Re-Resolutions

 It's that time again, the beginning of a new year, the time to make those resolutions once again. Myself, I tend to make re-resolutions, same ones over and over, which would be a good thing if I didn't break them before January slips by. Maybe other folks don't do that, make the same resolutions every year, but that seems to be one of my life patterns. I know what's good for me, I know what I'm not doing that I should be doing. I know that the older I get the harder it will be to make changes in my behaviour. Think about it, 70+ years to establish and entrench bad habits - and I'm gonna break them, improve, follow the yellow brick road to achieve good sense?

Ahh, but it's not hopeless. I was a smoker and I quit! Did that (40 some years ago) and that's a tough one. And I've probably lost 100's of pounds in my adult life - but breaking the habits that put those extra pounds on has proven to be more difficult. Watch out you young things with a few extra pounds! When you are an elder it seems like you need about 1/4 of the food you are accustomed to eating. 

When I was young I worked in movie theatres, from age 16 to about 23. Paid my high school tuition, my college fees, got free movies for myself and passes for my friends, a wonderful job with one downside. I acquired the worst eating habits possible. Think what's available to eat at the cinema - popcorn, candy, pop, hot dogs. That was my diet; that formed my habits. Gleep. No excuse though, just a mitigating factor. I have no resolution to lose weight. I know better. But I hope to address what I eat and when, then add water.

I have found an exercise DVD, Scott Cole's "Discover Tai Chi for Balance and Mobility" (available on Amazon). One half hour of movements you'd think are so simple they wouldn't accomplish a thing. But, when your minutes away from 74 years old you'd be amazed at how many simple movements have become not so simple, how tight your body has coiled over the years, and how much these slow exercises can accomplish over time - if you do them! Speaking of doing them, I shall be back in a half hour...

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As often happens, a half an hour became the rest of the day. I want to mention another Scott Cole video. "Tai Chi for Beginners". It's a wee bit more challenging, a graceful, slow series of easily memorized movements that will make your body happy. There's a nice idea, making your body happy. What makes a body happy? Not too hard to figure out - good food as needed, physical movement to keep it supple, sufficient sleep, lack of stress. Hard work, almost idolized by some, can be good too; it can also act like a wrecking ball. I live on a small farm. From reading previous blogs you know we built slowly, when we could, and hard work is no stranger at my door. It's a necessity but over time it can take a toll. There's smart ways to work, and stupid ways. Far too often, because we are in a hurry, because the situation is close to an emergency, because we don't think or simply don't know better, we end up working the stupid way, slowly breaking our bodies down until every movement hurts. If you're young, think about working smart.

My 2017 resolution packet also contains taking time to improve my mandolin playing. There are so many benefits to participation in music - feel good happy times. When I play with a group and it all "comes together" it's an indescribable high and a unique type of connection that only those who make music can understand.

So my 2017 resolutions - be good to my body and my mind. Sounds like a good plan, and a worthy re-resolution.

Happy 2017 to you all!

Orphan Train

I am not a family history buff. I haven't checked out my ancestry to see if I'm descended from royalty. I haven't sent my DNA off to find out if my ancestors hail from a different portion of the globe than I've been led to believe. It's that age old nature versus nurture argument. Although I do believe genetics accounts for much of our make-up, both our physical appearance and our intelligence, I'm more inclined to put a greater emphasis on nurture, that is the effect our environment has upon both of these things. So, who my ancestors were and what they did has never really sparked my interest. Other members of my family, though, have done some research. Because of them I have a copy of my husband's family tree and, on my side of the family, some relatives wrote a little booklet about my Dad's family going back to the time they immigrated to the U.S.A.

 

I do love a historical novel though, and the one I just read, "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline, struck a family history chord for me. It was one of those books I couldn't put down until I was finished. 

Here's a short synopsis of the novel - In the late 1800's and early 1900's orphans were put on a train heading west from New York, then paraded at stops along the rail line in front of prospective "parents", some of whom were just shopping for free labor. Sometimes these  children experienced horrible circumstances in their "adoptive" homes. This work of fiction drew some subtle comparisons between the orphans of that time and the foster children of today. 

The connection to my family? My fraternal grandmother rode that orphan train. Thanks to my aunt, my sister and two cousins, this is what I know about my grandmother Christina's early life. Her birth parents immigrated from Germany in the 1870's and on arrival found deplorable conditions - disease and crime; dirty, noisy, unsafe buildings; very little work to be had with wages too low to support a family. My great grandmother and one of her children contracted Typhoid Fever and died. The other children including Christina were very young and my great grandfather was unable to take care of them.

The children were taken to the New York Foundling Hospital which was run by the Sisters of Charity. In the book "Orphan Train", Niamh, the heroin of the story, was in the care of the Children's Aid Society. Unlike the Children's Aid Society which simply sent children along with no sure prospect of being adopted, the Sisters of Charity sent children by train to pre-approved homes. Christina was sent from New York to Cleveland. The first home she went to turned out to be a disaster. When the agent in charge discovered this he found another home for her. Finally she felt like she belonged to a family. She was now the youngest of 8 children in a happy home. Later, when her adoptive parents died she went to live with her older sister and her brother-in-law. When she was a teen she apprenticed at a dressmaker's shop. There she met her future husband, a mechanic who worked on the Pullman cars on the railroad. She had 11 children, one girl died at birth, another girl died at age four. The remainder lived on to become my two aunts, six uncles, and my Dad.

