"In the Siberian city of Magadan, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pays his respects beside Ernst Neizvestny's Mask of Sorrow monument, in honour of victims of Josef Stalin's repressive regime."

Please note that this entry is for both the Tuesday, and Wednesday editions of WW.

Happy Wordless Wednesday! And Thank You For Stopping By!

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Image Credit: BBC

A nice summer-like day....

..... a yummy lunch on the patio......

....with two of my most favourite people.

....it cannot get much more perfect than that....

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a great week ahead!

Blog Your Blessings

Ida Kutasevich (middle) nee: Schmidtke with her two daughters Galina age 5 (right)and Antonia age 3 (left). Circa 1937; Romanovka Ukraine.

I came across this photo while going through the family pics files earlier in the week, and thought I would share it with you. Antonia is my mother.

Thank you to Abbey for putting together Nostalgic Saturday. She is taking a break at the moment so if you decide to join in just leave me a comment, and I'll visit your entry.

This spectacular ruin is located in Sri Lanka, which is a country that I dearly would love to visit one day. The earliest-known inhabitants of the island now known as Sri Lanka were probably the ancestors of the Wanniyala-Aetto people, also known as Veddahs and numbering roughly 3,000. From the ancient period date some remarkable archaeological sites including the ruins of Sigiriya, the so-called "Fortress in the Sky", and huge public works. Not only does this ancient culture appeal to my strong interest in history, but also my curiosity in UFOs, and reincarnation. A beautiful place that still contains much mystery is how I think of Sri Lanka.

For further reading:

Sri Lanka Wiki

Words are not really necessary for this entry are they.....

Please note that this entry is for both the Tuesday, and Wednesday editions of WW.

Happy Wordless Wednesday! And Thank You For Stopping By!

For a list of other Wordless Wednesday participants please click here.

I remember having a conversation several years ago with John Robert Columbo a Canadian author, and Order of Canada member. We were discussing L.M Montgomery, and we speculated that her history was more darker then commonly thought.

It was therefore no surprise to myself when I read that her granddaughter Kate Macdonald Butler has revealed that she not only suffered depression, but had indeed committed suicide.

Here is a news snippet:

The granddaughter of Lucy Maud Montgomery has revealed a long and closely held family secret about how the author of Anne of Green Gables died.

In an essay in the Globe and Mail on Saturday, Kate Macdonald Butler said Montgomery committed suicide. She said there was a note, which she's never seen, but she was told it asked for forgiveness.

Macdonald Butler said it seemed appropriate to lift the secrecy on the 100th anniversary of the publishing of Montgomery's first and most famous book. She was inspired to reveal the truth because of a series published in the Globe on mental health, and she hoped it would help get rid of the stigma of mental illness.

Society has the idea that depression happens to "other people," she wrote, and in particular that it doesn't happen to our "heroes and icons."

Lucy Maud Montgomery published about 500 short stories and poems, and 20 novels, 19 of which are set on P.E.I.

Full CBC Article Here

To me this information takes nothing away from Lucy Maud Montgomery's legacy, and in fact may offer insight to others who are suffering as she did.

Further Reading:

L. M. Montgomery Institute

This past week I picked up a new set of spectacles for myself. After about a decade I actually changed styles too, and I am now sporting what I term as "brainy specs" or a smaller squarish black frame. This change in eye glasses got me to thinking about how styles in eye wear have change over the centuries.

If you are curious about this subject too you may just want to check out this website I found, which is devoted to Spectacles of Well Known People in History amongst other interesting factoid about glasses.

For instance did you know that dark green lensed eyeglasses were commonly used in the past to treat a symptom of syphilis? Apparently the tertiary stage of syphilis may present with various neurological manifestations, one of which is known as the Argyll-Robertson pupil where the pupil cannot get smaller in the presence of bright light. This produces a painful photophobia which is relieved by going into a dark area, or by putting on deeply tinted eyeglasses.

It is a fascinating website that gives us some insight into why, and what specs were used for, and by who in the past.

Well not quite...but you'll see what I mean. I came across this following news item on my favourite mystery writer of all time, and just had to share. Read on:

Mystery writer Agatha Christie can be heard musing about the origins of Jane Marple, one of her best-loved heroines, on recently discovered recordings, her grandson said Monday.

Mathew Prichard said he found a host of old tapes when cleaning out his grandmother's house several years ago but could not play them until he fixed the obsolete machine on which they were recorded.

"Not being a technical person I didn't realize how modern technology can resurrect (the tapes)," Prichard said. He called the experience of hearing Christie's voice again "quite eerie."

Full article located here

How cool is that! And never mind us fans, how thrilling this must be for her descendants. I do sincerely hope that the family decides to share these tapes with the public!

Please note that this entry is for both the Tuesday, and Wednesday editions of WW.

