Home Decoration

An overnight trip to Saskatoon put us in a hotel near this house with its religious statuary. Normally I wouldn't take a photo of such a thing, but since it was Easter on the day we drove past it, I figured what the hell: blog fodder.

Much to Be Thankful For

Jolene's sister Heather's baby was due, and late, so her doctor was going to induce her at the Yorkton Hospital. After making the two-hour (or so) drive there on Thursday morning (Mom's birthday; we thought that would've been nice), the hospital turned her away. They had no beds. 

Meanwhile, Jolene was languishing impatiently in a hospital bed in Regina, where she'd been sent by bumpy ambulance so that a specialist could look at her broken foot and do surgery. He decided there is nothing to be done; they put her through that torturous trip for nothing. But there was still no bed for her in Yorkton till yesterday. 

Heather and her husband Lionel had to get up and drive back to the hospital around 2:30 in the morning and when they got there she was already well on her way to delivering her 9 lb, 14 ounce baby girl ... Hailey Jo. Imagine the very different situation the baby came into from the way things would've been if her auntie hadn't made it alive out of the vehicle below.

Jolene, who still has a lot of pain, says it's as well she didn't have any visitors down in Regina because "It's hard to keep up a good front all the time." She sent pictures; all her cuts and bruises are on her legs and internal. In moments of feeling sorry for herself, she says, she looks at the pictures of the vehicle and remembers how lucky she is to be alive. 

Happy Mom's Birthday

What is all this complaining I'm hearing about the snow? These are beautiful days.
And dagnabbit, I'm going to get out there in the sunshine this afternoon somehow, deskwork nothwithstanding.

Today is Mom's birthday. She'd be 72. I would have liked to see her at 72! Would she have started ageing by now? She would be losing sleep over Jolene's condition, that's for sure; and our family friend Joanne's.

What could I have bought Mom for a gift this year, I wonder.
Every once in a while I see something in a store and think "Mom would like that" and then remember ....

Queen Jolene

It must be spring, because gravel was showing in patches through the snow on the gravel road today!

I haven't been for a proper walk since my back began making an exhibition of itself, but this afternoon I got 15 minutes down the road and turned around at the seventh twinge rather than risk overdoing it. Can't wait to get back to normal. Shouldn't be long; almost there. So grateful to have a healthy back again, I can't tell you!

In other news, those who know my cousin Jolene (Neil's daughter) may or may not be aware that she was in a bad accident on Friday afternoon that she was lucky to get out of alive. She is banged up pretty good, with broken ribs, breastbone, pelvis and foot, bruised lungs and a lacerated spleen. And god knows what else; it's quite a list. She ran into a semi or under one or something, or it ran into her. She thought she was a goner, and so did everyone else at the scene. She will be on her back for a month or so and is still in a lot of pain -- almost vomited when they got her up for physio today, she said.

But she will be all right. She is a very feisty person and she will need all that feistiness, too, over the next while.

Everett, my son: I will be so busy texting Jolene to help her keep occupied that you may get a break from my texting "jokes" for a while! Or maybe not. Cross your fingers.

Jolene and I spoke on the phone a couple times today. She is, even flat on her back, telling her husband what to do and how to do it re looking after their 9-yr-old daughter, taking care of business, and so on. Like a queen, I said!

Meanwhile, the deer are still coming into the yard; there were six today, including this little one:

Ate all the birdseed under the feeders. What else is there?

Dishwasher Training

This is Joanne and Gerald Bohl's granddaughter. Her mother Erin turned around and saw that she had help ...

To SunnyBoy

How's school? Anything interesting happening?

My life =

Well, today Emil and I went for a lovely adventure. We were headed to Neil and Rose's without phoning first, but we only got as far as the Kuroki highway before the power steering belt was knocked off from hitting snowdrifts on the road, so we turned down the highway to kuroki and toured the town and then hightailed it home only to stop at the fishing lake gas bar at kylemore for some windowwasherfluid as i was right out and that's never good but figured mightaswell get gas too. Thing wouldn't start after, and the reserve maintenance man (my new friend) fudzed with it at least half an hour if not an hour and another guy had to come with wrenches and they got it and then i needed a boost. all this just as scott drove up, answering my call for aid. The fellow didn't want to be paid but said I could buy him a pack of smokes, so I did. I'm going to take him a batch of fudge too. 

