Happy St. Patrick's Day - Erin go bragh!

Four Leaf Clover by Ella Higginson (born in 1861)

I know a place where the sun is like gold
and the cherries bloom forth in the snow;
And down underneath is the loveliest place,
Where the four-leaf clovers grow.

One leaf is for FAITH,
And one is for HOPE,
And one is for LOVE you know;
And GOD put another in for LUCK:
If you search you will find where they grow.

But you must have FAITH,
And you must have HOPE,
You must LOVE and be strong and so...
If you work and you wait,
You will find the place
Where the FOUR-LEAF CLOVERS grow!

Try a St. Patrick's Day corned beef sandwich with this mustard, compliments of Michael Smith, the Inn Chef.

From The Inn at Bay Fortune and a variety of locations throughout Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, Canada, The Inn Chef creates imaginative and artistic menus catering to the connoisseur, the traveler, the comedian and just about anyone who loves food!

Homemade Mustard from the Inn Chef

Leave for a few days for the flavours to develop before using. This is hardly a retiring mustard but men (and some women) love it on roast beef, corned beef and ham. I happen to prefer it to anything bought in a store. I often mix a bit with mayonnaise and a bit of vinegar to use on a salad of broccoli florets, cauliflower, purple onion, cheese and ham.

More recipes from the Inn Chef are here


Ireland in photos: Gallery 1
Ireland in photos: Gallery 2
Ireland in photos: Gallery 3


Bloggers Wanted -- "The British newspaper is looking for two people to travel the world and blog about their experiences for the newspaper’s online site." via newsbeat1

Get paid to go on holiday -- Guardian Travel

Each of the Netjetters will win up to £2,000 towards their trip, Fuji S9500 camera, a Nokia 6630 3G camera phone and a state-of-the-art laptop, all of which will be theirs to use on their Netjetter journeys and to keep thereafter. [. . . . ]

For fun: Boortz Redneck pictures -- I still chuckle, and sometimes guffaw, when I look at some of these: Redneck Scrap Book



My car has been surrounded by a pack larger than this when I wandered off the main road down a back road just to see where it went; the dogs make turning around to make a getaway a bit dicey.



Why do we have an announcement that an announcement will be made?

Martin to resign this weekend as Liberal leader -- Paul Martin intends to officially step down as Liberal Leader on March 19 when party executives meet in Ottawa to set a convention date.




Harper tightens leash on his ministers: report CTV.ca News Staff

Just as a point of interest, why does the report start with "In an effort to appear focused" -- "appear"?

[. . . . ] The orders indicate that ministers have been told to avoid talking about the direction of the government, and that the government wants them to be less accessible to the media.

"In order to keep a grip on such events (those that distract from priority areas), PMO will approve of all ministerial events."

The five Tory campaign priorities include a GST cut, a child-care allowance, tougher criminal sentences, a patient waiting-times guarantee and a Federal Accountability Act. [. . . . ]

Have we not had enough of the opposite?



Photos of Mexico City from the air -- "pictures ... taken while working as a Helicopter Pilot over Mexico City" -- via Autonomous source , a male who stays home to look after his two children. He has a delightful article on parenting and how children overtake you.

Stand up for choice in child care



Bernard Shapiro out of his element Tommy Schnurmacher, The Suburban, Mar. 15, 06

Ethics commissioner Bernard Shapiro should be fired. Why? Because he is completely out of his element, that’s why.

Partly responsible for the low morale among McGill faculty when he was principal, Shapiro has been winging it ever since he landed this new gig. At one point, the man was asking MPs to reveal the dollar value of their furniture. [. . . . ]

Bi-weekly Avian Influenza Maps via newsbeat1


Dutch get tougher on terror Lorenzo Vidino, Mar. 15, 06

Lorenzo Vidino is a senior terrorism analyst at the Investigative Project and author of "Al Qaeda in Europe: The New Battleground of International Jihad."

[. . . . ] Most of the members of the group, in fact, were born in the Netherlands, sons or grandsons of North African immigrants who had grown up immersed in Dutch culture, yet had embraced radical Islam and decided to "wage a holy war against their own country," as Dutch prosecutors defined it.

Bouyeri, who had described Holland as a "democratic torture chamber," talked about overthrowing the Dutch parliament and replacing it with an Islamic court. While receiving generous benefits from its social security, the men planned to kill the country's leaders and start a civil war that would have pitted Muslims against Christians. [. . . . ]

Hofstad group , Mohammed Bouyeri , Theo van Gogh , the end of Holland's multicultural dogma , the burqa and the niqab