There were a few hiccups to the first day of school at the new Montague high school today - the odd light bulb that wouldn't work, locker that wouldn't open or bus route that need some fine tuning - but overall the day went smoothly, Principal Seana Evans-Renaud said.

"RIght now kids are very excited."

The day started with an assembly. "The energy was increasing exponentially with each speaker," Vice Principal Sharon Anderson said.

"Even more so now, because they hadn't seen the school before. Now they've been able to wander around to see what they've got."

Students had an extra long home room class in which they got to know their way around the school.

The student council also hosted a welcome barbecue for lunch.

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The O’Leary Bantam Girls Softball Team will host the Provincials in O’Leary  on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 10-11. The tournament will feature six teams from across the Island, with  a pool of  three from Eastern PEI (Cornwall, West Royalty and Cardigan) and three from the western part of the province (Summerside, Tignish and O’Leary).  

The championships will start Friday evening with all six teams seeing  action.  

The host O’Leary team will play their first game at 8 pm on Friday under the lights at Ellis Field against Cardigan.  

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I just finished reading Gail Vaz-Oxlade’s Debt Free Forever: Take Control Of Your Money And Your Life book and this time I did something different. This time I decided that I would keep a pen and paper next to my book while I was reading as I don’t know about you, but a lot of times when I’m reading I start thinking about my own life and how I could actually use some of these tips and things in reality, [...] Related posts:

1. Some great deals and some tips for saving some cash
2. Start Saving Money Now! I Will Teach You How (Part 1)
3. Start Saving Money Now! I Will Teach You How (Part 2)

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On Saturday Sept. 4 at approximately 5:50 am, West Prince RCMP received an unusual call about a 1993 Chevrolet pickup truck that had stopped on the center line of Highway 2 in Alma.

The vehicle’s lone occupant was unresponsive.

The vehicle was then struck by a 1998 Toyota T-100 pickup truck at 6:15 am which had been east bound on Highway 2. The collision occurred while RCMP were on their way.

The driver of the Toyota pickup truck, a 48-year-old male from Anglo Tignish, and the driver of the Chevrolet pickup truck, a 21-year-old male from Ellerslie-Bideford, were transported to Western Hospital by Island EMS personnel. 

Both were released from hospital on the same day after

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Leading up to the Sept. 27 provincial election, Liberal Leader Shawn Graham made the announcement on Tuesday at the Chief Harold Sappier Memorial Elementary School on the St. Mary's First Nation in Fredericton.

Graham said the goal is to develop a curriculum that will have First Nations language training as a part of the school system at every grade in the public system.

"The Mi'kmaq and Maliseet culture and language are an important part of what defines New Brunswick," Graham said in a statement.

"This will enable First Nations students to more easily retain their language and allow other non-aboriginal students to learn more about the tremendous cultural and historical richness that our Mi'kmaq and Maliseet First Nations contribute to New Brunswick."

Graham said he saw many First Nations people in his community lose their language when he was growing up.

"We have a responsibility, any time one of our cultures, whether it is francophone, anglophone or First Nations, is in jeopardy of losing its language then we have a responsibility because the promotion and advancement of language is a key identity of one's self," Graham told reporters.

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 In addition to air, bridge and ferry traffic volume being up for the month of July, the indicators are strong and illustrate the strength and potential in this valuable sector of the PEI economy, says Tourism Minister Robert Vessey.

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A decade and a half ago, when I was keying in data on hundreds and hundreds of crafts suppliers as part of my job at the PEI Crafts Council, I started to have repetitive stress issues in my right wrist.

After a series of failed consultations with general physicians – one simply told me to wolf down Aspirin and I wouldn’t feel the pain – I finally ended up in the occupational therapy department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital where a cast was made of my wrist and, a few weeks later, I received a custom-molded brace for my wrist.

I’ve been using it to type with ever since, and it’s what has made the intervening years of my career as a professional keyboardist possible.

I’ve been back to the QEH a few times for tune-ups on the brace, but finally, after 16 years, it’s starting to wear out – the back velcro gave out a few months back, there’s a crack near the front – and I decided it was a good idea to find a replacement before it finally gave out completely lest I be unable to work at all.

Which led me to Barry MacKinnon at Island Orthotics this morning. Barry took a look at my brace, decided he could keep it working for a while longer but that he could also make me a new one (the snazzy new Velcro you see in the photo above was put on today). And so I was ushered into a side-room and after a few minutes of work my right arm looked like this:

In a week or so I’ll return to pick up my new brace, meaning that my career can continue should I accidentally melt or otherwise destroy my trusty long-time wrist companion.

Barry has a fascinating shop in the basement of the Polyclinic on Grafton Street, filled with grinders and benders and melters and all other manner of machinery that allows him and his staff to make everything from wrist braces to replacement limbs.

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The Daily Specials at Casa Mia Restaurant for Tuesday, September 7, 2010 are:

• Red lentil curry soup with spinach and lemon 4.99
• Sicilian wrap with salami,olives. red pepperaioli and spinach ..9.99

Casa Mia Restaurant
131 Queen Street
Charlottetown, PE
Telephone: (902) 367-4440
Email:

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I love my Russian Spindle... and also the yarns I've been able to spin with it!  This lovely little pile of fluff was my first real amount of yarn made and plied on the Russian - One ply of Angora with one ply of Cashmere!

The skein is so light it practically floats off whatever surface is is sitting on! I have two, but I already wound one into a ball so I can start knitting with it asap! (this one is 27 grams... approximately 200 yards)

From 30g of Angora and about 50g of Cashmere I've been able to make around 350 - 375 yards of fine 2-ply.  Some of the sections are a bit thinner than others, but overall they average out to be around a lace weight.

The angora has a light soft halo, and when plied with the creamy cashmere the final yarn color is somewhere around a smoky dusky beige.

I'm really happy with the way this has turned out!  This was my first real attempt at using angora fiber on it's own.  I had done some blended projects with a little angora blended in with other wools, but I hadn't used the fiber pure on it's own.  I really enjoyed the spinning of this little yarn - both the angora and the cashmere parts - and I can't wait to start knitting something out of it!  350 yards should be enough to make a narrow lacy scarf or something!

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Today was the start of Grade Four for Oliver. The first day of Grade One seems like an eternity ago:

Several good friends from previous grades are in Mr. Doucette’s class with Oliver this year; a couple aren’t. Although he’s still in Prince Street School, the jump from Grade Three to Grade Four means moving upstairs, taking French for the first time, a new time for recess, and who knows what else. It’s an exciting time, and Oliver was in fine form, primed and ready for action.

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