Happy Easter

Wishing one and all a Very Happy Easter!

Trip to Muhu

Today I took a side trip to a little island in the Baltic Sea called Muhu (moo-who). My father was born in Muhu in 1911. Yes, he was old enough to be my grandfather. I think I was an accident. Dad was 49 when I was born. Mom was 39. My aunt Roosi still lives on the old homestead. She is 82 years old and as smart as can be. One of the main reasons for this visit to Estonia is that I am working on my father's family tree. Roosi gave me all kinds of information. I was able to add about 100 people to the tree with her help.

The reason I am writing about this leg of the trip is because I want to share with you how some people still live. In our busy world, with so many modern conveniences, we often take things for granted. As I mentioned, Roosi is 82 years old. She lives alone. Her health is not great. She has had a hip replacement recently, her back aches and she is going blind. There is no running water in her home. She has to carry it in from the well. She does not have a bathroom. She has an outhouse and for bathing she has a sauna. A real sauna, an Estonian sauna, has lots of steam and buckets of water to wash with. Their purpose is to be a bath house. They are not like the dry sauna's we are used to where you just sit and sweat. Roosi has to heat her water for washing anything on her wood stove. The stove is also her only source of heat as well as her only stove to cook on. She has a very spoiled dog who she loves dearly. She takes him and bathes him in the sauna when she takes her own sauna. He is her dearest friend and so she has always fed him by hand. She calls him in from outside and he rolls onto his back and she breaks bread of leftovers into small pieces and feeds him one bite at a time. He looks like a little king laying there.

Life is simple for Roosi, though hard. She gets only a small pension from the government of about $200 a month. Groceries cost the same in Estonia as they do in Canada. She rides her bike to the store. Her eye sight is bad but she says she can still tell where the edge of the road is.
As little as she has and as hard as it is for her to get around, she made a lovely meal for me today. She baked chicken with a delicious sauce in her wood stove. She pealed and boiled potatoes that she had dug last fall from her own garden. She served the meal with delicious Muhu rye bread and home made cranberry sauce. For desert she served the best cakes she could afford. She greeted me with proud welcoming arms and when I left she shed tears. I am so humbled. She gave so generously out of her need. There seems to be a lesson here. Often those who have little give much, yet often those who have much, give little.

Here in Estonia

Hi All,
Sorry that I missed Jay and Jennifer Sunday but I am positive that the program went without a hitch. I had hoped to listen in on the net but alas, the family I'm staying with does not have the net. However, this coming Sunday I'll be able to tune in.

I am having a great time and not suffering any jetlag, thankfully. My Estonian sure needs brushed up. I'm doing some land business and really feel the lack of business words in my vocabulary.

Hope all is well and be sure to tune in Sunday again. Jay and Jennifer will be on to entertain you.

Peatse kohtumiseni (Until we see again) ,
Leanna

Jay and Jenn to Jazz it Up

Tune in to Rendezvous March 20th and 27th. Jennifer and Jay will be in the air chairs, covering for Rita and me while I'm away and Rita takes a break.

You will be entertained! Jenn is a Jazz singer herself and I would expect between the two of them, they will serve up some great jazz with a side dish of other carefully selected music. Perhaps Jay will even read some poetry. He has such a sexy voice!

They are both excited about doing the show. Show them your support. Tune in Sunday from 4:00-6:00 AST http://www.shoutcast.com/directory/?s=cfmh&numresult=25&x=41&y=8 . Click on Tune In and you're set. Or, if you're in Saint John, NB, listen on 92.5 FM. If you're able, call them while they're on air at 648-5925 and tell them they are doing a great job.

Off to Estonia

I'm off to Estonia this weekend. In case you don't know, I am Estonian. Both my parents escaped the Russian occupation in the late 1930s and fled first to Sweden and then to Canada. My father was the only one, in his family, that got out. So, I have tons of relatives there and I'm very excited about going. I've been there several times. The first time was in 1977 and the last was in 1992, over 10 years ago, just after the iron curtain fell. This visit will be much different from my previous visits. It will be interesting to see if the people are happier since they've regained their freedom. When they were under Russia, they were so suppressed and no one in public ever smiled. I would make a game of seeing if I could make the clerks in the stores smile. It was never easy. My understanding, with freedom, has come modernization, free enterprise and the stores are full again. Unfortunately, with freedom, drugs and some other evils have also arrived. Freedom comes with responsibility. There is no doubt about that.