When asked about her birth family, Christina thought she may have had a brother who went on to Missouri. Records were poor, a fire caused the loss of many, but the National Orphan Train Complex of Kansas named her parents and suggested that she had two sisters, Marie Elizabeth, who went to St. Louis, and Pauline about whom nothing is known. It is not known if this is accurate. Her family history remains a mystery.

Many thanks to my cousin for compiling this information for our family. She goes on to tell stories of our grandmother when she was a young mother which gives me a window into my Dad's early days.

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I downloaded "Orphan Train" from an on-line book club called BookBub.com. Membership is free. You receive a daily e-mail with a listing of Limited Time-Free E-Books & Bargain Ebooks -  Mystery, Romance, Fantasy, How-to, Science Fiction, Biographies, History and more. When you sign-up you are asked to tick off the types of books you like so that suggestions they send will be in line with your reading interests. They can be downloaded onto your device via Apple iBook, Amazon, Kobo or Google. Books that are not free are rarely over $3. Some of the books I've read were not all that great, some were a casual light read, and some, like "Orphan Train" were special.

DIY

DIY

When we first came to our North of 54 farm it was not a farm and we were not farmers. The land had a small five acre field and an attached field we called the "L shaped field" (and still do though it's rectangular now). Fortunately, a relative of the family from whom we purchased our 1/4 section hayed those two fields during the many years the land was unoccupied. Otherwise the fields would have been reclaimed by the bush. Along with these small clearings, there was a little lake, a large beaver dam and the resulting watershed, and lots and lots of trees.

 

 

We, along with a friend who a year later decided to return to BC, came here in June of 1974 with a 6 week old baby, a dog and a cat, and our few worldly possessions including an old plain Jane Enterprise wood cook stove. We lived in a quickly erected poplar cabin with an outdoor kitchen until the snows were flying steadily in December and our 25 foot square log home was more or less ready to occupy (top logs weren't chinked yet).

Not being farmers or house builders we had rather a large learning curve to accomplish (still working on it). Though we sought advice whenever possible, we mainly learned by using reference books and by trial and error. My husband built the first half of our house with a chain saw, an axe, a 1 1/2 inch auger, a chalk line, some books (B. Allan Mackie, "Building With Logs" was one of them) and some advice from a few locals.

 

Books were survival manuals for us. I remember standing by our little goat barn, reading step-by-step instructions on how to milk a goat. We used shepherding manuals, again me reading aloud while my husband followed instructions on how to turn a lamb in a difficult birth. We have books on keeping rabbits, storing vegetables, building feeders and corrals, growing raspberries, training dogs, making simple clothing, and........... the list goes on. Bit by bit we learned. We built. We raised goats, sheep, horses, rabbits, chickens. We logged fence posts and trees; picked pine cones; trained a team of horses and used them for logging, field work, and cultivating the garden. Our main farm product turned out to be Border Collies. My husband learned how to use and train them starting with a book ("The Farmer's Dog" by John Holmes). These amazing dogs became our love, our joy, our job, and our income. From them my husband gained a fair amount of notoriety in the sheep dog world and yes, he did end up writing a wee booklet on how to train a Border Collie.

 

We remained fairly small. We added a couple of fields on the home quarter, obtained a grazing lease and fenced it carrying spools of barbed wire on a pole between us through bush and muskeg (no road there at that time). The Alberta government cleared about 40 acres on the lease. The remainder of the farm remains in forrest, lake and watershed. After 10 years we added a second half to the house and upgraded to indoor plumbing and solar electricity. We also built a log barn and a shop. It's been a lifetime project with more stuff left to do but we have a lot less ambition now.

We couldn't have done all this without our books! We are still using books to learn but these days we have an entire library at our fingertips - an iPad and the internet. We still have all our hard copy reference books though. I could never bring myself to get rid of them. A book is a solid object you can hold on to. The internet depends on the "system" remaining viable.

Out of curiosity I surfed the net today for "How to milk a goat". Wow! I got a beautiful pictorial step-by-step finely detailed description, as good or better than that old book we used so many years ago. I also looked up "How to hang clothes on a clothesline" and got numerous sites to look at. It seems like both these questions yielded answers that were overly detailed and a bit over-the-top on complicating the issue. But I have done these things for well over 40 years. Sometimes a person who is quite familiar with a task can oversimplify instructions and leave questions in the mind of the person asking for help.

I was wondering to myself the other day, What would happen if the world fell apart (a thought many have after the US election)? Grandmothers have not gotten around to teaching the youngsters (and the youngsters don't seem to want to learn) traditional skills like cooking from scratch, gardening, preserving, making wine (I use a book for my famous Honeyberry and Raspberry wines), sewing, washing dishes without a dish washer, hanging clothes on a line, etc. Grandfathers haven't taught youngsters how to put in and take off a crop, put up hay, cut down trees for buildings or for firewood, erect buildings, hunt wildlife for food, fix machinery, be a good shepherd, etc. Would everyone starve? Could they live without all of today's conveniences? Hell yes! They'd just have to download and print a bunch of DIY books before the grid died, or go buy some how-to books (if hard copies are available), read, try things out, succeed and fail, try another way, learn, share what they learn, and help one another.

Responsible Journalism

        Responsible Journalism

Because we pass on news articles we see on social media, we have all, in a way, become published journalists - unfortunately often irresponsible, biased and downright harmful journalists rather than responsible and thoughtful journalists. We read the "news" published by a myriad of sources and streaming continuously on sites such as FaceBook and Twitter. Sometimes, because we are in a hurry or because the headline backs up our view of the world, we pass these articles and videos on to our friends or the general public without taking the time to read them. 

