Where Have All the Humans Gone?

Where Have All the Humans Gone?

In November of 2020 I filled out the Alberta grazing lease on-line stock return form and was pretty confident I’d done it right, until January came along and I got a call asking why I hadn’t filed it yet. Somehow I had failed to push the “send” button. In 2021 I hit a snag when I came to a question requiring a yes or no answer and my response was kinda-sorta. Now what? There was no space, as there was in the old hand written form, for an explanation of my yes but no response. You can’t talk to a computer (even though many seem to try). The form would not go through with the question unanswered. I needed to speak to a human. This year the stock return form showed up in email and then disappeared a few days later. Just gone, I didn’t delete it. So, I put on my computer hat and began to search the Alberta Government website to find the form. I don’t know who they get to design government websites, but I’ve yet to find one that is user friendly. I couldn’t remember the exact name of the form and without that I was getting nowhere. I resorted to the phone and after talking to several agricultural departments I reached a human who could tell me exactly what to do. User name and password entered I finally was able to file. 

The propane dealer we use put a gizmo on our main tank that sends data to the office letting them know when it needs filling. With a cold spell on the way, being old school, we checked the level anyhow and tried to order by phone. Waiting to reach a person got longer and longer and a disembodied computer voice kept suggesting we order on line, so we did. Great, seemed like all was well. They sent us an email to confirm and gave us a delivery date. The date came and went with no propane delivery. We phoned again and this time waited for a human. The human seemed surprised that we had 3 tanks to fill, said the order was just for one. (They only provide one sensor per household and put it on the tank with the most usage.) She changed the order to 3 tanks and 2 days later we got our fuel.

The other day we tried to contact Telus to report a problem. I fished around the Telus web site, nothing there that would address the issue. So we had to phone. Finding the right phone number to call was the first challenge. There were pages and pages of Telus contact information in the phone book. In the end we hit zero and it worked. When the “operator” answered my husband said, “Are you a computer?” 

“Yes,” it said, “but I can answer many of your questions.” Wait time to talk to a human - one hour - the first time. Should be up and running no later than tomorrow she said. It wasn’t. Two days later, second call, one hour wait, the problem finally did get solved. The humans we did interact with were friendly and did their best to help us. I have to give them credit considering the fact that we were super grumpy from waiting so long, though we tried not to let it show.

Now to tackle the on line Canadian Biannual Livestock Survey. It’s mandatory they say………. 

I’m not computer ignorant, I’ve been using them since the days you had to enter data on punch cards, but I still spend hours trying to access information that is supposed to be easily accessible. What about people who have no computer literacy? Or those who have no computer at all, or a cell phone, or WIFI? 

Like it or not, more and more companies are buying into non-human interactions with their customers. They think it improves customer service. I think it boosts their profits. They hire fewer and fewer people and those of us who need to conduct business through human interaction are doomed to wait for hours on the phone. 

We are in the midst of a digital transformation/transition, one which we cannot easily avoid. Maybe someday computers will become so human-like they’ll be able to answer out-of-the-ballpark questions. Maybe websites will become more user friendly. Until then, if you can’t cope (or find help), plan on being frustrated. Maybe ask a young person - they have grown up in the digital age and seem to fly through actions less savvy folks find mind boggling.

They say if you wait long enough the science fiction of the past becomes the reality of the present. I’ve seen numerous examples of this in my lifetime. The idea that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will one day take over plays a big role in that genre…. 

Leaving you with that thought.

mltipton.blogspot.com, 

https://www.facebook.com/Northof543/, 

November 29, 2022

BBQ northern style

Toques, headlamps and steak - works for me

Christmas

🎼🎶🎵 Deck the halls with boughs of holly, 

fa la la la la, la la la la 🎼🎶🎵

With the first snowfall, and especially with the first cold snap, my brain starts to shift. I tend to semi-hibernate in the cold months. This year we went directly from a warm and sunny autumn to the dead of winter in just a few days! Fortunately we were ready with all the winter prep complete, but are we ever mentally prepared for that first snow? I was already suffering from the sudden absence of a catalyst to get me off my… to get me going. It’s hard to overcome inertia when the things that need doing are uninteresting and can be put off for another day. With nothing pushing me - no tomatoes calling to be salsa, no garden cleanup, no tools to stow away before the snow hides them - well I was spending a lot of time curling up with a book (Kindle - I love my reader). But now, suddenly, Christmas tradition is calling. 

