Storm's over and time for Coffee!!!

does bird have a name - not a species name, a personal name?

To see if it's a quail, ask it to spell potato.

Nice pictures Schicken!

Why did Schicken cross the road? To get to the bird, of course.

The birds name is - Little Bud. If it looks delicious, who ever tries to catch it will have a scared nose like my dog ! You don't mess with my DH bird LMAO or you will look like this. Part Chow and part Dingo - with a scared NOSE that is done bleading.

I thought dingoes were tough??! If I upset my (Hispanic) wife, I am a Gringo with a bloody nose.

50/50 Canuck and Indian. Abernacki.

Is that a sports score??

100 % Canadian - but of American descent from both my mother's and father's side. (I am the 10th generation in North America on my paternal grandfather's side - and none of the buggers made a fortune in real estate - how stupid is that???)

All originally from England or Scotland. Now get this . . . when DH and I went to England in 1997 . . . it felt EXACTLY like we had returned home. It was sooo wierd. My family ties to Europe were lost generations ago. DH lost his with his grandparents.

for the first time, I really understand the postion of the west-coast natives and their attachment to the land. Since then, I have felt like a soujourner in North America.

And yet - I wouldn't want to live in England or Scotland unless I had a ton of money. The cost of living is extraordinarily high. Also, I must admit, Americans are much friendlier than the English. Ever since I have been in Massachusetts, it feels like a perpetual bear-hug :-) Now, if I could just get the same response from the Dept. of Labour and the INS . . . .

I love it in Europe too. I'm first generation here. My family is from Germany and I feel like home there. It is wonderful to visit, but life is different there as well and would require quite a change from what I am used to.

Well, I find that anglo-Canadian culture is much more similar to British than to American. I had MUCH greater culture shock coming here. It is really hard getting used to a for-profit health care system, for instance.

You are lucky to have family in Europe to visit. We no longer have family there, so we stay in Youth Hostels.

I thought I would share a few garden blooms -

I wish I could share a bloom. I think they are coming? All I have today is a duck. 99% sure it is a Mrs. Mallard.

I will be more serious no more birds. Here is the only flower bed that I have. It has been in for 4 years and unattended. (like Pixie - the posion ivy scared me) I can tell that the ones I circled are flowers.

I know there is lillies of some kind. I do not know what the other ones are. I did find a tag that say's Hardy Ice. There is things growing and I can't tell if they are a weed or not.

Well Schicken, don't be such a chicken! A) You can do amazing things in containers. Checkout the container gardening forum.
B) Do you think there's poison ivy in there? I suggest you put down an inch or less of compost and then the same of pine nuggets or pebbles or something to show that you're doing it on purpose. (If you are.) Your retaining wall is very cute. Is that bed in shade most of the time? Try some bleeding heart - my daughter "made a garden" three or four years ago in the shade with one hosta and one bleeding heart, and now it's luxurious and untended.
C) You could ignore us gardeners and keep taking cool pictures of amazing creatures.


xxxx, Carrie

Canadian friends, Isn't Canuck a slur? I always wondered how a team could be named that.

All 4 of my grandparents came from the provence of Naples, Italy. Same with my wife. Didn't know that until after we were married.

Yeah, I have never understood this. Americans seem to think "Canuck" is a slur - perhaps it was historically, but we call ourselves Canucks. Never thought of it as a slur.

So, IMHO it's okay to use the term in wide-eyed admiration of all things Canadian (well, maybe most things Canadian) LOL

Anything that rhymes with 'puck' is fine. How did we get into ancestry anyway?? Something we have in common Dave - my grandfather was from Positano, outside of Naples. Grandmother (both on my Dad's side) was from Bari.

My grandparents, greatgrandparents, as far back as you go, all citizens of these United States. That's my pet peeve... Oh, nobody asked me? Well, I'll tell you anyway. I think everyone on North, Central or South America is an American! This hemisphere has the Americas in it. But calling US-ers Americans seems crass and impolite. And is a curious kind of patriotism.

xxxx, Carrie

Mine is very simple story:
Nobleman from Scotland came to Canada, married a Canadian Indian. My maiden name is Boudreau, I am told there is a little town somewhere in Canada with with our surname spelled correctly. I hope to visit there someday and learn the entire history of the town and more on our family.

