CATCHING UP

      A couple of my recent posts were not really complete, As a result I have people asking questions. 

     I should have had a photo of my Christmas cactus so here it is. This plant blooms in November, Christmas and Easter. So it blooms three times a year. There are a variety of colors and times of bloom. A person should really have more than one plant. 

     I have been retired for almost 28 years. I taught for 37.116 years. I did not get full pension as some of my Arctic time was not counted. 

   So this shows that I still have a difficulty with organization. I would being doing a lesson plan after school and suddenly I would see that I should have ordered a film last week. I would go down to Central Office and ask if they would please let me have the film. After a bit of a lecture and wink , wink I would get my film but I had to go down and get it and not get it in the delivery. 

CHRISTMAS CACTUS.

     I have had a Christmas cactus since about 1982. It has gone through some ages and stages. This summer I took it outside for it's annual bath and this year the micro manager insisted that it get a good haircut. So I trimmed it back as it was really overgrown. When Christmas cactus get a short haircut they usually don't bloom that year. Surprise , surprise , there are blooms. The November blooms have just finished and Christmas buds are showing. 

    So life is good. 

    When I came here in 1969, the Vice Principal had quite a few plants in his classroom. He's in the staff photo I shared in the last post. He's second from the left in the second row from the top. He retired in 1982  and guess what ? He had some plants to dispose of. I took them all. There was a very elderly Christmas cactus which didn't do well in the classroom. I kept the plant and found a large pot. When I retired I brought it home and started new plants from the old one    

      By the way, those people wondering which was me in this photo? I'm third from the left in the bottom row. This is a long time ago when I was about 40. 

    Now I'm wondering how long ago this plant was started. 

   Now today I wanted to do some research on the Christmas Cactus. I was very disappointed to find that most of the sites were about sales of Christmas Cactus plants. Commercialization!

    I make sure my cactus sits in the same light all year. They are very sensitive to light and if they are moved from place to place do not bloom very well. 

    So this old cactus is going to have some nice blooms for me at Christmas. 

45 YEARS AGO

     This was the staff I was on 45 years ago. It is hard to believe it was that long ago. 14 of these people have passed away.  When I look back it was a very talented staff. Yes, I am in this photo. 

GRIEVING FOR NOTHING.

         A few weeks ago a friend told me that Jennifer had died. Jennifer was a mutual friend. Although we did not see her much anymore, she was still a great friend. I first met her in the Arctic. 

        I was shocked to hear that Jennifer had passed away. We talked about her children and the things that Jennifer was noted for. When I got home I looked for Jennifer's obituary. I couldn't find it. I was told that her funeral would be in a certain church Nov. 30. This was odd because Jennifer did not attend church. 

      Several weeks later I was having lunch with my friend and asked him about Jennifer's funeral. He looked surprised and said, "Did I say Jennifer? I meant Joan!"

      So all this time I was wasting my time grieving for Jennifer and she was still very much alive. The person who died was one of Jennifer's good friends. So I got yo Joan's funeral and remembered a very active person. 

     It's funny how today we have friends and we don't see them very often. I don't know if it has something to do with age when we don't go out very often or if there's some other reason that we don't get out with friends very much anymore. 

WEATHER

      Weather has been a big topic for the last week. It's a major holiday week end and people want to be travelling. It's the beginning of winter and we want to see winter come as late as possible.

     Some of the weather reports this weekend are brutal. Reports of 3 ft. of snow is enough to paralyze me. Certain areas have been paralyzed. In Ontario , Canada , many people have  been without power for several days and for some people it looks like a few more days without power. 

    In some areas of the U.S. they are expecting 2 to 3 ft  of snow. How long will it take to clean that up and transportation be restored?

    What do people do? For most people everything depends on power. Very few people are off grid. Very few people have their own power supply. Very few people have another source of heat like wood. 

    If the power was off at my place for 4 or 5 days we would have trouble surviving. 

    We've had a very cold week. Our lows have been in the minus 17 to 19C degree. This isn't that bad. We are easily able to get around. We look after our needs in the usual  way.

   It is forecast to warm up here in the next few days. Here's my one hope. I hope it doesn't get too warm. If it gets above freezing we get ice. Roads become slippery and walking is risky. So warm up but not too warm.

   Far all of you with severe winter conditions I hope you stay safe and as comfortable as possible. 

RELICS

      In 2010 a friend took me out to his old family farm. To me it was picturesque

     M's father had come to Canada after the first world war with the intention of farming. He got a job on railway maintenance and it took a long time before he got a farm. 

    M received the farm from his Dad but did not farm it. The family went out in the summer and spent time there. It was a pleasant place to spend a summer as a stream ran through the property and there were other wetlands.

   Years went by and the farmstead was not kept up. M's father obtained many things from the railroad :wire, steel gates and numerous little building that could be used on a farm. He also built a log barn that you will see. It was like two 30' by 30' buildings put together.

   So  I spent time getting some interesting photos. 

This little building was known as a summer kitchen. Since much cooking was done in the hot summer , they had a small building used for cooking so that the house would not heat up. 

SNOW !

     Today we are having our first big dump of snow. One of these strange "bomb" weather patterns have reached the prairies of western Canada and the northwestern states. 

    So today, right after breakfast I was out shoveling about 5 in of snow. An hour later I was out cleaning up about 1 1/2  in of snow. Then I got lucky. the neighbors adult grandson was at Grandpa's cleaning the snow from the driveway and sidewalk. Later on I noticed my security light come on. When I looked out "said grandson" was cleaning my driveway. I checked and he'd done the neighbors. I checked further and he had also done the long side walk at the side of my house.

    I certainly appreciated the grandson's efforts. 

    So with the new snow, everything looks clean , white and fresh.