Women are the keepers of Christmas traditions (mostly). If it were up to men, well it would not be quite the same, would it? Many of our traditions are carried forward from nostalgic memories of our youth and others are formed by the unique circumstances of our own families, when the kids were young, when we are old. We lock ourselves, willingly, into carrying on the traditions we have established over the years. We do what is expected by our friends, our families, and ourselves. As long as it’s enjoyable we may as well continue on. But we do need to remember they’re traditions, not mandates. If your Christmas celebrations become too much, lose their joy, you can make changes! We could become snowbirds, we could have Christmas dinner at a restaurant, get a pre-decorated tree…

One of my favourite memories from youth - the whole family would sit around the Christmas tree “guessing”, with a smile, what my mom’s gift from her sister back east would be. “I wonder,” my mom would say, “what can it be?” She’d open the parcel and exclaim, “I never would have guessed!” And we’d all join in with a good laugh. Without fail my aunt followed her giving tradition - a new apron every year.

Another family tradition was having a village under the tree. My dad built a cathedral, a log cabin, a crèche, and we had a blue mirror lake for wee skaters. As kids we spent hours playing in that village. My sister, Karen, carried this tradition on in her home with her own village, and when she passed in the first Covid wave I inherited it, replacing my tiny one. I’ve other reminders of my sister throughout my home - she was a watercolour artist and her beautiful paintings adorn my walls.

My traditional Christmas gift is caramel corn. When I stop making it my friends and family, and myself, will have to accept that I’m old. Until then the popcorn kernels will keep getting a sugary winter coat.

Christmas shopping has changed a lot for me over the years. It was more fun when I was looking for toys for little ones. Big “kids” seem to prefer gift cards or cash so they can get what they really want. The older folks mostly have what they need and buying useless junk doesn’t sit well with me. I like to give gifts that get used up, like boxes of chocolates, gifts of shared experience, handmade goodies. Having said that I do have to say I admire people, like my daughter-in-law, who have an uncanny ability to spot the perfect gift you had no idea you would need or love. Such gifts hold as much love as handmade and, in today’s busy world, are more possible. Then of course, for some, there’s the practical gifts, things people need and simply won’t or can’t get for themselves. Times are getting hard for many. Food banks are overwhelmed. More people are reduced to living on the streets. Santa’s anonymous has an unprecedented sign up list. Sadly, there’s no shortage of people in need of a merrier Christmas. 

My sister’s Christmas village

Test on blog not making it to subscribers

Yum, yum!

Out Beyond the Corn

There is a world out there, beyond our garden. It doesn’t always dip into our everyday lives, but sometimes we are affected by it. The war in Ukraine is one of these instances. Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine has slowly become the dominant story in our mainstream newscasts, replacing the constant coverage of the pandemic. NATO and governments all over the world, including Canada, have not remained neutral in the conflict between these two nations. The enemy was easy for the western world to define. Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, ordered his army to invade Ukraine. Ukraine is fighting for its life! It’s citizens had little choice but to retaliate. Who wouldn’t defend themselves from an aggressor if directly threatened?

News media on all sides of the conflict are supplying their people with inflammatory censored one-sided newscasts to keep them engaged and enraged, to convince the masses to rally behind the need for austerity, the need to provide support - positioning them to be prepared for what might yet come. The banners of righteousness and nationalism have been raised.  

Few North Americans know anything about the history of this conflict, but no war occurs in a vacuum. Broken agreements, civil unrest, insincere or bogged down negotiations, policy changes, territorial disputes, sabre rattling, and inaction brought this situation to a head. I’m not in any way justifying Putin’s aggression, but he apparently decided negotiation was no longer possible. (Not all of Russia’s citizens agree as seen by demonstrations taking place.) The insanity of it all boggles my mind. The people who have been thrust into this war, who never had a choice (both Ukrainian and Russian), are dying/suffering. Billions of dollars worth of infrastructure is being destroyed. The spin off, due to the imposition of sanctions, is hurting neighbouring countries who are facing a winter without Russian natural gas to heat their homes. Nuclear weapons are being considered, on both sides. Nuclear power plants could be compromised. And fighting climate change? That goes on the back burner, the weapons of war negate any and all measures aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The ripple effects of this war are compounding. There has been talk of a Third World War.

