Will You Help Defend Our Coast?

{image via defendourcoast.ca}

Yesterday on the lawn of the legislature in Victoria there was a giant rally against the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline project and the gigantic tankers that want to invade our coastline. People from all over BC and even Canada joined together, 4000 strong, to voice their opposition, their concerns and to send a strong message that our coast is not for sale!

Unfortunately it was to far from home to attend but tomorrow, October 24th, in communities all over BC protesters are ready to converge on MLA offices far and wide to continue the 'Defend Our Coast' movement and we are going to be there.

The children worked hard all evening drawing and coloring their posters while we chatted about what all of this means and why it is so important to us...

 {image via rabble.ca}

and tomorrow we're ready rain or shine to join our fellow BC'ers and to keep the momentum of this movement going :) Hope we'll see you there!

Hugs,

Rosina

'NO to Enbridge' Pipeline Protest

Today we were radicals and joined in with fellow protesters at the Comox 'Our Coast, Our Decision' rally against the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline :)

There was an amazing turnout with people coming in by the bus loads from all ends of the island, Vancouver, Powell River, Quadra and so many more.

We had a great time cheering and singing, listening to the speakers and checking out all the fun signs people brought.

One very special speaker was 11 year old Ta'Kaiya Blaney who is Sliammon First Nation. She created the song Shallow Waters in the youtube video below last year to bring about more awareness to the pipeline and you've got to listen to it. It's really good! I didn't know that she was going to be speaking but I'm glad that my son who is only two years older got to hear her speach as she is such an inspiration that being so young she is accomplishing and doing such amazing things.





I'll leave you with one last video tonight of all of us singing along today with Tina Filliponi :)

PS. if you are reading this via email you will probably have to hop over to my blog to see the youtube videos.

Hugs,
Rosina

I Am A Radical

I've never truly thought of myself as a radical. Maybe a little out there and opinionated when it comes to things that are close to my heart but not quite radical but then I read this on Annie's blog today and I had to share it here with you to.

"On January 9th 2012 Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, Joe Oliver, released an open letter to Canadians in which he stated that anyone who speaks out against the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline project is a “radical” and has a “radical ideological agenda”. In his letter he implied that such radicals are also opposed to all mining, forestry, oil and gas and hydro-electric development in Canada."

So I ask you, are you a radical? If you are one of these 'Canadian Radicals' as we have been officially named then please take a minute to go to this website http://iamaradical.ca/ and let our government know just what you think! I did and I hope you will to.



If you are unsure of what Enbridge would bring to our beautiful province or are sitting on the fence as to whether you are for or opposed to the Northern Gateway Pipeline then I ask you to please watch this short video and see just what BC is gambling with and why we should stand up to protect our coastal waters, the Great Bear Rainforest and all of the life that it would pass through. This video actually makes me cry and just tears my heart out :(



And maybe listen to this fantastic song by Rachelle Van Zanten that was inspired by images of Tahltan women blockading Shell in defense of the Sacred Headwaters in northern British Columbia.

You can find out more and join the BC fight against Enbridge at the following websites.

http://pipeupagainstenbridge.ca/
http://dogwoodinitiative.org/no-tankers/petition
http://www.tankerfreebc.org/
http://www.pacificwild.org/

Hugs,
Rosina

PS. If you are receiving this via email you may have to pop over to my blog to view the videos if they don't show up in your email.

Fall Cleaning & Holiday Catch Up

I've been trying to tackle some rather large cleaning projects around the house. I think most people do a really big spring clean but I sort of guffawed at the thought of cleaning earlier in the year and now of course I'm paying the piper as I have all of the bedrooms in different stages of disarray and today I ripped through my kitchen like a hurricane *grin*.

One really triumphant moment was the removal of our microwave today! It has sat dormant on my counter for numerous years never getting used as I don't really believe in using one for cooking or reheating. I had casually passed it by Hubby the last time he was home from work to see if he had any problems with my idea and he had none so my oldest son and I carried it away this afternoon and said adiós to the beast LOL. I must say I am LOVING the extra counter space that it has freed up :)

All of this really didn't make for exciting picture taking though so I thought I would share some photos from our family trip to the BC interior this summer. I had planned to share them months ago but when we returned home we were busied with dad's cancer and such so they went into storage. So today I'm sharing some for your viewing entertainment *grin*. And my dad is doing great to! He has recovered, and his latest CT showed no cancer :)



The mighty Fraser River. We had just left Lillooet and were heading south to Loon Lake where we were to meet up with some of Hubby's family for a weekend on the lake.

This particular stretch of the highway was being repaved so we had quite a stretch of gravel road to travel.

The highway winds along the Fraser River for quite some time before heading away from it. Unfortunately ALL of my photos are hazy because of the heavy smoke that was hanging in throughout the region from the forest fires. We actually stayed at the same campground in Lillooet as a large group of firefighters that were out battling the fire every day. It was a little unnerving to be in so much smoke and to watch the helicopters with the massive water buckets come and go in the mornings and evenings.

Taking in the circle route via the Duffy Lake road.

If you have never taken the Duffy Lake road it is quite the experience especially when you are towing a fully loaded travel trailer behind you. It is the highway 99 just outside of Pemberton and used to be nothing more than a logging road but over the years it has been paved and to our surprise it had been resurfaced again lately so most of the road was actually in excellent shape!

It is a beautifully scenic drive that takes you STRAIGHT UP through the Cayoosh mountains and when I say straight up, I mean heavenward *grin*. You definitely need a full tank of gas, and some good breaks for this stretch of road. We must have climbed for a good 1/2 an hour to 3/4 of an hour and at some points we were only in first gear in the truck because of all the switch backs and hair pin turns! When we finally crested we came upon Duffy Lake which was just like glass and full of the reflections of the surrounding mountains. The air was much clearer up there to. When we were in Pemberton the smoke had been so thick that we couldn't stay outdoors for more than a quick walk to and from the truck so it was nice to be able to breath more freely and we lunched along the lake :) The final leg of the journey of course was straight down and that's where the good brakes part came in! LOL.

Hope you enjoyed a little look into our holidays and I'll have to share more with you another time :)

Hugs,
Rosina