Elena’s “What’s in My Cup”?

Tags

#whatsinmycup, food, humour, tea, tea addict, tea lover, tea time, what's in my cup

It’s the last Monday of the month and time to share a cuppa with my friend, Elena. She is a talented bassoonist, incredible singer, and a great mom to two busy boys (three if you count her husband). Her great sense of humour and crazy-good storytelling make her a delight to hang out with. We usually hang out together at the church in worship and ladies’ craft and chat. She usually chats. But she has many artistic abilities, including cartoon family portraits!

Let’s hear a cheer for Elena!

(you can do better than that!)

***

I confess I am not a true tea connoisseur; coffee has always had a starring role in the hierarchy of my caffeine addiction. I do enjoy a black or green tea paired with the right meal, or as an after-dinner cup with company. But herbal teas are my everyday go-to. They keep me toasty on a cold afternoon, act as a warm and steamy balm for a dry throat, or as a method of surviving a dastardly cold. While I am always open to trying new things, I mainly enjoy simple flavours like peppermint, or Earl Grey.  I do not recommend the “Mom Special” I recently enjoyed where, upon looking down into the last dregs of my coffee, I discovered this morning’s mint tea bag (I thought it tasted off, though in my defense I was enjoying a mint-chocolate chip cookie as I imbibed). 

But today, my cup is filled with one of the only blends I enjoy partaking in regularly: Celestial’s Sleepytime tea with its characteristic sleeping bear on the box, cozied up by the fire with tea and scones nearby.  It’s a combination of chamomile and spearmint with just a dash of lemongrass.  I must say lemongrass is not something I usually enjoy, though it doesn’t stand out in this blend for which I am thankful. The spearmint fills out the flowery chamomile, and well, it pairs well with honey, I find this tea to be just sweet enough to forgo any add-ons. The chamomile serves to soften and round out the mint, taking away that dry aftertaste that can accompany it when left to its own devices.

Of course how one enjoys their tea is often just as much a part of the comfort of the beverage.  I recommend a fancy tea cup if the mood is right, or in a comfy, oversized mug! Today, I offer to you my most unique mug in my collection.  It was gifted to me from a lovely little cafe/community art gallery out in Edmonton called The Carrot.  The blue dipped glaze is best appreciated in the sunlight, so as to reflect its many shades, and the thick walls do well to keep the tea steamy.  Most unusually, it is built to be an on-the-go mug, with its rim rolling in at the top and sealed in the middle with a large, rough cut cork.  Three small holes adorn either side of the rim for sipping, and the indented thumb hold on the handle allows for this mug to be comfortably held in either the right or left hand! A well built handle is an often overlooked, but wonderfully key feature in any good mug.

And so, may your tea experience today be one of steam, good flavour, and a comfy handle to boot!

Nicole’s “What’s in my Cup?”

Tags

#whatsinmycup, tea, tea addict, tea cups, tea lover, tea time, teacup, what's in my cup

I’m thrilled to introduce my third guest “What’s in my Cup” from my sassy friend, Nicole. Nicole has a great sense of humour, a big heart, and a boisterous laugh! She is an amazing singer, a great guitar player, and super cool aunt!! For years, Nicole and her sister have led rowdy opening and closing sessions at Vacation Bible Camp, with silly songs and skits. I have been in some of those skits and I definitely had more fun than the kids! We share many of the same passions, including music, worship, and tea!

(Are you excited? Because I’m excited!!)

***

I’m not a coffee drinker and have always been jealous of the look coffee drinkers have on their face while they drink their first cup in the morning. I didn’t think tea could be a substitute, but I was so wrong!

There are so many different teas that I love but my go to is a concentrate Tazo Chai Tea. It might be cheating, in a way, compared to steeping, just adding milk and heating, but it’s quick to make on those early mornings before work or worship practice (isn’t the weekend for sleeping in?). It gives me something to look forward to getting up in the morning, especially since I’m not a morning person!

