Rainy Weekend

"Get up!"  The bedroom door bursts open and a man's dark silhouette fills the opening. "You can help me load up the truck. We'll go to the dump and then to town for breakfast."

I ungrit my teeth and make a quick decision: today I won't kill him for waking me in that rude fashion. Slowly my heartbeat returns to normal. Breakfast in town sounds good; I can have bacon without having to clean the fatty mess from a frying pan, one of my least favourite kitchen duties. 

But hurry on a Saturday morning? I think not. Besides, hurrying only slows me down. I wash and dress at my usual speed, and by the time I get out to the truck he's got it loaded already. We drive north and west and north and west and north again to the landfill site. 

It's a rainy day and he says "You might as well stay inside; it's muddy" and I don't argue; I'm grateful to be let off the hook. He unloads the truck, which is pulled in alongside a neighbour's, and I listen to the two of them chatting back and forth as they throw garbage onto heaps. 

It ain't pretty. 

I pull a library book out of my bag: Flaubert's Parrot, by Julian Barnes.

My fella gets a few things right. One: suggest your gal remain warm and dry while you muck out the truck; she will feel like a queen. Two: take her for breakfast and eat the second fried egg, the hashbrowns and the last strip of bacon on her plate; she likes to see a man with a hearty appetite. Three: pop across the street for groceries and then grab all the full bags from the checkout, even when she is perfectly willing to carry some. She admires your manly strength. 

There is still one thing he has not learned after 16 years together: wake her gently, softly, politely. Thunder is not the best way to start the day. 

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Lorna has left a new comment on your post "It's Press Day, No Time to Play!": 

my first reading of the day. you made it so easy. 

How kind of you to say, Lorna, when you were probably really thinking, "Pfft, why the hell did I bother?" and who could blame you?

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Erin Kelly has left a new comment on your post "Mr. Scruffy Turns 28": 

Happy birthday to Emil! 

Thanks, I'll tell him!

It's Press Day, No Time to Play!

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Teresa has left a new comment on your post "Mr. Scruffy Turns 28": 

A Belated Happy Birthday! Wishing you well. 

Thanks Teresa, I'll pass that on. He enjoyed his evening, taking birthday phone calls like a celebrity.

Mr. Scruffy Turns 28

Yes indeed, I am ancient! 

I still feel about 14 years old on the inside, so it's a peculiar reminder, with my eldest turning 28, that time has surely been passing much more quickly than I can really grasp. 

On Emil's birthday, he was able to spend the day with his favourite aide, Tracy. They came out this afternoon and we had freshly baked brownies with ice cream, and they were going back to town to pick up takeout for supper for everyone at his group home. They'd had birthday cake at lunchtime and they were going to have birthday cake again after supper. 

Just waiting for that brownie and ice cream.

Before they arrived, I took a few minutes to flip through the journal of 1988 to see what might be worth sharing here, if anything. Wow, a person doesn't realize how much is forgotten 28 years later!

I guess it's okay to be reminded. Some of it makes me cringe, though, and I wouldn't want it read by anyone else. Other parts are quite sweet. Damn, such a mixture that I can't just throw them all out, and will have to go through each one. And that's a mixed bag too — I don't want to revisit everything just to find the odd gem. Too boring. Who has time? Or wants to spend the time they do have, that way? Not this old gal. 

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Annette Erickson on "Birds and Wood Ticks": 

Tics and caterpillars, those are the two of the three creatures I absolutely detest and can't stand. The other one is mice. Gross me out! 

I literally shuddered while reading these words. That tells us something, doesn't it.

I don't mind caterpillars; as a matter of fact, I picked some of the tent caterpillars off the oaks and roses with my BARE HANDS. Could hardly believe it, myself.

But I can't squash them. 

And I feel guilty for killing them, especially if it's not done instantly and painlessly. I'm kind of ashamed of myself for the way I did it. Not telling.

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Maggie Turner on "Birds and Wood Ticks": 

Kate, we killed hundreds and hundreds of tent caterpillars at our camp, and when we visited yesterday we still had leaves on the trees! It probably had nothing to do with our efforts, the leaves were on the trees everywhere we drove past. We are lucky so far, no ticks, but that could changes anytime, or worse, maybe they are there and we aren't aware enought to know it! 

As long as they're not on you! That's what matters. They're creepy critters and I'm at the end of my rope.

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Lorna on Birds and Wood Ticks": 

fascinated but scared. your urban friend, Lorna 

The ticks have got me considering city living for a couple months of the year.

