Just ask a Blanchard’s Cricket frog and I’ll bet if he could talk, he’d tell you that whether it’s a habitat for frogs or for us humans, trying to be green and then staying green isn’t easy.

New Homes - Can a new homeowner even plan to “go green” and keep a yard healthy when they landscape it or is it too much?  Sadly a house is more than just the TV, some furniture and a place to plugin your cell phone.  In my opinion you may as well have a condo if you really don’t want the yard.

Existing Homes – Rehabilitate the yard, no concentrated fertilizers or pesticides and use locally produced organic compost or more natural chemicals. The argument that they both achieve the same results with similar chemical means is understood but that’s why you read the label. Also being prepared that sometimes seeing smaller yields from our gardens with a few bugs is totally acceptable.

Mulching - We are mulching more, a properly prepared yard prevents run off into the city sewers and can stop erosion around a house. Best of all no one needs grass to do that. So year by year, we are landscaping to reduce lawn grass in favour of perennial plants, bushes, trees and the mulch. [There's a great link about  mulching at Trees Are Good that I refer to often]

Drought - We are experimenting with drip irrigation and hope to install a rainwater collector to use for the some of our plants rather than using city water and of course this assumes we have rain this year. Sometimes the grass goes brown simply because it needs to be dormant. We use our small garden to supplement fresh vegetables and use containers for other plants that need more care.

Trees - It’s always a hard call but maybe for us trees are more about aesthetics and sound than to cool and again stop erosion. Our house is very close to the street so a tree in our front yard is necessary. Unfortunately the tree that came with the house is a river birch which means water, water, water. The year before was particularly tough for it so we ended up having to top it due to die back. I’d take it out completely but it still has use and a new tree costs money.

Being Green outdoors can be easy if you think it through for your needs although I’m afraid we may be too late for the tiny Blanchard’s Cricket frog here in Canada.

So as we drove up I thought Earl’s, Milestones, heck even Outback, you know the load ‘em in, charge a lot and move ‘em out kind of place. In some respects I was not to be disappointed by my initial reactions.

This is one busy place; thirty odd people in the waiting area; could have been the location, could be the desperation of Edmonton’s west end for a better restaurant (cause the Southside owns Dadeos) so who knows. Thankfully we had reservations or I’d have left for sure.  The decor, yeah the usual, loud open ceiling building with black everywhere and TVs (cause we all like to drink and watch TV – is that an Olympic sport yet) and the tiled floors, the open kitchen, the booth seating yup, so far I wasn’t missing the Earls and Milestone’s experience here at all. They must all have the same architect or something.

After we were seated. we promised ourselves that this time around we would stay away from over inflated, unrealistic priced alcoholic mixed drinks and wines in favour of their slightly overpriced microbrewery beers at 5 1/2.  You CAN get away with that at the Frontenac but not in Edmonton.  They tasted okay but nothing to rant about and not worth more than that.

What I was looking forward to and expecting was some tasty signature dishes from the hand of Iron Chef Feenie and to have them well above par of the other two restaurants. I wanted to sink my chops into whatever our server highly recommended in that regard.

So for starters and since I’d never had these things (but they looked so cute) we ordered some of the Mini Cheese Burgers. There were only three of them (cause three looks cool on a plate) but our server said we could if we wanted to, add an additional burger. We declined and just split one of them. The ground meat was chunky enough to remind you that it wasn’t hamburger and the relish was truly delightful. So far so good, I thought, and they went well with the beer.

For the main meal, I had Rob’s Hunter Chicken. My dish was very nice to look at (is this where I can say well plated?) with a chicken breast smothered in an assortment of mushrooms and a very peppery demi-glace on top of grilled green beans and fingerling potatoes. I wondered if the sauce was the same one my husband had but we didn’t do a taste test. My veggy’s tasted like roasted beans and not some tasteless vegetable but the chicken was so tender it almost melted in my mouth. Definitely the very best part of the meal along with the smoky flavour of the mushrooms.

