{"id":195323895,"date":"2026-05-01T01:21:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T05:21:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianspelling.com\/?p=71"},"modified":"2026-05-01T01:21:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T05:21:33","slug":"keep-your-stick-on-the-ice-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thatgrrl.com\/site\/index.php\/2026\/keep-your-stick-on-the-ice-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Keep Your Stick on the Ice"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_189\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-189\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-189\" src=\"https:\/\/thatgrrl.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/keep-your-stick-on-the-ice-2.png\" alt=\"Keep Your Stick On The Ice\" width=\"1000\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thatgrrl.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/keep-your-stick-on-the-ice-2.png 1000w, https:\/\/thatgrrl.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/keep-your-stick-on-the-ice-2-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/thatgrrl.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/keep-your-stick-on-the-ice-2-768x384.png 768w, https:\/\/thatgrrl.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/keep-your-stick-on-the-ice-2-600x300.png 600w, https:\/\/thatgrrl.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/keep-your-stick-on-the-ice-2-700x350.png 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-189\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Keep Your Stick On The Ice<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000; font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\"><em>Canadian for&#8230; don&#8217;t give up and play by the rules.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">I have been thinking about how to make this newsletter work. Starting at Substack was good, but its limited and I can\u2019t use all the features (like the option to have the newsletter subscriptions be paid). I\u2019m not sure about the paid thing. I do have links to my PayPal account and ko-fi. People can donate if they choose to. I will just see how it goes along.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">However, I did decide to move the newsletter to my own website after this newsletter is sent out. The next one will have a new link. Its a good time to make a change because I don\u2019t have a lot of subscribers. So, next week the newsletter will still be sent in email, just not from Substack. I will include the new URL\/ link in that coming newsletter.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">Please help me support my fondness for groceries and the occasional new print book.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/paypal.me\/laurabrownca\">PayPal Me<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">Buy me a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/thatgrrl\">ko-fi<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #ff0000; font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">Canadian Inspiration<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">This week, your Canadian inspiration is to find old postcards. You can search\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebay.ca\/sch\/165800\/i.html?_nkw=vintage+Canadian+postcard&amp;_from=R40\">ebay<\/a>\u00a0and find a lot of them. You don\u2019t need to buy them, but of course, you can if you choose to.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">Look for at least one old postcard (aim for images about 100 years old) from the city, town, village, hamlet you live in now and another from the city, town, village, hamlet you were born in (or grew up in). If you have never moved from the place you were born &#8211; find at least two postcards from the same place.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">To help get started: consider looking for built heritage (a new phrase for old buildings) natural landmarks (Niagara Falls as an example). or a cityscape, a postcard from a downtown street with the old storefronts (may include people and cars driving along the street).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">For me, I\u2019m in Barrie, Ontario (now) and Port Union (sometimes known as West Rouge), Ontario (where I grew up). I was born in Toronto, but we moved before I started school.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_75\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-75\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-75 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/thatgrrl.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/vintagebarrieontariopostcards-1000x500.png\" alt=\"Old Barrie, Ontario in vintage postcards.\" width=\"650\" height=\"325\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-75\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">1910 \u2013 Barrie, Ontario \u2013 Town Hall and Market Building. Demolished 1985.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">Above this you can see postcards I found for old Barrie. There were plenty to choose from. Sadly, I looked a lot (over years not just for this newsletter) but I have not found postcards from Port Union or West Rouge. So, I made my own with an old photo I have found posted in various places online.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"header-anchor-post\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">If you can, take a screenshot of the two (or more) postcards you find. Share them with your family, friends &#8211; you could even look for your local historical society and post the screenshots to their social media.<\/span><\/h4>\n<hr>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #ff0000; font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">Canadian People<\/span><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_200\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-200\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-200\" src=\"https:\/\/thatgrrl.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/canadian-mountie-c.-1900.png\" alt=\"Canadian Mountie C. 1900\" width=\"500\" height=\"1000\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-200\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The slogan of the Canadian Mounted Police has been \u201calways get their man\u2019 for generations of Canadians. This image is a colourized photo from the 1900\u2019s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<hr>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #ff0000; font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">Canadian Places<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdwmc.com\/\">Come Dine With Me Canada<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">Quoted from the FAQ:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\"><em>CDWMC features five competitors who live in the same area who each host a three-course dinner party in their home for the other competitors. Each rates the host\u2019s food and hosting skills with the highest scorer earning the cash prize.