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Ralph Goff on "Birds and Wood Ticks": 

Definitely the worst year ever for wood ticks and tent caterpillars here. The caterpillars are pretty much done but they have stripped most of the leaves off the poplars. Hardly a day goes by I don't pull a tick or two off me. They never used to find me but this year, they like me. 

Little bastards. I've been doing some reading. Chickens will eat them and apparently if you have free-range chickens you won't have a tick problem. Just a chicken shit problem -- hee! But you could have the chickens "around" your yard, managed by an electric fence. Hm. If we got chickens here again, Emil would never come out for a weekend or, if he did, he wouldn't go outside and walk around like he does now. He is afraid of chickens. But if I thought chickens would fit the bill, I might just get some anyway. 

Ticks winter-over in leaves. I've been lazy when it comes to leaf removal in the fall, just raking them up and piling them in the bush around the yard. Maybe they actually have to GO. Not that there still wouldn't be leaves in the bush, mind you. Also, I always leave the flowerbeds so that the birds can find seeds there over the winter, and then there is a dead mess there in spring. Maybe the ticks like that too. 

They're a horrible plague and I have to remind myself to be thankful they don't (maybe) carry lyme disease, as some do. 

Birds and Wood Ticks

Yep, still alive.

No excuses for not posting every day, as you've been accustomed to. 

It's just life, I guess. 

What've I been doing?

Spending more time outside, I suppose. It's been neither too hot nor too cold; i.e. it's been just right for this here Goldilocks. Even if I'm just out on the step, listening to the birds ... we've got a slough pump (a.k.a. American bittern) in our dugout, which is just behind the house. It's very vocal in the evenings and I'm a-lovin' it. We've also got a catbird that was making a lot of noise before moving into the row of lilac bushes just off the back step, and I was enjoying that too. And of course there is the sora. Or more than one, naturally, of all of the above. And a lot of robins, and barn swallows, and ... the list goes on. 

Slough pump:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2tWmwGNrkA

This is exactly the way "mine" sound. 

Also, I did see it once. I was on the step, chatting on the phone to Cathy in Saskatoon, and noticed what appeared to be a tall, dark stick among the grasses on the other side of the dugout. I quickly ran for my binoculars for a better look, and sure enough, it was standing there, still as could be, for the longest time. I was thrilled. I'm sure Cathy thought I was a bit nuts, being so excited about a slough pump in my yard. 

But these birds are the best part of living here. 

Catbird:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRgvpjcSNcM

I guess this is why at at first I couldn't figure out what it was. It was mimicking the other birds around the yard. (And if you watch this video to the end, you'll hear the sounds "my" sora makes, and see a picture of one.)

The sound that convinced me it was a catbird the next day was this one, that actually sounds like a cat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXGHKKnzQvk

The surprising thing about the catbird here was that it was perched high up on a leafless branch where it could be plainly seen, which seems unusual for the catbird.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MreTlO5avZw

Had enough bird talk?

The wood ticks are still driving me insane. I'm dreaming of moving away for May and June from now on, just to get away from them. It does seem a bit extreme, but they are driving me fucking crazy. 

I tuck my jeans into my socks and smear tick-repelling scented oils onto my leather walking shoes. I spray my long-sleeved white garden shirt with commercial repellent, and put the collar up. I apply the scented oils to my neck, throat, chest, hands, arms, face. I avoid tall grasses, though do have to work in the flower bed so that may well be where I'm picking them up. When I come inside, I check my clothing for ticks. After the outer wear is off, I check my body. I look in the mirror. I feel around my scalp. No ticks. 

Half an hour later, I feel one crawling on my chest. 

Half an hour after that, there's one on my forearm. 

I guess I should be thankful I can feel them on my skin. But I've had enough. Enough already!

Here's what the trees across the road look like now that the tent caterpillars have been through:

Click to enlarge

There seem to be fewer of the worms now, but I've also heard they may go through a second "coming." Yeesh. Nature! It's no wonder humankind keeps trying to control it.

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Maggie Turner on "Holy Cows": 

Ohhhh I really really like that phrase, "The Wrath of Kath"!!! :) 

It has more of a ring than The Bath of Kath! or the pedantic Path of Kath! Actually that second one sounds perfect for a title to a new blog, if I ever get around to it.

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Secret Agent Woman on "Prefers Blogs to Facebook and Twitter": 

I had to read this to my husband: "If I see one more updated profile photo of a homely person with 25 comments like "Beautiful lady!" beneath it, I just might puke. Honestly, people are so full of baloney.

Then there are all the selfies of the women who really are beautiful. But why the hell do we need to see a new photo every other week? Yes you're glamorous. Now get over yourself." 