 

Headlines can be deceiving. Sometimes the article will be a satire, or make completely false claims,  or deliberately incite hatred or racism. Some articles have been altered by the addition of false or misleading information or quotes. Many photos are edited and/or deliberately altered to skew the facts in favour of a particular political position. Some posts are old and no longer relevant or accurate or have been attributed to the wrong person or country. Some have photos of one event while supporting a story about another. Sometimes the comments under a post are so scathing that forwarding a positive article can inadvertently promote an opposing view. 

I wrote a blog (see post: "FaceBook, Not FactBook", September 23, 2015) suggesting that people check the accuracy of posts on this rumour spreading media before passing any on. This is a time consuming enterprise and can be difficult to accomplish, but considering the damage some rumours can bring about, a responsible post passer should take the time to read and fact check (or at least make sure the source is reliable), before hitting "share". In today's media you can encounter written and video materials that support every viewpoint, from the wildly crazy to the seemingly logical. When you share a post you are publishing it to an audience that may very well believe it is true.

The sad thing about mainstream, on-line TV and newspaper reporting these days is the homogeneous nature of it. You can move from one to the next and see the same stories, the same video clips and photos, the same out-of-context edited quotes that skew what someone really said, the same rhetorical jargon. Some would assume that this sameness from one media source to another is because what is being said is true. Others might say it's because many of these media sources are owned and controlled by only a few corporations who are determined to promote the status quo.

We are seeing and hearing what media owners see as truth or as a suitable variation of the truth that has been vetted by someone, some organization or some government to provide what they deem as "need-to-know" information for the general public. Even though journalists may go to great lengths to obtain "the truth", their editors may slash and skew the text to tone it down or sensationalize it in hopes of gathering ratings or followers. News has become entertainment.  

It's also important to recognize that it is difficult to avoid bias in reporting the news. We casually accept, ignore or fail to notice this bias when the news source is within our own country or supports our own philosophical views. When news originates from other parts of the world however, such as China, Russia, South America or the Middle East, we often call this bias propaganda (defined as "ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause").

Are there any in depth investigative truthful news reports out there? Is it possible to ferret out a semblance of the truth from the barrage of information we are drowning in? I think we can come close if we make an effort to balance our perspective by reading or listening to a variety of news sources, both mainstream and alternative (see two examples below, Aljazeera* and RT**), and if we recognize that some "news" articles are not news at all, but are ads or opinion pieces.

From Wikipedia

*Aljazeera English. The network's stated objective is "to give voice to untold stories, promote debate, and challenge established perceptions. The station broadcasts news features and analysis, documentaries, live debates, current affairs, business, technology, and sports....The channel aims to provide both a regional voice and a global perspective for a potential world audience of over one billion English speakers who do not share the Anglo-American worldview. Instead of being run under one central command, news management rotates between broadcasting centers in Doha and London....Al Jazeera English is one of the few global media outlets to maintain an agency in Gaza, and in Harare.

**RT (RussiaToday) provides a Russian perspective on global events. Their Slogan: Question more. RT’s flagship, award-winning English-language channel airs 24/7 from the network’s Moscow offices and is available to more than 700 million viewers worldwide. It covers the most urgent domestic and international issues of our time for viewers wishing to question more and delivers stories often missed by the mainstream media to create news with an edge. RT provides an alternative perspective on major global events, and acquaints an international audience with the Russian viewpoint.

Science Fiction - Science Fact

Science Fiction - Science Fact

 

Young folks are always hearing their grandparents tell stories about the way it was in the good old days when they were young. (And no, we don't say "back in the day". That's a current platitude.) 

We tell stories like these:

"We didn't have cell phones, not even hands free land lines! When I was a kid our phone was on a party line. There were 9 separate rings, 2 long and 1 short, 1 short and 1 long, and so on. Every time the phone rang you had to listen to see if it was your ring. And when you talked all 8 of the other folks on the line could listen in." 

"The first computer I saw filled a room as big as my house! One of my first jobs was researcher and keypunch operator. I got the data from books in the library, then I used a machine to punch holes in cards in order to enter the data into a computer."

"Speaking of libraries, that's where I got all my information from when I had to write a term paper in school." (Do they still write term papers?) "I had to go to a card catalogue, dig under authors or titles to find the books I needed, go find them using a location system known as the Dewey Decimal System. Then I had to type my paper on a manual typewriter, perfectly, using carbon paper to make a second copy, putting footnotes in just the right place on the bottom of the page, and the looks as well as the content comprised part of my grade."

You've seen the lists, the ones that say you're old if you remember this or recognize that.... Well, I'm old!

But, old or not, I try to keep up with modern technology as best as I can. I'm sure my granddaughters can spin circles around my level of knowledge, (they help me a lot) but I'm not one of those folks who throws up their hands and says it's all a bunch of hooey. Science has brought us so incredibly far from my youth that I often feel like I'm living in a science fiction novel. Talking on cell phones, wirelessly, using a massive system that beams signals from cables, towers and satellites; flying on jets that hold over 300 passengers; getting electrical power from the sun; driving a car with a dashboard that looks like the control center on the Starship Enterprise - what next? I used to say I'm waiting for driverless cars so I can code in my destination and take a nap or read a book and simply arrive safe and sound... Well, they're here!

One of my very favorite things in today's world is FaceTime (or Skype). My son and his family are a 5 1/2 hour drive from our North of 54 farm. My sister is 1500 miles away. My husband's sister is 800 miles away. We don't get to see one another in person any too often. Phoning is fine but there's something really special about being able to see people when you're talking to them. On top of that it costs nothing other than having to subscribe to an internet service. You can even FaceTime people in other countries! I can watch my granddaughters play piano, see their new hairstyles and latest dance moves. I can see how my daughter-on-law has decorated her house for Christmas or show my family a project I'm working on. I can also take pictures of people while I'm talking to them, then I can edit out the wee pic of myself on the corner, the one that shows me what they are seeing on their screen, and add the pic to my family album.