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\"><em>The series is ideal for Canadians who are confident in their cooking skills and love to entertain.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">My Mother and I watched\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/citytvplus.ca\/season\/Come_Dine_With_Me_Canada_2025_289167\">Come Dine with Me Canada 2025<\/a>\u00a0just tonight (Thursday). I remember the show, an\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Come_Dine_with_Me_Canada\">older version from 2010<\/a>. I found out the original show started in the UK. I had thought it was all Canadian &#8211; a Canadian version of My Kitchen Rules (from Australia).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">We enjoyed the show and I hope it gets more seasons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">But, that isn\u2019t the only reality cooking, hosting, and dining show Canada has had. I know of at least one more, from Toronto:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Dinner_Party_Wars\">Dinner Party Wars<\/a>. Before that there was Loving Spoonfuls, the show\u2019s host would visit Grandmother\u2019s and cook with them. If you know of other Canadian reality cooking\/ dining shows let me know.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #ff0000; font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">Canadian Things<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">The dandelion is not one of the provincial flowers of Canada. The bane of gardeners from coast to coast, to coast. I think the dandelion could find a way to grow from a seed in an empty glass jar. Yet, as far as I know, the dandelion is not a flower given the honour of representing any country, province, or territory in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">In Canada the wildflowers chosen for each province, and territory, usually grow well where are natural. In particular, the trillium for Ontario is known for being difficult to grow well in a garden. But, it grows wonderfully well out in the middle of nowhere in particular &#8211; under tall trees with a good population of ants to spread it around. Being in Ontario, I know more about the trillium than other Canadian wildflowers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">Funny that the lady\u2019s slipper from the smallest province is also the rarest flower, hardest to find or grow. (In my experience).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">Nunavut, the newest territory, is missing from the stamp collection image below. At that time, Nunavut did not exist.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">The Yukon &#8211; Fireweed<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">Northwest Territory &#8211; Mountain Avens<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">Nunavut &#8211; Purple Saxifraga<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">British Columbia &#8211; Pacific Dogwood<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">Alberta &#8211; Wild Rose<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">Saskatchewan &#8211; Western Red Lily<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">Manitoba &#8211; Prairie Crocus<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">Ontario &#8211; White Trillium<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">Quebec &#8211; Blue Flag Iris<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">New Brunswick &#8211; Purple Violet<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">Nova Scotia &#8211; Trailing Arbutus<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">Prince Edward Island &#8211; Lady\u2019s Slipper<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">Newfoundland and Labrador &#8211; Purple Pitcher Plant<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_199\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-199\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-199\" src=\"https:\/\/thatgrrl.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/canadianwildflowerstamps.png\" alt=\"Canadianwildflowerstamps\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-199\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stamp collection, 1964. Ebay &#8211; https:\/\/www.ebay.ca\/itm\/306906785390<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">The Government of Canada website has a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/publications.gc.ca\/collections\/collection_2016\/pch\/S2-211-2002-1-eng.pdf\">PDF download<\/a>\u00a0with all the symbols of the provinces and territories, including the flowers.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #ff0000; font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">One last thing\u2026 A Canadian Hockey Link or Two<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/v\/17Ry4LDb1p\/\">Stompin Tom Connors and the Hockey Song<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/0Il8bhph1ic?si=ontNeRxi-YOZdBV7\">Don Cherry<\/a>\u00a0&#8211; the man, the hockey legend, and the suits!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'andale mono', monospace;\">How could I not include Red Green (<a href=\"https:\/\/thecanadianencyclopedia.ca\/en\/article\/steve-smith\">Steve Smith<\/a>) &#8211; Keep your stick on the ice!<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<a href=\"https:\/\/thatgrrl.com\/site\/index.php\/2026\/keep-your-stick-on-the-ice-2\/\" rel=\"bookmark\" title=\"Permalink to Keep Your Stick on the Ice\"><p>Canadian for&#8230; don&#8217;t give up and play by the rules. I have been thinking about how to make this newsletter work. Starting at Substack was good, but its limited and I can\u2019t use all the features (like the option to have the newsletter subscriptions be paid). I\u2019m not sure about the paid thing. I do [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":189,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1595],"tags":[1598,255,1599,1600,1601,1602,1603,1605,1608,1613],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thatgrrl.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195323895"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thatgrrl.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thatgrrl.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thatgrrl.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thatgrrl.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195323895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thatgrrl.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195323895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thatgrrl.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thatgrrl.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195323895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thatgrrl.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195323895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thatgrrl.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195323895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}