My Guitar and Pen: Welcome

Local Fella from Windsor... just wanted to share. His writing is really good.

My Guitar and Pen: Welcome: Welcome to my guitar and pen, the place where I post my rough cuts and fresh uploads. I have loved writing country music and various genre&#...

Astra Taylor on the Unschooled Life

15 Minute Black Bean Soup

Topped with Black and Green Olives 

1 tsp. olive oil
1/4 cup minced white onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups vegetable stock
2 15-oz. cans black beans, drained
1/4 tsp. cumin
Red pepper flakes, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
Chopped avocado for garnish
Cilantro for garnish

• In a saucepan (over medium heat), sauté the onions in the olive oil until softened. Add the garlic and sauté for another 2-3 minutes or until the garlic browns slightly.
• Add the vegetable stock and quickly stir to remove any of the onion or garlic that is sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add the remaining ingredients. Cook until warm, approximately 5 minutes.
• Puree using an immersion blender or puree in batches in a traditional blender. Return the soup to the pot and heat for another 5 minutes or until hot. Serve immediately.
• Top with the chopped avocado and cilantro. 

Makes 4-6 servings

GED

DONE~ 

Jules wrote his GED over the last weekend.  It is not something that all home schooled kids will do. But for Jules it just seemed logical. 

It will make all things easier no matter what he decides to do.

In this job market a high school education or a GED is necessary to be even considered for a job.  So this proves that he learned something other than how to beat a zillion video games! But hey! If any game stores needs someone that knows games.... have I got the guy for you! 

We bought the Study Guide in the fall and have been going through it daily. Did you know that the test has not changed much since 2002? Not much difficulty to learn these things. Most questions are all common sense... and multiple choice. 

There is an essay question. The give you a random topic for you to write about. This was Jules' biggest worry as he HATES writing! He did it on the first day of the test and was glad to have it over with. 

If you score too low you will have to re-write. Some  testing the same weekend he was were writing for the 3rd time. 

And it is not only kids taking the test. There were quite a few middle aged people there as well.  So for anyone wanting to just upgrade to a better job the GED is a start...

Now we wait for the results...

Growing Ginger

We eat ginger all the time. And we love making our own pickled ginger. Until now I had no idea how to get tender young baby ginger. So glad I stumbled on this blog yesterday! 

Starting our ginger this week. 

Dream State: Ginger Growth Update: Back in March of last year I blogged about How to Grow Ginger (See that post  Here ).

Biking in Windsor

http://www.citywindsor.ca/residents/parksandforestry/Trails/Pages/Trail-Map.aspx

Jay and I have been trying to get out as often as we can on our bikes this summer. Our favourite has to be the Ganotchio Trail. I love that it is seldom busy or crowded. We ride from our home in Pillette Village to Lesperance Road. If riding for enjoyment there is nothing better. The trail is big enough to ride side by side and have a conversation.

We rode to the Ambassador bridge 2 weekends ago. Because of the extreme heat there was absolutely no one on the trails! It felt like you had it all to yourself. One thing to be concerned about when heading downtown is that there was glass in some spots off of Wyandotte before we hit the trails. But is was absolutely perfect riding along the Riverfront!

We will try many more trails as well as our touring rides of the many streets in Windsor. So far this is a great place to bike. We could use some more areas on the city streets with marked bike paths, but my experience has been quite good so far.

I have not taken the camera yet, so I did find some pictures online to share with you. Enjoy.

Our first rescue of the year.

This is "Fred"~  :)  
Not the best name in the world, but I like it. Fred has a rough start to the day. He was wandering around and a car drove over him.. stunned him a little. And then while our neighbor was coming to us for help another, less helpful and less kind gentleman smacked the poor little guy with a broom. Poor Fred! 
So, we scooped him up and brought him home to wait for someone from Erie WildLife to come and rescue him. The volunteer could not make it here right away so Fred made himself at home. And wiggled his way into our hearts. Now, a few hours later I am sure we will miss him like crazy! Maybe they will never come get him! :D

He seems to have recovered for the most part and has been hopping and fluttering all over the house. 

It's May!!

Wow~

I cannot believe that it is actually May! Time seems to go by just way too fast these days! Life just seems to be moving on whether we like it or not. The last time I was on here was February~ Not much going on other than work and life.

Spring is here in Windsor now. The grass has been cut multiple times. So odd since I would not be doing that until May at least if we were still up north. We have also eaten fresh radishes from our own small garden area in the back yard. Yumm! Next year the back yard will be getting grapes and fruit trees. The lilac tree in the back yard is already starting to die off for this season. We have done some pruning to prepare it for even better blooms next year! It was getting rather large. In fact, some might say we over pruned. But lilacs are like weeds and it is already coming around!

The baby squirrels are starting to come out and we have starling in the soffits of the garage. As well as a Robin's nest in a tree in the front yard. I love how things start to come alive in spring. Everything seems fresh and new! Even the weeds and dandelions! ;)

What do ya think? Too much pruning??

And this weekend is Mother's Day! Have a good one all!!

To Those We Miss.

To all of those we miss. Remember that life is short. Love those around you and never take anything or anyone for granted.  As we get older we feel more loss in our lives. Remember those you loved and who shared your life. Never take the ones you love and those that truly love you for granted! 

MIneCraft - Mom's View vs. Jules

So, the boys have been into this game for quite a few years now. And I have to say, I am shocked at how popluar MineCraft really is! The boys can talk about it for hours on end. And playing it seems to be amazing! Unless you look at it through my eyes!
Anyone know what they see in moving all these little blocks around? And the little squared animals? What the hell?? Please explain!!






The way I look at Minecraft is that its more of a survival game than anything else. Some people may say that the game promotes violence in the world when it is really teaching people about what it takes to live before we had all of this technology. It aslo gives people the ability to use their imagination to build things that they think would be cool. The survival part comes in immediately when you start a world. The first thing every minecraft gamer knows is to get wood, from there you want to know you suroundings because you could end up in a forest, swamp, mountain, desert, or a snow biome and sometimes on an island in the middle of the ocean. The animals in minecraft are your main source of food. Now don't go butchering every animal you see because there is a set amount in the world which means if you kill it it will never respawn. So instead you have to breed them and raise a farm so you can have a constant supply of food. Now there are enemies in the game to keep it interesting so watch out. Especially for the Creepers. I dont want to spoil the game too much because it's more fun when you find things out for yourself. I will finish by saying that Minecraft is a game which is only limited by your imagination.


- Jules