But terrible losses endured by some can result in profit for others. There’s nothing like war to stimulate some sectors of the economy. Those who gain from war - the military industrial complex, arms dealers, arms/equipment manufacturers, oil companies, companies that provide materials/labour to rebuild, raw material suppliers, stockholders, the big players - do so on the backs of those who suffer its ravages. There is little benefit for the people whose homes/livelihoods are destroyed, the soldiers/civilians who die or are wounded, the country with broken infrastructure and massive environmental damage, the traumatized children, the dead domestic and wild animals, the war vets suffering from PTSD…

Ordinary people bear the brunt of war. They are expendable. 

Check out YouTube, Bob Dylan, Masters of War

Spaghetti Sauce Extraordinaire!

Ahh, I said to myself, this recipe uses 25 pounds of tomatoes - 5 bags of frozen beauties out of the freezer and into the canning pot! Twenty minutes prep it says, sounds good, and once this is done I’ll be down to a mere 60 pounds or so to deal with. There could be an end in sight! I steeled myself to tackle the spaghetti sauce recipe I found on the internet.

First the ingredients - amazing, I had them all! Tomatoes, onions, green and red peppers, tomato paste, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, salt, garlic, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, lemon juice. I wouldn’t have to run to the store for a thing! I’d read on the net that frozen tomatoes, when plunged into hot water, peel easily if you pinch them on the blossom end. This sounded good to me as I’ve never been one to go through the drop the fresh tomato into boiling water then into cold water to peel method. Too much work, too time consuming, so “not me” that I usually leave the peels on when canning tomatoes, or pears and peaches for that matter. On first try, with the first 5 pound frozen bag, I found this peeling method to be so easy it was worth doing. But 25 pounds of tomatoes is a lot of tomatoes! Then of course they needed the little bit at the stem end removed and had to be cut up. They were still mostly frozen so this was cold but easy. That 20 minutes prep time was long gone though, well over an hour ago.

Then there was all the other ingredients. I do have a simple food chopper that cuts stuff up quite tiny, only the one setting, so I made fast work of the peppers. I decided to use the onion rejects (odd shapes, the ones that looked like they weren’t going to keep very well) so there was extra peeling and slicing to get the needed 8 cups. By now my compost bin was overflowing and had to be dumped. My basil was dry but still in leaf shape so I got out my mortar and pestle to grind it small. In hindsight I guess I could have used my chopper thingy for that too.

I thought it was going to be a cool day, it was downright chilly when I got up. When I got the kitchen wood stove going it felt good. I enjoy cooking on a wood stove, such an even heat, less chance of scorching. It’s like an old fashioned slow cooker. But after hour 2 of prepping next to the wood stove the windows were open and I was ready to peel down to my underwear. I didn’t, heaven forbid if someone should happen to drop by! 

The recipe says it should make 9 quarts of sauce. By about 3:00 I’m fighting off that negative thinking that tends to sneak in when I’m working hard and long on a canning project. “I could buy that much good quality spaghetti sauce for about $20, less if I caught a sale…why am I doing this…home grown, organic…self sufficiency is an important skill…living off the land as much as I’m able has been my mantra for 50 years, why stop now…yada yada…”

I’m finally nearing the end of the ingredient list and ready to add the garlic. Darn! Dried up. Should I use granulated? Hmmmm. I was tempted but no, after all these other fresh ingredients that would just not do. Maybe I should make a quick trip to town? A better idea yet, I’ll call a neighbour. Sure they said, come on over.

It was now 4:00 pm and my sauce, sans garlic, was beginning to bubble away on the stove at the beginning of its 6 hour cook down. I was exhausted and oh so happy when my garlic rescue friends invited us for supper (and wine). Had we stayed home I would have had a hard time making a grilled cheese sandwich. I got my husband to remove the heavy pot of sauce from the stove and off we went.

Next morning I peeled a dozen cloves of garlic, chopped them in my chopper thing and added it to the sauce. What beautiful garlic! Wow, I guess I’ve never had garlic fresh from the garden before, big cloves, easy to peel. Maybe I should grow some… maybe not, perhaps trade for some instead. 

