JACK RABBIT REPRODUCTION.

      We  sometimes hear the expression breed like rabbits. Jack rabbits can had two or three litters a year. They can start in March or April. I have seen a young litter in September. 

      Today part of the breeding process was taking place in my front yard.

       We usually think of the rabbit as being a quiet gentle animal. Not so when it comes to breeding. First of all you see a number of rabbits chasing up and down the street at great speed. They are looking for the female who is coming near the time when she is ready for breeding. 

     Finally two to four bucks will find her and keep close to her so that she will not get away or other bucks take possession. If the female moves the bucks become instantly alert . The bucks compete with each other. They punch one another and scream very loudly. It's an interesting process. I have not observed behavior past the pushing shoving and screaming. 

     Usually I notice them at the punching and screaming stage. 

    Finally the deed is done and after a 42 day gestation period the little guys are born. They are hidden in plant growth. The female comes back at night to feed them. One time four little guys were placed in my tomato patch. They didn't like it when I watered my tomatoes but they stayed in place. 

    So today the two bucks and female left my yard so I did not get to see the serious pushing and shoving. I also did not get photos as I would frighten them if I went in the yard or tried to take a photo out of the window. 

SLOW COOKING

      My Mother always told me that if I was smart I shouldn't say that I disliked something. However, I cannot resist saying that I don't like slow cooking. 

      Now I know that I have already touched a nerve with those people who like slow cooking. Slow cooking is popular and is used to prepare food for busy people. 

      I like a good strong meat flavor. I don't like the meat flavor covered up with spices. 

      I liked the way my mother cooked. She had limited resources. So she could roast, fry or boil. She didn't have fancy dancy herbs and spices. She probably had some bacon fat. Do I remember great turkey dinners put on by Mom? You bet! Turkey dinners were common. 

     So most slow cooker recipes are heavy on the spices. Whatever combination of spices you use gives you a special flavor but I don't know what it is.

    As I said , I like the meat flavor.

    One time I shot a caribou with some aboriginals. The butchering began by removing the tongue and rinsing it in water. The tongue was cut into narrow strips. Willow sticks were cut and the strips of tongue put on the sticks over the camp fire. Butchering continued. The heart was prepared the same way as the tongue. By this time the tongue was ready to eat. This was the best tongue I had ever eaten. I will remember it for the rest of my lie. Most people don't like tongue. The same thing happened with the heart. We just kept butchering and eating. 

    And lastly slow cooking makes a mess of the crock container. I don't like cleaning it. 

    Now I probably need some education about slow cooking and I'm sure I'll get what I've asked for. 

A MIXED UP DAY

             I decided to sell my hiking boots since it was spring and hiking season would begin. 

            I advertised them on Kijiji. At one time I had good luck on Kijiji , but not lately. I was also advertising the boots on Market place. Now I'm not that familiar with market place and find it confusing.

         Since I only have the computer , I look at things maybe 2 or 3 times a day. 

        Someone answered and said they would be coming to town on Friday and could they see the boots. Well, by the time I saw this, the guy had sent me 5 different messages. Then I checked on Kijiji and the same guy had several messages.

       I gave him my phone number  and since he was on instant time , he phoned. His name on Kijiji was Ken Hofer. The name given on the phone was Tony Dehofer? This mixed me up more and more. I didn't know how many people I was dealing with. I was struggling with market place, a guy was sending messages on two sites and at a rapid rate. Then a woman emailed and I thought she was with the same guy.

      The Micro Manager started to get worried. I knew from the name that I was dealing with a Hutterite. The Micro Manager is not familiar with Hutterites and was on level 10 anxiety. I couldn't tell her that Hutterites were nice people. 

      So the morning he was supposed to come we had a call from the guy's sister that they would be coming and what was the address. 15 minutes later the woman phoned again and said they were on the way. 

     So finally a time was set for the guy to come to my place. I really didn't know who was coming or how many. 

    So at the appointed time a Hutterite arrived and quietly bought my hikers. The Micro Manager was amazed and said, "He was a nice guy!"

    And I don't know how many messages and phone calls I had. Obviously I had enough calls to sell my boots. 

MORE ON ANOTHER RANT FROM MAR. 28

      On Mat . 28 I wrote about an unpleasant call with my bank's call center. 

       I had been told in a letter to phone a number to give the bank instructions on my account. I had phoned this number before. 

       This time when we phoned they started asking questions for identification purposes. I'm not sure how many questions were asked but enough to catch my attention that I didn't like what was going on. When we said we would answer no more questions, they refused to do the business we wanted.

       We contacted the bank. Our account  did not show suspicious action. 

       So we talked to the bank manager about the situation. The bank manager said that he would pass the complaint forward.

       However , he did say that he thought what was happening is that the bank bought another bank and were having some difficulty with identification so they were updating personal information. 

       I can see that it's necessary to update identification information but I don't like it and the incident I was involved with went too far. 

STEAK SANDWICH

    The steak sandwich is by far the Micro Manager's favorite dinner. In the last 10 years she's had very few steak sandwich's and most were poor. 10 or 15 years ago the suppliers started supplying a different cut of meat for steak sandwiches and it wasn't the same. The MM had only a half dozen steak sandwiches in the last 15 years. 

    A few months ago a friend told her that there were excellent steak sandwiches at Leah's bar and grill. The MM just had to go. She went.  I wouldn't go with her. Yes, the steak sandwich was wonderful. However, she didn't want to go back on her own.

    So the other day she said, "Since it's my birthday this month would you go to Leah's with me." I 'd be a heal if I didn't go for her birthday. 

    So a few days ago we went to Leah's .

    Shortly after we got our meal , the waitress came and told us that someone at the bar had paid for our food! What a surprise! Of course, everybody is sworn to secrecy so we didn't know who it was. That's the first time I was ever treated to a free meal! 

   So I guess it was a good thing that I went with the MM for her steak sandwich. 

CONVERSATIONS ON DEMENTIA

       Being in my mid eighties , I find more and more that former colleagues, old friends and relatives have someone in the family with dementia. I can understand that people get  dementia. It's a horrible condition which robs people of normal functions. It's extremely stressful for family as they go through the challenges of looking after one. 

     One thing that bothers me around dementia is the conversations we have or don't have about the condition. Some people are in denial and don't want to talk about the situation. Other people don't want to talk about the dementia patient in front of them as it may be very confusing for the patient. 

    So unless there are situations where relatives and caregivers can communicate without the patient in attendance, much needed communication is not done. 

    You hear from people that they feel so alone as they care for someone with dementia. It's very sad. 

     I have a friend who has yet to tell me that his wife has dementia. This dance has been going on for more than 2 years. I hear bits and pieces from relatives and friends. 

   So my question is, how do we communicate and support the caregivers and family of someone with dementia? How do we talk to someone with dementia when it progresses through it's many stages?

    My father had Parkinson's. I can tell you that regular people have great difficulty when it comes to dealing with somebody who is irrational. 

SO MUCH FOR THE ECLIPSE

      There was great hype about the solar eclipse. With 40% coverage here I knew that there would not be anything spectacular. I wasn't prepared to shoot the sun. I'll leave that to the pros. 

     I did take one shot shortly after 11:00 AM . and one at the height of the eclipse. Just looking out the window there was not much less light. the camera shows things a little darker. 

     Don't go by my times on the camera. The first shot is about 11:00 AM. the second shot is about 1:00 Pm. 

     So there wasn't a lot of hoopla at my place.