We live in a world where science fiction becomes fact. Seems like if we can dream it we can eventually do it. So let's make sure our dreams are positive. Hmm, let's see now - here's a science fiction dream...

 

Our growing family

Remember that little family of pigeons that moved into the roof of our house a couple years back? (See "Home Invasion", August 29, 2014.) New soffits got them to move to the barn but, my oh my, how that wee family has grown! Pigeon pie anyone? How about a new tradition, pigeon for Christmas? We keep talking and discussing, but so far the only pigeons eaten are the two our guard dog caught. Thank-you, Thor the Wonder Dog.

 

I always thought pigeons were town loving birds...I guess they're adaptable. The barn is warm, dry, and filling up with pigeon poop. Their droppings are supposed to be an ingredient in gun powder. Hey! We're always trying old ways new to us, maybe that's next...

 

 

Squash Pie

Squash Pie 

         I'm the first to admit that I'm not a pie maker. I can make pies, good ones, and, since my pie crust recipe came from an experienced and appreciated camp cook who was accustomed to baking many, many delicious pies at a time, I'm able to say I can make a pie with a nice flaky crust (lard, an egg, baking powder, and vinegar being the not-so-secret ingredients). But for me it's a chore - an arduous day consuming chore which I seldom engage in. 

 

But Thanksgiving tickled my guilty bones, and because that one buttercup squash plant I grew this summer produced over a dozen lovely squashes, I began searching the net for squash pie recipes. In the end I relied on my old cookbook (Fanny Farmer, received as a wedding gift 49 years ago) but the net did provide me with a good way to bake the squash so that I could mash the pulp to make the pie.

I got my husband to bring in the biggest squash from the shop where they are stored and he cut it in half on the diagonal for me. I cleaned out the seeds, saved some for next year, put aluminum foil on a cookie sheet, added a bit of water, and baked each half cut side down at 400F. Since I had no idea, other than inserting a knife, how to tell when it was done I ended up taking it out before it was completely cooked. I took a big spoon and scooped out as much as I could then gave the remains to the rams. They seemed quite pleased.

  

Since my scooped squash still seemed a bit to firm to mash I got out my steamer and cooked it some more. During all of this my husband kept asking if he could help. I believe he was rather excited to experience the fruits of this particular labour. "Is it ready to mash yet? I'll mash it for you," he said several times. "No, not yet," was my somewhat grumbling response. This squash preparation was taking a long time!

I only needed 3 cups of squash for the pie and had much more than that so four more servings went to the freezer. After my husband performed his squash mashing task I further puréed it with my mixer, added the spices, milk and eggs and set it aside so I could put together the ingredients for a pecan pie. If I'm gonna make a pie I'm gonna make more than one!

My crust recipe makes 5 or 6 crusts and, since both these pies go topless, I made two crusts, froze two balls and made Rollie's from the rest. Rollie's are pie crust with cinnamon and sugar rolled up and cut like cinnamon buns, a tradition passed down from my mother who also made good but infrequent pies. After baking they tend to disappear quickly, especially when there's a strong admonition regarding the necessity of keeping the pies for Thanksgiving, regardless of pleading eyes and repetitive suggestions. "One piece wouldn't really matter, would it?"

Thanksgiving arrived, the pie's big moment. Would people like it? Is it as good as a pumpkin pie? Three out of four decided to try both pies, so half and half servings with ice cream were set on the table. One guest declined the squash pie giving a rather lengthy explanation concerning a CPR incident and mouth to mouth resuscitation to explain why he could never ever eat any pie that resembled pumpkin. I'll leave the details of the incident to your imagination.

        I'm happy to say it all turned out. The pies were a hit and appreciated over and over. Next day we had another guest who loved squash pie and gave this one a thumbs up. Day three another appreciative squash pie eater arrived along with one decliner who  could never ever eat anything containing cinnamon, going back to his youth and involving a stick of super hot cinnamon gum and a girl he was trying to impress. The gum was so hot it brought tears to his eyes, but he kept smiling and chewing until he had a discreet opportunity to dispose of the gum after which he smiled and pretended to chew. 

 

Interesting isn't it, how unpleasant incidences carve themselves into our memories, sometimes subconsciously, and determine food likes and dislikes throughout our lives. For me it was peas, in jello, served at my grade school cafeteria where the nuns required us to clean our plates. For that matter I had a preconceived notion about squash pie. This was my first. I had that  "never tried it, don't like it" mind set to overcome. So is my first squash pie my last? Not likely. I am already thinking about those two frozen crusts and the remaining squished squash with a certain amount of culinary desire.

People Power

Some of us have our eyes wide open, some have them closed, most see what they want to see. But we do, in my opinion, have one thing in common - no matter how much we see or don't see, we all feel powerless. We don't think we can make a difference. We don't think we have any control over governments (our vote doesn't count), big corporations (all our jobs are going overseas), or the degradation of our environment (many Canadian jobs are linked to the depletion/destruction of natural resources). We all have to make a living. We all want to provide for our families as best we can. And sometimes just trying to make a go of it does seem to render us powerless in the face of the big picture. 

 

But there is one power we all have  - Purchasing Power.