The downside for me was that not all the potatoes were cooked enough to my liking so I just ate the smaller ones that seemed to be more well done. I don’t like crunchy potatoes; beans yes, potatoes no. And what nearly spoiled the whole thing for me was the high sodium content of my meal. Now I know I’m salt sensitive but only when it’s in excess. Most people like my husband don’t always notice, so I’m always appreciative of having a salt shaker on the table so people can add more if they like, unfortunately you can’t take it away.  I suspect the veal sauce was probably very salty. Had other flavours not come through on their own especially the beans I would have asked for another meal  but instead I just asked for a large glass of water.  I finished the chicken but the sauce was on everything so not too easy to avoid.

Dear hubby always the less adventurous ordered a steak for his main meal, the 7 oz certified angus striploin with the pernod peppercorn demi-glace. He said the sauce was very peppery too but he found it tasty I also noticed there wasn’t as much on his meal as on mine. He also enjoyed his lightly grilled thin asparagus and the baked potato. He said he enjoyed his meal but I noticed his glass of water was nearly gone too.

We passed on dessert as I had a very special angel food cake waiting for me later but I did indulge in a coffee. It was the simplest pleasure of a nice dark roast with good flavour and served very hot.

The service was excellent, the server and her co-workers ensured we were never without water and checked politely when we didn’t have mouthful’s of food about our comfort and needs. Good judgment on their part to wait until the guests are finished eating to ask questions.

The final tab was under $90 and with only two beers that wasn’t too bad.

Pros:

• Excellent food choices
• Excellent service
• Value for the meal

Cons:

• Too much salt (note to self to watch for meat based sauces)
• Under done potatoes
• Noise level no different than a bar

I’d go back again and have something different without a sauce.

3/5

Menu: www.cactusclubcafe.com/menus

Location: 1946-8882 170th Street NW Tel. 780.489.1002

There is so much information about wellness and what it means out there in the cloud that no one person could possibly take all the advice of good eating and exercise (and have the right genes if you’re really lucky) and put it all into practice.  That would be sainthood and still no guarantee you’d live a pain-free life until you’re a 120.

Anytime I consider the web for information on illnesses though I use some common sense, like I don’t even look at the ads promising a cure if you send in cash (well maybe just to see how silly they are), and I wouldn’t do anything really strange and weird or beyond safety. But right now I’m looking for just a little bit weird since I’m just a little sick and tired of being sick and tired.

The past few weeks have been a bit of hell as I try to overcome a cough that, at times,  has been so bad I’ve almost blacked out.  Even now after four weeks I still cough a little bit when I talk and move around too much. So to say that it is causing me grief would be an understatement.

I googled the symptoms and I may have what is commonly called by the health profession when they’re pretty sure it’s not caused by allergies is non-allergic rhinitis.

It’s still part of the multi-billion dollar industry for all those OTC things that can possibly be considered to relieve the symptoms. Over the past couple of months I’ve contributed to that total quite well. Yeah, I had this in October too.

So where does the “wellness” come into this?

Let see what have I tried and in no particular order or time frame: a various assortment of OTC drugs and syrups, sleep, vitamins natural and supplemental, walks for a breath of fresh air, a neti pot, mentholated rubs, baths, hugging my dogs, light treadmill use, meditation, juice, water, tea, etc. etc. etc. I’m getting just a little bit frayed about all of it and on top of it all I feel guilty about missing work, missing my course classes (two out of 12) and missing a job interview. I know I can work through this and I will eventually get better but  in the meantime I am truly feeling miserable.

So what to do about it other than gripe about it?

From the website: ” Avoiding the irritant triggers which cause the symptoms is the best way to treat non-allergic rhinitis, but not always possible.” Okay so it’s not possible to move to Hawaii but I’m pretty sure my problem would go away.

