2000 POSTS

      I just happened to notice a few days ago that the counter was on 2000 posts. I don't post every day. I make about 120 to 150 posts a year so it takes along time to get to 2000.

     I try to write about topics rather than personal daily events. Yes, I did say that I was a bit of a bumbler and I had some adventures to write about. The adventures have been fun for me to recount. 

     I also notice that I should change some of the things in my introduction as they no longer apply.

     I started Hiawatha House in 2008 when my daughter set up the basics of the blog. She left town the next day.  I spent the next year with Blogging for Dummies trying to set up other things on Hiawatha house. 

    I have enjoyed writing Hiawatha House. One thing I did not realize is that I would make many very good friends. I'm always saddened when a good blogger disappears. There is a tremendous amount that one learns from other bloggers. 

   I will keep on writing and visiting. 

   Well, here I was in 2008!

   

What else is there to do but bird?

                                A good supper

                       I think this was about 2022. 

YES, IT SNOWED TODAY

          When I woke up this morning it seemed brighter than usual. It had snowed overnight so I was waking up to a world of white. We probably had about 2 cm of snow on the ground. 

          It s normal to get snow at this time of year and sometimes we can get a storm with lots of snow. 

          It was foggy this morning so it was a very dull day. 

         However, my blue bells are coming up.

APRIL FOOLS

       The origin of April Fools Day is somewhat unclear. The day and celebration seem to have originated in various places and at various times. None of these origins are backed up by much evidence. 

      Many famous tricks and hoaxes have been done and then April Fools is said to let the person or people know that they have been tricked. The media has long had humor from April Fools day.

      Schools have had their fair share of good April Fool's tricks. I went to a one room country school from 1945 to 1954. It was standard procedure that we try to get something over on the teacher. A hand bell was used to call students to class in the morning and after breaks like recess and noon hour. So in many of these schools the gong was taken out of the  bell and when the teacher went out to shake the bell vigorously, nothing happened. Usually we were nearby so that we could see the teacher's reaction. We stood around for a minute as if we weren't going in the school and then everybody said April Fools. We weren't that smart as we did this every year.

     The past seven days the Micro Manager has not been in good health. Somehow she came down with a stomach ailment that produced diarrhea for 4 days and then another two days to reach normal. Now she kept on a liquid diet for four days and then another two days of being careful what she ate. By days 5 and 6 she was very tired from lack of regular food. So she usually goes to the Casino for breakfast or lunch and she was determined to go. I said no way but she doesn't listen to me. My daughter said be careful and stay away from big heavy meals. 

    So About 11:30 yesterday morning the Micro Manager had her coat ready. She was going out for lunch no matter what. She thoroughly  enjoyed a steak sandwich. 

   So this morning , a while after breakfast she said, "Guess what . I've got diarrhea again." She quickly said April Fools before I jumped through the roof.

    It' been a long time since there was a good April Fool's trick was played around here. 

ANOTHER CALL CENTER RANT

        I have ranted about my frustrations with call centers several times on this blog. Today, I had another very unpleasant experience with a call center.

        We had received a letter a few days ago from the bank telling us if we didn't want a certain investment to roll over automatically that we should phone a certain number to tell them not to roll the investment over. 

       The Micro Manager was doing that piece of business this morning. I was busy stretching but I could hear the conversation as the speaker phone was on. They asked for a couple of the usual identity questions . Then they kept going on. I came into the office to pay more attention and finally I told the micro Manager that these questions were unnecessary as far as identity was concerned . Oh yes they said we are updating our information and continued with pressure. They asked the Micro Manager's age. They already had her birth date. When they asked if she was a Canadian citizen and if she filed income tax in Canada , that was the end. 

     I felt that they were going on a fishing expedition to get information to sell me more product. It felt creepy. I began to think that they were scammers.  They really put the pressure on for answers to the last questions but we stuck to our guns and said no way. 

     So, unless we answered the questions , they were not going to do the piece of business we were asking for. So the piece of business was not done and we are contacting the local bank manager. 

    I'm thinking about the part on the phone introduction that says "This call may be monitored." I hope it was monitored

COUNTRY POET

 

            Country poets come in many forms. Their claim to fame is that they tell the local rural story with a passion.

             Uncle Tom was our rural community's poet. Our part of western Canada was settled by homesteaders about 1905. Uncle Tom got his homestead ( 160 acres for $10.00) . I'm sure that he had far less than 8 years of education but his poetry writing is well done. He told stories through his poetry. If there was a community celebration, Uncle Tom would have a poem.

         My parents were married in Feb of 1938. They were married in another province and came back to the farm a few days after their marriage. Notice the date. Economic conditions were terrible at that time. However, it didn't stop the community from  having a party for the new couple. It was a time when small wedding gifts were given. People got together , sang, played games and visited. 

      To mark the occasion uncle Tom wrote a poem .

 So here's the poem Uncle Tom wrote for Mom and Dad.

       This poem has been a family favorite.

BRIAN MULRONEY

       A state funeral was held today for Brian Mulroney, former Prime Minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. 

       I knew a state funeral was coming up but I had no intention of following it. However, today CBC said that the following programs would be preempted so that the state funeral could be broadcast. The Micro Manager had her radio on and before I turned it off I was hooked into listening to the whole ceremony. It was interesting and I'm glad I listened to it. We had a good chat after it was over. 

      Brian Mulroney was first elected in 1984 with a huge majority in parliament. In the next 8 years Mulroney brought in many very important pieces of legislation which changed Canada to this day. He brought in the GST which was very unpopular , but we still have it today. He established a free trade agreement and acid rain with the United States. He helped eliminate apartheid from South Africa. He also worked very hard to make Canada a more unified country. 

    Many of the pieces of legislation brought in were very unpopular. Mulroney did not worry about that. He just carried on setting up legislation that he thought would benefit Canada. He was not worried about winning elections. He just wanted to do things that would benefit Canada. At the end of his term he lost the election big time. 

    Wouldn't it be great today if political parties focused on bring about good things for the country instead of spending most of their time trying to win the next election. 

      These things were remembered today along with his personal attributes. A funny story was told when his daughter's boyfriend asked Muloney if he could make a proposal to him about his daughter. Mulroney's reply was "What proposal?" 

I'm very glad that I listened to this ceremony today. 

I SHOULD HAVE KEPT MY MOUTH SHUT

      A few days ago we had very pleasant weather. We had highs of 11 and 12 C for several days. These are above normal for us at this time of year.

      Unfortunately, I told someone about the pleasant weather.

      What should immediately show up on the forecast? SNOW! Not just snow , but lots of snow and for many days and the temperatures would also drop.

      I should have kept my mouth shut. Here are a few photos to show you what it's like. We've ad about 10 cm of snow which is a lot for us. 

      It was very dull. I tried to take a cut in the snow to show the depth of the snow.

                   The juniper with a load of snow. 

                          Spruce trees loaded with snow.

                                   Street view

My neighbor cleaning snow off his deck.