There was a bit of a catch on this 20 minute prep, 6 hour simmer recipe - a need to stir every 15 minutes to prevent sticking and scorching! That’s 24 stirrings and 6 hours near a hot stove! I set a timer so I wouldn’t get mentally lost doing something else (according to my husband I always have my nose in a book). I went out to fetch jars from the shed. Should I use pints or quarts? Hard to decide in a 2 person family. Has anyone else ever wished they would make a 3 cup jar? I decided on pints. If I used a quart of sauce to make spaghetti we’d be eating it for days. I couldn’t quite handle the full 6 hours of simmering, but I did reduce the liquid down to 9 litres. 

The spaghetti sauce - delicious! The work - rewarding, the tomato bonanza - overwhelming. Tomorrow - salsa.

First Frost, September 21st

And I thought this garden year would be a bit of a bust, what with the slow, cold start. But then came the hot summer days and the remarkably frost free end to the season - no frost until today, September 21st. Wow! I’ve gardened here for over 40 years and have never experience such a late 1st frost. My 8 full sized tomato plants outdid themselves and I confess that I did not treat them kindly. I didn’t prune them, my cages fell over, they were planted too close together and were sprawled all over - but indifference didn’t seem to make a difference! Now to deal with them all as they ripen!

Bumble Bug

Almost stepped on this bumble bee look alike as he slowly wandered through the grass. I guided him to this leaf whereupon he played dead until I snapped a pic of him, took him back outside and turned him loose. Then he reactivated and crawled off. Never saw a caterpillar quite like this one before.

2022, An Oddball Gardening Year

I planted my garden just after the May long weekend, then it turned cold & rainy - a miserable June. Transplants just sat there shivering, staying alive but not growing. In July summer finally arrived and here we are now, at the end of August, no frost as yet, weather predicted to be in the mid 30’s next week!  I’ve never seen a year like this in the more than 40 years I’ve been gardening in the middle of Alberta. I have green tomatoes, beans are coming along, critters ate the top half of all my beets, all my peas, and most of the beans down low. The cucumbers are producing lovely flowers but cucumbers are just getting started. Potatoes are good, carrots are small so far but plentiful. Most surprising of all is the beautiful crop of basil I started from seed. The wee plants were no taller than 1/2 inch till mid July, then boom, they took off. 

It was a fabulous year for raspberries!  I picked 85 lbs before they finally stopped producing. I picked enough for 3 batches of wine (14 lbs each), 10 quarts of juice concentrate, 15 pints of jam/jelly, & 14 (2 cup) bags for our family’s favorite breakfast- crepes stuffed with cottage cheese & topped with raspberries & whipped cream.

I have 2 well established rhubarb plants and am always happy to find a new use for rhubarb. This year I discovered (and slightly adapted) a recipe for rhubarb chutney after trying and liking a rhubarb relish produced for a local market using “grandmother’s secret recipe”. Ahhh, grandma might be surprised what you can find on the internet - so much information and it’s not all that hard to find. This chutney is yummy with most meats, especially bratwurst sausage.

I also picked enough black currants for 2 or 3 batches of delicious jam and managed to steal a few pounds of honeyberries from the birds.

Our final honey crop was 44 lbs, not bad considering we had to re-establish one hive and introduce a new queen to the other. 

My garden presents me with new challenges every year. I’m already planning changes for next year - better spacing, more watering, fewer potted plants. A garden is a living annual project, full of surprises and sometimes disappointments. I love watching its progress and enjoy putting produce away for winter, either in jars. the freezer or the root cellar. Stocking up with organic foods I grew myself gives me a feeling of accomplishment, and, as my husband always says, the queen of England couldn’t sit down to a better meals than ours.

mltipton.blogspot.com, 

https://www.facebook.com/Northof543/, 

August 31, 2022

“The Summer of ‘82”

I’ve always been in awe of people with a super good ability to remember times past. Farmers especially seem to remember the exact year of every unusual weather event. Many a time I find myself listening to some old timer saying something like, “I remember that terrible storm in the summer of ‘82. It caused the river to overflow it’s banks by the bridge. A hell of a bad storm, that one!” 