There’s also trying to beat this thing but until they have a cure the best I can do is try to prevent it (okay if I’m moving  I’m leaving Alberta; Quebec or BC)

That leaves me with trying some more unusual home remedies that people swear by and again no cure but perhaps some relief for awhile.

Up first for yet another suggestion is Tomato Tea I’ll let you know how it works out and add it to my list of things to drink. I wonder what it’s like with vodka and a celery stick?

Next up, uh, oil pulling. Okay it’s doable but you’ll have to read about it to understand it.

Update 03/07/2010: The warm tomato juice did nothing for me

The oil pulling was just weird.  I used the sunflower oil as suggested and it made my teeth feel cleaner which is okay but nothing else. Also it took too long even if I was dedicated and that’s twenty minutes of morning time that is far too precious.

I’m still just using Flonase or whatever it’s called.

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*The main reasons I’m even doing this is to counterpoint how I felt about blogging a few weeks ago. All of which is relevant under certain circumstances and I love to digress.

5. Everyone should have a way of expressing themselves without offending everyone in the room,  bus, meeting, dentist waiting room,  [fill in the blank here.] Blogging allows you to pretty well say what you want with impunity. And, as a bonus,  allows you to only offend the people who read your posts as opposed to those who don’t or give up after the first two lines. Any more than two lines and they/you run the risk of offense.

4. I love to talk. And listen to the sound of my own voice. It’s a nice voice when I hear it recorded I like it although I think I’m too much of an alto.

3. I’m interested in so much shit it fills my brain and has to leak out somewhere and somehow and blathering on about something on a web page sounds like a great way to blather. Blathering in person has its down points (you know people looking at their watches, saying they have to go bath their cat, or staring at you in disbelief that you don’t even breath when you talk, yeah you get the picture. ) Whilst blathering online is so much easier.

2. It’s so much easier to just start your thoughts, come back later to finish them after they’ve jelled for awhile and it’s kind of like writing a book only you don’t have to peddle the manuscript around to publishers or be one of the thousands of books I see on the bookshelves these days extolling the benefits of what? Life. Ach!! 140 characters or blogs I don’t need chapters.

1. I’m a very important person to myself and deserve to be able to add my voice to the chanting millions about stuff. Even if you don’t care about it.

… and not one of them will be lack of time.
photo credit: dimnikolov

10. It’s not so cool to be associated with all the dreck out there in the blogosphere or whatever you want to call it. Some are very good and I like them but most are just trying to make money…as if that would ever change.

9. I have a real job. And its not my job to blog. I don’t even want to make it a job or a hobby or an interest.

8. My interests are mine I share them in person with people I know. I don’t need pen pals , fellow bloggers or twits at Tweetups to justify my interests.

7. All that is being said about whatever I say will be countered by another 10,000 monkeys on keyboards saying otherwise and maybe even saying it better too. Go for it!

6. Life’s too short to waste in front a keyboard.  I’m sure even the monkeys would be better off eating a few bananas, playing in the tree tops, and throwing fruit at the naked monkeys every now and then

5. Topics of the day are very well and good and people should add their opinion about it whenever they can or they can focus on discussing blogging or record album art collections whatever they think is interesting and they’ll have fans. Sounds great I wish it mattered to me enough to comment any more on.

4. Blogging isn’t even on my radar anymore I don’t go to other people’s blogs, I don’t look for them, and when I find them I rarely if ever go back no matter how entertaining they are. I’ve been on the internet for 15 plus years for me its a useful tool certainly not a social medium – social for me means being part of society not a drone living in my house “socializing” with my all my peeps. Maybe I’ll tweet about that later.

3. I’ve run out of things to write about – not really (ha!) but I’m just not one of those people who have a team of writers doing product reviews and (usually there is an  “and”) trying to sell their [fill in the blank] and then writing a book about it  (10 Things to Make you a Better Blogger than a Monkey) puh-leeze no more…!

2. It’s just not something that makes me want to work at or get worked up about heck it’s taken me forever to even finish this post.

1. I don’t want to anymore.