The oil and gas industry, here in Alberta especially, is a huge contributor to our economy. Anyone who thinks we can totally eliminate exploration and production of this resource has their head in the sand. Still, we can use our purchasing power to make changes within this industry - changes that will be good for us, for our grandchildren, for the future. The most obvious products provided by this industry are gasoline, lubricants and diesel. Our country is enormous. We drive - lots. We have to or we stay home. I have to drive 16 km just to get my mail! We could purchase vehicles that use less fuel. We could car-pool. We could take public transport. We could become more organized so that we combine several errands into one excursion. We could buy local and seasonal thus saving fuel for the transportation of goods. We could holiday closer to home. We could.

Conspiracy theorists grumble that oil companies stifle inventions that will lessen/eliminate fuel usage. Perhaps they do. But it's possible they'll see the writing on the wall. There's really no reason why an oil company can't use their financial resources to branch out into alternatives. Maybe someday electric cars will replace what's available now. Research is being done. When prices are finally within the reach of the average wage earner we may be able to get away from gas powered transportation. But we need to recognize that electric cars have to be charged. That charge comes from somewhere. We need to press our government reps to seek alternative and planet friendly means of producing electricity. 

In any case we won't get away from oil. Take a look at one or both of these web sites. Oil usage goes way beyond gas!

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A partial list of products made from petroleum - (144 of 6000 items) One 42-gallon barrel of oil creates 19.4 gallons of gasoline. The rest (over half) is used to make things like: ...

Ranken Energy. www.ranken-energy.com › products fro

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How Products Made from Oil End Up in Your House | Oil and Gas InfoOil and Gas Info

www.oilandgasinfo.ca › oil-gas-you › pr...

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think about something made from petroleum? Gasoline, probably. Or maybe plastic bags. But there are actually thousands...

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We eat, wear, drink, package, sit on, write with, ride on, play with, preserve with, clean with....and lots more....products made with oil. Some of these products have proven to be pretty hard on our environment. 

Plastics are one of the worst and plastic products are everywhere. They literally permeate every facet of our lives and it seems to be getting worse, not better. My biggest peeves in the grocery department are the plastic boxes in which things like donuts, cakes, etc are packaged; the impossible to open crackers etc that used to be packaged in cellophane (from cellulose so I guess a wood product, but at least you didn't need a scissors to open the pack); and the individually packaged treats for kids lunches. Then there's the plastic loops holding the beer cans together, plastic chairs, plastic cutlery, plastic bottles, milk and juice jugs, bags, jars, cups and that horrible poured on plastic that envelops toys...yikes! If you don't buy this stuff, if you make a point of doing this and many others do too, it will change the way things are done. Companies want to sell their products. Whatever makes them sellable they will do. If it's good for you, good for the planet and good for the producers bottom line, well, its good, isn't it?

Paper, a wood product, is one alternative to plastic. Wood is sorta renewable, but we need to watch our logging practices. Removing every tree from the landscape isn't doing our local environments or the planet a lot of good. It effects the weather. It causes displacement of species. It's ugly. It removes millions of oxygen producing organisms and contributes to global warming. Although we don't have as much biodiversity in the Boreal Forrest as in the rainforests to the south, our logging operations can be quite destructive. So, since paper is a good alternative, we should push hard for hemp, a crop that has so much diversity it's astonishing, and from which you can make paper. Hemp is not marijuana. In any case it's time we stopped fearing this medicinally useful and recreational plant anyhow. Alcohol is far worse. But that's another subject.

Paper, made from wood, should be respected and used sparingly. A simple rag can replace hundreds of paper towels. Cloth napkins can replace paper napkins. Cloth bags can replace grocery bags. On line billing, reports, magazines, newspapers, books can save tons of paper. (Sometimes access to a printed version is needed/wanted, but it's not always necessary.) And those paper plates and cups together with plastic cutlery... Well, I'm guilty. But think about it. Remember the last occasion at your local hall, where real dishes were used? Washing dishes can be an enjoyable social connection with others.

Consumer choices regarding food can drive producers to change as well. Buy local, seasonal, organic (certified or not), unpackaged. Garden, even in pots if you lack space. Cook from scratch! We have been duped into thinking that convenience foods are healthy and, for that matter, that they are actually convenient. I'm always amazed when I see people use a pancake mix, adding water, eggs, stirring. A small twist of the wrist to add baking powder and salt is about all the convenience you're paying for. Cooking from scratch is healthier, less expensive, tastier and far easier than modern cooks have been led to believe.

Water in plastic bottles is another consumer accepted and embraced product which is disastrous for the environment. No matter how many studies/reports have proven that it's pretty much the same as tap water, it has become a convenience and a sort of status symbol. Look at me, I buy water for my kids, not sugary pop! Some people recycle the bottles, many don't. Much of the water in the bottles is never drunk, people take a sip or two and forget about it, lay it down, find it later and wonder whose bottle it is, and down the drain it goes. Aquifers are being drained to the detriment of local residents. Clean water is being thought of as a privilege rather than a basic right. There's numerous posts on FaceBook encouraging people to stop buying bottled water but few seem to care. Change will not come unless we care. 

I know this blog sounds preachy, and I'm certainly not perfect. But I do try to make wise consumer choices. This may seem insignificant. But when millions make good choices we do have power - people power, consumer power.  I'm only suggesting that we give some thought to what we buy, and, when we can, we should make better choices, ones that will help to preserve our environment and that of the other species that inhabit planet Earth.

What's that saying I keep seeing on FaceBook? "You are the change!" Are you?

Stop, look, listen.....

 

 

 

 

 

 Before you know it, winter will arrive!

Hot Tomato Sauce

 

Grass!