After a long day of work, I will sit in my favourite spot on the couch, curl up and have my cup of tea and feel the stress of the day leave me. It has become almost ritualistic!

Sharing a cup of tea with my mom while visiting makes me feel like a real grown up! At almost 51, maybe one day I actually will become one!!

The cup is as important as well! A tiny tea cup will not do! I love a large cup of tea, one that might mean I’m sipping it over a couple of hours (I’m not afraid of it cooling off a bit). My favourite is one I made myself, matching one my sister made as well.

My cup of tea is a comfort to sip on a cold afternoon. It’s awesome cold in the summer! It somehow makes me feel better when needed. Life is just better with any tea really!

Sam’s “What’s In My Cup”

Tags

#whatsinmycup, tea, tea addict, tea lover, tea time, whatsinmycup

I’m very pleased to introduce my next “Guest What’s in my Cup” from a really great friend, Sam. We’ve been friends a long time and share many of the same passions, including music, worship, and tea! Sam was also one of my “bosses” when I was the Gatekeeper in the Cubicle of Purgatory, so we got to share lots of great teas. He even shared his 24 Days of Tea Advent calendar with me. Like I said, a great friend!

***

As I sit in my office looking outside, it’s cold. The weather today said it was -20 kajillion below zero, and it is! I’m holding a mug that slightly burns my fingers, full of a new hot tea, and I don’t mind. The mug is from Tyndale, the school where I completed my Doctorate last year. They gave me this mug during week 1 of the program. Even though it’s over I’m slightly unnerved even by the memory of the stress and the struggle of that season.

What’s in my cup? Jasmine Tea. I’m not normally a fan of jasmine tea; I actually have avoided it over the years. This tea was actually given to me as a Christmas gift. All 2000g of it. Yep, 2000g of a tea I don’t like! Today, the tea is growing on me.

I have been given specific instructions on how to brew this cup of tea. It’s proving to be quite a refreshing experience. I took half the amount of tea that I normally brew in a cup, around 1 tbsp. I let it steep only for about 2 minutes. Once it was brewed, I took a spoonful of honey and mixed it in. Honey is not particularly a new revelation for tea but to be honest, I’ve never done. It quite nicely offsets the bitter taste of the tea.

As I sit in my office with this surprisingly refreshing (to me) brew and ignore the chirps from my email screaming for my attention, I’m reminded how trying new things can be quite rewarding. Whether it’s deciding to go back to school with two kids under 6 and a third on the way or throwing bee barf into my drink, the payoff can be quite amazing. I do have to admit that not everything new I try turns to gold, even though I remember reading that footnote in the contract of life. Lots of things that I’ve tried over the years has proved to be an utter waste of time, resource and money. The lost money on buying and cutting wood the wrong length for a reno or the time I drove 40 minutes to realize the tires I wanted to buy were the wrong size.

As I sip my tea, I need to remind myself that risk can be worth reward, even if it ends in disappointment more often. I need to focus on trying new things and jumping into new opportunities because if I don’t I am going to miss a lot of great things. If I watch opportunities go by because of the risk, I will never get to experience some beautiful moments that God might want to show me. Not everything new I do will turn out awesome but it doesn’t have to, and that’s ok.

As for today and the bitter cold, this cup of tea was completely worth revisiting rather than viewing it as something to write off because ‘I don’t like that and it doesn’t work for me’. The risk is worth the possible disappointment or potential of simply being.

Special Guest What’s In My Cup: #1

Tags

#whatsinmycup, family, food, lemon, tea, tea addict, tea lover, tea time, teacup, whatsinmycup

I’m very pleased to introduce my first “What’s in my Cup” guest and a very special woman: my Mom!

***

I am a self confessed tea granny, with tea granny genes, which I have passed on to my daughter. And when she ran out of ideas for her blog, she called on her readers to share some of their favourite teas & teacups.

Then she asked her mother.

