Slow down

After last week's busy-ness, this week has been a whole lot less so. I ventured out on Monday morning to pick up fresh fruit and veg, as well as a few sale items at our local grocery stores. My other reason for going out was to pick up potting soil for this year's planting. One of the cats, Stanley was very interested in the dirt, and kept a watchful eye on me as I seeded tomatoes (beefsteak), peppers, basil, and pansies. The latter are seeds I harvested from the plant last fall. Chances are they won't sprout but I figured it was worth a try. I learned my lesson last year and have reduced the number of wee pots. If you recall we were over run with tomatoes last fall. Our peppers didn't do as well so I've added a few more. 

The weather forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday was calling for heavy snow - up to 22 cms (8.6 inches). D has decided there will be no more shovelling this winter. This is Easter break and Eli is home from school, and thus, in theory we can wait until it melts. She ran out to do a few errands ahead of the supposed storm. In the end, it missed us entirely, and areas near Saskatoon and further north took the brunt of it. places saw about 18 cm (7 inches). We had less than a centimeter, and by lunchtime it was melting; walkways were clear as were the car windshields. 

The cat in the photo on Wednesday is the baby, Spencer. D found her in her garage in January 2025 during a terrible cold snap. D tried to find her owner through FB, and checked with local vets and the rescue in the NTO (next town over). No one came forward to claim her, and the rescue advised their waiting list to take in a stray cat was about 4 months. I was in Yuma at the time, and when D called to tell me about her, I said, I guess that means we have another cat. We certainly weren't going to euthanize her. D taught her the trick of standing on her hind end to ask for "uppies". Just like a toddler she asks for attention several times a day. However, she is terrified of men especially, and most any stranger. It took her awhile to warm up to me when I visited, but now she loves to nap on my bed...though my cat Saku isn't a fan. As for treats, she really doesn't need any. :p

Knit and Natter was held on Wednesday evening. There were only three of us there, but we had a nice evening. Both M and L were crocheting, while I continued on my knitting. I managed to get a lot done and should finish the panel this week. I'd hoped to have it done before this post but procrastination got in my way. 

As I've said it has been a quiet week. Some spare time was used to work on the Ancestry website updating information. My focus is on more current information rather than previous generations. I don't have access to anything outside of Canada (except newspapers) because the cost is prohibitive. But I feel that current and future generations would be interested in the materials and info I've found. That was the case this week when I received messages from two individuals who were interested in specific relationships. I was able to, at least, partially answer there questions.As an aside, this photo shows how I am using the external keyboard to access the letters s and w and the @ symbol.

I had thought that curling was done for the season but discovered the first Rock League event. It is being streamed on CBC sports on YouTube. The format is quite different with teams split between men's fours, women's fours and mixed doubles. The teams aren't specific to any one country and the members of the four person teams aren't static. That is to say that someone is generally a skip may be playing one of the other three positions. Scoring is different too and I haven't quite figured it out yet. 

Besides curling and knitting, I've no plans for the weekend. The weather is supposed to be lovely so we should see more melting. Spring is on her way! 

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Did I say spring? Maybe now!

Mother Nature clearly decided to hit re-set on spring this week. On Sunday, while the kiddo was out Easter Egg hunting, the temperature was a balmy 6C (43F) and the yard was clear.

By Tuesday evening, the snow was back in earnest. The photo I posted on Wednesday showed the boughs of the poor evergreen tree in the side yard weighed down with the snow. The backyard looked like this:

Over 36 hours we had nearly 10 inches of snow! Eli had day camp in the next door community on Wednesday and Thursday (Easter break). We waited until noon the first day to determine whether we'd drive in. D heard from the group leader who said their community hadn't received nearly as much snow, our roads were clearing, and after shovelling around and behind my vehicle we were able to get down the alley. We were a bit late the first day, as we were stopped by a train. D and I spent our time shopping, the first day at the Dollar store to pick up storage for our new shelving unit, and for groceries on the second day. Nothing exciting jumped into our cart.

Thursday morning, Eli and I spent some time outside. I had asked him if he wanted to make a snowman with me. The snow we got was heavy and wet, perfect for rolling. He had said yes, but when he brought out several other toys, he decided to play in the snow and left me to build. When I finished, I brought out a chair and enjoyed the sun while he played.  