Was I around that year? Yep. Did it really happen? Probably. In ‘82? Darned if I know.

As is typical in the spring and summer, the talk now is all about gardens, and comparing one to the next. When did you plant? Why are so many planted seeds failing to germinate? What kind of critter is eating your seedlings? Weren’t the gardens further along this time last year? Have we ever had a June like this?

Every year is different. I usually manage to remember some portion of last year’s garden (usually the failures). But that’s as far as it goes. 10 years ago? Well I’m sure I had a garden but details are lost to my memory. I usually make a drawing of where stuff is planted so I can rotate the crops to different spots the next year, but I can never find where I put my garden map when the next year comes along. Ah well, this year I know I planted my sticks and strings on the May long weekend, and slowly got all the seeds into the ground by June 1st. Bedding plants came later, after the 7th. But today, July 1st, after many cool cloudy rainy days in June, I look at it and wonder. Will it manage to produce anything in the time left? Everything that’s going to come up has done so, but it seems slow, just barely getting going. If only I could remember what’s normal!

Something is eating my peas; they’re half gone. I planted 2 different section of carrots - one with new commercial seed, one with my own seed. One section came up sparse, the other thick as hair on a dogs back. But guess what? I can’t remember which is which. Then there’s the fact that one end of the garden in general seems to be less hardy. But I’m nearly 80 and it’s all hard work, so I’m not replanting anything that didn’t germinate. Maybe I’ll stick some marigold seeds in the empty spots. They’re beautiful, bees like them, and they make their own seed. Que sera, sera.

So, happy Canada Day! Here’s a pic of my garden struggling to get it together. At least next year I can look back in my photo gallery and compare it with the garden of ‘22. This pic will make many gardeners feel good about their plots. It’s not yet been tilled, just weeded between plants. The chickweed is thriving everywhere. I’ll post an update if it gets to growing, just so gardeners like myself, who are not perfect, can see it’s possible to grow food when you don’t pluck every weed in sight.

.

The RoadSide Cafe

It was one of those days. We needed some machinery parts and headed to town. The dogs and I went along with my husband for the ride - the dogs because they love being with their people, and me, well I had the promise of a lunch out! We went to every parts place in our market town but they didn’t carry what we needed. Feeling rather deflated we motored on to the next town to try our luck, with partial success. We were getting pretty hungry by then so we decided to try out the RoadSide Cafe on the west end. We could barely find a parking place in the tiny lot so we figured it must have the locals’ stamp of approval.

“Take a seat over there,” said the proprietor (a young man anywhere from 30 to 50 - everyone looks young when you’re over 70). “I’ll get to you in about 10 minutes if that’s okay.” We sat in the middle and on the side wall, each of us having a different view, me north, husband south. Folks around us were chatting away, some eating, some finished, some waiting for their meal. We filled our wait time with people watching.

The place was humming and the waiter/cook/owner was all on his own. I had a good view of the kitchen and he was practically flying! An elderly woman began wandering around, gathering a plate here, a spoon there. I was quite sure she was the “Mom”, or the owner, helping her son out, but it turned out she was a helpful customer who rightly figured Mr. RoadSide could use some assistance (no pun intended), though she accomplished very little. Across the way sat a slender, fitter version of Colonel Sanders. Ever since we sat down I’d been watching this fellow carry on lively conversation accented with expansive gestures. He must have been telling a good story!

Mr. RoadSide began to bring out meals. “Here you go, Maggie. Fred, that’s right isn’t it? Fries with gravy on the side? Flo, for you, sorry for the wait!” Back and fourth he went, cooking, serving, taking our order, chatting with a fencing crew seated near the entry (they looked like a biker gang - bald heads, matching jackets with a raptor on the back, a gal with blue hair).

The elderly self appointed bus-girl finished her rounds then carried a carton containing a burger and fries to her husband out in their car, explaining as she passed by us that she had to take his food out because he was unable to come in. On her return she was shivering and hugging her sweater close. “God awful windy and cold out there,” she said. I agreed.

The large group behind me got up to leave, all carrying on about their plans for the remainder of the day, saying they’d be back for breakfast. “I’m feeling a bit scattered today,” the cook told them. “Most of the time I have no problem but it’s been hard to concentrate the last few days. A friend of mine got Covid and he also has COPD so I’ve been really worried, but he’s doing okay now. I hope you enjoyed your meals?” Assurances were passed around, bills paid, things got quieter.