Now while Jennifer loves to try new teas & flavours, I prefer mine strong, hot, black, & fully loaded with caffeine. She keeps plying me with wonderful new flavours, some caffeinated & some not; others, flowery, nutty, maple-y.

I have decided that I prefer the richer stronger flavours over the flowery ones.

One of my favourite decaffeinated teas is also a comfort food. When I feel like I’m getting a cold or just feel crummy, I brew some Tetley Lemon Ginger tea. I love the lemon with just a hint of ginger. It is herbal & best sipped hot & clear, to allow the full lemon flavour to come through.

I’m serving it in a fragile semi transparent teacup that belonged to Jenn’s grandmother. Wish we knew its story.

Now dear readers of this blog, be brave & send your own tea choice. I know some of you & will be watching for your contributions. 😉

Photo courtesy of My cool Dad!

Now to enjoy my lemon ginger tea!

Life handed me lemons, so I made lemonade, lemon cake, lemon drops, and I even used the rinds to make lemon art. So, the joke is on you, life, haha!

Emilyann Allen

Wilderness Wednesday: Squirrel!

Tags

Fall, garden, nature, nature photography, photography, squirrels, Wilderness Wednesday

If you like affection, one in three squirrels makes an excellent companion. – Bernhardt Goetz

Happy Wednesday!

What’s In My Cup: Min-tea!

Tags

#whatsinmycup, tea, what's in my cup

Last Wednesday, I enlisted the help of some fabulous ladies to sample and review 4 different mint-based teas from David’s. I love mint – mint and chocolate especially – but mint…well, mint doesn’t like me. Fortunately, these 7 women do!

Did you know…Peppermint stimulates passion and creativity. It’s good for upset tummies and soothes sore throats.

All of these teas are herbal, and therefore, caffeine-free. I asked the ladies to sample each tea and provide their description of it. Then I asked them to rate them from least favourite to favourite.

#4 Organic Serenity Now. It currants, rosehips, apple, lavender, spearmint, hibiscus, blueberries, strawberries, quince, and rose petals. Lavender is calming and spearmint is rejuvenating.

Ranking: 4/7 placed this in  #4 place, while the remaining 3/7 placed it in #3.

Comments: From “plain”, “flavourless” and “no mint” to “very bitter, no fragrance”. Someone commented that it was “minty, hint of fruitiness, mild overall” as another noted “very floral but not minty”.

#3 Organic Peppermint Amour. The only ingredient is peppermint leaves. This tea is Fair Trade.

Ranking: This received one each for spots #1 and #2. 3/7 ranked this #3, leaving 2/7 placing it #4.

Comments: It had a nice golden colour, but the majority of comments related to an aftertaste. Some liked it; others found it “dry”, “bitter”, and “sour”. Some found it very minty while others found no mint flavour.  I noticed that the leaves expand significantly.

#2 Organic Mother’s Little Helper.  This contains peppermint, lemongrass, hibiscus, rosehips, chamomile, valerian root, cornflowers, and peppermint flavouring.  Valerian root is known to relax nervous tension and induce feelings of sleepiness.

Ranking: 2/7 in #1; 3/7 in #2; 2/7 in #3.

Comments: This tea was “similar to Sleepy Time Tea, with equal parts mint and chamomile” and someone else noted that the “lemon grass comes through”. While an aftertaste was noted, most of the comments were “good”, “very nice flavour”, and “mild peppermint”. One comment still didn’t find it “minty”.

DRUM ROLL PLEASE…

#1 Organic Cold 911: This particular tea contains peppermint, apple, eucalyptus, juniper berries, and natural orange and peppermint oils. Eucalyptus can help relieve sore throats, sinusitis, and bronchitis.

Ranking: 4/7 placed this as #1, with 3/7 placing it as #2.

Comments: The words “good” and “best” were used to describe this tea. It has a “strong mint flavour but rounded, with little to no aftertaste”. It was also described as “smooth, containing a light fragrance and taste, while another described it as “strong peppermint flavour which reminds me of spearmint gum”. I noticed that it had a vibrant, bright yellow colour, which was very inviting!