Carrie, no other country in the hemisphere has 'America' in its name. I think that's why we're called Americans - not because of some crazed nationalism.

It is really interesting . . . many people in the Western Hemisphere think of themselves as Americans and are offended that citizens of the United States use that term to refer to themselves exclusively.

However, I freely admit (a) I am not one of those that are offended, and (b) after my experience in Britain, I think of myself as more of a transplanted European - not American (in that broadest use of the word).

I don't care what you call me. I am a Snigger.

What's a Snigger? Are there more on this planet - or do Sniggers come from "a galaxy far, far away?"

Related to Gonzo? He was from Outer Space...

xxx, Carrie

There is Sniggers on this planet, in this galaxy and the galaxy beyond. I assume there is Sniggers on this board, other then me :-)

Oh, I loved Gonzo. Animal too. Oh, and the two old men.

Harper
3/4 Czech (Carpathian Mts); 1/4 Irish

Um... hope I'm not outta line here, but maybe you ought to elaborate on just what exactly a snigger is, just in case someone doesn't get offended.

n - A snicker.

noun A stifled laugh: giggle, snicker, titter. See laughter

:-)

Aaaaah. Oh. I was a little worried there, particularly since your name is a word with an 's' added to the beginning of it. Ooops!

I am a mix. 1/2 Italian (Dad), 1/4 Irish, 1/8 German and 1/8 English.

Ah . . . a member of the European Common Market :-)

Several members!

I'm a thoroughbred among mongrels.

I always thought the American thing had some narcissism to it. IMHO we have too many people thinking God is on our side and not enough people hoping to be on the side of God (or whatever Lincoln said)

Hear, hear! Well said David.

Ditto for me - 100% German

I think it is understandable, Dave47. After all, when one is a citizen of the most powerful, most affluent society that has ever existed - EVER, there is little to suggest that God isn't on the side of America.

One of the consequences is that citizens and governments of other nations (at least among nations based on European civilization) have a better understanding of the United States than vise versa.

For instance, most Americans do not know that Canada is the #1 trading partner, the Canada is the primary source of foreign oil, or how the Canadian parliamentary system works. Most Americans I encounter are surprised to find out we have a Queen! (Like, whose picture is on the coins???)

Europeans, Australians, Kiwis - all have a similar experience. It is necessary for non-Americans to have a fuller understanding - since less powerful nations are clearly vunerable to the consequences of choices made by American governments, and the choices of American consumers affects the global economy.

America is powerful enough to act unilaterally without the support or consent of other nations. So it is no wonder that there is a certain narcissism. All empires (political or economic) seem to have shared the same attitude. Don't worry - this too shall pass.

I would expect to be treated like anyone on this whole site. You say something bad, offensive or inappropriate (sp) you get a spanking. I am sure there is moderator's here and the post would get yanked and you get probation or a timeout?

So - I would not offend anyone, and if I did, I would do it on purpose, but still get spanked.

It is supposed to be hot today, breaking record temps here in NH is expected. Work this morning and then hide this afternoon.

I guess then we should be very grateful to our number one trading partner for sending us all that CHEAP oil???????

Alas - the NAFTA agreement compels Canada to sell oil to the US - and to Canadian citizens at world prices. Can you imagine how Canadians feel - with enough oil to export but still having to pay these outrageous prices.

According to DH, there was a report on NPR that claimed that $36 per barrel of oil was simply price gouging because the market will bear it. Did anyone else hear that report?

LIFE IS GOOD! I am sitting on my veranda, drinking coffee for the last forty minutes. Listening to NPR and the birds. Plants are watered. lawn is mowed (yesterday) and the gardens are looking good. . . . Money can't buy this level of pleasure and contentment. I am a lucky woman!