That's my first time in that store and it's open till 11 every night -- 

Check this out:

http://everylastdrop.co.uk/

-Ma

Found on My Blogroll

The Empress of Dirt tells her readers about a man in Japan's danger zone who stays to care for the animals, long after everyone else has gotten the hell out of there.

Bless Our Hearts is prolific so it's a struggle to keep current, much as I try. BOH is a fine writer and I don't want to miss anything.

For a look at a wide variety of tarot decks, go to Quirkeries where there is a daily card draw and interpretation related to Sharyn's life; I always learn something.

Is there anything this man can't do?

The Chicken Song

What Sunnyboy sends His Mother:

Filling the Gaps

I sure hope we get to see more of this:

Shari Ulrich Plays Wadena

Shari Ulrich give a house concert in Wadena a few hours ago. Guess who didn't dig her camera from her purse and take a picture. Tsk. Take it off my cheque.

But here's Shari back in the 1970s:



A beautiful, beautiful singer. She makes it sound so effortless! As the best always seem to do.
The hostess laid out a fantastic spread of fancy foods and hot and cold beverages, and the home was large and airy with lots of greenery and warm colours... a nice space.

Five Hungry Deer

Where the Rose Climbs

Hey, good morning.
Tomorrow it's officially spring.
It's 23-below.
There is so much snow that we're being told flooding is likely in many parts of the province. Oh joy.
Fingers crossed that the sun shines just right  — not too hot, not too cold — to melt the snow away in exactly the right amounts to be easily handled.

As if it's up to the sun.
I hope you're not taking my "science" to heart.

Things My Memory Forgot

Fri night, in PJ's on bed, reading Grade 12 journal from back in the day:

• boring stuff (now) about boys
• I see I never stayed home
• I see I said I was depressed
• I worried about not having enough money
• I wanted to get good marks
• I was smoking pot with my friends
• I seemed to seriously consider going into law (why? I wonder now. I don't recall having any actual interest in the law)

I took my Gr12 while living in the girls' dormitory at Luther College in Regina. When I was there for Gr10, my dorm neighbour and good friend was Cathy Ritchie. I see from the journal that she visited me there after she graduated, and so I text her about it:

Cath: Don't remember that.
Me: Me neither but apparently your visit made me happy.
Cath: I'm sure it made me happy too. Some things never change.

Reprinted from Facebook

Friday Night Report

A quick note to say hello, and goodnight. The day has gotten away on me somehow. I can't explain it. Oh yes I can. A lengthy telephone conversation with a longtime and dear friend this morning, and a batch of raisin-rye bread out of the oven in time for lunch. Work in the afternoon, and a quick trip to town earlier this evening to pick up a working teenager (Scott's nephew) from his job at the store, and while I was there, a few things from the store for the inlaws. Emil's not coming out this weekend and I'm spending tomorrow night with one of my little sisters. Something to look forward to. Considering I haven't seen her since Dec23rd and she lives only 20 minutes away; shame on me. And on her, too.

And my back is much improved. I'm still using my legs exclusively when it's necessary to squat down for things— which is every five minutes apparently — and being very careful not to bend, but to lower myself straight down and to rise straight up again. I don't dare use my back. Or can't. Who knew one needs to use the legs so much, anyway? You don't realize till something goes awry that you haven't been lifting properly all along, though you'd have sworn you were. You can sure find out in a hurry that you have been an idiot.  I'm glad the worst is over and I don't feel like an invalid half the time, like I have for the past two weeks.

Reading Old Journals, and Gerald Durrell

Lately I've been reading two things:

1) My journals from 1975, when I was in my mid teens. Oh my! Good for some belly laughs, for sure, as I lie propped up in my bed and Scott surely wonders, from the other room, what is so darn funny. Then there are some of the serious themes, like being disappointed in people, and self-exploration, that I now see were challenges even then, as they continue to be. At 15 I didn't think much of astrology or marriage as an institution, and I tried meditation for the first time. Now, some 40 years later, I have a lot more respect for astrology and even less for marriage, and I'm still meditating. As a matter of fact, the other day in a meditation my "Intellectual Self" (which appears as a character in an imagined scene) told me I have an "Irish intellect." I have no clue what that means, but it was related to my ancestry, and since there is likely some Irish back there somewhere perhaps that's the intellect gene I got? It's a mystery.