Many thanks to the lovely ladies who took time to sample and provide their feedback.

A cup of tea warms the soul like a good friend.

Happy Monday!

Wilderness Wednesday: Perseverance

Tags

nature, photography, squirrels

Perseverance is the courage to ignore the obvious wisdom of turning back…

…and perhaps the courage to not worrying about looking like an idiot doing it!

My parents really enjoy their bird feeder, just outside the kitchen window over the sink. (that last detail is important because I once caught my Mom gazing dreamily at the feeder…with a carton of ice-cream discreetly hidden in the sink. Sorry Mom. In her defence, she was hiding it from my kid, who didn’t need more ice cream…) 🙂

I’m pretty sure my Dad snapped this one quick, right before my mother stormed out the side door with a broom. If it was morning, she might still be in her jammies. Just like the bat story, I really wish I could draw!

Happy Wednesday!

Guest Post: Cabin in the Woods – Tom Thomson

Tags

#tomthomson, art, Canada, guest blogger, nature, photography

Please welcome a Guest post from my very own Little Guy!

 

This summer, I took Little Guy to an art gallery to (hopefully) see some paintings by Tom Thomson because Little Guy had written 2 school papers on the artist and his contributions to Canada’s identity through art. Not only did we see an exhibit of Tom Thomson, we also saw Lawren Harris (Group of Seven) and the Group of Seven Guitar Project. Unbeknownst to us, the gallery also owns Tom Thomson’s cabin. I think it was the highlight of Little Guy’s trip!

* * *

Thomas John Thomson, or Tom Thomson, was an important Canadian artist. Tom inspired many, including a number of those in the famous Group of Seven, who were his friends. Tom, because of his unique Canadian landscapes, is considered a significant person to Canada because he shaped the way people thought about Canada through his art.

The Life of Tom Thomson

Tom Thomson was born in Claremont, Ontario on August 5, 1877 from Scottish-Canadian stock. He Tom died a mysterious death at age. Tom died a mysterious death at age 39, in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario on July 8, 1917.

Tom’s parents were Margaret Matheson and John Thomson. Tom’s family moved to Leith two months after he was born, a place near Owen Sound. Tom was the sixth of ten children in his family and grew up on Rose Hill farm.

Tom liked to draw and fish, and he grew up with an appreciation for music and literature. Tom’s father was a naturalist. Tom went to school locally with his nine other siblings.

In 1899, Tom tried to enlist in the army to fight in the Boer War in Africa, but he was turned away, so he moved to Seattle to study at the Acme Business College, which his brother co-owned. After college, he worked as a graphic designer, then he moved to Toronto to work as an engraver in a big company, but he hated being indoors. Then. he got a job as a designer at the Grip Limited. He made friends there and they often spent Sundays sketching together in the country. They taught him more about mixing oil paints and drawing landscapes using lines. He also took courses at what is now the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto.

Dr. James McCallum loved the outdoors and was a landscape art collector. He learned about Tom from Lawren Harris and James MacDonald. He offered to pay Thomson’s expenses for a year which allowed Thomson to quit his job and become a professional painter. Dr McCallum also introduced Tom to A.Y. Jackson.

In 1912, Tom went camping and canoeing at Algonquin Park went with some friends, a suggestion from his friend, Tom McLean. Tom fell in love with the wilderness in Canoe Lake. They paddled from Canoe Lake to Tea Lake and camped near a dam where the logs ran through.

By 1913, Tom’s friends, including Lawren Harris, James MacDonald, Arthur Lismer, and A.Y. Jackson (part of Group of 7), were discussing how to promote national art for Canada. Canada had become a new nation in 1867 and the artists wanted to celebrate the country’s natural features and grow pride in Canada.

