Corn Flakes for Supper

      In many rural areas the evening meal is referred to as supper. The noon meal is dinner. Many rural people have the main meal at noon. This is a huge meat and potatoes kind of meal. Lunch may sometimes be eaten in mid afternoon. So I set this up so that what comes next makes sense.

      No work was done on Sundays on our farm. It was a day of rest. Church was attended three times in the day. Sunday dinner was a major affair. By  Sunday evening meal time, people were tired from good eats and sitting around resting. 

      Many Sunday evenings Mom would say, "What should we have for supper?" One time some little kid, maybe me, enthusiastically said, "Corn flakes!" A couple other little kids said, "Ya, ya!" So this was easy for a very tired Mom because a few little kids could set the table and get the corn flakes ready. This  odd Sunday evening meal was eaten from time to time. Other people just shook their heads about our evening corn flakes meal. 

     The first time my brother brought his girlfriend , (wife to be) out for supper, it was Sunday night and the impromptu menu  turned out to be cornflakes. One would have thought that would have ended the relationship but it didn't. Their family just changed the corn flakes meal to noon.

    Now does anybody else have an odd ball kind of meal to beat this one? 

Another Senior's Residence I'll Pass

        My micro manager loves anything that's free. She had a free ticket to go for lunch at a senior's residence in town and spend the afternoon with a friend who is a resident in the facility. This is a facility where residents rent a little suite. They can make their own meals or eat in a dining room. 

       Now I've written about senior's residences before. This one was better than the last one but certainly had a major glitch.

       Lunch was to be served at 12:30 but it didn't get started until 1:00 and didn't finish until 2:00. Now if you've got nothing to do and you're not hungry, I guess this would be okay. I'm sure some people may have an appointment booked before the lunch was complete and they would have to miss part of the lunch or all of it. Probably some people for health reasons should eat at a regular time.
  
      Now I would fault a late lunch on principle. Residents pay good money for their lunch and to have it on time. End of argument. So what happens when the terms of the contract are not met? In this case nothing I guess. 
      
   Now the facility had an excuse for the late lunch. This was a holiday week end and a number of staff had conveniently called in that they were not coming to work! Well okay, it's not against the law to be sick. Now some workers may have been abusing the system. The bigger issue is why didn't the facility have arrangements made so that when they were caught short staffed they could find staff for an emergency? All they could do was get administration staff to come to their aid and it was far from adequate. 

    Now many of our senior facilities are like this one. You rent a space, get meals and enjoy a few social activities and get transportation around town. Most people move into such a facility when they really need it.

    I think I'll pass on this type of residence unless I have no other options. I would rather stay in my own home with some assistance.

Queen Vickie Weekend

     This is a long weekend in Canada. It is called the Queen Victoria day weekend and marks the remembrance of Queen Victoria's birthday. Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 to 1901. She was the monarch who presided over the formation of Canada. She was a rather austere person...not warm and fuzzy.

    Now I've been calling this weekend the May long weekend for a long time. I had to look and check today to see if it was still officially the Queen Victoria day weekend. Yes it is. 

    I have some mixed thoughts over this issue. I'm all for recognizing some one's birthday and achievement. Queen Victoria's reign was long and many important developments happened during her time. On the other hand I am not sure that I'm even luke warm towards the British Monarchy. I have trouble thinking that a foreign monarch is our king or queen. Yes, there's long tradition and tradition counts. I also think that we need to move on. Now I'm referring to the institution. 

    It also seems hard to to get my head around the fact that monarchs are monarchs due to heredity alone. 

    Now I don't get wound up over some of the people who are in our present royal family. They are ordinary people who have many restrictions put on their lives. Some of them do well with their royal life style and some of them need an awful lot of help. 

   The May long weekend is traditionally the first day of summer camping. Everybody has dozens of May long weekend camping stories. Many of these stories involve snow and terrible weather. However, we still go camping. I can remember more than one long weekend huddling around a blazing campfire with my winter coat on. But when it's a nice weekend weather wise it's awesome.

   Now I was married on the May long weekend many years ago. The may long weekend is a popular time for teachers to get married. Also my Mom's birthday usually falls on the Victoria Day weekend. Now Mom was a great fan of the royals. Also if Mom was living she would be 100 yeas old on May 20.

    So I hope all Canadians have a fine "Queen Vickie" weekend. 

An Interesting Dementia Documentary

     The last two mornings the CBC'S the Current has had their whole hour and a half program on dementia. They have covered causes, research, care, caregivers, medications and much more. They interviewed many experts on dementia. Governments and health care facilities are worried as the baby boomers group nears a peak time for developing dementia. They are wondering how the system will cope.

    This morning there was a major segment on care givers. Many people attempt to care for a relative with dementia. Many give excellent care but sooner or later they become exhausted. 

   This section of the documentary made me think of my Dad's situation. Dad developed late on set Parkinson's . We had a wonderful Step Mom. She was capable and competent. She was determined to look after Dad. I lived 1400 km (900 mi.) away from Dad  and my brothers were 800 km (500 mi) away from  Dad. It was good that she was determined to look after Dad. We were consulted before any decisions were made about Dad's changes care and our step mom made sure everybody was on side. 

    The problems that happened in the home were falling. At first she managed. Then he fell one night and she couldn't get him up so that ended care at home. Dad also did a little wandering at night. Our step mom would watch him as he went outside and looked up and down the street. She asked him one time what he was looking for. He said, " He was looking for his truck with a load of pigs." 

    However, a time came when it was not possible to care for Dad at home anymore. First, there were several respites and then the time came for full time care. Our step mom spent time with Dad everyday.

