage, perches, toys, food and water holders, and more… FOR FREE.

2. I also posted a wanted ad for a Transformer Optimum Plus for my 5 yo son. He’s been dying to have one, and after I told him the movie wasn’t appropriate for him, I opened my foolish mouth and told him I would buy him a transformer toy instead. Then I went online and discovered they are $50-85 each. Yikes. I posted my plee on the bargain site, and a woman responded saying she has a transformer, has no idea which one it is, but I am welcome to have it for $5.

Entertainment!

Easter weekend one of the real estate offices hosted their annual easter egg hunt and concert by our local Juno nominated kid’s band, The Kerplunks. My son is a HUGE fan, has their CD and listens to it incessently, and said “Mom, I almost cried when I first saw the Kerplunks.” OMG… how *cute* is that?! He’s a groupie…

Last weekend we had the Big Bass Theory band in town and although the environment wasn’t exactly as family friendly as their ads promised (thanks to all the pot head concert goers) we had a nice time visiting with friends and listening to reggae while our son danced his brains out.

I went to the village today because I had a few errands to run, and met up with my parents. My dad was performing in our jazz cafe for a couple hours, so I sat with my stepmom and had a veggie sandwich and a pecan bar while enjoying the music. By the way, my dad is a hugely talented bluegrass musician and singer who has not yet been discovered. If there are any record producers reading this, you HAVE TO hear him. I’m not just saying that cause I’m his daughter… It’s totally true. He even has a Tom Jones outfit.

Gardens!

I literally live kitty-corner to a fully stocked garden nursery. Do you have ANY idea how much restraint I have to exercise to prevent myself from spending every waking moment drooling over plants I want?!

There’s a huge organic vegetable farm just around the corner, and I’m getting the opportunity to volunteer in exchange for fresh produce this summer.

Cha-cha-cha-CHIA!

Longing for the outdoors…

Look carefully in the centre of this picture and you’ll see a hummingbird

Hummingbird in our Arbutus tree

We went for a walk last week and we saw this pretty driftwood fence

You want *this* log moved??? Why???

Right before this shot a hummingbird came right up to his red hoodie

A pinecone my son wanted me to photograph

I’ve spent the last couple days sitting at my desk working on our business GST return (oh joy) and filling a garbage can next to me with snotty kleenex.

The GST return is done, other than getting someone who has done them before to look it over… Our income tax is done… refund on the way… Woot!

We returned the crappy weed eater and bought a Black & Decker one, that I’m itchin’ to try out.The grass is growing like crazy now.

I bought a new rake and want to rake up the old grass and use it to fill in some holey spots on our “lawn” aka the “field”.

We have two gates to build for our fenced gardens. I bought the posts and a few other supplies and laid out the “master plan” for my husband.

We have a new yellow rose bush to plant.

Next weekend we’re ready to pull back the black tarp and unveil the veggie garden plots. I have a feeling we will need a load of top soil…

The garden area needs to be boxed in and built up. Yes, I know we’re doing it backwards. Normal people build the boxes and THEN fill them up. Not us. We want to do things the interesting way.

I have seeds to buy and start. Note to self… don’t forget to buy some plant starter flats and soil.

I am putting paths in the veggie garden, and need to go to my dad’s and steal (actually they offered us some, so it’s legit) some mulch to lay down.

……………

Am I doing ANY of this today? No. I’m sitting inside nursing a cold. Bah. My darling wonderful husband has given my son and I a terrible cold and cough. (Thanks, hun… or as I like to say when he calls me “hun”, thanks, molasses).

I’m about to go try my new neti pot. Wish me luck!

Fresh Basil Rotini Salad

I made this for a church home goup potluck and it was a huge hit! So fresh and flavorful. Perfect for a summer picnic too.

Ingredients

1 box whole wheat rotini

2 ripe vine tomatoes, diced

fresh basil, shredded

1/2 large red onion, sliced

1 cup feta, crumbled

2 t diced garlic

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 T olive oil

Instructions

Prepare pasta as per instructions on box. Prepare fresh ingredients. Gently mix pasta, tomato, basil, red onion, garlic and feta. Drizzle with vinegar and oil. Toss. Serve warm or chilled.

Optional: Add any other fresh veggies you like… diced cucumber and bell peppers would be yummy… Maybe some olives and banana peppers for extra flavor.

Community & Technology

Your object is to save the world, while still leading a pleasant life. Wanda the Fish

Tonight I got into a discussion with some friends about using open source software. I’m a linux aka ubuntu user, and really believe in the cause. A community of programmers working together to develop a product that is freely available to anyone who is interested is a really beautiful thing.

What have you done today to support open source projects?

Pass the word on!

Ubuntu OS

Open Office

Last year I purchased a new Dell Ubuntu laptop and once I worked out a few infuriating kinks, I was in love. One tip. Forget trying to get any type of customer service through Dell. I spent days on the phone with their incompetent tech support, and then finally gave up and spent $50 to have a local tech guy come in and work out the minor issues I was having. TOTALLY worth every cent. He got my sound working properly and set up my wireless security, and a couple other little issues I can’t even remember now, but I do know they were frustrating the heck out of me, and causing me to waste precious time.

I was just checking out the Dell site, looking for a link to the laptop I bought, and it looks like they aren’t carrying it anymore. That’s a total bummer cause it’s a great product. The closest thing I could find (they actually referred me to this one when I did a search for the Inspiron 1525 with Ubuntu OS) is the Inspiron 15. It doesn’t come in the gorgeous lime green colour I got my laptop in though, and for that, I truly apologize.