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.

Skating Season Ends Today

     My skating season ended today. I started the season on the first Tues. of September and have missed only a couple of times. I've written before of how supportive this group is. It's been another season of fun , exercise and good friendship. Now for  short summer break and then the first Tues. in Sept comes again and we skate some more.

Flying by

The great group

Dressing room prep

You bet it's fun

A good conversation

      I didn't take photos today . These photos are from previous years and you've seen some of them in previous posts.

     

How to Make You Feel Good

        Here I go once again,

        With some snow upon my land. (With apologies to Crystal Gayle)

My Standard snow measure

A well loaded little spruce tree

Front yards covered with snow

Wet snow has slid off the canoe

     Now these photos are meant to make you feel better. You will feel fortunate that you have sunshine, green grass and leaves on your trees. 

    It's all relative.  Vesta in New Zealand comments that they have the first cold spell of the winter, but they don't have big coats on.

    So I hope that I have made you feel good about your situation.

Red's Comments

      Comments from readers are the best part of blogging. Readers response gives me an expanded perspective of what I've written. Needless to say, I appreciate comments.

     Today I want to consider comments I make. I have to ask a few questions about my comments and analyze what I am doing. Do I make meaningful comments?

     I make a number of different types of comments.  Many times I pick one narrow aspect of a blog and make my comment. It's not that I haven't read the whole blog. I feel the one point is what I would like to consider.

    Too many times I make a comment that refers to me. Comments should be on the writer's post. 

    Are the complements I make genuine and sincere? I hope so. Are my comments supportive and positive. Bloggers put something out in public and they should be rewarded and encouraged .

    I sometimes use humor in a comment. I try to use humor with bloggers I think I know well and who get my sense of humor.

    Sometimes my comments are fairly shallow. I'm not saying much. There's little substance in the comment. I try to avoid the fluff comments.

   Sometimes I misunderstand something and make a ridiculous comment and embarrass myself. That'll teach me for not reading the post carefully.

   I hope that my comments are polite. Being careful about comments elevates the whole blogging experience.

    I follow many blogs. Too many blogs for me to make comments on every post. I admit that I have to rank things. Some blogs I find interesting to read but do not make comments. Some blogs I comment on from time to time . Some blogs I comment on every post.

    I hope that my comments are never offensive. If I do offend I hope you'll tell me so that I can apologize and make things right. 

    How about you? What do you try to do with comments?

How Grandma got to Canada

     After my last post telling about my Grandma's story telling ability, I started thinking about how she got to Canada.

    Grandma arrived in Canada about 1902. The real story happens before she got here.

    My ancestors moved to Russia/Ukraine in the late 1700's. Catherine the Great asked Germans to come to farm and show Russians and Ukrainians how to farm more productively. My family were devote Lutherans. They were pacifists. They were promised they could keep practising their Lutheran faith, keep their German language and not be made to join an army.  Over the next 100 years these things eroded away depending on the location. For example, my Grandfather was in Russian army. Land had become scarce and this meant that their children would not have the opportunity to farm and this meant that they had very little opportunity to make a living. Canada was giving land away. They did not have cash so free land looked like a golden opportunity.   All the Germans learned to speak Russian and many learned Ukrainian.

   My Great Grandfather was fearful that they would lose these rights. To him they were absolutely mandatory. They began to think about where to move so that they could maintain their beliefs.Two of the family were sent to Canada to look at the prospects of moving to Canada. They came back with a positive report. Plans were made and by 1900 some of the family had moved. Great Grandpa was the organizer and leader. Great Grandpa had all his adult children and their spouses move to Canada. Many of the in-laws of his children also came with this large family.

    So this is how my Grandma came to Canada. She was not part of the decision making group. Some of her relatives were left behind. She kept in contact with them. My Dad also kept the contact up.

  Now over a hundred years later, probably none of great Grandpa's family speak German. Very few of them follow the Lutheran faith. Many of them have been in the armed forces. Several of Great Grandpa's grandchildren fought in WW II. What would great Grandpa think today? Would he be happy how things turned out? He was a great leader and I think he would agree that he made the best decision by moving to Canada.