Bringing Eco-Conscious people and Eco-Friendly goods and services together.
Saturday, March 28th, 2009
Tonight at 8:30pm, people in every country in the world will be shutting down for an hour!
We won’t be home at the time, however, we will definitely be sure to shut everything down before we leave. Justin will be onstage at “The Last Chance Salloon”, vying for the elusive last spot on Summerfolk’s main stage.
What are your plans for Earth Hour? Send me an email with what you’ve been doing, with pictures, and I’ll feature you in a post!
Thursday, March 26th, 2009
I know you might not all read this entire post, so I’ll start at the end of my story. Afterall, this is the really important part.
I came across a kitten in the parking lot of Grant’s Independent this evening. He’s about 6 months old, and has his fuzzballs intact. He was wet, cold and sneezing. I brought him home, warmed him up, and have fed him. He’s very friendly with people and dogs, which leads me to believe that this is somebody’s kitten!
If you know of anyone who’s missing a kitten of this description, please call me: 519-364-6417 or email me: jody@viddyworks.ca.
Still reading? Good.
While walking Pal near Grant’s Independent, I spotted a worried looking woman with a kitten rubbing against her legs. We stopped, and took a few steps toward them. The kitten trotted over to Pal and I, obviously not alarmed by the dog at all. After we spoke a bit, I assured this kind woman, who was late picking up her kids, that I’d make sure the kitten got somewhere safe and warm.
I really wasn’t sure how this would go! Kitten and dog in the same car with no carrying cages? I had to do something though. I picked up the little guy, and stuffed him in my jacket. Lucky for all of us, he was just happy to be warm and out of the rain! He snuggled right in and purred between sneezes. I drove home with him like that, snuggled in my jacket, one hand holding him and the other switching between the wheel and the shift, all with a friendly dog nose over my shoulder!
If you’re familiar with Hanover’s big box area, you’ll know that Grant’s Independent shares a parking lot with Zellers, and is right near Canadian Tire. At Canadian Tire, I was told that I could not put a poster in their window! It’s against corporate policy! I snapped at the woman, but went back to apologize. My anger was misdirected; she didn’t make this rule.
I went on to the next one in line, Zellers, and got the same answer. This time, I kept my temper and handed them a poster, hoping that the little guy’s owner would inquire at some point.
After that, I went on to Grant’s Independent, in whose parking lot the little guy was found. Surely they would care, right? No such luck. I was livid, but I did not show it. The girls in customer service were just following orders, afterall. No posters anywhere, period! Corporate policy!
I applaud businesses, large and small, who will do something to help their communities, even when it’s as small an act as putting up a little poster on their big glass doors. Shame on those big box stores for having such policies!
Consumers: please support businesses who are willing to support you. It’s the small businesses in your downtown core, not the big box stores on the outskirts that make a community. Real businesses run by real people.
Businesses of Hanover: please consider downloading and displaying a copy of the poster that I made up. If we can reunite the little guy with his family, it will be well worth the paper and ink.
Everyone: I know that there are people out there who feel the same way as I do: We need a no-kill animal shelter in Hanover! The animal control in this area is atrocious and needs to be improved. People who care about the strays they find end up taking them up to Owen Sound to OSAS, which is a wonderful place, but out of our area. Our municipal taxes don’t cover any of their costs, and it’s really not fair. We need something like it down here. Write to the post about it! I am planning to.
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
For the last few days, we’ve been treated to some mighty fine weather in Grey/Bruce! I’m told it got all the way up to 15c yesterday afternoon. Our woodpile is dwindling, and the ice is slowly being overtaken by water on our little scummy pond. Dogs, cats and humans alike have an extra spring in our step, and we’re all breathing in the emerging scents of grass and earth. Around our neck of the woods, one of the greatest signs of spring is my first bike ride of the year.
After a long cold winter, temperatures like this inspire me to throw off the shackles of gasoline and hop on my bike. You guessed it, that’s my old clunker up there. A few years ago, it was given to me by my friend, Ellen at Indira Devi Studio of Yoga. Neither of us thought it would be fit to ride when she pulled it out of the storage room, but since I love fix-up projects, I thought I’d give it a try. I brought the bike to a small shop in Durham (I believe they’ve moved to Owen Sound now), Bikeface Cycling. I had figured that the bike would need a total overhaul, and that only the frame would be salvageable (the most desirable part of course!). When I arrived to pick her up, the owner told me that all he’d had to do was oil the chain, and pump up the tires!
After reading this blog entry, I hope you’ll all haul your bikes out of the garage and take ‘em for a spin! However, you might be needing a tune-up, or perhaps you’ve outgrown your old bike and need a replacement. Here are a few suggestions on where to go in Grey/Bruce:
Bikeface Cycling Owen Sound 519-376-9777
Jolley’s Alternative Wheels Owen Sound 519-371-1812
Wheel Fast the Bicycle Shoppe Scone 519-363-3175
Martin’s Bicycle Shop Southampton 519-797-3645
Please leave a comment and let us know where YOUR favorite bike shop is!
It’s now been about 2 years, and I’ve put a lot of miles on this old bike. It has affirmed what I already knew; we shouldn’t throw away the items of the past in exchange for modern gadgets. Many people might have seen this old bike and sent it to the dumpster without a thought. So here’s your lesson of the day Grey/Bruce: Think twice before you toss that “old piece of junk”, it could definitely turn out to be someone else’s treasure.