Friday, I ran to the grocery stores here in town for a few groceries that were on sale, or unavailable at our last stop. D discovered we'd gotten water in the basement - with that amount of snow and how fast it melted, it wasn't a surprise. If you recall we had flooding last June in the basement. This was nowhere near as bad - it was mostly in the laundry room area (which has a cement floor). She was able to use the shop vac to clear up any standing water. We will need to buy new extensions for the downspouts as a couple of them have sprung leaks. I had checked for them last week at the Home Hardware, but they only had brown, ours are white. 

It has been quite a quiet week. There was housework accomplished, some sports watching, and I spent a fair amount of time working on ancestry. A distant cousin popped up in a story from 1939, in Pennsylvania, as the wife of a man who had been arrested for the murder of a two year old child. Based on the newspaper articles I was able to locate, the couple were separated, he was living with another woman, a single mother with a young daughter. He became jealous of the child (perhaps because she looked like her father, or because of the attention paid to her), and began physically abusing her. When the couple took her to the hospital where she would die a few days later, he was arrested and admitted to the abuse. I won't get into that, but the newspaper articles were quite explicit and no child should ever experience the torture he put her through. What really made me angry was, although sentenced to a life sentence, the governor commuted his sentence just 12 years later! He remarried a few years later and died in 1986. The mother was indicted as an accessory to murder, but I could not locate what happened in her case, other than she was expecting a child in prison, who died shortly after birth. I certainly went down a rabbit hole on this particular story. 

Meanwhile his wife, my distant cousin returned to Canada and re-married. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find much information about her son (by her first husband) but did locate her obituary. It is noted that he predeceased her and I found information to support that fact. 

Our snow has disappeared quickly, with the temperature reaching 14C/57F on Friday afternoon. It will be even warmer this weekend! I hope to get outside to clear out the shed and work in the raised flower bed. The snow certainly interrupted that work! I also need to transplant several pepper plants and some herbs. The window sill is already full, with tomatoes and herbs so it needs to warm up so the older plants can go out to the front porch. I do know, I won't be planting anything outdoors until mid-May at the earliest. We have a short growing season here.

Whatever your plans for the weekend, I hope you're enjoying sunshine and warm temps. Have a great week ahead everyone!

A restful week

I'm trying to recall what happened this week and the short answer is, not much. I spent a LOT of time watching various Olympic events. I caught the 2nd half of the women's Rugby 7's. (I'm not even certain I've written that correctly.) Our Canadian women were in the final playing New Zealand. I've not watched rugby, ever, but the game was entertaining and while N.Z. prevailed, our women played well. 

Gymnastics is a big draw in our household as both my children participated as children. D continued into her teenage years, competing in T&T (trampoline and tumbling), as well as coaching younger athletes, and at some point did some judging at various meets. Watching with her is interesting as she points out every miniscule error where I see nothing. Two our women's team made it to the all-round final, though did not medal. 

I missed the diving events which was a shame. One of the athletes in the men's synchronized diving is from my home province. I did manage to watch some of the swimming including the final of the men's 200m butterfly where Ilya Kharun of Montreal won bronze. Summer MacIntosh of Toronto won a silver and two golds, setting an Olympic record in one of the events.

Canada typically doesn't perform as well at the Summer Olympics as they do in the winter. I guess having cold and snowy weather for nearly 6 months of the year would give us a slight edge. But by the end of the week, Canada had a total of 11 medals. Preliminary estimates were 12 so the team will likely exceed that number.

Other happenings of the week: Eli had day camp on Monday - I went with he and his mom. There was a little shopping done, then we sat in a church parking lot and read until it was time to pick him up.

The heat continued with temperatures near 30C(86F) most afternoons. I would take Stanley, the cat, out with me in the morning. He'd enjoy his catio (he's in there but a black cat doesn't show up well), while I drank my tea, watered and dead-headed the containers. One morning, I picked up the piles of weeds into garbage bags, while D whipper-snipped behind the shed and near the garage. We only have garbage pick-up every two weeks, so I've been stacking the bags and putting one or two in the bin for pick-up. The daylilies started opening this week, as you saw in Wednesday's photo, and are beginning to put on a real show. The regular lilies are close to opening too. From what I can tell, they too will be orange in colour.

She took Eli to the pool too, while I stayed at home catching up on paperwork and watching more Olympic programming. I should have been knitting but instead turned my focus to Ancestry. I'd renewed earlier in the month with a reduced cost, and decided to catch up on the hints and other information. 

