G is for GARY POINT

For a pleasant stroll by the sea GARY POINT is the place to be! It can be quite windy here, so you might want to bring a kite and join in the fun.  This 39 acre waterfront park is at the mouth of the Fraser River, close to Steveston Village, and where you can get great fish and chips and frozen yogurt! It's one of our favourite spots to take our chairs on a sunny day in any season and read, wander and take photos, or just simply relax and take in the scenery and people watch.  A few photos from there will hopefully give you a taste of the peace and tranquility there.

Gargantuan thanks to the great Mrs. Nesbitt, the founder and creator of ABC Wednesday.  To participate, please click HERE, and don't forget to read the "Rules & Guidelines" governing this meme. Thanks and have a glorious week! NOTE:  I'm currently in Yorkshire and have met the FABULOUS Mrs. Nesbitt, who welcomed me and my friend Cathy with fresh eggs!  Had them for dinner last night with bacon and a bap (the eggs,  not the hens or Denise!)

F is for FUNNY FACTS re FAHRENHEIT & FLAG

I laughed so hard when I read a posting on Bluerad's blog "Everything Awesome." Check it out here to read the top reasons for living in all the different provinces and to read a few good Canadian jokes.  But what I thought was the funniest (but tongue-in-cheek) and that my American friends will surely find funny is the following:

The Official Canadian Temperature Conversion Chart
 
50° Fahrenheit (10° C)
· Californians shiver uncontrollably.
· Canadians plant gardens.

35° Fahrenheit (1.6° C)
· Italian cars won't start.
· Canadians drive with the windows down.

32° Fahrenheit (0° C)
· American water freezes.
· Canadian water gets thicker.

0° Fahrenheit (-17.9° C)
· New York City landlords finally turn on the heat.
· Canadians have the last cookout of the season.

-60° Fahrenheit (-51° C)
· Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
· Canadian Girl Guides sell cookies door-to-door.

-109.9° Fahrenheit (-78.5° C)
· Carbon dioxide freezes makes dry ice.
· Canadians pull down their earflaps.

-173° Fahrenheit (-114° C)
· Ethyl alcohol freezes.
· Canadians get frustrated when they can't thaw the keg.

-459.67° Fahrenheit (-273.15° C)
· Absolute zero; all atomic motion stops.
· Canadians start saying, "Cold, eh?"
· Vancouver Canucks finally beat the Chicago Black Hawks in the playoffs.

-500° Fahrenheit (-295° C)
· Hell freezes over.
· The Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup.

A friend and I were talking about the Canadian flag when we were watching the Olympics and both of us felt that it isn't all that fabulous.  We both remember the days when we had the Red Ensign and we much preferred it even though it was never the "official" flag of Canada. Now we have the maple leaf flag that was made our official flag in 1965 under the auspices of our then Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson.  At least our provincial flag (British Columbia) still has part of the Union Jack, which pleases me because it reminds me of my British heritage.   The first flag below was Canada's flag beginning in 1868 (the year of confederation), the next became our flag in 1921, and finally our official flag in 1965.  Below that is my provincial flag, which I quite like because it represents not only our connection to Great Britain, but also the sun and sea.

I'd be interested in your feelings on the above flags.  Which do you like the best?  

Finally, we must not forget our fabulous leader, Mrs. Nesbitt and her current pilot Roger, who facilitate our fun each week with ABC Wednesday.  If you're new here, please familiarize yourself with the "Rules & Regulations" of this meme found here.  Some of Mrs. N's friends help fulfill her wish to visit each and every contributor each and every week.  We follow the rules, field questions, and function as a team to further ABCW and help it to flourish.  Have a fantastic, fabulous and fascinating week, my friends.  I'm having a fun-filled holiday and will be back next week with my post for the letter G.  Sorry, though, not to be able to visit everyone!