We have talked about this very thing - the falseness of the admiring comments and the pure narcissism of some posters. And you know, I just posted with a bunch of wedding photos on my blog, but in my defense, I don't do a lot of that. And I definitely don't on FB. I actually like FB well enough for what it is - a way to keep up with family and friends. Bu I don't like the self-righteousness of it. And I use it as a way mostly to just post brief, funny things throughout the day. FB is faster and easier than blogging, but blogging has my heart. 

You heard me! You really heard me! (Said in my best Sally-Field-at-the-Oscars voice.)

I loved seeing your travel and wedding photos on your blog, and would have no matter where you posted them. 

Facebook, like any tool for communication, can be used for "good or evil." Hee! I find it a lot like television; there's plenty of good, worthwhile stuff, but you waste a lot of time with garbage while you're looking for it.

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Secret Agent Woman on "Holy Cows": 

Whew! All's well that ends well, I guess! 

True dat.

Holy Cows

It was very nearly a livestock disaster!

I heard a loud rumbling in the driveway and went out to see what was what. It was our neighbour Stuart in his half-ton. He'd found Scott in the yard (damn caraganas at this time of year block the view from the house so that I had no idea he was home; how can I get away with anything, this way?) and the two of them took off down the road. 

Hm, said I to myself. What's going on? A stroll to the end of the driveway gave me a glimpse of their two trucks, one parked near our yard and one near the other end of the grid. They must be chasing cattle, I thought; I'll stay away unless I'm called, because sometimes an unfamiliar person can spook the finicky beasts. 

Back on the step I could hear Scott calling them: KaBoss! KaBoss! Apparently a moose had knocked down the electric fence and the cattle had gone in search of greener pastures. 

Soon the little herd of about a dozen was in our back yard. They came right past Scott's garden, narrowly missing his green peppers and tomatoes. I know this because their tracks are still there, perilously close. 

I worried about my flowers in the front yard; they'd be a tasty treat difficult to pass up and easily destroyed by a stampede, however short and sweet, and that's when the Wrath of Kath would be felt around the Golden Grain Farm. 

Fortunately the cattle were soon steered through an opening in the fence and back where they belonged, without causing any damage. 

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Maggie Turner on Prefers Blogs to Facebook and Twitter": 

I harbour the same sentiments in regard to Facebook Kate. There are a few exceptions though. I belong to a group in Ontario that shares historic photographs of the area where my Granny and Grandpa lived their lives, I read every new post eventually, when I make one of my few visits to FaceBook. The other group I belong to and value is one that shares the history of Glasgow, and there I have found interesting posts that deal with Glasgow around 1820, when my ancestors boarded the boat headed for land grants in the Upper Canada wilderness. I like to know that seldom seen friends are still alive, although I admit I wish they wrote blogs, as all FaceBook does is allow me to know they are still alive. 

Exactly. 

Facebook is a good tool for many things ... if it is used with some thought.

Also, one of the biggest drawbacks of going from very active letter-writing to blogging is that now my friends don't write back. They read my blog and don't feel they have to answer a letter. I miss their letters! Oh, how I used to look forward to my trips to the post office!

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Lori on "Prefers Blogs to Facebook and Twitter": 

I think you are both "like" hilarious and "like" accurate! 

Apparently I was in a bitchy mood when I wrote that entry. Hee!

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Ralph Goff on "Prefers Blogs to Facebook and Twitter": 

Twitter does not do much for me. Or maybe I just don't follow the right people. I find facebook much more "happening" and way too much interesting stuff for me to look at. I generally skim over the extreme political and religious stuff. I hear a lot about the evils of facebook but for me it has been all good (so far). 

I have begun taking the time to "block" accounts that spread prejudice, hate and ignorance. A few of my friends still do it, alas, and I haven't had the heart to disconnect from them on FB. Just because they aren't deep thinkers or study-ers, doesn't mean I don't still love them! Just as I'm thankful those with more sense than I have still put up with me. People don't have to be perfect. 

For my previous job, I was requested to use FB in order to help reach a wider audience, and so that's what I did. That meant connecting with a lot of people on FB, both personally and professionally, and led to hundreds of "friends." I don't regret that, but I blame it for some of the crap that appears in my FB feed. 

It's no different from life in general, I suppose. There's always some garbage that comes our way, no matter how careful we are to avoid it.

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Wisewebwoman on "Pirate's Patch (Not Really, but Maybe I Should Hav...": 

Apologies I've been neglecting reading blogs. Time, she packed up, b'y. 

Lovely family pics. What was that item you mentioned a kind of bread?