While searching for information on one of my paternal grandmother's nieces, I came across an interesting article that outlines some ideas for re-using and recycling household items:

Cut old rubber gloves from the wrist up to create sturdy "rubber bands". It was recommended to keep these in a jar and shake a bit of talcum powder in the jar to keep the bands from getting sticky.

Wash and rinse milk cartons and use these to freeze summer berries (I suppose these could be used for other items). Staple shut the tops and stack in the freezer. Saves using freezer bags, but if bags are used, cut up old panty hose for bag ties - no wires to puncture other bags.

Store your patio umbrella in winter in the one leg of a pair of panty house, using the second leg to tie around the bottom of the umbrella. 

I wasn't able to find anything about my relative, as the person referred to in this article was definitely not her. But it was a fun read, nevertheless.

I did go for a short walk on Friday afternoon. We live about a block and a half to the Post Office, and one the way home I dropped in at Home Hardware on my way back. Whoo boy, was it ever hot out there (30C/86F)! I was glad to be back in the a/c at home. I did run out to put the faucet wheel back on one of the outdoor spigots with a screw I picked up at the store. 

Today, I've no plans to do much different from the rest of the week. More Olympics, baseball and football, back to my knitting, a bit of Ancestry, and time with my grandson are all on the agenda. That reminds me - one evening he and I were telling a story together. We were on a train ride to Ohio where, according to him, there are many haunted houses. Who knew?

Have a great week ahead everyone!

The present and the past

The much awaited warm-up didn't happen on Tuesday. By then, the forecast had been pushed out to Saturday. We did see a slight warm-up throughout the week but the dratted wind kept it feeling much colder. I did go out on Wednesday and Thursday, first to pick up a few groceries and Stitch and Chat, and the following day to attend Mahjong.

My time at home was productive and enjoyable as there was lots of curling to follow. First the finals of the men's event in Lloydminster, then on Wednesday the Sask. Provincial Women's began, and a Grand Slam event began airing games on Thursday. In fact, both Thursday and Friday had six games I could potentially have watched. 

I had other things to do too; first up to clear out the documents and correspondence I no longer need from 2023 and prior. All of the items for my former house were shredded - this include the original purchase and mortgage documents and invoices for every repair and renovation project from 2010-2023 and utility bills for the last year. I told C that since I no longer need those folders, I've filed the documentation for his property in the box.

To prepare for my Caribbean cruise in March, just 7 weeks away, I printed off a few more documents. Since I originally booked my flights, Air Canada has changed the departure times more than once. (not the dates thankfully). After last year's delays due to thunderstorms in Florida, I've chosen to fly in three days prior to the cruise. I'll arrive late the first day, because getting anywhere from here is always a full day affair and have two full days to rest, relax and/or explore before I board the ship. The cost of the airfare with the extra two nights of hotel was actually less than flying in the day prior to the cruise too. I read somewhere it will be school break. This time I'm flying with Air Canada, not WestJet, with only one stop in Toronto both going and returning so, fingers crossed, this will be a less stressful trip.

While I was at Walmart on Wednesday, I came across a heavily discounted bag of yarn (about 40% of original cost). I couldn't pass it up as I've been wanting to make a pair of slippers. I made up watching the curling that evening, and another Thursday morning while (though the ends haven't been sewn in yet. They are lovely and soft, and I have a lot of yarn left, so I may make another pair, this time a sock slipper style. 

Another activity that can be done while watching curling is updating information in Ancestry. Recently Newspapers.com added a significant number of archived newspapers opening up more and new information. In addition, data from the 1931 Canadian census has been added over time. I knew that some of my maternal grandfather's family had returned to Ontario after giving up their homesteads here in Saskatchewan but I had hit a brick wall previously due to the lack of information. With the added newspapers, I was thrilled to find the obituaries of my great-aunt Bess and her husband. Her obituary also provided the name of their eldest daughter's husband. Previously, I knew from her siblings' obituaries that Phyllis had passed away sometime after 2013 but only had her spouse's last name. Bess's obit provided that one piece that broke that brick wall. Not only did I find Phyllis' obit learning she had two sons from a previous marriage, but I was able to find information on her second husband. He was also previously married, and though I can't find a lot of personal information, I did learn that he was a well known comic book artist in the 1940's. He was also the artist for a newspaper comic strip, Dizzy Don, that appeared in the comic book series. If you are interested, there is currently a copy of Dizzy Don Comics #3 Howard Pub 1947 Canadian Edition available on E-Bay listed for $800USD. Other versions have prices between $200-$1600 USD. I certainly can't claim to be related to this fellow, but I found the story interesting. It's unusual though, that I cannot find anything about his antecedents. Just another brick wall to keep me looking.

