Green Toys sold in London, Ontario

"Oh boy! Yots uh yummy stuff. gamma."

Fiona's mother and father follow the green path as do many of their young friends. When Fiona hit two, a couple of months ago, her mother's lifelong friend, Emily, gave the little girl a Green Toys tea set.

I had never heard of Green Toys but it is not surprising that Emily knew of the company and supported it. All Green Toys are made in the States, mainly from recycled plastic milk containers. The company says that every pound of recycled plastic they use saves enough electricity to power a television for three weeks.

Just recently I blogged on a Canadian entrepreneur, Kevin O'Leary, the chap from the Dragon's Den and Shark Tank. In researching the piece I learned that the American toy manufacturer Mattel no longer makes toys in the United States. Some years ago, Mattel CEO Robert Eckert closed the toy company's Murray, Kentucky, manufacturing facility, moving all production to China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Mexico. (I don't believe they have brought back much, if any, of the production.)

Surely, making stuff in the States from materials made in the States is better for the American economy than the Mattel approach. It would certainly have been better for the workers and the cities and towns affected by the closures.

If companies like Green Toys are able to produce stuff in the States, why idle plants and throw thousands out of work? Is the company's bottom line that important?

Dandelions are invasive; they're from Europe!

I always knew dandelions were invasive. When they invade one's lawn, they are just about impossible to get rid of. This is especially true in Ontario now that the province has banned herbicides for use on lawns.

What I didn't know is that dandelions are a true invasive species; They are not native to North America but came here from Europe. Gosh! Did someone bring them here with the goal of making dandelion wine?

I hate to confess this but in the spring I actually find lawns bright with yellow blossoms quite attractive. But it isn't long before the youthful, spring dandelions have grown old and grey, covered with seeds ready to be spread by the wind.

Fiona loves dandelions, spring, summer or fall. I told the little girl to make a wish and then try and blow all the seeds away. If you can blow a dandelion bare with one try, I assured her, your wish is granted. Well, that's what my mother told me. I'm just passing on the fun.

Using up the Thanksgiving leftovers

"Me try. Me try." She tried and she succeeded. Kids amaze me.

Monday was the Canadian Thanksgiving. Today, Thursday, we are down to our last leftover turkey, thank goodness.

Judy was making a turkey pie from the last remaining bits of turkey. Little Fiona wanted to help. The little 25-month-old grabbed her toy pastry roller, pulled a chair up to the kitchen counter, climbed up and set to work.

In the end, the kid was actually successful. She managed to roll some dough flat. It was just too cute. Judy took the little piece of dough and patched it into the bottom of her pie shell.

Fall is here!

Fall has come to London, Ontario. Leaves are turning red and yellow, streets and sidewalks are covered with fallen leaves and kids are excited. The red and yellow leaves and stuff are new; kids just tend to be excited; The season doesn't matter.

Little Fiona just turned two. This is her first fall and she loves it. Without prompting, she scoops up oodles of leaves and tosses them into the air. She thinks leaves are even better to toss than the sand she threw everywhere this summer. Leaves don't get in your eyes.

And the big, blue, leaf rake is so much more fun than the tiny sandbox pail and shovel. And leaves are everywhere, just everywhere. Sand is only found in any really amounts at the park --- or in the gutters at the side of the road. But the gutters don't count 'cause nobody will let you play there.

Gosh, if she thinks fall is fun. I can hardy wait to see her reaction to our Canadian winter.

Canadians love their pets

Taking a well earned time out for himself.

I don't own a dog nor a cat. Yet, many of my friends and relatives have at least one pet and often more.

Whenever I take my young granddaughter for a walk around my London, Ontario neighbourhood we encounter lots of folk out walking their pets. It is not uncommon to look up the street and see a couple of dogs and then to look behind us and see another dog or two, all being walked on a leashes.

After shooting this picture of one of my nieces' pets, I began wondering, just how many dogs and cats are there in Canada? I found this estimate on a pet forum site:

"Canadians currently own a total of eight million dogs and cats. According to Statistics Canada, there are approximately 3.5 million dogs and 4.5 million cats in the country."

Well, now I know. And if my granddaughter had her way, I'd be among those pet owners.

Neo-gothic buidings at the UWO

The University of Western Ontario (UWO) is famous for its campus. It is has lovely grounds with a great many neo-gothic style buildings. Up until the 1960s, the neo-gothic style was the rule rather than the exception. Today, the UWO plays an important role in the life of London, Ontario. The building towering over the trees is Middlesex College.

Rain, rain, don't go away! On second thought . . .

It rained today. At times the downpour was a veritable deluge. Fiona thought it was simply wonderful. You see, she had her red raincoat, red-plaid boots and a new umbrella. This was walking weather.

Fiona ran down the street; She spun about with merriment; She stopped to check her reflection in a small puddle. Everything was wet and that was neat.

She greeted other walkers with a happy "Hi!" They, in turn, would smile and return her cheery greeting. Fiona was the one bright spot in a rather dark and dismal day.

And then it started to rain, really rain. Big, fat drops fell all around with loud plop, plop, plops. When the rain started pounding down on Fiona, I put her umbrella up and showed her how to hold it above her head

This was not a good move, in Fiona's opinion. Her new, hot-pink umbrella was getting wet. She could hear the rain belting down on the taut plastic. Looking up, she could see the rain drops through the translucent plastic. The rain was running down the umbrella to the circular edge and falling to the ground in numerous, steady streams.

Even with the umbrella up, Fiona was getting wet. Dark, wet patches were appearing on her purple pants. It was time to head home and watch the rain from the comfort of a warm kitchen. I picked Fiona up and we headed back up the small hill towards home, all the while Fiona was cheering me on with calls of "Go Ga-gah!"