2) Gerald Durrell's book about his trip to Argentina to collect animals for a zoo. Great stuff — humorous and descriptive in an anthropomorphizing sort of way, as he describes the behaviour of elephant seals and fur seals, for instance, that he observes. Not to mention the habits of his Argentinian hosts and guides. I've also read an earlier book about growing up with his family, a wild and entertaining bunch: My Family and Other Animals. I recommend them both.

Bling for the Laundress

What would you clip the clothespins onto if you were wearing these earrings?

I equate clothespins to domestic work, so I might list one of the following chores on each of four tiny paper squares:

• sweep step

• dust bedroom

• put roast in oven

• fold clothes

You would wear these earrings on Halloween, when you go to the party dressed as a laundress.
Doesn't everyone always want to be a laundress?

I Love Snow. There, I Said It.

Spring is so just around the corner — I can feel it!

My standing-desk experiment is at an end for now. Yesterday morning I enlisted help to lift and switch the computer and printer so I can sit again to work. Otherwise I'm going to be a poor girl. I like standing, but can't do it with my back being fussy. Which SHALL SOON PASS, goddammit. Actually there is noticeable improvement. I'm just not telling you what it is. Only that after a half-hour of standing, I still crave a nap. The dishes don't get done in one go, sometimes. But they're always there when I get around to them, crusty little darlings.

So soon, all these brilliant patterns will be gone. 

I know, I know ... If I had to shovel, things would be different. 

Crank Phone

Coming up in June, there is a family reunion on my dad's mother's side and I've been sorting through the old photos to find pictures of my grandmother as a young woman.

It's a purely pleasurable (and often head-scratching) pastime, and provides me with plenty of chuckles.

I'm posting the one below (that's me on the knee of a family friend [Art Klein], who is talking with Dad) because it's got the old crank phone in it. Remember those, anyone?

Margo, our home town, was one of the last places in Saskatchewan to get dial phones, I'm sure. This pic would have been taken about 1962. And on the farm, we still had party lines till I was in my early teens.

Tracks of What

Haven't been for a walk in an entire week and am starting to miss my road. My back is on the mend though, as long as I don't ignore it. When it says so, I sit or lie down. 

Scott brought home some organic rye flour and I'm chomping at the bit to make some raisin rye bread, but am not allowing myself to. I also didn't bake on Friday; no heavy lifting for this girl ... but wait, what choice do I have? None, that's what. 

Gotta build some upper body strength, which I suppose I knew. 

And it's not really heavy lifting. Or if it is, then only for me. And children and old ladies.  

Deer bound through the snow; moose drag their feet. This must be a deer track; the imprint of its body.

Emil's getting his braces and boots on, ready to head for town so he'll be there to work in the morning.
It's a beautiful bright day so I'll enjoy the drive.

Fawn and Follower

I have just seen my friend Joanne out to the road after a fine visit of two nights, so Emil and I are on our own this afternoon. The kitchen needs attention, and the sky is blue. He would like to "go somewhere" (should've sent him with Joanne!). I would like to lie down, because my back says so.

They take turns following each other.

Julie has posted another poem:
CLICK HERE.

One Small Thing

Corey's friend survived a suicide attempt, and she has been visiting him in the hospital, where he's been for six weeks.

What do you say to your loved one? What can help? You want to say, to do, everything and anything that might possibly make a difference, but you don't know what that should be.

Corey gives her friend a small daily task that is doable, even when we don't have the energy to do anything. It's smart advice. It's a planted seed that, if nurtured just once a day, will make a difference. That seed may not grow into a magical giant beanstalk, but something will come of it. It may not in itself be a fix, or a cure, but none of us knows where it may lead.

Sometimes the treatment seems too simple.

But I can offer no better suggestion than Corey's.

Unwanted Welcome Guests

My friend called; she's on the road and my place isn't too far off her route. She doesn't want to come this way though; rather I should go to her destination to meet up. She's running late, has too much to do.

Before long she phones back, having changed her mind. She'll stop here after all and spend the night, start fresh in the morning. What's for supper? Do I have wine?

She is a welcome guest.
These guys are too, but I know I must chase them off if the cedars are to be saved.

Here we go:

Farewell You Son of Canada

If you are Canadian, nothing more need be said.

Wedding Parties

Flower Girl. My first wedding party.

Spite Houses

I'd never heard of such a thing! Leave it to The Nag to introduce me:

CLICK HERE to see 9 houses built for spite.

Meanwhile here at Golden Grain Farm I am moving slowly but otherwise comfortably after my back decided it had something of great import to tell me. It was going on strike.