Lefse is a Scandinavian dish made with potatoes that are boiled and put through a ricer, then mixed with oil and flour, rolled out thin, and fried on a grill. It's eaten cold (but is delicious fresh from the frying pan too), spread with butter and sprinkled with sugar, then rolled up. That's how my family eats it. Scott's dad once said "Your family is spoiled!" His family eats it with meat rolled up in it. Yuk!

You can see my mother's recipe and also a photo of the lefse here: http://stubblejumperscafe.blogspot.ca/2015/12/lefse.html

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Sarah on "Prefers Blogs to Facebook and Twitter": 

Not a fan of Twitter. I like FB mostly because it lets me keep up with the far-flung friends/relatives in my life. 

The occasional wonderful re-connection is what keeps me checking Facebook. I know where you're coming from.
Twitter is another "activity" I was asked to use for my former job, where they needed us to learn how to make use of social media. Like FB, once in while there's something interesting on it, but most of the time, not.
I think I could quit both and not miss either one.

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Annette Erickson on "Prefers Blogs to Facebook and Twitter": 

Great post Kate! I use Facebook mostly on a "have to" basis as it's been the best form of advertising for my business in the area I live in. Who would have thought. For my personal use, I spend very little time there. Maybe 10 minutes tops and that's not even every day. Twitter, I am on because it was part of getting my book out there, or supposedly anyway but I have no idea how it works and can't seem to be bothered to learn it or find anyone to teach me how to go about it. 

Out here, some businesses use FB for their advertising because it's free. What they don't understand is that a posting on FB does not reach every person with whom they are "friends," because FB wants you to pay for that. For a fee, FB will make sure your posting gets to a certain number of people (still, not all your connections). Or should I say, it will send your post to your friends' FB feeds. Even that is no guarantee that your post will be seen! I miss a lot of my "friends' " postings simply because I don't read everything there is, every minute of the day. By the time I check my FB feed, a lot of things posted earlier are too far down the page for me to see them. 

FB ads are better than no ads, but they are not as effective as smart advertising in local newspapers, especially where I live. There are a lot of seniors here, and they have no interest in computers or the internet, but they love their Wadena News.

Glad to hear FB has been a good tool for you, though!

Prefers Blogs to Facebook and Twitter

They say that personal blogs are going out of style and that most people prefer to read and write on Facebook nowadays, or Twitter.
WHAT. EVER.
Facebook is boring as shit except for the odd person who is really witty, like my friends Laura and Maggie and Kathy, who are hilarious. The rest is just rehashed other-people's stuff, and bullshit propaganda that no one has factchecked but they insist on sharing it all over the place anyway as if it's been handed down from the heavens to prove some point.

Boring, I say.
Except for the odd person who actually posts about where they've been and what they've been doing and who they've seen and the funny things their little kids have said. I don't care if you can't stand the young Trudeau or are dumb enough to believe the provincial NDP government in Alberta is singlehandedly responsible for oil prices tanking or that Monsanto is the cat's meow and we should all drink the koolaid and blame everything on the Syrian refugees who are so much better off than our homeless people here in Canada. Pfft. As if.
You won't convince me of anything and your political beliefs are of no importance to me. Each to his own, I say. Heard it all before.

If I see one more updated profile photo of a homely person with 25 comments like "Beautiful lady!" beneath it, I just might puke. Honestly, people are so full of baloney.
Then there are all the selfies of the women who really are beautiful. But why the hell do we need to see a new photo every other week? Yes you're glamorous. Now get over yourself.

Give me someone's personal blog any day. A blog where someone tells me what they did today and what they were thinking about and what they hope to do tomorrow and next week. Someone who whines that they've stubbed their big toe. Someone who bitches about her husband once in a while. Someone who complains about the high cost of groceries. You know: real stuff. Real life. That's what I want to read about. When I want general news and information, I'll listen to the radio and I'll do my own research.

So that's why I'm bored with Facebook and Twitter. They're as bad as television that's full of repetitive commercials. Every once in a while I see something that gives me a good chuckle or a practical method of doing something, and even a decent recipe once in a blue moon. Unfortunately the worthwhile stuff is few and far between and a lot of time is wasted by scrollscrollscrolling. From now on I'm going to set my stove timer for 15 minutes so I don't waste too much time searching for value that doesn't exist on these social media sites, and find life has passed me right by! Well okay, maybe not life, but a good hour of my day, anyway, if I don't pay attention to the clock. I've got better things to do. Pretty much anything is better, actually.

Photo of a weaving by the late Katherine Hunter of Moab,  Utah. 

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Maggie Turner on "Tale of Two Gardens": 

Love the title of this post! I am with you Kate, on feeling both flower and food gardens are needed. If I had to chose, all things being equal, I would go with flowers and buy my vegetables from an organic farm. As it is, we too have two gardens, well, more accurately a patchwork of flowers and food plants. 