Tom died on in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario on July 8, 1917. By this time, he was living there 3 seasons of the year; he spent winters in Toronto. Tom had gone out fishing and his empty canoe was discovered the next day. His body was found a few days later. He was buried in the Canoe Lake cemetery, but the cause of his death remains a mystery. Some believed he was murdered, while others believe he drowned. His family had his body exhumed and buried in Leith, but in 1956 some men dug up a body in Tom Thomson’s grave. Some believe his body was never sent to Leith. The skull was last examined by some forensic experts in 2010 and they believe that it does belong to Tom Thomson, but they can’t do any more tests unless the family agrees. The mystery of his death helped him remain popular as an artist. Even the group Tragically Hip have written a song about Tom’s fiancee, Winnifred Trainor.

Tom’s Art

Tom developed a practice for making major paintings, and used it. Once, on his third trip, Tom took a camera but he quickly ran out of film. Tom usually sketched the landscape, and would paint it later when he had more time and supplies. He used bold colours and often used the perspective of sitting in a canoe.

Part of Tom’s style of art, was mixing colours to create new colours, and certain brush strokes too. Tom’s style of art made his artwork very recognizable. Tom’s art was also often non-traditional and bold, painting very unique scenes from Canada. He developed his own unique style that quickly became well recognized. Some of his famous paintings are The West Wind (1917) (shown left) and Jack Pine (1916-1917) (shown right).

 

It was shortly after his death, that his friends joined together to become the famous Group of Seven. They focused on showing Canada’s rugged northern wilderness. Currently in 2017, there are eleven people inside of The Group of Seven. A public school ( in Ontario ) and an art museum, ( in Owen Sound, ) were named after Tom Thomson in memory of him.

Take everything as it comes; the wave passes, deal with the next one. – Tom Thomson

Tom succeeded in becoming a Canadian legend for his art style. His artwork has inspired many artists. In 1990, a group of artists created postage to honour Tom Thomson. Tom’s friends in the Group of Seven, were, and still are, the most famous Canadian artist group. Tom accomplished in helping to create the group of seven. Tom is an important Canadian artist, because of his creativity, and influence on how others now see Canada.

Painting photo credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Thomson

 

 

Show Us Your Cans! (Part 2): Guest Blog By Hubby

Tags

competition, food, humour

Show Us Your Cans (Part 1) – Click Here!

January 28: The soup elves were busy again

The soup can total for the [awesome-Engineering -people] group. as of this morning (7:00 a.m.). is 276 cans of soup!  That is an increase of 64 cans of soup from Friday morning.

Thank you for all the anonymous soup donations that appear at my desk.  Thank you to Dennis for donating 10 cans of soup.  Thank you to Safi and Ron for each donating 24 cans of soup.  Last Friday someone donating cans of soup and I spoke to the person, but I am suffering from old timer’s disease and forgot who I was speaking with.  To the Friday morning soup can donator, thank you!

We now only need 1901 more cans to beat the world record for the most amount of (full) soups cans collected for a group of 25 people within a 14 day period.   Speaking of 1902, the year 1901 had its ups and downs, but wasn’t all it was cracked up to be:

• Australia joined at federation to become the Commonwealth of Australia.
• Winnipeg Victorias sweep Montreal Shamrocks in 2 for Stanley Cup  (last year Toronto Maple leafs made the Stanley Cup playoffs)
• Queen Victoria dies
• Horse racing is banned in San Francisco
• New York becomes first state to require auto licence plates ($1 fee)
• The US Stock market crashes (won’t be the last time)
• The first Nobel Prize ceremony is held in Stockholm on the fifth anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.
• A bunch of other stuff happened, but I’ve got to get some work done.

We only have three more shopping days till the big contest.  Any amount of full soup cans are welcome. You don’t need to bring in a whole case.  With your contributions, we (awesome- Engineering) are well on our way to crushing the other groups!

Keep up the good work!

Regards,

Gord

January 29:

The soup can total for the [looks-like-we’re-going-to-win-awesome-engineering-group] as of this morning (7:00 a.m.). is 325 cans of soup!  That is an increase of 49 cans of soup from Monday morning.