In between the fun stuff was the normal housework. I did NOT do much shovelling of snow this week. With the windchills still near -40C/F, I cleared the sidewalks and left the driveway for less cold days. Just to demonstrate how volatile the weather is the forecast for next Tuesday is 0C/32F.  I'll believe it when I see it, but I'll definitely welcome it, if this holds true.

We reached -17C Friday afternoon with windchill around -23C. It felt practically balmy out there when I went out to shovel the driveway. I hadn't done when it was so cold so I was clearing the accumulation over the past week or so. I moved my car out of the garage when I finished, and that turned out to be a slightly expensive decision, as I tapped the fence with my side mirror and the darn thing (plastic) broke. I was able to tape it up for now, but will need to make an appointment with an auto body shop to get it replaced soon.

Have a great week ahead everyone, stay warm and dry!

The heat is on

The photo on Wednesday was, indeed, the remains of the tree stump that the landscaper left behind. He wasn't able to get the stump grinder into the back yard, and I guess they decided not to try to chop it out. After the weeks it took to get their work finished, I wasn't about to argue about it.

My friend K had called on Saturday to catch up, and I mentioned I was going to go out to the farm and get an axe from my brother to deal with the tree stump myself. On Monday morning, she called and asked whether I'd be home that afternoon and a couple hours later, she and her partner J arrived with a shovel, an axe, and a sledge hammer.  Before they arrived, I had moved the gravel out of the way and dug out some of the dirt around the stump. J got right at it with the axe while K and I retired to the deck (and out of the way of flying wood chips). He stopped briefly to take a break, and then went back at it; after chopping out most of it, he used the sledge hammer, and voila, it was as you saw it in the photo. I told J he's my hero!

When that bit of work finished, we went indoors to cool off in the a/c, it was about 32C/90F and I know J especially needed to cool down. We visited for awhile before they left. I'm so appreciative of my good friends. I know it would have taken a lot more effort on my part to get that stump out, had I even been able to swing the axe properly.

The heat has returned this week, so Tuesday morning I was out early to clean up the wood chips, to fill the hole - I used the soil from the planter I had harvested the onions from, and rake the rocks back in place.

This photo likely doesn't look any different than it did in an early photo, but just behind the left side of the arch is where the tree stump was causing me much annoyance. 

The weed spray seems to be working too, as I'm finding less each day. (And yes, the lawn needs mowing again.) I'm back to watering twice a day, as there are spots that are dying back, so I've spread some seed on those areas. I'm not sure why I'm so concerned, as the last sold listing in my neighbourhood that my agent sent me photos of showed a dead lawn both front and back. 

Later that morning, I took a run out to Costco. I wanted to pick up two things, a container of Mr. Clean and some smart plugs. I got both, plus a case Friskies wet cat food, and Eli's Christmas gift. Unfortunately, the smart plugs don't work with the 5G internet connection I have so I'll need to return them to the store. I did wonder at how inexpensive they were on clearance and discovered at home, they work with a 2.4 gigahertz something or other connection. This time, I'll go to the return desk and avoid the rest of the store. 

From there I did a quick trip to Dollarama to pick up a some garden stakes - my tomatoes are falling over as the fruit grows, even with the tomato cages, and I needed some burner liners for the stove. Walmart was next and it was a very quick in and out of the store. About a week ago, I'd found Ben's Original Smoky Flavour Rice and Red beans on sale. We hadn't tried before so I bought a package; we had it with grilled Cajun seasoned pork chops and it was a hit with both of us. I discovered the store had low stock, but managed to find three packages for the pantry. It's so quick and easy, it can be microwaved or heated up on the stove (about 5 minutes) with two tablespoons of water. I use the latter method, as I think it adds a bit more texture to the rice. My son adds hot sauce and is a happy boy. 

I'm aware I could make something similar - though I suspect without the smoky flavour - but at the moment it's nice to have something that doesn't heat up the house while I'm outside using the grill. 