The man-of-all-tasks brought our order then grabbed an arm full of empty plates and bussed them to the back. We dug into our senior menu specials and he stopped by our table. “How’s your meals, I hope the wait wasn’t too long,” he said. “I usually have just a few couples in here and it’s not hard to manage, but that big group showed up just before you and I had to get their order out.” 

We were the last customers to leave and the restaurant closed. Apparently it is only open for breakfast and lunch. Butterscotch pudding was a nice topper to our hearty and  much enjoyed meal. I headed for the rest room and Mr. RoadSide was wandering around the now empty restaurant with a cell phone recording what needed to be done and how the day had gone. He looked at me and said, “The meals are only the beginning, now it’s all the cleaning and preparation for tomorrow. Guess you gotta make a dollar though! It was a good day today.”

We left the RoadSide Cafe feeling relaxed with a decent meal in our bellies. It was like we had just had dinner with a big happy family, well worth our decision to pass on a fast food outlet.

mltipton.blogspot.com, 

https://www.facebook.com/Northof543/, 

abcentre54

May 4, 2022

Beets

I’m sooo excited, never thought they were mature enough but look, my own beet seeds!!!

Can We Afford to Eat Anymore?

Can We Afford to Eat Anymore?

I went shopping for a few groceries yesterday. What a demoralizing experience! 

I’m curious, how does the government calculate its inflation rate? Food prices have increased, it seems to me, at a much higher rate than the current figure I found on the web. Most basic food products seem to be up one-two dollars or more per item. Many are 50% to 100 % higher than they were just a few months ago.

According to Statistics Canada,  “Canada’s annual inflation rate quickened to 5.7% in February of 2022, the highest since August of 1991…. Prices rose faster in six of the eight major components, notably for shelter (6.6% vs 6.2% in January), which rose at the steepest pace since August 1983. Sharp price increases were also seen in transportation (8.7% vs 8.3%), bolstered by a 32.3% surge in gasoline charges at the pump; costs of food (6.7% vs 5.7%), as prices of food in grocery stores rose at the fastest rate in 13 years.

I have no understanding of how the monetary system, the global market, or trade agreements work, or why shortages elsewhere raise prices where there is no shortage. I’ve found that prices vary, sometimes by a lot, from grocery store to grocery store. I’m sure grocers would be able to state many reasons why products are priced higher in their establishment than in another. I know volume buying and sourcing plays a big part in pricing - so does paying for fancy buildings, convenient location, better employee wages, good customer service, top quality products, more brand variety, expanded product choice, delis, eye-catching displays and reward programs - all of which are attractants for consumers and extra costs for proprietors. But I’ve never understood how a can of beans, a chicken, New Zealand lamb, any food stuff from anywhere overseas could cost less in a grocery store here than a similar item produced locally. Input costs may be less overseas - lower wages, subsidized fuel, substandard working conditions, longer growing seasons - but you would think transportation cost would eliminate the price advantage, especially if the environment is considered.

I sometimes feel robbed when I compare prices from one place to the next. I can’t help but think that there are some people & corporations out there getting much richer just because they can. For shopping I have a choice between two market towns, Amazon and other on-line retailers, and the city. The larger town has 2 big box chain grocery stores and the other has a Co-op and an independent grocer. When I need a lot of groceries I go where my dollar spreads the furthest. This usually leads me to the big box stores or Amazon where I have found price differentials as high as $5 on some items. If I need only a few items I pick them up wherever I happen to be. The cost of transportation does have to be considered.

I am lucky to live on a small farm. I can produce my own meat and grow a garden, keep bees. I get eggs from a neighbour. I cook from scratch. The woods around us are filled with wild meat and berries. And I don’t have a job outside my home taking up a huge chunk of my time. So, because we live where we do and are willing to do the work required, my family can still afford to eat well. But how will lower income families, seniors and others on fixed incomes who don’t have such advantages manage to cope? Even if they would prefer to support local, consumers with limited means in an inflationary marketplace have little choice but to seek out the best price for the products needed. And with big rises in gas, heating fuel, electricity, rents etc, people may be forced to make some hard choices. 