 

We have a big lawn which I have always stubbornly insisted on mowing with a self propelled walk behind gas mower, insisted that is, until my husband decided I needed a lawn tractor and went out and bought one. I resisted his decision for years, an inclination which probably describes my personality, saying the exercise was good for me... all that walking. Well, this year the nearly every day rain has made our lawn a lush ever-growing green monster. Between rains I rush out, jump on my lawn tractor and cut it down to a walkable length. Almost before I'm done it begins to grow, greedily enjoying its rain water power shake and gathering energy from the sun.

Now that I'm riding, not walking, I also cut an area we call the bowl, which my husband used to do with his big brush mower, and a section near the barn where we feed the sheep grain in autumn and spring. The lawn looks beautiful, like a golf course, and this year we have kept the sheep off of it so there's no gooey surprises when you don't watch where you're walking. The excessive growth has caused one problem though. Because I have no bagger on my mower to catch the clippings it sort of looks, for a while, like a hay field with windrows needing to be baled! New growth quickly catches up though, buries the clippings and no doubt makes it even more lush in the end. But, being me, I couldn't control myself from raking it a couple of times, taking cart after cart-full and dumping them over the bank by the lake. So I did get my exercise after all.

This year we're both wondering why we created so many tight spots where the big mower can't go. I have to mow the berry garden with the walk-behind - so many turns and tight corners - no way the ride-em mower could get in there. And there's under the swing, around the well, etc., etc. The rampant summer growth, also affecting the gardens and the  gobs of veggies being produced, has kept us busy, busy, busy. We could weed whack every day!  Richard has a gas powered whacker and does the big stuff, controls the thistles and stinging nettle on the beaver dam and in hard to reach places in the barnyard, and cuts the grass on the rocks that edge the house. I have a battery powered whacker and do around flowers, berry bushes and fruit trees, in-between and around spots where the walk-behind mower can't go. 

Whew! It's time. The evenings are getting darker and cooler, the rain drops colder. One clear night the dew and rain residue will crisp up and turn to frost. Hopefully by then all the sensitive veggies will be canned, frozen, eaten, or ripening in the house. Root crops will be in the bins before we know it, and we'll be more concerned with putting wood in the fire and shoveling snow. 

 

SALE! SALE! SALE!

 

Hidden in these alluring messages - the NECESSITY to BUY.

     Saving by spending is an interesting concept, one which can work for or against you. Powerful advertising can hook people into buying things they don't need or can't afford. It can, in other words, trigger our brains into "needing" stuff we had previously not even considered. A careful shopper can profit from all of the above if they are cautious, if they buy only what they planned to buy and are nor enticed by the "savings" to buy on impulse.

     I wouldn't call the above false advertising, not even misleading if you recognize you can't SAVE by BUYING. Saving by buying is an oxymoron.   It's a false premise that entices us to spend.

     Credit card companies earn a small percentage on every purchase their card is used for. They make even more by charging interest on purchases if you are unable to pay your bill at the end of the month, and that interest rate is often very high. But using a card that in some way rewards you for using it can be worthwhile, and it's kind of nice the day you "use your rewards" at the till, you get your rebate check, or your membership is paid.

      I have 3 credit cards that give "rewards". I bank on line and pay for my purchases within days, avoiding credit card debt. Some cards can be paid right at the store. You can even pay 5 seconds after you charge and they don't mind. After all, you just spent your money in their store. You might have made that purchase somewhere else if you didn't have their credit card.

     Advertising, sales, rewards, promotions, anything that encourages people to buy products, to try new products, to spend money in a specific store - all of these are expected to be advantageous for the seller. Buyers who shop with their eyes open to the subtle psychological pressure of these "encouragements", who exercise caution and common sense, who are able to avoid getting hooked by the hype, can also benefit. Who doesn't enjoy the satisfaction of getting "the best bang for their buck"!

Barn Swallows

Gotta love these little swallows despite the mess they make. Their mom and dad are continuously busy catching mosquitoes for them! They stay in the nest until they are so big they pretty much fall out, getting close to that now! And getting close to time to leave - a late hatch.

 

A New Definition of Summer

Summer, a new definition: a few short months to get an awful lot done.

      This summer has been especially challenging. It started with a dry, hot spring which had us searching the sky for wildfire smoke and pouring over newscasts showing the plight of fire refugees. The unseasonably warm weather encouraged us to plant our gardens early only to be forced to water them if we wanted them to germinate. Then the rains came - to stay. So now we rush around trying to get good weather projects started and completed between torrential downpours accompanied by window rattling thunder and some spectacular light shows.     

        It is, despite the weather, coming along. Ten gallons of Honeyberry wine are in the carboys. The raspberries are ripe. I'm picking a couple of gallons every few days. I expect to discover the first ready to eat zucchini any time now. It's fantastic growing weather; the gardens and the grasses are taking full advantage. 

 

It's not just "get ready for winter" projects filling the time between rain storms. The brush mower's back wheel grabbed a fence wire and broke down a corner post which had to be replaced. A hose on the tractor sprung a leak. Strong winds have been depositing trees on the fence lines causing major clean-ups. Then there's the summer BBQ's, fairs, music jams... We're going to a gathering on the August long weekend to celebrate the 100th year of a generational farm.    

Every once in awhile I find myself longing for the calm of winter.