Wednesday morning, I spent a lot of time on Ancestry. I'd had a message from a young woman from the States asking questions about her great-grandfather as he appears in my mother's family tree. I went through the information I had and was able to share the connection - her 4XGGrandfather was the brother of my 3XGGrandfather. Her great-grandfather was born in Ontario, moved to Alberta in the early 1900's with his family, and then made the move to Washington State when he was just 19. He married and had three sons. 

This brought more questions, as she was curious about her grandfather Tom. I had some information I was able to share and the plot thickened. Tom married in 1955, had two children with his wife, but by 1958 she had filed a suit for divorce (due to cruelty). Sadly, she passed away in August of that year as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident. It took a bit of poking around in Newspapers.com but I discovered that their two daughters were apparently adopted by their mother's parents as both girls used their mother's maiden name when they married in the mid-70's. (I had their maternal grandfather's name from their parent's wedding documentation) 

Tom had left Washington at this point, and it appears he lived for some time in California, then later moved to Nevada. I had found a possibility that he may have married again, and my correspondent confirmed he did indeed re-marry to her grandmother. Armed with that information, I was able to confirm that marriage was again short-lived, from 1962 to 1966, and three children were born of this union, one daughter and two sons. He married once more in 1987, and passed away in 1997.

S told me, that her mother and uncles did not know their father and she was hoping to find more information. I pointed out that he had served in the U.S. army in the Korean war and perhaps the Veterans Affairs department might be able to provide more information. Her inquiries piqued my interest and I started looking at the other two brothers. Although I'd been able to find a fair amount of information about Tom, these two are far more enigmatic. I love a good mystery so made a note to return to this branch to do some more research another day.

Wednesday afternoon was stitch and chat, with just B and I in attendance. I do enjoy these one on one opportunities as we learn more about our lives. She mentioned living in a small town outside of Saskatoon when she was a young girl. Well, my oldest brother's first wife was from the same community - did she know her? It turns out she was a couple of years younger than my former SIL, but knew the family. It definitely is a small world. 

Thursday heated up quickly (34C/93F) by mid-afternoon. The next door neighbour was having their roof re-shingled that morning, and the noise was annoying. To get away from it briefly, I headed out to the thrift stores. D had mentioned that Eli was short of sweat pants. I found a couple of pair at Value Village and another pair at the Salvation Army store. I also scored another large plastic tote at the SA store. All in all, a good bit of thrift shopping. Better still, by the time I arrived home, the crew were cleaning up after themselves. With four guys on the roof, they made short work of the job.

On Friday morning, after my call with my daughter, I spent my time outdoors. The lawn was mowed, I spread some soil in the dying patches, added grass seed and gave it all a good watering. I quite enjoyed the watering time, with a good book and a cup of tea. Next up was trimming the edges of the lawn, deadheading the containers and cleaning up debris on the deck (from the flowers and the evergreen). After lunch I went out front and did the same, including sweeping the driveway. By the time I finished there was about a half large garbage bag full. The city is rolling out compost bins in the next few weeks and I'm planning to fill it up!

Today started off cool, at about 14C(57F), but it should reach 30C(86F) later today. I've been lazy this morning, in fact I'm finishing this post as I relax in bed....and it's after 8 a.m.! I did get up earlier to feed the cat and make a cup of tea. I'll head out soon to water again this morning, and my other big goal for the day is to go through the house and put things away. Like the toaster that sits out on the kitchen counter, the cat treats that can go back into the cupboard, the books and crocheting/knitting projects that are stacked on end tables, and the pile of items I've gathered up for D.....the list goes on. All of those things need to find hidey-holes to ensure the house looks uncluttered (it isn't really) and impersonal so that home buyers can imagine themselves living here. At least that's what the television programs tell me. I have to laugh, because the house I purchased before this one, had a tenant living in it. When we went for the first viewing, the small living room was crowded with oversized furniture, the laundry room had a pile of dirty clothing about 3 feet high, and the kitchen sink was piled with dirty dishes. I could see past all that stuff, and by the time the home inspection was carried out, everything was cleared out.

Anyway, rant over (at least for now - we'll see how the upcoming week goes). It's time to go out and enjoy a cup of tea on the deck while the water bill goes up. 