Happy Wordless Wednesday! And Thank You For Stopping By!

For a list of other Wordless Wednesday participants please click here.

Yesterday despite being sick I was able to attend the 2008 Toronto Ukrainian Festival for a couple of hours. Even with the rain the festival was well attended, and a lot of fun!

Each year at the Ukrainian festival there is an art show featuring modern Ukrainian artisans.

There are also many traditional Ukrainian arts, and crafts available for purchase.

This years highlight for me however was the Royal Ontario Museum booth, which featured a few intriguing artifacts from Ukraine's ancient past in order to promote a very exciting new exhibit entitled: Mysteries of Ancient Ukraine: The Remarkable Trypilian Culture (5400-2700 BC)

Here is a snippet from the ROM's write-up on this upcoming exhibit:

Who were the Trypillians? How were they able to build the largest settlements in Europe, well over five thousand years ago? And why did they burn them down? These and other questions are explored in this fascinating exhibition that uncovers the secrets surrounding this mysterious people.

Nestled in the forest steppes of modern-day Ukraine, the prehistoric Trypillian people lived and prospered between 5000 and 2750 BCE. Highly sophisticated, the Trypillians were both farmers and hunters. Their ability to adapt to different terrain led to their prosperity, and soon they had the largest population growth of any other Neolithic people. They built the largest settlements in Europe at that time, some with an estimated population of 10-15,000 people. Every 60 to 80 years, they burned some settlements to the ground and moved to settle another location.

In 1896, Ukraininan archaeologist Vikenty Khvoika discovered one of these settlements near the village of Trypillia. The artifacts he uncovered were instrumental in reconstructing the daily lives of this prehistoric civilization. Ancient Ukraine presents household tools, evidence of clothing, spiritual artifacts and art, all of which help to build the story of how the Trypillians lived, flourished and then all but mysteriously disappeared.

The exhibit will run from November 29, 2008 to March 22, 2009 and you may read all about it here on the Royal Ontario Museum's official website.

I am very much looking forward to going! Everyone who is even remotely interested in Ukrainian culture, and ancient history should try to get out to this event!

I have not been feeling well lately due to a nasty bit of head cold that I am recovering from. My compromised immune system thanks to Graves Disease does not help matters either, in fact it drags out the recuperating process.

Despite feeling yucky I am reminded that there are people far worse off then me, and that I do live in a country where my medical care is paid for by the government.

I also have a very understanding hubby who is not above cooking, and cleaning.

For all of these things I am reminded I am blessed.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a great week ahead!

Blog Your Blessings

As we quickly approach mid-September I am reminded at how October is a very busy month for us. It is busy even if you don't factor in the Toronto Ghosts & Hauntings Research Society, which is wildly popular in October (no one loves us in February) and that is because we genuinely both love Halloween. We love dressing for it, decorating for it, and absolutely celebrating it! And this is nothing new in my family.....

The photo you see above was taken in 1975 and is my Dad, and younger sister. Back in those days our Moms still made our costumes, and you still might find home-made cookies, or an apple in your treat bag.

Halloween has always had its problems, but things certainly seemed a lot more gentler back then.

Thankfully we live in a very family oriented neighbourhood where Halloween is not too far removed from those of my childhood, with the exception that virtually everyone's costume comes from a specialty party shop or Wal-Mart, and the kids tend to all be gabbing on their cell phones.

Thank you to Abbey for putting together Nostalgic Saturday. She is taking a break at the moment so if you decide to join in just leave me a comment, and I'll visit your entry.

Remembering all those who lost their lives due to the tragic events of 9/11.

Sir Frederick Banting was one of the twentieth century's most celebrated medical heroes. His discovery of insulin, made with his assistant Charles Best and other colleagues, was one of the most important medical breakthroughs of the century. Since its discovery, insulin has saved or transformed the lives of millions of people with diabetes.

Read More......

Please note that this entry is for both the Tuesday, and Wednesday editions of WW.

Happy Wordless Wednesday! And Thank You For Stopping By!

For a list of other Wordless Wednesday participants please click here.

Stephen Harper our Canadian Prime Minister asked our Governor General (Her Majesty's representative here in Canada) to dissolve parliament meaning to end this current government. Canadians will now have a federal election on October 14th.

Thankfully it will be only a few short weeks of having to endure campaigning, and if tradition holds nowhere near the ugliness that Americans see in their US elections.

The very first Canadian federal election was in 1867, and held from August 7th to September 20th. It was held to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 1st Parliament of the new nation of Canada.

The Conservative Party of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald won a majority of seats and votes in Ontario and Quebec.

I am quite certain that the current Conservative Prime Minister would love to do the same. We'll see.......