     

Busy or not, a couple days ago I had a "stop and smell roses" episode smack me in the face, literally. While gassing up the mower, standing precariously on a wee ladder trying to figure out what direction I needed to twist a valve I could barely reach, a tiny little bee decided I was invading his territory and stung me on my left cheek. Hurt!  Yikes! Yelling at my husband for "making me do stuff I really wasn't able to do", I stomped off to the shop leaving him to finish the job. Suddenly I felt weak, nauseous. Sweating profusely I sat down on a chair and lowered my head. I loosened my jeans and noticed a line of blisters around my waist. What is this, I thought - sun stroke? After awhile I made it to the house. That's when the itching set in. I took a cool shower to settle it down but it didn't help. Finally deciding I might be having an allergic reaction I took two Benadryl.

      During all this my husband completed the lawn mowing, quite unaware of my plight. By the time he came in I was shivering, breathing hard, had bumps all over my back and an almost total body rash. He said, "Get dressed, we'd better get you to the hospital".

     Unreal - over 70 and just now developing an allergic reaction to bee stings! I stayed in the emergency ward all night, on an IV while three bags of Benadryl (one shot of same) and electrolytes dripped into my system, slowly taming my reaction. I was released in the morning, told to continue taking Benadryl and advised to get an EpiPen. Two days later and I'm still weak. The actual site of the sting is swelling down my neck and it feels like there's a wee critter running around under my skin.

     A couple years ago I blogged about "An Alien in My Head" (see Feb 12, 2014). That time I felt no sting and doctors were mystified, even thought I had an abscessed tooth because my only reaction was the swelling of the right side of my face and neck. This time I know for sure I was stung, had nearly every symptom described under anaphylaxis in Wikipedia. I've never had a fear of bees, but, especially now, I recognize their power. At least I won't have to struggle to get gas anymore, my husband said he's doing it from now on.

 

     

I just love feeding the birds

 

The beads are hanging on the window in an attempt to dissuade the birds from crashing into it. Works most of the time although the new fledglings sometimes go through a bit of a learning curve. 

 

 

To Thin or Not to Thin

     

     For two days I've gone out to my garden, sat on a stool bent over for about an hour, and diligently thinned my carrots. They were thick, thick, and it seems I've yet to figure out how to plant them thinner though I try (I mix them with coffee grounds). 
      

     And this is the first thinning! I usually do it twice. 

     I was talking to a friend the other day and she said, "You know, I never thin my carrots. They get thinned a bit as I harvest the small ones, but that's all I do!"

     Hmmm. But old habits die hard. I can't help but wonder if I'd get as good of a crop with no thinning. Do I want to take that chance? Obviously not - just ask my aching back.

     I was chatting on FaceTime with my sister this morning - I love FaceTime, I was doing my dishes at the same time, showing her my garden, etc. Anyhow I mentioned carrot thinning to her and she said, "Why don't you leave some un-thinned and make a comparison?"

     Duh!

I have three wide row sections of carrots, one a little smaller than the other two, so, yep, I'm gonna try that no thinning idea on the smallest section. Wish me luck. If I could avoid that chore I'd be pretty pleased. 

 

Landscape Artist

 

    

My sister is a watercolor artist, a paint medium I find to be very unforgiving. With the right techniques though it's possible to produce beautiful paintings, and she does. Many of her works are influenced by her love of Italy, especially Assisi, and by her love for cats. The one shown here was her impression of a canola field down the road from our home.

 

       

My Dad was a landscape artist. He took photos, picked the ones he liked best, sketched, then painted. His technique evolved over time, using oils sparingly at first and eventually layering paints to enhance the 3 dimensional effect of perspective.

   

 

  But Dad was also a landscape artist in the natural world. He designed and built beautiful houses, ones that blended with their surroundings, and his love for growing both ornamental and vegetable plants together, often in rock gardens, surrounded these homes with additional beauty. 

     

 

Although I never seemed to inherit Dad's skill as an artist, I have always shared his joy of gardening. But flower beds and hanging pots, rock gardens and ornamental bushes will never grace my home yard. Why? Our sheep graze our lawn. Anything I don't want to be grazed upon must be planted behind a fence. There are advantages - less mowing, natural fertilizer, the pleasure of seeing our critters munching away just outside the window - and, even though I suppose it would break the heart of the flower enthusiast to have such a yard, it suits me just fine. I have some flowers interspersed here and there in my two vegetable gardens, splashes of colored attractant for the bees, but they're mainly practical gardens. Planting, weeding, harvesting and preserving keeps me plenty busy, and I think there's beauty in growing food - good, organic, fresh produce...yummmm. I also have a berry garden - raspberries, currants, honey berries (Haskap), apples, and rhubarb which I transform into jams, juices, wines, and desserts.

 

 

 

     My husband and I share the responsibilities of our home yard landscape. We both mow the lawn. I plant, weed, thin, harvest and preserve the garden; he tills, cultivates, adds manure and maintains the fences. We both plant the potatoes and harvest them and the carrots together. He also uses a brush mower to maintain our fields and we both have our own weed whacker.

     Today was a perfect day. Right after my husband finished cultivating we got a beautiful rain. Great timing. You can almost watch the plants grow. The season may be short North of 54, but our long days make up for it.

Brain Teaser

RANT!
    Once again, I see my blogging app has thrown a curve and an older blog just got sent as though it were new. I've been searching for a better app to no avail. I even tried changing my blog address from blogspot to Wordpress but it was turning out to be just as difficult. Main problem is managing photos. Just text - not hard - now that I've figured out the optimum size (the only readable size). But pics! Pics end up in wrong places, repeat themselves, are crowded, disappear. Arghhh!
     I shall try to master BlogTouchPro. I am trying, I am... But I suspect it's faulty, and I can't find another app that works with blogspot. I need my grandchildren to visit for a few days. They could probably help me out. 😥

Land of the Midnight Sun

The day before the summer solstice, sunrise, June 19, 4:40 a.m.