Perhaps I'll have more visitors to the bird bath to watch. There were two robins yesterday - they reminded me that it needed filling.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Delayed again, but a good week all round

The week started off well, as spending time with my friend C is always a lot of fun - lots of laughter ensues. We hit a dozen or more garage sales on Sunday and didn't buy a single garage. It's always helpful when a block has several houses participating. My best deal was an almost brand new Black and Decker toaster for $5. I have a toaster oven, but my son doesn't like using it. This toaster is meant for him, though I did use test it out and it works great. I did not buy any yarn, though I was tempted more than once. I had told C before we started, not to let me buy any just in case, but I behaved myself.

Monday morning, I had a text from the landscaper. We'd had a heavy rain (again) the night before and he advised he was going to be delayed for a few days. At least he let me know. I can't remember what I did for the rest of the day, though I pretty certain it involved a jigsaw puzzle, some knitting, and a baseball game. I did manage to pull some items for my garage sale as well.

The following morning, I had to run out to do an errand for my daughter. And of course, since it was Tuesday, and I was out anyway, I decided to hit up the thrift stores. Except I was too early, so I went to the Dollar store first where I picked up a couple of items for use on our camping trip before heading back to Value Village. There I found a 16 quart Coleman cooler for $3.85 after my seniors discount and taxes. I also found a large bag of Lego for Eli. It's one of his favorite activities, so now he'll have some to play with when he visits here. I talked to D, and all of the baby/toddler toys have been set aside for the garage sale.

We had more showers overnight, but just a wee bit of rain in the gauge on Wednesday morning. As you saw in the photo, the tomatoes are starting to develop. These are starts I seeded earlier in the spring. I'm happy they are doing so well. I noticed I have buds on my peppers as well, and though it continues to flower, the sole cucumber isn't growing at all. It was an experiment to see what would happen so I'm not too concerned. 

Wednesday was also stitch and chat. Just S and I were there. She had her first cataract surgery about 3 weeks ago, and the second a week or 10 days later. Now she needs new glasses but couldn't get an appointment with her optometrist until mid-July. As a result she didn't get a whole lot of stitching done, but we had a good chat. I had started a mitten before I left home, and came close to finishing it. 

We needed a few groceries so I took care of that on Thursday. I picked up a decent sized watermelon at Co-op for less than $5. When I mentioned it to my son that evening, he told me he doesn't like watermelon! I know my daughter doesn't care for it either - they both say they don't think it has much flavor and dislike the texture. I've already eaten half of the melon so it won't last long.  

On Friday morning, I drove out to my brother's to pick up the camping mats. We sat and had tea on the veranda before we took a walk around the yard. There were a number of birds to be seen and occasionally just heard as we visited. A Cat bird was calling, a western King bird flew by several times, an Oriole went to the feeder in the front yard, and a purple Martin made an appearance. (I can thank R for identifying each of them for me.) I got photos of none of these, but did capture a shot of the hummingbird visiting the feeder hanging on the veranda.

After a couple of cups of a tea and a chat, I prepared to head home. Before I left, we went out to the garage/shop where R had built a couple of Adirondack chairs. He took careful measurements of the chair they own, made patterns out of rough lumber, and used these to cut the pieces of the chair. One of the chairs was created using old cabinet doors and the second from lumber salvaged from a friend's tear-down of an old porch. The first is quite lightweight but still solid. The second is heavy and he plans to gift it to his friend.

From there we headed out to the garden their friend M planted. She lives in the city and R or his daughter L water it for her. They don't weed it though, and it appears a lot didn't germinate. She's planning to re-seed next week as she is staying at the farm for two weeks while the family is off on their Iceland adventures. On our way to the garden, R spotted this frog. I could not see it in the grass until he pointed it out. 

It certainly is camouflaged well in the grass. When we walked back to the house, it didn't even move.

Back at home I finished the jigsaw puzzle I'd bought at a garage sale on the weekend. I purchased it because it referenced 100 chickens and a worm on the box; both C and I looked over the picture on the box, but neither of us could find the worm...so I had to buy it to try to find the darned worm. I did not count the chickens, nor was I able to find the worm either. Even though it is missing three pieces, I've told C I'm giving it to her and she can hunt for it.

I never heard another word from the landscaper. I'll give him the weekend, and then I plan to phone him on Monday morning to (hopefully) get a straight answer as to when I can expect him here. I realize it isn't a large job but still I want it done, and done soon.