E is for ELGIN HERITAGE PARK

Elgin Heritage Park is located in Surrey, British Columbia and houses the historic Stewart farm.  The farm focuses on the time between 1890-1920 and includes the finished farmhouse, a pole barn with agricultural tools and machinery from the era, a boathouse, threshing shed, root cellar, gardens and an orchard.  At certain times, there are site interpretators in Victorian costumes who provide tours of the house and grounds.  Nowadays, the farm serves as a place where families can get together and enjoy activities, special annual events, programs and just simply explore.  The farmhouse was built in 1894 by John Stewart on the banks of the Nicomekl River and features a wrap-around verandah, parlour, dining room and kitchen with a woodburning stove. Tours of the farmhouse and the grounds include several buildings:

• POLE BARN | Built in 1900, the barn was used to store hay, machinery and once housed horses, a bull, cows and pigs. It is one of the last of its kind and today displays antique agricultural tools.
• STEWART BARN | Built around 1900, it once stored a threshing machine and today is a program and exhibition hall.
• BOATHOUSE | This building is used to display the old Hadden crab boat and is used to illustrate the oyster farming and crab fishing industry along the Nicomekl River and Crescent Beach region.
• HERITAGE GARDENS & ORCHARD | See vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers once grown by local farmers a century ago including pumpkins, carrots, beans, heritage roses, snapdragons, calendulas, sunflowers and twenty-seven varieties of heritage apple, plum and pear trees.

Read more: Stewart Farm, Elgin Heritage Park, Surrey, British Columbia http://www.venturevancouver.com/stewart-farm-elgin-heritage-park-surrey-bc#ixzz230lEVRWc

Here's a slideshow I made up using my photos that I would love to share with you.  If you're ever in the area, do stop by for a wander.  But before viewing, please remember our enchanting leader, Mrs. Nesbitt, who has been entertaining us with ABC Wednesday for over 5 years now!  She and her energetic band of eager assistants embrace all participants, encouraging them with extravagantly exhuberant epilogues to continue to entertain us with their examples for weekly letters of the alphabet.  Continue to enlighten us with exhibitions of emotions, ecology, experiments, enterprises, and education!

Also, just so you know I'm not ignoring you all, but I'll be on vacation for 5 weeks and have my posts ready to publish from wherever I am that week.  However, I may not be able to get around to you all until I get back.  I will try, but I hope you'll still pop over and comment on my contributions.  I love to hear from you.   

D is for DISTRACTED DUMMIES

ABC Wednesday is brought to you this week by the letter D.  And lest we deign to dismiss the dynamic Denise (Mrs. Nesbitt) and her devilish discernment for a dazzling weekly blog, please remember that she is our dignified doyenne! To read more about the darling of ABC Wednesday, just click here. 

WASHINGTON —

 A young man talking on a cellphone meanders along the edge of a lonely train platform at night. Suddenly he stumbles, loses his balance and pitches over the side, landing head first on the tracks.  Fortunately there were no trains approaching the Philadelphia-area station at that moment, because it took the man several minutes to recover enough to climb out of danger. But the incident, captured last year by a security camera and provided to The Associated Press, underscores the risks of what government officials and safety experts say is a growing problem: distracted walking.

For a long time now in order to protect ourselves, we have had to wear seatbelts when driving in a car.  But have you noticed the increase of pedestrians walking while using devices such as cell phones or ipods?  They're talking or texting or checking their emails or reading their Facebook or even adjusting the volume on their ipods.  What right do they have to put other people (and themselves) in such danger?  It seems that if a vehicle hits a pedestrian - no matter why or how - he/she is to blame.  But don't you think a driver has enough to worry about without having pedestrians crossing on a red light or stepping into traffic without due regard?  Don't be a dummy because "According to The Associated Press, reports of injuries to distracted walkers treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms have more than quadrupled in the past seven years." Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/Distracted+walkers+becoming+menace/7035621/story.html#ixzz22dpQD1yk  

The other day, I was trying to park my car when two distracted women started to cross in the middle of the street but suddenly stopped right on the edge of the curb.  They had not even seen me and continued to stand there talking to each other while I patiently waited to see if they were going to turn and step in front of my car.  Finally, I gave a tiny little tootle to get their attention and you know what happened?  They looked at me, started screaming to not be so impatient, and gave me the finger!  Here I was making sure they didn't step in front of my car and at the very minimum incur a broken hip and they get mad at me!

Whether driving and using a hand-held device, walking and using a hand-held device, or just simply being unaware of one's surroundings while out and about, people need to think about how their behaviour impacts others around them.  Drivers are too busy worrying about the distracted drivers and should not have to concern themselves with distracted walkers, too. Walkers who are paying attention to their surroundings should not have to veer around or be bumped into by distracted walkers.

At the very least, being a distracted walker is dastardly rude; at most, it could mean death!