Thank you for all the anonymous soup donations that appear at my desk.  Thank you to Dennis for donating another 12 cans of soup (his individual total is 30 cans).  Thank you to Ron for donating another 24 cans of soup (he is now tied with Simona and Turab for donating the most cans of soup at 48 cans each).  Thank you to Hai Yen for bringing in another 14 cans of soup, (both her own donation plus others who donated in her group, which brings her total up to 35 cans).

We now only need 1852 more cans to beat the world record for the most amount of (full) soups cans collected for a group of 25 people within a 14 day period.   Did you know that in the year 1852:

• The first public men’s and women’s toilets open in Britain
• Netherlands begins issuing postage stamps
• Studebaker Brothers wagon company, precursor of the automobile manufacturer, is established
• Fire destroys 1,100 construction sites in Montreal, but no one dies
• the first Hawaiian cavalry is organized
• Emma Snodgrass is arrested in Boston for wearing pants?

 Wow, only two more days and you will finally stop getting these annoying e-mails!  Any amount of full soup cans are welcome.   Thanks to those who have already contributed, I strongly believe we [coolest-engineering-group-ever] are crushing the other groups!  This Thursday will tell.

Keep up the good work!

Regards,

Gord

January 30: Only one more day left.  Tomorrow morning is the last day to bring in a can of soup for the soup mountain challenge.

The soup can total for the [awesome-Engineering-people]. as of this morning (7:00 a.m.). is 347 cans of soup!  That is an increase of 22 cans of soup from Tuesday morning.

As of this morning, the top individual donations (Hai Yen’s includes others and not just her own contributions) are:

Turab	48
Simona	48
Ron	48
Gord	45
Dennis	42
Hai-Yen	35
Safi	24
Ed	12
Graham	12
Len	12
Bruno	12

I don’t think we will make the world record for the most amount of (full) soups cans collected for a group of 25 people within a 14 day period as we need to bring in another 1830 cans by tomorrow morning.   However, we have collected a substantial amount of full soup cans.  Thank you to all our contributors.  Your donations will make a difference.

Speaking of 1830, did you know:

• The first US railroad station opens in the US (Baltimore)
• First railroad time table published in the newspaper (Baltimore American)
• The first train delay takes place due to cows on the track
• First person run over by a train is William Huskisson (England)
• “Mary Had a Little Lamb” is published and Mary’s lamb takes its first trip on a train
• Horse beats first US built locomotive (near Baltimore) and the first horse run over by locomotive (near Baltimore)
• Great Britain, Prussia, France, Austria and Russia recognize Belgium.  It had been wearing a fake nose and moustache.
• Revolution breaks out in Paris, opposing laws by Charles X 

Regards,

Gord

January 31: C-Day (Campbell’s soup day)

The soup can total for the [brainiac-engineering] group as of this morning (7:00 a.m.). is 395 cans of soup!  That is an increase of 48 cans of soup from Wednesday morning, and still counting.

It is still early and I have heard that there will be more cans of soup to be brought in this morning.   I will be taking a group picture with our mountain of soup at 9:30 this morning.  Please meet at the area between seat A50 and A51 for the picture.

Regards,

Gord

Well that isn’t the end of the story. When we took our photo, we had 412 cans of soup. This would have won the competition by 2 cans of soup. However, Richard and Shivi each brought in over 120 cans of soup. The final total for the [winningest-engineering-team-in-history] was 735 cans of soup which crushed the other teams like yesterday’s soup can.

And then came the congratulatory emails:

Gord,

Congratulations on leading our team to the prize finish.  It is obvious to me that you are a great motivator and should move into management in the near future.  You have already mastered the art of writing e-mails with a lot of useless information that nobody really wants to read.

Ed

The moral of the story: Even a bunch of Type A personalities can have fun and help out the local community in the process. And, oh yeah, don’t mess with us.