You can buy veggies at the farmers market or store, or be the lucky recipient of the generosity of those who have extra produce in their own gardens. Flowers are a different story and far more expensive to buy ... but I'll enjoy those new potatoes and fresh tomatoes Scott is growing. I won't, however, enjoy weeding, picking or digging them, or having to pick beans before they get tough and I have other things to do, or having to wash, trim, chop and freeze things within a certain time period. Flowers leave me free to choose what and when I'm gardening, and that's what I prefer. It's a lot less pressure.

Pirate's Patch (Not Really, but Maybe I Should Have One)

Have you ever had a blood vessel burst in your eye?
I put in an eleven-and-a-half-hour day at work on Friday, then went to pick up Emil and was asked
"What happened to your eye?"

Why, nothing -- as it happens.
But it's nice and red anyway.
Could it be simply from a long day of constant reading?

Or is it just one of those weird things that happens to people who are over 50, and there is no obvious reason for it and it's not too important? Having been by-and-large healthy my whole life, I tend to wonder what's up when any little out-of-the-ordinary thing occurs.

For instance, on Thursday night when getting ready for bed I noticed a lumpy purple bruise on my left thigh and wondered what the hell caused it. I don't remember whacking my leg that hard on anything, though there is a vague memory that I did hit it on something and then just carried on my merry way, as you do.

Oh well. The body's a wonderland, all right.

Dad came over for supper on Tuesday. (DW friends, note the Katherine-made potholders from Moab.)

And Scott's mom Pat came for supper too. Sorry this is a crappy pic of you, Pat.

I think I might dye those curtains a wine colour. Scarlet, that is. Not the white that I have been drinking because it has the least amount of sulphites in it.

Dad went to the farmers market in Wadena this morning for a visit with his aunt, who has a baking and produce table there (it is rushed as soon as customers are let in the door ). He picked up my order, one of Aunt Marj's apple pies, and stopped at the liquor board store for a bottle of wine since I didn't make it there yesterday, then came out to see Emil, who is here this weekend.

After lunch I walked him out to his car and he offered me a piece of the lefse he'd purchased from Marj. Now that's family feeling -- to share your lefse -- it's such a treat for us. I told him not to bother, that we'll take a drive over to the place he's housesitting till August, and he can give me a piece of it then. If it lasts that long. I'd better go tomorrow.

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Ralph Goff on "Tale of Two Gardens": 

All I have time for here is vegetables . Although I can appreciate the flowers in other people's gardens. And the wild ones of course. 

Vegetable gardens are time-consuming tyrants! Which is one reason why I don't really want to have one that is my responsibility. I'll help Scott some, but basically it's his baby.

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Teresa on "Tale of Two Gardens": 

Each year I plan on doing a garden, but never do. Last time we did the rabbits and the gophers quite enjoyed themselves. Nothing better then home grown veggies. Enjoy. 

Now that we don't have a dog outside, I imagine the deer and rabbits may decimate our gardens. It will break my wee heart'ie.

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Lorna on "Tale of Two Gardens": 

As I think I may have told you, I have a 7 inch pot of pansies. and I love vegetables, so I think you can count me in. 

Pansies are the best! And you can eat them, can't you? or is that just nasturtiums?

Tale of Two Gardens

There is my garden, which is mostly perennials and self-seeders, with a few herbs for cooking and making tea. It is meant mainly for beauty.

Oriental poppies; click to enlarge.

Then there is Scott's garden, which is all vegetables; purely practical.

Potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and pumpkin are now in the ground.

It is my contention that beauty is perfectly practical, as pleasure is important, and that practicality is quite beautiful, because without it you're in big trouble, and vegetable plants give great satisfaction as you watch and help them grow and produce. And it's hard to top the flavour of a fresh garden tomato. Or a new potato. Mmm, beautiful! 

Flowers nourish the spirit, vegetables nourish the body. Two sides of the same coin?

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Maggie Turner on "We've Got Grouse-lings": 

Beautiful garden Kate! You inspire me to give growing Poppies a try! 

These orange ones are oriental poppies, which spread like weeds, more each year. They bloom early, and then I cut them back to about eight inches high in hopes they'll bloom a second time. The foliage gets brown and ugly later in the summer, so something needs to be planted in front of them to hide it. This year when they've finished blooming, I'll be pulling a lot of them out completely because they are encroaching upon my rose bushes (I blame them for the roses not doing particularly well) and I hope this will give the roses a leg up. But the poppies will come back just as thick next year, and in the same places. I don't think you can fail, growing poppies!

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