 I have a feeling the food banks are going to be very busy. 

There’s lots of ways to minimize costs. 

These are some kitchen savers I’ve made habitual… I suspect nearly everyone could add tips to this list.

• Cook from scratch including bread, cakes, cookies
• Select-a-size paper towels, substitute microfibre cloths
• Buy non-perishable items and cleaners in larger quantities or sizes
• Stock up on sale items
• Don't waste food, eat leftovers as is or incorporate into the next meal
• Know what’s in your fridge and use it before it’s too late
• Know what’s in your freezer and use within a reasonable time
• Keep a running grocery list, shop less frequently, avoid impulse buying 
• Know your prices, know your stores, check out flyers
• Can or freeze fruits, vegetables, meats when they are abundant and lower priced.
• Slow cook less expensive cuts of meat 
• Make stews, soups, and casseroles
• Best before, not rotten after

mltipton.blogspot.com

April 10, 2022

Toot Toot!

Toot, Toot!

My mother always told me, “You have to toot your own horn. If you don’t toot your own horn nobody’s going to toot it for you.” A wise woman, my mother. So, TOOT, TOOT, TOOT, MY CARROT SEEDS ARE GOOD! 🎶🎵

I’ve conducted a germination test on the carrot seeds I produced last summer (see blog Sept. 1, 2021) and they sprouted within about 5 days! I’m so excited! Three years I’ve been trying to produce carrot seeds - first year I only got flowers, the second year I got very tiny, obviously immature seeds, and now - WHOOPIE! Three times the charm! I knew they looked good, just like carrot seed… but until now I wasn’t sure they were viable.

My germination test consisted of placing a counted number of seeds inside the folds of a wet squeezed out paper towel and placing it in a plastic bag in a warm place. I checked on them every few days to make sure the paper towel didn’t dry out and when they began to sprout I counted the number that sprouted and the ones that didn’t to get a percentage. There was a high enough percentage of germination for me to be confident they’re good to plant in the garden. TOOT, TOOT, TOOT!

A friend told me it’s better to use newspaper to germinate seeds. With paper towels the tiny sprouts tend to grow right into the fibres and get tangled up. Then the delicate sprouts may break off when you remove the seeds to plant them into your starter pots. So I will try using newspaper this year when I start my bedding plants, but it’s not time yet, for me anyhow.

My seed carrot is the only thing I’ll be planting soon. I want to give it a good start. We don’t cut the tops off our carrots when we store them in peat in our cellar. We just cut off the greenery as close as possible without damaging the carrot, and we don’t wash them. So I’ll select a well preserved carrot of good size that’s beginning to set out a bit of greenery on its own and plant it in a deep pot. Hopefully it’ll mature to provide seeds for 2023! I won’t start my other bedding plants until mid April. My indoor growing area under a grow light is small so space is limited, especially when the little seedlings aren’t so little any more! First the lambs, then the garden. Everything in it’s time.

mltipton.blogspot.com

March 18, 2022

Winter’s Demise

Let’s Talk About the Weather

In 1998 I wrote this song. I envisioned people gathered around a campfire, relaxing, having a few beers, gabbing, and telling tales.

Talk About the Weather

Chorus:

When country folk all get together

They always talk about the weather

And if it’s dry they’ll wish it wetter 

And if it wet they’ll want sunshine.

They all remember years gone by

When it was cold, or wet, or dry,

When lightening creased the southern sky,

When snow lay thick among the pines.

Verses:

The blossoms came quite late this year,

There’s lots of twins among the deer,

The skies at night are crystal clear,

The beaver’s coats are thick, I hear.

The groundhog’s shadow failed to show,

The robins red stand in a row,

Sun dogs, moon beams, skies aglow, 

Read the signs and you will know.

Watch the critters, check the moon,

Expect late frost in early June,

The rains will come too late, too soon,

The scorching heat the crops will ruin.

Minus 20 in late September,

Colder yet by mid November.

New Year’s Eve, do you remember

The black ice and the fender benders?

A twister took Elijah’s shed

While he was fast asleep in bed.

“The weather’s strange these days,” he said,

And quietly he shook his head.

The neighbours came with boards and nails,

They worked all day ‘til light had paled 

Then settled down to drink some ale 

And share with friends their weather tales.