There was some housework completed this week, though I must admit to slacking off somewhat. The major task was replacing the paper on top of the kitchen cabinets. I learned this hack from another blogger, who sadly isn't with us anymore, and it sure helps to keep the dust off the top of the cabinets. With all the drywall dust it was a much needed task.

Instead, I spent more time on Ancestry. The 1931 census records are now available and the hints are populating. I haven't had much luck with close family members (yet) as the detailed information is slowing being added to the database. I can search by location rather than name - but specifically with my great-grandparents, I'm not certain where they were living. I turned my attention to earlier members of the family and was excited to find a newspaper notice for my 3X great grandmother's death. Published in December, 1886, in Scotland, it provided the date of her death. 

It also provides a clue as to the occupation of my 3X great-grandfather. I've learned that a carrier regularly delivered goods between towns and villages. 

I also located in a Canadian newspaper a notice of my great-grandparents marriage in 1889. Mary Adamson was my great-grandfather's maternal grandmother. His paternal side of the family continues to be a mystery.

Today is going to be another restful day. I'll putter on Ancestry to see what else I might find, there is football and baseball to watch, and I'll continue my mitten knitting. I've got the first mitt of a fourth pair on the needles. There are "mom burgers" thawing in refridgerator for tonight's dinner, and I've got pasta cooking on the stove for a salad. I hop you are all enjoying the start of your weekend too.

Have a wonderful week ahead!

Things happen

Wednesday's photo was sent to me by my daughter. I should note, the house she lives in is over 110 years old. We were chatting on the phone one day, in the late afternoon, and suddenly a piece of plaster fell from the kitchen ceiling. There has been a lot of freeze/thaw in her area (and mine) over the last few days. The roof above her kitchen has a steep pitch with a eaves trough on the peak. That's seems like an odd place for eaves trough to me. In any event the trough isn't draining off the side of the house and large icicles have formed. There is also a very old antenna on that part of the roof, and I suspect that in the winds, it may have lifted some of the shingles allowing the melt to make its way into the house. We won't know for certain for awhile yet, as the roofers in town are busy and she's not been able to get anyone out to look at it just yet. Fingers crossed, next week. In the meantime, there hasn't been much more leaking.

It's been a full week here, I was in a cleaning frenzy for a couple of days. It isn't as though I don't regularly clean and tidy, but on these days I completed what would normally take me the full week. It was almost like those weekend cleaning sprees when I was working because I was too tired during the week to do much in the evenings. 

On Tuesday, I picked up my friend C to do a bit of thrift shopping. We went to Value Village and Salvation Army before enjoying a coffee and sandwich at Tim Hortons. She scored a lovely purse for $3.66 at V.V. I found divider plates for Eli, two Easter egg kits to paint for Eli, a glass cake pan for me, and of course, more yarn for less than $20. After our lunch, we headed to her mom's house as she wanted me to look through a box of knitting patterns - I found two that I thought I might be able to use. She and her brother have been busy packing things up, and preparing to move, sell, donate or toss their mother's furniture and furnishing. They've cleared out a lot, and everything that is left has been moved to the living room, kitchen and garage. There are a lot of memories in those rooms. C showed me some of her baby clothing, sweet hand knitted or sewn items that her mother or grandmother had made for her. They've set a deadline of March 15 to have the house cleared so they can have it cleaned, and put up for sale. 

I've also spent some time working on Ancestry. I don't know if I've mentioned that I received my results from the DNA test. There were no surprises from the breakdown of countries of origin - primarily Ireland, Scotland, England, a wee bit of Wales and Germany. I had hoped that the test might crack open the mystery of my materna great-great grandfather who emigrated from Scotland. Sadly, that hasn't happened (yet - hope springs eternal, right?), instead I've had several messages from distant relatives on my father's side of the tree. One of those messages added a whole lot of information to my tree, so I've been working through these new additions. I try not to spend more than a couple of hours a day at it, because I start getting confused by all the detail. I still need to go through the DNA connections but there are over 400 of them, so I'm feeling a little overwhelmed and not certain where exactly I'll start. I do know many of them, have no or private family trees, so I probably won't get any more information from them.

My other project this week is continuing to work on the counted cross stitch. I work on it in the afternoon while the light is good. At stitch and chat on Wednesday I got a good 90 minutes in. There were three of us there, me, I, and R. Apparently R has been there previously about 4 years ago, so prior to my attendance and the two women had also attended the same church. R's husband passed away, she moved from their home into a condo, and as she said, "life got in the way". She told us at the end of the afternoon, that she'd be back next week with her friend W. I do enjoy my chats with I, but having a few more ladies there will be nice too.