 

Still light, June 19, at 11:00 p.m.

 

Gotta love summer!!!

 

Shearing Day

Struggling with a stubborn ewe. The shearer is as old as I am!

 

All done and ready to bag.

 

Stuffing the fleeces into the bagger.

 

All bagged and ready to go to the wool depot.

 

Such a fine flock of lovely ewes!

 

International Traveler - Not

June 1, 2016

     Day one of my holiday to visit my sister in Colorado... and I'm still sitting at my kitchen table. My husband and I headed for the airport early, made some stops in town and stopped for a $6 meal deal complete with a hot fudge sundae cause we knew we had plenty of time. The International Destination area at the airport was strangely absent of people when we arrived. I was trying to figure out how to use one of the machines to get my boarding pass when a fellow came along to help, asked what airline, then said, "You're late for that flight."

     "Late? How can I be late? It doesn't leave for an hour!" I said.

     Well, I was indeed late, 4 minutes late for their 1 hour prior to flight minimum check in time, and there was no way they would let me go on that flight. They offered an alternative through Cincinnati arriving in Denver after midnight, but I'd have to catch a bus to Boulder when I got there and my sis doesn't like to drive after dark. The idea of being stranded at the bus stop when I got there didn't sound like a very good alternative. So I got a boarding pass for the same flight, but for June 2nd, and we drove the 2 1/2 hours home.

     I thought I was pretty much resigned to all this, called my sister and let her know what happened and that I'd be coming a day later. But my clearly remembered overnight dreams may indicate I was a bit frazzled by the situation. I dreamed of rescuing my neighbour's turtle (tortoise? about the size of a dinner plate) from under the snow while he greedily munched on last night's leftover vegetables. Then I spotted a very large lizard like creature struggling to exit from our barn loft. He had eaten so much he was having a hard time getting his big belly out of the window. Freaking, I ran for help and found a hunting party standing around in my kitchen comparing guns. I frantically attempted to get in a word edgewise to remind my husband that we had to leave for the airport, SOON, but I was ignored. I spent some time trying to figure out how to hold the turtle, cradled upside down like a baby didn't seem appropriate, turtles would surely be uncomfortable that way. I settled on an over the shoulder baby burping style position, headed off to take him home - then I woke up. We did see "Neighbourhood Watch" on Netflix a couple nights ago. That may have influenced my brain bit

June 2, 2016

     So, day two. We left earlier, not stopping. I'd planned to spend my 2 hours of regulation arriving before flight time reading a book I'm halfway into. Oops, I left my Kindle plugged in at home...

     Arrived at the airport a little after noon and had lunch. My husband hung around long enough to see that I got through customs. Cripes! Shoes off; liquids, gels, etc. in a separate Baggie - I knew this. Electronics, i.e. Laptops, also separated. Everything is done by machines with, thankfully, a human aiding the uninitiated. Your passport is pretty much all you need, stick it in a machine and it knows all about you and your flight (I'd booked on-line). Time - 1:37, two hours to wait before departure, one and a half before loading. But at least I'm here!

     Going from the Edmonton Airport to the Denver Airport could be compared to being a bumble bee, happily buzzing with a few other bees around a rose bush, flying into a pop can, and on exiting the can finding himself in a colony with a million other drones. Busy does not describe it! You take moving sidewalk after moving sidewalk, an escalator, and a train to get to the main terminal. Thinking I knew where I was going and knowing if I hurried I'd catch the 6:20 bus to Boulder, I quickly phoned my sister at the free phones available (my cell doesn't work outside of 

Canada) and zoomed out to catch it. No bus, missed it. Went back inside, fortunately made an inquiry and found out they moved the place to catch the bus! So I called her back and told her I'd be on the 7:20 bus. Then I had a leisurely coffee and decided I'd wait for the bus out at the new bus station. With a certain amount of confusion and some wandering around I managed to 

locate the new ground transportation area and discovered the bus was already there! Almost missed it again!

     Touring along toward the mountains at 8:00 p.m. I noticed the sun was on the verge of dropping behind the mountains. At home it would be bright daylight. Those latitudinal parallels and proximity to the mountains make quite a difference. My sister was late picking me up, the bus was in early, but here I am at last eating a meal saved for me, settled down in my sister's home and ready for a nice long sleep.

June 3-9, 2016

     It's always a trip down memory lane to go to Boulder, the town where I went to high school and college, met my man, married and soon thereafter departed for Canada to start a brand new chapter of my life. It's grown, lots, but the places I knew are still there though some of them have been repurposed. My old high school is now a classy senior housing facility - the spacious grounds now filled with cottages. The movie theatres I worked at from the age of 16 through 22 or so are now all real theatres, for plays. Downtown Boulder is an upscale pedestrian mall and Boulder Creek has walking/biking trails and parks where it runs through town. The University has grown dramatically. But the mountains haven't changed, most older neighbourhoods are much the same, and it is still one of the most beautiful places a person could live if you want to be a city dweller.

     I had a great visit with my sister, looked at old photos, ate some fine meals, walked around the lake in a park near her and talked old and new times, shopped a bit... And when it was time to go I made very sure I arrived at the airport 3 hours in advance of my flight!

     Here's some holiday pics...

 

One of two customs line-ups at the Denver Airport

 

Moving sidewalks at DIA

 

"The Sink", an old college hangout.

 

The amphitheatre

 

My old Alma Mater

 

View from Flagstaff Mountain

 

Pearl Street Mall

 

Me and my sister on Boulder Creek