VISIT

            I had a pleasant visit with one of my brothers today. It doesn't take long before the topic of conversation changes to family history or local history. 

           My three brothers still live and farm where we were born so they've lived in one location for  long time. 

           Many , many changes have taken place. The local district was about 4 by four miles. When the original homesteaders arrived early in the last century there were approximately 23 families. So there were 23 farmsteads and families. 

         Today there are 2 farmsteads in that area where at one time there were 23 farmsteads so we have much to talk about. My nephews live on the 2 farmsteads that are occupied. We're all interested in who lived there. 

        Local histories have been written but that does not cover all the people who lived in the area. So off we go trying to make some connections and sense of what we know. 

      One wonders about the people who lived there. Where did they come from? Most people in the area came from Ontario. Hw long did they stay in the area? What made them leave? A walk through the cemetery brings up more questions. Some families lost one member and then moved on . The grave has been left and the memories are gone. 

     Now we may not discover much new information. We did think about going over some of the old farmyards with a metal detector!

   It made for a pleasant visit. 

         

ANOTHER LESSON BY THE VACUUM CLEANER

       Today that darn vacuum cleaner played another nasty trick on me.

       I have a couple of pairs of black socks. Quite often there are quite a few white particles on them. The white particles are probably from dry skin .

      Well, today I decided to clean some of the white dust off the socks before I washed them. I thought this would be a quick and easy job. Little did I know that the vacuum cleaner had other ideas. I have a central vacuum system which works well.

     So I was kneeling on the floor vacuuming the socks. I guess I was trying to move the sock in a different position and left it on the floor for a split second. In the split second the sock disappeared. The normal reaction is to turn the vacuum off as soon as possible. 

     Now this has happened before so I take a four ft. handle from a paint roller and shake it down the hose. If the sock is in the hose the handle will push it out. So I went through the process and no sock appeared. So I'm hoping the sock isn't stuck in the line someplace and will block the line.

     So downstairs and look in the vacuum canister and there was my sock in a much worse condition than before.

    So the next time I vacuum socks I will have them tied down so they don't blow away on me!

COLD PHOTOS!

     Yesterday I was talking out loud to myself about some photos for today. Some of you heard me and said you were looking forward to some photos. So what can I do even if it's still very cold. Why of course , take some photos.

     So here are some out of focus, poorly composed photos of cold.

                  A minus 28 C sunset

                 A very white and cold city park

                  Very bright new snow

                  Pile of snow from snow removal

                  Lots of vapor coming from chimneys. Houses are heated with gas and when the furnace runs water vapor used in the burning is vented. As a result our houses are very dry in winter unless we have a humidifier.

                 Using the vapor pattern I know the direction of the wind , approximate wind speed and air pressure. 

                 Cold western sky

                  Bright early morning sunlight on houses across the street

                  Sun rise 

       At 11:25 it was minus 25 C and felt like minus 39 C. The wind was 28 kmh gusting to 39

      At 2:00 Pm it was minus 24 with a wind of 25 kmh and gusting to 42.

     So it was cold out there. My camera froze up and it wouldn't focus any more.

IT'S COLD!

          We are in another nasty cold spell. It's not record breaking cold just good old fashioned cold. Now at 8:30 PM it's minus 28 C (minus 18 F). We are looking at a low of minus 33 C. 

         We have two more days of very cold and then some warmer weather for a few days. Then it gets cold again. 

        There's been some snow with the cold so I've been outside shoveling. It's not too bad to be outside if you have the proper clothing on. 

        It's been mostly clear so I'm going to get out tomorrow for a few photos. 

WHY DO SOME OPPOSITES ATTRACT OPPOSITES?

     I'm sure that reading between the lines on this blog you can tell that the Micro Manager and I are quite opposite. With the posts on downsizing it's very obvious that we are opposites. One reader left a comment in jest  that "a war was developing between Red the Declutterer and Jean the Hoarder". One of us was very busy finding things to "decorate" the house. There are enough "things" to decorate a few houses. I know that she had a great time collecting items and displaying them . She bought very few things in a store. I sometimes ask her "Where did you get that thing?"  She always knows. Many things were picked up on garage sales or were given. The mother in law gave us many paintings. There are probably 20 of these creations in the house. The Micro Manager liked paint by number. She also liked the needle work patterns. She also took a ceramics course and produced quite a few creations to hang in a wall. 

     Then I also noticed a pattern in a few comments where it was obvious the spouses were in opposite corners of he downsizing issue. It was interesting that many different compromises were made. And then thee are the people who know they should be downsizing but just can't get started. 

     The room with thirteen things on the wall is now down to two. 

     When I went out with the Micro Manager I recognized that she was opposite to me in quite a few areas. I thought it would complement our relationship . However , when it comes to down sizing we've spent quite a bit of time discussing. However, I don't think that Mr. Pudding is right that we are in any kind of war. A siege maybe, but not a fight. 

    the bear painting is from the Mother in Law

The hands are from the ceramics course

The swans are from a paint by number kit.

THINGS YOU LEARN WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO DOWNSIZE

      As most of you know I've been trying to downsize for quite some time. So far my greatest success is to get something to blog about.

      I have discovered some things about the micro manager that I hadn't recognized. The Micro Manager will hang almost anything on the house walls. She has an untanned sealskin on a wall that she bought from one of the Inuit while she was nursing in the Arctic. It's a good thing she doesn't find a skunk skin or that might be on the wall too.

     Her cousin found painting late in life and we were the beneficiaries of many the these creations. Guess where they went? Well yes, onto our walls. Guess who framed and hung these treasures? Ya , Red , that's who.

     I found one little room with 10 treasures on the walls. 

     Well this year there is a little more movement to actually discard things. If something is on paneling it's gone because it  doesn't leave a nail hole. 

     So these two treasures are being disposed of. I know I'm not supposed to end a sentence with a proposition. 

     These were meant to be bumper stickers that were passed out by the Alberta Teachers Association in the 1980's.

     I didn't know what to do with them so I mistakenly brought them home.

     The Micro Manager got busy right away and found the two cedar planks and voila the stickers went on the planks and on the wall. 

    I also found several coats that I never remember seeing.

    So here are piles of this and that that are really going to leave the house this year.

PROPAGANDA MADE EASY

       I read a sad piece in the paper about a 19 year old who shot and killed 10 people.

       This killer had read some racist material on line and became convinced that he should kill people not of the white race. 

       It was once very difficult to reach people with a message unless you were a leader of some kind or had buckets of money to advertise. 

      The internet has made it easy to set up sites that can reach millions. The internet allows us to easily make up a site that is attractive and eye catching. People start to read something and it sounds reasonable to them. They bungle into more of the same message very easily by clicking on a few links.

     People use the facilities of the internet to easily communicate what ever idea comes to their head. Many times it can be racist , violent or to an extreme political view.

     So is it time to put some control on internet sites that allow people easy access to millions ?

     As bloggers, most of us enjoy communicating about interests we have. I reach around 160 people with my own expertise to set up a blog. With more skill and interest someone can easily set something up that catches more fish.

     So is it time to create some regulations that prevent the extreme and dangerous messages from being easily publicized? This would be far from easy. The free speech people would have their say. The bad guys would not like to see their rights taken away. 

      Where will this end?