Home & Country (Spring 2005)

              Alberta Women's Institutes

Handicraft Report
Bernice Willsie Provincial Handicraft Coordinator

C i t i z e n s h i p and Legislation
Phyllis Kosik

B

y now I am sure you have all received a copy of the new Handicraft List. Please be sure to read it carefully as there are a number of new classes, hopefully there is a class for everyone. Thank you to all those who answered my invitation to send me your ideas for a new class to include a craft that you do. Your new Handicraft List which was revised in September 2004 is printed on mauve paper. If you have any old provincial lists on hand please destroy them to avoid confusion. We will only be working from the mauve list that says `Revised September 2004' in the lower right hand corner. Please remember I need your entry lists for the 2005 Provincial Handicraft competition to be held at Provincial Convention in Camrose no later than 10 May 2005. It is very important that you mail the list to Bernice Willsie, Provincial H a n d i c r a f t Coordinator, Box 373, Bowden, Alberta T0M 0K0. Please allow plenty of time for mailing. The name and address of where to send your handicrafts for the competition will be enclosed with the entry forms in the next provincial mail out. Please remember there will be three copies to your entry form. One copy must be sent to me by 10 May, 2005, one copy must be sent with your entries to the Provincial Convention and one copy must be sent with the person who will be picking up your entries at the Provincial Competition. Please do not forget to send your reports to me of what you are doing in your branches and constituencies. To date I have only received about four reports. Until we meet again happy crafting and I hope to see you at the Provincial Convention in Camrose. If you have any questions please telephone me at 403-224-3153. If there is no answer please leave a message and I will return your call as soon as possible.w i

S

ince the election we have heard many promises broken and it looks like another one will be, probably before this newsletter gets to you. I'm speaking about the promise Prime Minister Martin made to allow open votes in parliament. I hate to beat on the same drum again and again but I have been trying to impress upon you the necessity for each of us to keep writing our MP and Prime Minister. If they don't hear from us, we've fallen down on the job, and they don't know how we feel. There are enough dyed in the wool Liberals, Conservatives or N.D.P.'ers in the country that you won't see them vote out the fellow that is running in their riding unless they get really mad at them. It is our job as good citizens to keep the elected members of parliament, whether of the ruling party or not, informed about how we feel on any issue that is being discussed. Watch your papers. Listen to the news on radio or T.V. Every day there is something that is going on that you can sink your teeth into. If you are not informed enough on the subject, ask someone else, check with your local librarian, call the local paper or radio station. Find out! Then write. And keep writing until you get a decent response. They will send you a nondescript response. You don't have to accept that as final. Bug them until you get the answers to your questions. I know that it is disheartening to write a letter and put on the bottom to whom you've sent copies... then you get a response saying that he/she has sent a copy to ....you guessed it...the one you've already sent one to. So write again. Tell him/her that you are disappointed that he/she didn't read your whole letter and that you would like to have an answer from him/her on the issue. Good Luck!!wi

E n v i r o n m e n t and Conservation
Kay Saastad

W

ith spring comes new life; birds, butterflies, flowers and insects as well as animals. How can we encourage nature's creatures to come into our yards and farmsteads? We can by including in our landscape plans, different sizes of trees, shrubs, grasses, and flowers as well as some rocks and an old log or two. These will provide nesting areas for birds. There are many different kinds of birdhouses and birdbaths to add interest. Old trees and logs are winter homes for hairy woodpeckers, and mourning cloak butterflies. Tubular, cup and trumpet shaped flowers of red, orange, purple, and pink with no fragrance attract humming birds. Arrange these flowers so that the birds can hover near them. You can also use containers planted with fuchsias, nasturtiums and petunias. Do you have bats? Put up a bat house for them to live in, and then watch where they come from and cover the opening. Bats are an important part of our ecosystem, because of the vast amount of insects they eat. Do not squash the lowly beetle! They eat aphids, caterpillars, slugs and dew worms. They are food for bats and birds. We can enjoy our beautiful birds with the choices we make in our landscaping. Happy gardening!wi

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