George Walters Blog

Hey George.  what do you think of this article I read in the paper today.

Certain groups of foreign-trained workers will know within a year of applying for certification whether their training will allow them to work in Canada, the federal government said Monday.

Beginning in December 2010, foreign-trained architects, engineers, financial auditors and accountants, pharmacists and registered nurses will be among the groups that fall under the new framework, Minister of Human Resources Diane Finley said in Toronto.

Well let me tell ya.  First off it never ceases to amaze me when our powers that be get to thinking that these things can help our economy and is good for our country.  First off there is millions of folks that live right here now out of work.  There are lots of our own for that matter that have a lot of these qualities and can’t find work.  How about putting some of our own through training to do the job, as I bet most would only need a bit of upgrading to qualify.  Second thing is, if you look at all our pharmaceutical companies now, you will find way back somewhere that they are all owned and supplied by off shore countries.  Also just take a look at who is handing out the prescriptions now  a days.  Also take a look at our most of our doctors. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what is going on here.  What ever happened to; Made In Canada, or for that matter, Born and Educated  In Canada?  One has to remember as of years ago, you have to look after yourselves before you are any good to anyone else, selfish some say.  Yes it is, but that is  the correct way of doing things   So there you go.   Again My Opinion Only

Well first day of any snow to speak of this morning. Started to come down yesterday around two in the afternoon and pretty well kept it up till this morning.  Today my weather station is calling for sunshine so we will see.  Didn’t get to much snow, maybe a couple inches, but enough to let a feller or gal know of what lays ahead.  Sure is pretty looking out though, with all our huge pines just drooping.  I got to say the first snow fall has a way of doing something to a feller.  If I didn’t have some things to do this morning I think I could just sit here and look out all day long.  On another note.  My lovely wife is cookin’ up some bacon and soon as it is finished on will go the farm fresh eggs cooked right in the bacon grease. Can’t be beat.   One thing I love, is my eggs, bacon too, I know it isn’t the best one could eat, but two or three times a week is fine I have found, that is if one doesn’t over do it with other greasy things.  The thing I am looking for though, is one of them old time toasters, where you put the toast in and flip the lid up and down manually. One lid on each side.  If anyone has one of them that they don’t want any-more, just let me know.  You can reach me at stories@theoldcraftsman.com   Have a great day and remember.  A day worth getting up too, is a day not to be taken for granted.    (By Me)

You know I got to thinking the  other day on how we kept up with our health, when the cold old days of winter hit us all.  Laura the lady of the house always said that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, adding, so eat your apple as there isn’t a doctor for miles.  And I did.  Seems to me back then I can’t ever remember having a cold or flu.   Things like that were unheard of for most parts.   Even today I can say that I haven’t had a cold or flu in over ten years and longer, now why is that some would ask, especially these days? Well other than eating right, washing my hands and never touching my face, and rinsing out my sinus’s when I get home from town, not much.   My favourite is a good old Empire apple. They are great for baking and in my eyes hold more cures for diseases than any other.  Well maybe one other and that would be the spy, which we don’t see much of any more. I would also like to mention here Laura’s way of telling whether the apples one buys is going to be really tasty.  She would always say if it hasn’t any blush on it, not meaning chemicals, they are not going to be very tasty.  What is blush.  Well blush is sort of a shading that is put there by good old mother nature and when wiped off, the apple will polish up to a brilliant shine.  That is what you want to be looking for in the stores, which you won’t find, as most stores coat the apples with a type of wax, which actually holds all the chemicals to the skin, which in turn, isn’t good for ya.  Way to get good apples is to seek out an apple tree that everyone has forgot about or find a farmer that doesn’t use any chemicals. Not an easy chore I know, but well worth the trouble.  Click On Picture To Enlarge;  See that blush, hmm good!!   My Opinion Only

Thinking back to when I had horses of my own it got me to thinking of what I did in preparing them for winter.  When the cold winter weather hits, many horse owners right away bring out the horse blankets.  Myself though, I have always figured that a horse’s normal winter coat is much more insulating than a blanket, and unless the horse has been clipped, is outside without a windbreak, or has been moved to a colder climate during the winter months, it will usually actually be warmer without a blanket.
One has to remember that the longer winter coat helps to trap the body heat against the skin. Also, tiny muscles in the skin raise the hairs, creating tiny air pockets which in turn heighten the insulating effect.  So if you flatten their fluffed-up coat by adding layers of light blankets, or even one heavy one, you can actually make the horse colder. Something to think about.  My Opinion Only

So what’s for dinner?  Here today at our home here in Port Loring, I dug out a block of frozen spinach that we picked fresh from our garden earlier this summer.   Took the lid off a jar of home done up tomatoes, no additives and got them simmering on the stove together.  I gotta’ tell ya, if you haven’t tasted fresh tomatoes mixed with spinach, your missing out on a real treat.  The only other thing I like with it is maybe a touch of sea salt and a pinch of fresh ground pepper. I got to say, pepper is my weakness.  I also like my soups and things related boiling hot.  Not sure why, just been that way all my life.   So that’s what is on our plates or should say, in our bowls for dinner, along with a piece or two of home made bread.  What can be better?  Nothing, that’s what.  Again, all our hard work this past summer has paid off, and is now being enjoyed, along with being so………….good for ya.   Have a great day.

