Aren’t the leaves in autumn beautiful? And isn’t raking them all up each year a pain in the … back? Try these tips to ease your burden:
Don’t Rake! – When leaves first start to fall, and as long as the leaves aren’t too thick and the grass is still growing, simply mow ’em into your lawn with a mulching mower/blade.
Leave Some Leaves on the Ground – Before you clear them all away, identify where leaves can be left, such as those under and around trees and shrubs, which will benefit from being covered in this way. Consider shifting some leaves from an area that doesn’t need them to one that does.
For most lawn areas, though, you’ll need to get them off the carpet if you want a nice lawn next spring.
Leaf Blower – These work well on dry leaves, but there are many draw-backs. To start with, wet leaves can prove a problem. And leaf blowers consume energy. Plus, when you blow the leaves off your grass, you are often also blowing away much of the mulch and other debris that will serve as future nutrients for the grass and protection for the root system. There’s also the racket they make - not always appreciated by the neighbours.
Raking – It’s more work, but many people feel it’s the only way to get the job done right. Remember that leaves don’t need to be raked every time the wind blows. But waiting too long will make for much harder work. And just rake the leaves. You don’t need to dig deep and remove all that wonderful grass clippings mulch bed you  built up over the summer.
Choose a rake that will be comfortable to use, so strain is kept to a minimum. Check out the various handle lengths, shapes and padding to find one that suits you and your budget.
Pace Yourself! Raking is a vigorous activity that leaves many people with sore backs because it requires the use of muscles you don’t use often. Avoid back injury by moving your feet instead of standing in one spot. Try not to twist the trunk of your body as you rake. Take frequent breaks while you work, and give your back a good stretch by leaning backwards to reduce pain. Also switch hand positions periodically to reduce the amount of stress on one side of the body.
Now What? Before simply disposing of the leaves, mulch as many as you can. You’ll be glad you did in the spring. Otherwise disposal will depend on your community services available. Bag them if you must, but if you have loose leaf pick-up in your area, simply pile them at the street for pick-up. While a wheel barrow works well for this, consider raking leaves onto a tarp and dragging them to the curb instead. It can save you a lot of time.
Don’t do it alone! – Raking is arduous work. Get as much help as possible. In fact, get the whole family involved. The kids may be more inclined to jump in them, but it’ll still make for a fun day.

Language is one of the most important areas of human development. It is our communication skills that set us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. Conversely, an inability to communicate can be one of the most limiting situations one can face. And the fact that the English language is so tough to learn because of all it’s exceptions, contradictions, and confusing rules, means that we have many Canadians who have to deal with this problem on a daily basis. But there is assistance available.

The dictionary has long been a resource for checking spelling, usage, definitions, etc., of words we are not familiar with. You can even see how they are pronounced. Or can we? Sometimes trying to decipher the letters used to show how a word is pronounced is tougher than pronouncing the word in it’s proper form and spelling. Now there’s an easier way …

Merriam Webster’s web site has a very helpful feature that allows you to hear how a word is pronounced. You can still check spelling, definitions and such. And now you can also click a little speaker icon beside the word to learn the correct pronunciation. Check out their site at www.m-w.com to hear this very useful service.

If you believe your wish will come true when you win the break in a wishbone contest, then you're following in the footsteps of civilizations dating back to the Etruscans in 322 B.C. And it started with a hen, not a turkey!

In those days, egg-laying hens were thought to be mystical because they would announce the coming of their ‘product’ by cock-a-doodling up a storm.  People thought hens could tell the future, and this led to what became known as the "hen oracles".

If you were in need of an answer to an important question and wanted to see if these oracles would provide some guidance, you would draw a circle on the ground and divide it into the twenty-four letters of the alphabet. Grains of corn were then placed in each section, and the cock or hen was led into the circle and set free. It was believed that the fowl would spell out words or symbols by picking up kernels of corn from the different sections. For example, the first letter of a future husband's name would be the first kernel of corn picked.

After providing these Ouija Board-like answers, the fowl was sacrificed, it’s collar bone removed, and the questioner would get to make a wish on its ‘wish bone’. Then two other people got a chance to make a wish by snapping the dried bone in the same way we do now, with each one pulling on an end. The person with the larger end of the bone got the wish, and that became known as getting a ‘lucky break’.

Turkey Wishbone Tip: Wishbones break more easily if they are really dry and brittle. Try twist-tying your wishbone to a rack of the dishwasher. After one cycle, it will be free from all natural oils and grease and will be ‘bone dry’ after sitting out over night.

Hockey’s back! (If this is news to anyone, skip to the next article) Action-starved fans across Canada have been waiting for a long time to see some ‘shinny’. But the game may not look quite the same now that the league agreed to some rule changes. No need to fear though, they say these changes will mean more entertaining hockey for us all.

Most of the changes will be a more stringent enforcement of existing rules, like hooking, holding, tripping, interference, etc. This new stiffer approach to these infractions addresses complaints players have had for some time about clutching and grabbing in the game. These changes are designed to make for a more open style of hockey with more emphasis on skating and puck handling than on ‘using the body’.

See Videos! You can learn more about the new rules by watching some videos the NHL has produced and made available online at http://www.nhl.com/news/2005/09/234088.html

The kids are back on the ice, too. Give them the nutrition their bodies need to compete. Many players have a chocolate bar or candy before playing hockey. But these foods are not ideal sources of energy. A better choice would be foods that have high carbohydrates, such as pasta, rice, fruits and vegetables, which are good sources of energy. Include both protein and carbohydrate in your pre-game meal, and avoid the fat. Try to have these at least 3 hours before you play so there is time to digest.

As for quenching their thirst, water is the best before and during a game. Gatorade or juice is next. It’s best to stay away from ‘pop’ altogether.