   Now I joked with my step mom one time that Dad may outlive her and she would not be able to complete her mission of looking after Dad to the end. Sure enough. That's what happened.

    We were fortunate enough to get Dad moved back home to a nursing home. Here he had three sons and many grandchildren. Care was still an issue as he continued to deteriorate.

   When listening to the stories on the documentary I couldn't help but think that we were fortunate in how our Dad was cared for. For many people the care can be a disaster. 

This Time I WILL Quit Laughing AT people

      Sunday night my daughter from Illinois phoned to wish her Mom Happy Mother's Day. Since Mom was out walking I got to talk. 

     One of the things she told me was that a squirrel had built a nest in her barbecue. Now my daughter has a wicked sense of humor, has definite opinions, is spunky and enjoys life. So when ever you can tease her you don't miss the opportunity. So I razzed her about her squirrel that built a nest and had babies in her barbecue. They were sitting in the back yard around a fire one evening when they noticed a squirrel getting very irate with them. The squirrel was quite menacing. Finally the squirrel dived into the barbecue. Then it hit her...babies. When she lifted the barbecue lid the whole thing was full of nesting material. Then they    watched as mother squirrel took each baby to another nest in a nearby tree.


    Today, as I went out my back door the resident squirrel ran down my brick siding and under my barbecue. Was there stuff in the squirrel's mouth?  I didn't realize she had stayed under the barbecue. Just to be sure I banged on the cover with my broom. Nothing happened. I walked past the barbecue and heard a little scuffle and the squirrel was leaving the other way. Ah ha!!! My wife helped me take of the barbecue cover and yes, there it was , a big nest...no babies yet. And yes, there were a couple of holes in my barbecue cover.

     So the laugh is really on me! I can't believe the coincidence of the same thing happening to us when we're 1600 km (1000 miles apart). Maybe I should check with my son who's on the west coast.

     I was so startled by this that I didn't think of my camera until I had things cleaned up.

    I must admit that I don't like red squirrels. They have a nasty temperament and do damage. They get into places that they are not supposed to be. 

My Trail of Mishaps.

     I have written a couple of posts this winter about equipment  that has  broken down. 

     The first couple of break downs happened last fall. I was going to cut my grass for the last time in late October.  The forecast for the next day was for snow. I was trying to start the lawn mower motor and all of a sudden the rope went limp.  Yes you guessed it. The rewind spring had broken. Under the weather conditions I quickly put the lawn mower away and said , "I'll attend to this next spring."

    Just a few days before the lawn mower crashed, I had put winter tires on my car and had to adjust the air pressure. My air compressor wouldn't work. Since it was cold and late in the season I said, "I'll attend to this next spring."

   In the winter my thermostat crashed, my CO 2 detector  died and my microwave oven ceased to work. I dealt with these three things when they happened.

    So it's now spring and time to deal with my other two problems. I checked the air compressor first. I first checked the fuse and it was fine. Then I checked the switch and it was dead. So I replaced the switch and away it went. I turned the switch off and then on and the compressor would not start. I discovered that the air pump needed lubrication. So one thing repaired. That air compressor was a pretty sick puppy.

    I started with my lawn mower. I took it apart to make sure that it was the rewind spring. Yes the rewind coil was in several pieces. Now since this lawn mower is very old, I had to work pretty hard to find parts. When I found a part , I didn't like the price , but that was the only choice. I had replaced a spring 12 years ago and decided to do it myself again. The Internet is a great help. I want to check with the technician before I proceed because there are a number of methods that can be used to change the spring. I want to get his advice,

    So you notice that I don't have a picture to show the lawn mower running. That will have to wait until tomorrow.

    Is anybody else as stubborn and cantankerous as I am and insists on fixing things on their own?

Good Bye Farley

         Farley Mowat , a prominent and prolific Canadian writer, died yesterday at age 92. He wrote 42 books that were published in 52 languages and sold 17 million copies.

         I first discovered Farley Mowat when I was 12 and read People of the Deer and I was hooked. I loved the north at that time, and Farley just made me that much more fascinated with the topic.

         Farley Mowat wrote on a wide variety of topics but his home base was on environmental issues. Farley was passionate about environmental issues and never found an underdog he couldn't like.

      Mowat was a colorful character. He was passionate in defending his favorite causes. As a result he could argue vehemently to support an issue. His first northern books were ahead of their time and pointed out that Eskimo populations were in great danger. Feisty is another word the aptly describes Farley. 

     Because of Mowat's outspoken tendencies, he had a few people who did not see eye to eye with him. Mowat had his critics. Mowat had a tendency in his writing to exaggerate. He admitted to using exaggeration. Some critics took it upon themselves to argue with him. Farley was at his best when he was in a battle royal. People who considered themselves experts on a topic criticized Farley on his understanding of a topic. Farley wanted to use a topic to advance and issue. He was a master at moving issues along.

     I read 11 of Mowat's books. I enjoyed every one of them. I still have 31 more of his books to read. 

     I read his first book People of the Deer. Next , I found Desperate People. I also read Lost in the Barrens. So I read his 3 northern books first. Owls in the family and The dog Who Wouldn't Be were humorous stories for young readers , but I enjoyed them too. Never Cry Wolf sticks out because it was made into a movie. Grey Sees Under, the Black Joke and the Boat Who Wouldn't Float were about the sea. The last book I read was Walking on the land.

     Farley Mowat's books won many awards. Farley also won personal awards such as the Order of Canada. They were well deserved.

    We were fortunate to have Farley Mowat pass our way and leave us with many stories.