I'll be away until the end of the month. Hopefully, I'll be able to tell you what I'm up to if I get near a computer on the net. Until then.

We'll be lovin' by the luck of the Irish

Tune in Sunday for a Rendezvous of Irish music in honour of St Patrick's day coming up this week. Jay will be at the helm, looking after the controls. If you like Irish music, you'll love this program, Sunday from 4:00-6:00 AST, on www.shoutcast.com . Just put cfmh in the search field. Enjoy!

We are Cookin'

Leanna has filled her first orders and the reviews of the food have been great! We have happy customers and re-orders. Yes!

This weeks additions to the menu are:
Salmon Quiche - 2-4 servings - $10
The salmon quiche is made with tasty red sockeye salmon and is very yummy!

Fish Chowder - 16 oz serving - $4
I only use white fish when making my chowder. This week I used sole and haddock. The chowder has a generous amount of fish. No skimping here!

The Turkey is in the Oven!
That's right, I make a mean turkey dinner. This will be a mix and match dinner. Keep checking as I update you on the choices. The yummy dressing is already made and will sell at a price of only $3 for a side dish for two.

Frantic about what to have for dinner?
Don't fret and don't forget,
Leanna prepares meals for frantic, hungry people.
Let her be frantic. After all, she's the Frantic Romantic Chef. Ooh-La-La

Sun and Moon - Gina Zeitlin

It's all about sex,
we both know that.

But what I wonder is
why
after each molecule of desire
in my body has been satisfied
after
the sudden moistening, the deep
fierce aching and rising heat,
after
the throbbing glory of release cries
of need and pleasure have dissolved
into the air,

Something like my soul slips from me
And goes to you,
without choice or question,
and wraps itself around you
all night, like the breath
of the moon

And why
I carry the thought of you
As constant as any sun
in my heart.

Love Quote of the Week

Once in a lifetime, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love writes a fairy tale.

Jay's in the Air Chair

Yes, Jay co-hosted with me yesterday and is going to again next week. He is training to run the station so he can sub in for me while I'm away March 20th and 27th. He did a great job yesterday! Jennifer Power will be his co-host for the two weeks I'm away. Make sure you tune in.

The Frantic Romantic is Cooking With LOVE

Introducing a New Business
Frantic Romantic Meals,
Home-cooked meals made with Love, Ooh-La-La

Are you tired and hungry after work? Don't have any energy left to make a tasty, wholesome meal for yourself?
You might want to take advantage of Frantic Romantic Meals. Leanna, the Frantic Romantic is now cooking for you. Her delicious, home-cooked, frozen dinners are ready made for the oven. They are delicious, easy and priced right. The menu is ever changing to give you lots of variety. It's as easy as 1 2 3. 1, Email Leanna your order. 2, Your meals are delivered to your door (Saint John-Hampton, NB). 3, Put in the oven and enjoy!

Most meals will serve two unless specified otherwise.

Menu to be updated weekly
Lasagna - $8.00
Shepherd's Pie - $7.00
Seafood St Jacques - $12.00
Corn Beef & Cabbage - $4:00 one large meal or two small
Corn Chowder - $2.00 serves one
Chili - $3.00 serves one
Corn Casserole - $3.00 side dish

Coming Soon - Salmon Quiche

Please tell your friends

leanna@allstream.net

The Dance - Robin Jacobson

On the walkway above the summer creek
we touch and kiss, your hand cups
the long smooth muscle of my back,
we move to the pulse of valve and blood.
Our bodies urge us, they say
yes, and oh yes. But the waiting
is so sweet we choose it, we linger
at each brush of lip on lip as if it were
new wine, to be rolled around the mouth
before we swallow. Once, anticipation
was something to outrun.
Now, it's what we love most,
the slow, slow build before,
like all the little movements of our lives
gathering toward the last breath.