I get a little behind on the dishes, and can't stand at the desk as much as I'd like, or get down the road for some cardio. Tried to walk on the weekend and thought myself fortunate not to have to crawl back home; turned around pretty damn quick.

But the afternoon sun quite often streams through the bedroom window and my back gives me the perfect reason to lie atop the quilt Mom and I made, and bask stretch those seized-up muscles.

There are a half-dozen deer coming daily to the yard now, and after dark they appear to play with the barncats. Just now - nearly 2 pm - there is a young deer, less than a year old, closely watching one of this spring's kittens that has run under a truck.

I had best tackle those dishes. It's the second time I've run dishwater for this round and then got onto something else while the water got cold.

Kathy! Bring The Camera

A few yards from our back step.

Time to mosey on I guess.

One Last Look: Moose and Morning Light (for Linde)

Do not tell this guy:

Great White Hunter

Ducky, a.k.a. Buck Duckster the Third

Ducky's into the tequila again.

"Somebody loves me" [or at least, my shoes], "I wonder who ... I wonder who ... he could be."

Doppelganger

Over at the real Stubblejumpers Cafe, or is it the unreal one? Sometimes I can't tell the difference, swear to God. Julie has posted one of her poems. I love her poems.

Go see. CLICK HERE.

Still Kickin'

You know what I do on Fridays. There is a hairnet under this cap.

Thought the dog might appreciate the opportunity to lick out the molasses container, so I cut the top half off and put it outside for her. Apparently I was right: it is a treat. I guess anything that isn't commercial dogfood must be.

Mmm...mmmolasses ...

After several visits when Jenna didn't seem to notice them, she finally barks at the deer. While wagging her tail.

Scott has put a container with some oats out, hoping it will keep them away from the cedars at the front step till he figures out a system that works.

The twins found the birdseed this morning. 

King of the Hill

Meet L'il Lexi

My grandniece is six days old.

Each time we are gifted by a new baby in our family, I think of Mom and how much she would have enjoyed this one, too.

I remember her saying the same thing about Grandpa Emil; Everett was a couple years old when Grandpa died, but was at an age where Grandpa would have found him particularly entertaining.

When Everett was but a babe I rented a lakefront cabin for a summer week and Grandpa drove out in his little truck to visit one morning.

I was gently washing Everett's face with a wet cloth and he was squealing loudly, as they do.

Grandpa: "Nobody likes getting their face washed like that."

Me, after rinsing the cloth in warm water, washing Grandpa's face with it:
"What's not to like?"

Grandpa, surprised: "I guess you're right!"

Sodium

Reprinted from Nightly Newzzz, the Sleep Apnea Newsletter www.sk.lung.ca

Mule Deer

Sweet thing. A twin born last spring. 

Right next to our living room window.

Scott has devised protections for the cedars, but they aren't complete enough.

To follow mom, or eat the cedars ... that is the question.

Big Brother sticks to the oats out in the yard today.

Looking through the windows at us.

Man, if you thought this "system" would keep us away from the cedars, consider yourself deluded.

Saskatoon Stargazer

From http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2009/12/27/weekend-diversion-orion/

Someone in Saskatoon is a stargazer.

Fabulous Find

Ever seen the Eiffel Tower like this?

From The Photoblographer. CLICK HERE.

You want to see all the photos. Get going!

Thanks to Steve Crane of South Africa for the headsUp on this one.

Kathy H.

Kathy H and her son

Kathy H.'s blog is a must-read, for me.
We've never met, but I've kept up with her since discovering her webpage on the "interwebs" (as Brent Butt would say).
Recent entries — like all of them, if you ask me — should not be missed. They make a pretty good intro to Kathy's take on things.

Bread City ~ Part 4

Dishes all done and dusted while bread bakes.

Bread will cool at least four hours before being bagged.

Scarf and apron hung up for the day.

That's when I sink into a tub of steaming water to relax a while before carrying on with the day.
And wouldn't you know it, that's when the deer decide to come into the yard for lunch!
Fortunately Scott is back home doing some bookwork, and calls me when he goes to find the camera:

They approach— a doe, a yearling, and two born this spring.

The doe keeps watch out beyond the truck.

They must be seriously hungry. They are right outside the window where I'm standing, and they can see me.

"I'd hate to lose a tree to them though," Scott says. Finally he can't take it, and goes out to put the hay in their faces. And they all bounce away — sproing! sproing! — like kangaroos.