Twenty-four years ago I decided to write this little ditty to acknowledge what was clearly obvious. The weather is super important - to everyone. No one is exempt. Ranchers must be outdoors regardless of the season because critters need tending. The weather is critical for commercial vegetable growers, gardeners and those who grow cereal crops - it can create a make or break situation. Numerous people work outside, usually on projects that keep our infrastructure up and running. When services fail people can be in danger. Weather can create more than an inconvenience for townies and city folk. It can determine whether they get to work, go to school, drive safely, shop, keep warm or cool. Weather is an entity that cannot be ignored. It can be perfect, benign, inconvenient, or extreme.

This winter has been especially tough - heavy snow, freezing rain, flooding, sub-zero temperatures, tornadoes - often in places not accustomed to such extremes. When people are unfortunate enough to be caught in a catastrophic weather event they experience a major upheaval in their lives, for some life changing, for some deadly. 

Weather was once a safe topic, unlike religion or politics (or vaccines), something we all experience and can relate to. In the 21st century even weather has become controversial. Some talk of global warming, some say climate change, some say it’s no different than it’s always been but we hear about it more through today’s worldwide media. Some scoff at all the climate change rhetoric, some take it seriously, some say it’s just a natural cycle, some say human activity is pushing our planet toward a tipping point. 

Regardless of our views on the subject, we will always remember weather events, we will keep checking the forecast, and we will hope extremes don’t come our way. One thing I’m pretty sure is true - we will never, ever stop talking about the weather.

mltipton.blogspot.com, https://www.facebook.com/Northof543/, Jan. 9, 2022

Where is Mandy?

oh where, is Mandy? 

I lost my cousin Mandy. Her email box is full. Her cell phone no longer connects. I don’t have her address. I can’t find her!

Mandy is older than me but has always been quite lively, in good shape. She’s a horticulturist and was in charge of the herbal section of a botanical garden in her city until her somewhat recent retirement. She’s a traveller too, loves Ireland. She’s my only cousin on my Mom’s side of the family.

Every year Mandy writes a long Christmas letter/greeting, catching up on her comings and goings during the year. Not this year. Mandy is missing. I even searched obits for the last year in her city and came up with nothing. I wonder, has she gone into a retirement or nursing home? Where is she? Is she okay?

This situation has hit home. What if something happened to me or my husband, or both of us. Would acquaintances/distant family know? Would they wonder what happened to us if our Christmas greeting failed to come, if my Facebook page became inactive, my blog ceased to update? Would my son know who to contact? 

I almost missed the passing of another friend, a local who moved to the city, someone who was, in times past, often in my life. I’d tried to reach out to her with a Facebook message, with no response of course. She was well over 90 so I had my suspicions. Eventually the grape vine became my informant.

It’s respectful, I believe, to keep in touch now & then, not just with friends, but with acquaintances as well, and it’s an act of kindness to make a list (and give it to someone who will act on it) of who to contact and what information to pass onto them if you are no longer able to do so. Men I have talked to on this subject say, “So what, if I’m dead, I’m dead”. And maybe that’s the level of response that would be generated in many cases. But one thing I’ve discovered over my long life - you never really know how important you are to another person, or how deeply their memories go. One thing my search for Mandy has made clear - it’s better to know. I have written a note for my son to let him know who to contact should the need arise. 

So Mandy… I went to the search engine on my email account and searched her name for past messages. Nothing is ever really gone from your computer even if you trash it. I found one from a cousin of Mandy‘s on her Dad’s side, also looking for Mandy. What I had not seen was a reply from her with a new land line phone number for Mandy. Apparently this cousin did find her. Mandy joked with her about her worries. “All is fine”, she said, “Hungarians never have emergencies”. This email was sent in early November, 2021. Today, 2 months later, I tried this new phone number. Mandy did not answer but it was her voice on the message. Hopefully she will call back. Maybe Mandy isn’t really missing…

December 31st

Mandy called, and like the Mandy of old she talked and talked some more. I got her address. We plan to keep in touch often. It was good, in a way, this wake up call. People can get lost, sometimes they lose themselves.

Cousin Mandy, me, my sister Karen & an old friend

On my uncle’s boat on Lake Erie, summer 1958