Yes, We can

Elections matter. If you care about the future of America - please vote in the November U.S. presidential election. We need a change in this country. My personal choice is Barack Obama. I think this video sums it well (although, I'd like to see a few older people singing.....)


Three years ago, right before the July 4, 2005 celebration, I revisited the first documents that started the ball rolling for the United States of America. I re-read the U.S. Declaration of Independence. And better yet, I took it to a July 4th party and read it aloud to the dinner guests.

Everyone was impressed and the conversation was inspired. It is an amazing expression of the foundation of this country. So believe it or not, I actually bought the domain name, http://theusdeclarationofindependence.com/ and posted the declaration in its entirety. I also posted great links and quotes from our founding fathers. I' ll continue to host this site for as long as I can (and since I own a data center, that will be a good long time)

I care about this country. I care about our future. And I care about the rights and longevity of our children. I am a strong supporter of the U.S. Constitution and I take great offense at those that would try to negate those principles.

Each one little person, can do something to make a change. Yes we can!

My car was broke into last night

I went to walk Teiko this morning and I found the garage door was partly opened. Not thinking much about it, I continued through the garage and when I got out to the driveway, I found the passenger side door opened on my car. Yep, the car had been gone through. It appears that the only thing taken was the garage door opener. Checked the garage and everything appeared in its messy messy place. Also found a book bag lying in the driveway. It belonged to a neighbor two doors down. It appears that it was a busy night for the local thieves.

Called the police to report it. An officer was at the house within 15 minutes. Imagine my surprise when I found out a neighbor further down the street actually had two cars stolen out of their garage last night.

The garage door opener was reprogrammed this morning. Teiko has been given strict orders to guard the house against intruders. Knowing Teiko, I doubt he'd do much, but I wouldn't want to enter into a house with a nearly 100lb German Shepherd. Here's a recent photo of our house-guarding Cujo dog.....
Lesson learned: Don't get freaked out when this kind of crap happens. Nothing was taken, no one was hurt and there was no damage to our property. Personally, it wastes energy to live in fear.

Seeing the past

I love this picture of crocks sitting in the window of an 1840's farm house in Lake Placid NY. As a teenager I started collecting Red Wing Crocks and bowls. I even belonged to the Red Wing Collectors society for a brief stint in my 20s. I love the longevity of crocks. It's amazing to use something that has been around for a hundred years. Today the crocks and bowls that are around are all in use. Smaller crocks hold pens, kitchen utensils and small orchids. The larger crocks have big plants and are used as kindling boxes. The crock bowls we use everyday for mixing. Yeah, sure a crock will break or get cracked once in a great while but to not use such a utilitarian object is a shame, in my book. I have mixing bowls that belonged to my great grandmothers. Again, another connection to the past, I like it.

How does the garden grow?

This year's garden is off to a fab start. Tonight Raine and I braved the army of mosquitos and picked our first batch of fresh peas. This year's garden contains; tomatoes, brussel spouts, chili peppers, beans, peas, carrots, beets, cukes, squash and the usual herbs. We fit a lot of veggies in a small space.
A new addition to our gardening practice this year is rain water barrels. These barrels collect water directly from the drain spouts. A good rain storm fills up the barrels in 10 minutes. We are able to collect 100 gallons of rain to water the garden and flower beds. Obviously this isn't enough to water with everyday as we can deplete a 50 gallon barrel with just one watering of the vegetable garden. However, it is a start and Todd is already envisioning a several hundred gallon holding tank for the back yard.

This is a smart and environment alway to conserve our precious ground water. It's silly to use city drinking water when there is so much "free" water available.

Sweet old Christmas Cactus

So, the other day, my mom and I were talking about the Christmas Cactus that Grama Boo used to have. When I was a young, I remember seeing it at her house and I loved that every Christmas, it would actually bloom.

My mom was wondering what ever happen to that cactus. I told her that several years ago, Grama Boo gave me the plant. I had found it in her basement by the laundry window. I had told her that I loved that plant and remembered it from my childhood.

My mom then informed me that the plant was over 50 years old. Because it originally belonged to her great-grandmother, Nanny. I didn't realize that a plant could be 50+ years old. Wow!

And like clockwork, that plant, produces blooms every December for about two weeks. I'm amazed that I have a piece of my family history in a beautiful plant.

Canada and NY Trip Photos

Here are some photos from Todd and my eight day, 2300 mile trip to Montreal to see the formula 1 race. Along the way we met some great people, saw some amazing things and learned a lot! A great vacation. To see bigger pictures, just double click on the flash image below or go here: http://picasaweb.google.com/rwedekind/CanadaBoundForGrandPrix

Back from rocking Canada!

Wow, what a whirlwind tour of Ontario, Quebec and New York over the past week. Todd and I had a blast. I'll try posting pictures soon. I'm having serious issues with blogger posting images to my FTP server.

Heading to Canada!

Yay! Todd and I are heading to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday! We are leaving tonight and driving through the Upper Michigan and Ontario into Quebec. Haven't had a vacation in several months, so this is totally going to be great!