Hi George, was wondering what your ideas are on why all our bees are slowly dying.  Jim Paterson.

Hi Jim good to hear from you.  That is a great question for sure.  For most parts the scientists will tell you they can’t explain why as of yet. Myself, I have a theory being an old farmer.  For years now us humans have been spraying chemicals like fungicides and pesticides on pretty well every thing we eat.   First off, we just have to look at how us humans are doing with eating all these things covered with poison.  Don’t have to look far, as most folks today are getting sicker inside than ever before.   What’s happening is, that we are slowly killing ourselves.  Our immune system isn’t built for all these man made chemicals.  Same goes for the Bees. We keep subjecting them to all kinds of things, like pesticides and all sorts of chemicals. Then when a disease comes along, or another insect like a mite, they aren’t able to protect themselves, as they are too weak. Kind of like us humans taking the flu shot each year, as it is slowly messing things up with our immune system.  Not only the pesticides are killing the bees, other things are too. Like stress from moving them hundreds of miles a day, introducing them to bees from other countries and places, and now the high technical things, like cell phones, heck there is all  kinds of things going through their air space, causing them to be disoriented and confused, they just don’t know what is happening.  I gotta’ tell ya, it doesn’t take no scientist to tell me what is happening.   We humans are the blame.  To single out just one would be wrong as there are many many companies out there today promoting all these things, some are even in the business that feeds you each day. I don’t think I have to mention any names here, as I am sure you all know exactly who I am speaking about.  These are the ones that are causing the problem.  We either have to wake up and start to straighten out this mess and tell these huge corporations to either clean up their act, or we will boycott everything they sell or promote, simple as that.  Years ago if one got to messing with ones crops or family they would be in dire trouble and folks took the law into their own hands.  Today they say we have special law enforcers to do it for us.  Thing is they can’t do it for us any-more, to much red tape and politics.  You have to do it folks.  Like I keep saying, take the blinders off, don’t be fooled into what these so called powers that be is telling you is all true, as it isn’t.  Either we get to doing it quickly, or…………….well, we will all  perish.  The ones that will survive will be the ones that comes from the old school or looks towards the old ways.  I am not saying all the new things today are bad, as they surely are not.  I am just saying we have to blend in some of the old ways with the new before it’s to late. These things that are happening haven’t just started. They have slowly been creeping up on us for years now.  It’s just now we are starting to see the results.  Hope this helps.  Oh, and with out the bees, all of us humans would cease to exist, in just a few short years.  My Opinion Only

My lovely sister Barb sent me this bit of info and it just fortifies my way of thinking.  Remember this, what mother nature put here for us to eat, well that is good, what the Powers That Be put here for us, isn’t so good. My Opinion Only

Pass The Butter. Please.

This is interesting . .. .

Margarine  was originally manufactured to fatten  turkeys  When it killed the turkeys, the people who had put  all the money into the research wanted a payback so they put their  heads together to figure out what to do with this product to get  their money back.
It was a white substance with no food appeal  so they added the yellow colouring and sold it to people to use in place of butter.  How do you like it?   They have come out  with some clever new flavourings..

DO  YOU KNOW.. The difference between margarine and butter?

Read on to the end…gets very interesting!

Both  have the same amount of calories.

Butter  is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8  grams; compared   to 5 grams for margarine.

Eating margarine can increase  heart disease in women by  53%  over  eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent  Harvard  Medical Study.

Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in  other foods.

Butter  has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few and
only  because  they are added!

Butter  tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavours of  other foods.

Butter  has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years .

And now, for Margarine..

Very High in Trans fatty acids.

Triples risk of coronary heart disease .
Increases  total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and  lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol)

Increases  the risk of cancers up to five times..

Lowers  quality of breast milk.

Decreases immune response.

Decreases  insulin response.

And  here’s the most disturbing fact…. HERE IS THE PART THAT  IS  VERY INTERESTING!

Margarine  is but ONE MOLECULE away  from being PLASTIC… and shares 27 ingredients with PAINT

These facts alone were enough to have me avoiding margarine for life  and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is  added,  changing the molecular structure of the  substance).

You  can try this yourself:

Purchase  a tub of margarine and leave it open in your garage or shaded  area.  Within a couple of days you will notice a couple of things:

*  no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it  (that should tell you something)

*  it does not rot or smell differently because it has  no nutritional value ; nothing will grow on it. Even those teeny weeny  microorganisms will not a find a home to grow.  Why?   Because it is nearly plastic .  Would you melt your Tupperware and  spread that  on your toast?

Well just thought I would let the folks here in our area know when the next LSB meeting is and hope to see you all there.

LOCAL SERVICES BOARD OF LORING, PORT LORING AND DISTRICT
P. O. Box 148,  Port Loring,  Ontario  P0H 1Y0

NOTICE OF A PUBLIC MEETING
At the ARGYLE COMMUNITY CENTER IN ARNSTEIN
Monday, December 7th,2009 at 7:30 pm