Show Us Your Cans! (Part 1): Guest Blog By Hubby

Tags

competition, food, humour

We would like to issue the following challenge to your teams but only if you have what it takes. Our team will be recognizing International Soup Month by creating a mountain of Soup cans to donate to a local food bank. The challenge is simple largest donation wins the prize. The prize of course “a can of soup.”

Thank you

Jeff, Manager [group name removed to protect the instigators]

This is the challenge that went out from one of our engineering teams to all of the others in engineering. That’s like waving a red flag in front of a bull. Whenever a bunch of Type A personalities gets involved in a competition, somebody is going to get hurt! The game is afoot.

January 21: Gord was the only one who had brought any soup cans in.

The soup can total for the [incredibly good looking team name removed] group as of this morning (7:00 a.m.) is 45 cans of soup!

We only need 2132 more cans to beat the world record for the most amount of (full) soups cans collected for a group of 25 people within a 14 day period.

We may be a small group, but we have a lot of heart!  Hope you can help with the soup can collection!

Gord

Dear [awesome-Engineering-people],

We have been approached by the [name removed to protect the not-so-innocent] team to see if we would like to join forces with them in collecting enough cans of soup to beat Jeff’s team in the total number of soup cans collected.  I believe they got wind of how many cans of soup we have collected so far and feel threatened.  

What I want to ask the group is:

Do you want to join the [not-so-innocent] team?

 or

Do you want to crush the [less-innocent-by-the-second] group and the [nameless instigators] all by ourselves?

So far I have one vote for crush the other teams all by ourselves.

What is your opinion?

I suggested to the DMM team this morning that we could also wait until close to the end of the competition to see how well we are doing and then decide to join forces if it looks like we will be crushed as opposed to doing the crushing.

Regards,

Gord

Now I don’t want to give the impression that we’re all self-centred, ego-maniacal  genius, rocket science types. But you can see that this isn’t going to end well. Somebody gonna get a hurt real bad.

January 22: Only one can of soup came in.

January 24: The soup can total for the [awesome-Engineering-people]. as of this morning (7:00 a.m.). is 80 cans of soup!

We now only need 2097 more cans to beat the world record for the most amount of (full) soups cans collected for a group of 25 people within a 14 day period.  I have done a count of the [not-so-innocent] group number of cans and they have 69 cans of soup, provided they are not hiding any cans.

Keep up the good work!

Regards,

Gord

By now, intrigue and espionage was making its way into our friendly contest to see who could raise the most soup cans for donation to the local food bank.

January 25: The soup can total for the [awesome-Engineering-people] group  as of this morning (7:00 a.m.) is 212 cans of soup!

This new total is thanks to a soup run made by Simona and Turab.  We now have 12 cases or 12 soup cans.  A case of soup was donated by Ed, Graham, Len and Bruno.  Four cases of soup were donated by Simona and Turab.  Both Simona and Turab are tied for the individual soup can leaders with 48 cans of soup.  The previous leader was moi, with 45 cans of soup.

We now only need 1965 more cans to beat the world record for the most amount of (full) soups cans collected for a group of 25 people within a 14 day period.   I am told that 1965 was a very good year.  I was not born yet, but I hear it was nice.  That was the year that Canada adopted the maple leaf as our national flag symbol, the St Louis Arch is completed, cigarette advertising is banned on UK television,   In the US the average cost of a new house is $13,600.00.  Average income per year is $6,450.00. a US gallon (not litre) of gas is 31 cents, a new car is $2,650.00.  A loaf of bread is 21 cents and the average rent per month is $118.00.  

Any amount of full soup cans are welcome. You don’t need to bring in a whole case.  With your contributions, we [awesome-Engineering-people] will crush the other groups!

I have no idea how many cans of soup the [name removed to protect the not-so-innocent] group has, since they are hiding some of their cans, but I am pretty sure we are well ahead of their total.   Emma saw the cans on the desk beside me and  asking if they can join our group and not the other way around.

Keep up the good work!

Regards,

Gord

There was less than one week to go!