Old Fashioned School Bell

This week saw the start of another school year. The kiddo has started junior high, and the middle kiddo has gone off to University. Not only are all of my kiddos a blessing to me, and a source of pride, but it is always goodly to get that first week of school over, and back into routine. The first week is always difficult as we have to get used to alarm clocks ringing again, scrambling over who gets the shower first, making sure we all get out the door on time. And I am happy to report that we have survived!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a great week ahead!

Blog Your Blessings

This past week saw two of my kids reach milestones within their lives. My youngest started junior high, and my middle daughter started University.

Yes, I am feeling very nostalgic this week, and decided I would share a photo of each taken one Fall day approx. 10 years ago.

The kiddo.....

.....and her big sister.

We are very proud, but there are times when I do miss those days when they were still quite small....it really does go by way too fast.

Thank you to Abbey for putting together Nostalgic Saturday. She is taking a break at the moment so if you decide to join in just leave me a comment, and I'll visit your entry.

For those that may not be aware Most Haunted is a British tv series that showcases reportedly haunted locations around the U.K.

I personally have a strong interest in the paranormal, and ghosts, and the credibility of what is being put forth on this show as far as the main subject matter is already quite debatable. This alone could make a person such as myself cringe.

What makes the show absolutely deplorable in my opinion is how it presents an often skewed, and completely false history. Here is an example from an episode entitled Most Haunted London - Total Darkness that was written up on a Facebook group that I recently joined as an evaluation of Lesley Smith's work on the show:

Night one, she was referred to very little during the whole weekend, on night one she talked very little about the place where the team were, the plague victims buried in that location have been verified as to belonging to the 1665 Influenza Plague, yet Lesley did not say that, even when Paul Ross said (twice) that the bodies were from the Black Death, which was a bubonic contagion Plague in the 1330's, again not even close at 300 years out.

Her best gaff on night one was naming the four humors as "Hot, Wet, Dry and Cold", again she got it completely wrong, the four humors were Black Bile, Yellow Bile, Phlegm and Blood, they have been for about 3000 years!

Night Two, again she spent very little time on camera (in that outfit I’m not surprised, proof that she is turning the show into a circus as she looked like a clown!). Brian Shepherd came up with a name during a vigil, roughly he came out with "Charles, the architect of all of this". I do not even think Lesley bothered looking his name up, far too busy talking about the Theatre above Aldwych Tube Station which she did every time she came on camera. So who is Charles, the Architect of all of this?

Charles Pearson was a visionary of his time, he was a solicitor who worked for the London Corporation and it was he who managed to persuade Parliament to cough up enough money to pay for The London Underground, he died before it was ever finished, but many see him as "the true architect of the London Underground". Did Lesley even bother finding that out???

Night Three. Worst night for Lesley, possibly in her life (apart from when she nearly killed Tony Robinson on her five minute stint on History's Worst Jobs). It is all to do with the full names of people being read out on air and the sensitivities of the families of those brave men and women being kept intact, fair enough in the vigil the crew were part of they will not really have known that or might have forgotten as they were very busy at the time. Lesley on the other hand should have known not to do that, not only that but Brian Shepherd came out with a nickname of someone and then Lesley told the world who she thought it would be, I would be devastated to think that my grandparents still haunt somewhere and are not at rest in heaven, and to have Lesley Smith be the one to blurt it out on telly is absolutely atrocious.

At the end of the evening she was talking about Charles I execution, her own words were "one bitterly cold November morning"

November???

Charles I was executed in January 1646. I repeat... JANUARY.

I hope the author does not mind my reproducing it here, but I feel this evaluation is must reading for anyone who takes this show with anything more than a grain of salt. Would it be that hard for someone on the show to actually open a history book! Yeeesh!

"Last year an investigation was ordered by the Television Regulator in the UK, Ofcom, in which Most Haunted was cleared of any deception of its viewers, in which it stated that "Most Haunted is an entertainment show, not a legitimate investigation into the paranormal, and should not be taken seriously."

I guess that should hold true of the history aspect of this tv show as well.

Vatican Museum - Photographer F. Bucher

Please note that this entry is for both the Tuesday, and Wednesday editions of WW.

Happy Wordless Wednesday! And Thank You For Stopping By!

For a list of other Wordless Wednesday participants please click here.

I came across what I feel is a fun way to teach a bit of Roman history to the masses. It is a game called Death In Rome, and can be played right on the BBC website.

Here is a snippet from the introduction:

"Be a Roman sleuth - use your detective skills to unravel the events behind a mysterious death.

You have until dawn to investigate the crime scene, and crack the case.

Time is short. Each expert you consult will cost you precious minutes. Piece together the puzzle using their evidence, eye-witness testimonies, and perhaps a little detective's intuition."

You can play the game by clicking here.

Kudos to the BBC for helping to promote history in a creative way, and for producing what in your humble blog host's opinion are by far some of the best history based documentaries in the world.