I WON...AGAIN

   I eat at the casino 2 or 3 times a week. It's good food and a good price.

   Every Wednesday is senior day. Your meal is $10.00. They have one western dish and one Chinese dish you get to choose from. 

   Business on Wednesday is great as the seniors like the food and price. 

   On Wednesday there is always a draw for $500.00. I have won this draw 3 times in the last 7 years. 

   Today they phoned me and I had won the Father's day draw which is a variety of things worth $500.00. Now one thing is a golf package and I don't golf. 

    So a phone call like this just made my day. 

WESTERN JUMPING MOUSE.

      A few years ago I was seated on my favorite viewing platform quietly watching a patch of wetland. I was watching for ducks and geese and other wetland birds. 

     There were many reeds around the platform. It was a quiet calm day. All if a sudden I noticed a reed waving back and forth. Something was at the bottom of the reed where I could not see it. After much more shaking, I noticed a small mouse climbing up the reed. 

    And then, the reed broke off sending the mouse into the water below with a loud plop!. So I thought, "Good bye mousy." No sooner did that thought come into my head when I saw another reed shaking and after a while a mouse climbing up the stem. Well the mouse fell in again and went some where else as obviously it could swim. 

    So this was my first encounter with a western jumping mouse. They quite often are found in wetlands. Their most common predator is the northern pike!

    I had never heard of a jumping mouse before and I have spent lots of time outdoors in natural areas. I haven't seen a western jumping mouse since. 

    They are interesting little characters and can make tremendous leap. They can jump about 6 feet horizontally and 2 ft high. They move like lightening and before you get a good look at them they are gone. 

    So on the day of my sighting, I stopped at the nature center to report my siting. They were familiar with the jumping mouse. 

BRIAN WILSON

      Brian Wilson passed away a few days ago after a very productive music career and a life full of struggles. 

     Brian Wilson and his two brothers started the Beach Boys about50 years ago.

     I'm always far behind when it comes to music. I knew who the Beach Boys were and some of their music.  With the coming of the internet and You Tube I became familiar with the Beach Boys. I liked their vocals and harmonies. I was amazed at how many instruments were used to make their sound. 

    With all the ups and downs with personal problems, Brian Wilson left us with some great music and influenced other musicians. 

    He will be remembered. 

A CLOSE CALL

    We all have close  calls from time to time. Sometimes it could be very serious . Other times not that serious if the close call had happened.

    I had a close call yesterday that was serious. 

    I was going through a traffic circle. Now I can hear people saying, "I hate those things." If you are used to them it works. One problem is that the traffic people keep swinging back and forth. Sometimes we get traffic circles and then for a few years traffic circles are torn up. 

    All right, getting back to the traffic circle. As you come up to a traffic circle there's a lane that allows you to go right without entering the traffic circle. There's another arrow that lets  you through to an exit that  takes you in the same direction. You stay in the outside lane. The third arrow takes you 3/4 or the way around. Which allows you to proceed left.

    Yesterday as I approached the traffic circle there was no traffic so I could enter the outside lane. I was entering and all of a sudden there was a blue blur crossing in front of me at high speed.

   I thought I was a goner . Between his excessive speed and my breaking we did not collide. 

   However, my heart was beating rapidly

   This traffic circle has shrubbery in the middle to make things look pretty. If everybody plays by the rules it's attractive. One idiot going through at high speed makes it a hazard.

    I am an elderly driver so I don't need any close calls. 

A BAD DAY

       I guess we all have to have a bad day or two once in a while. 

      So, here's my story.

     We have been trying to downsize for many years. One of us thinks that not much progress is made and the the other one thinks that we are getting rid of some "stuff" 

    So the neighbor across the corner was having a garage sale today. The micro manager thought that this would be a good opportunity for us to put things out and people may visit our garage sale while going to the other. 

    It was a very nasty day. Wind gusts were well into the 60 km range. It was plus 12 C. Now those two things are enough to tell me that it will be a very nasty day. I said we shouldn't have a sale with such poor weather. The Micro manager thought that it was a great opportunity for a garage sale. Words were said. Strong words were said. Finally I gave in and we rounded up stuff to put out. 

   Now a few things about garage sales. There's more to it than just putting things out. People like to see a sale with  much stuff displayed. They look at a sale with only a few things and they don't stop. You need an attractive sign. Your sign must be clear. It was so windy today that the sign was blown across the yard. Put things out so that they are attractively displayed. 

    Finally about 3 PM the micro manager gave in and said let's quit.  The neighbor next door wanted some of these articles so we invited Darcy for a visit. Darcy took about 75% of the stuff. What was left, we took to bibles for missions.

   Did we learn anything? Probably not. 

THE WEATHER IS IN CONTROL

       At this time of year I would like to have my garden planted. I try and have seeds planted around the twenty first of May. It's possible to vary the time of seeding as it takes a few days for seeds to germinate . By that time I hope there's no danger of frost.

     Plants that have a long growing period and are started in the house or a green house is another issue. If there was frost they would be damaged.

    So last night the low forecast was plus 6. I left my tomatoes and corn outside. At 7 AM this morning there was frost on the roof! 

    Now there are a few things to know about frost. At this time the ground  is warm enough that is will not freeze at ground level. So unless it gets very cold plants at ground level should not freeze. Also, if I have my plants beside the house foundation, there's warmth from the foundation to keep the frost away.

    So today I just said, "I'm going to plant my tomatoes now matter what." So this afternoon , I planted my tomatoes. There is still risk of frost at this time but you take the risk. 

   So here we go for delicious tomatoes. 

WEATHER COMPARISONS

      I enjoy your comments about the climate, weather and plants I live with. Of course, the pleasure is mutual. I find it most interesting when in some areas in January there are not only blooms but blossoms.

     So this is my report. My blue bells finished blooming a little more than a month ago. The plants are quickly going into a dormant state. My bleeding hearts are past their peak and the blooms are rapidly coming to an end. Peonies, irises and tiger lilies are budding out. 

     What sets this off at such a late date is the length of our days. Today the sun rose at 5:19 Am and sets at 9:47 PM for a total of 16 hours and 28 minutes of daylight. This much light causes our plants to develop rapidly. 

     Our weather is still variable. Yesterday we had a high of 30 C. It went down to 4 C by 4 AM. My furnace cut in this morning. 

    This afternoon I worked in my yard in windy conditions with  a temperature of 16 C. 

     All too soon I will be crying about very short days!