Friday, I needed to run out to pick up some cat litter and bird seed, and decided to stop by the salon to see if I could get a walk-in appointment. I walked out a half-hour later, feeling human again, after she cut off about 5-6 inches of hair. It is now just below my shoulders so I can still pull it back as need be. Oh, and I remembered the bird seed but not the cat litter, so I'll add it to the list for my grocery day next week. 

Of course, I've been watching curling too. The men's provincial events for both Manitoba and Alberta have been streaming on You-tube. I haven't watched all the games, as I don't know several of the teams. I've managed to catch two or three draws a day, with the most interesting game last night. I went to bed at what I thought was the end of the game, assuming a certain team had lost. When I checked the scores this morning I discovered they had not, and had won in the extra end. Huh...I saw the last shot of the 10th? So I pulled up the video and discovered that a measure had determined they had the shot rock after all, and tied the game, which meant an extra end. They stole a point and won and are off to the play-offs against another popular team. That game will be played this evening, and you can bet I won't go to bed until the winner is declared. :)

Today will be much the same, some curling - Manitoba games are starting up in a few minutes, some stitching, some housework between draws, and maybe a bit of knitting. I'm sure I'll have the sun room open for the cat later today, as our temperature is expected to reach the freezing point. With the sun streaming in, the room warms up nicely. I may even take my laptop (the WiFi works there) and my stitching and join him.

Have a great weekend everyone!

In memory of Grandpa

This post is likely not of much interest to my readers, so feel free to skip if you like. I'm preparing some information for my extended family and thought I'd add it to the blog.

Today is the 123rd anniversary of my maternal grandfather's birth. Born in Huron County, Ontario, John W. Stewart was the fourth of nine children born to Hugh and Elizabeth Stewart. For some reason, he wasn't given a middle name, just an initial. 

The entire family moved to Bratt's Lake, Saskatchewan in 1912. His father was a grain buyer at a grain elevator nearby. There were several elevators operating at the time, and I'm not certain which company he worked for.

Most of the following information is taken from a history of the family published in the town's history book.

When Grandpa was old enough to enlist, he followed his older brother to Vancouver to join the Northwest Mounted Police, however unlike Alex, Grandpa decided it wasn't for him. He had been assigned to the docks in Vancouver, and when he received word that his father had been badly injured in an accident, it was a good excuse to buy his way out of the service and he returned to Saskatchewan. 

While working as an orderly in the Weyburn Mental Hospital, he met Mary Jordan and the two were married in Oct. 1927. Nan was a nurse working at the Weyburn General Hospital at the time. After they married, the couple moved to Saskatoon. Work was difficult to find, so Grandpa worked as a taxi driver and Nan cooked at a restaurant.

Their first child, my mother, was born in Saskatoon in Dec. 1928. The small family planned to move to a homestead near Snowden, Saskatchewan in 1930, but spent the winter in a rental house in Nipawin, where their second child was born. That spring, the family headed for the homestead where the land had to be cleared for planting. The logs were used to build a small barn and a one roomed house. Two more children were born while they lived there, the last in a nearby town hospital. 

In 1935, Grandpa had had enough of farming and moved his family to Nipawin. He occupied himself by hauling grain for local farmers, sold lumber on consignment in the cities for local planers, and hauled firewood into town for winter heating. Later, he purchased a truck, built a gravel box and went into road construction. During the war years, Nan went back to work as nurse at the local hospital, as Grandpa wasn't well and they needed the income.

Grandpa and Nan, along with the assistance of their children and a family friend, built a house in Nipawin. Initially the family camped out in the garage, and moved into the unfinished house in the fall. A ladder was used to climb to the second floor, and if one looked down while climbing, they'd see clear through to the basement.

I assume, some time after the house was finished his parents lived there too. His mother passed away in 1944, and his father in 1949. I recall my mother telling me her grandmother was bedridden in an upstairs bedroom before she passed. 

By 1956, their children were grown and living away from home and the couple decided to try the oil patch in Alberta. Grandpa bought a water truck and they stayed there for 11 years. (This is a point I don't agree with. I started school in 1965 and I recall walking to and from their house for lunch each day until I was in Grade 3.)

Grandpa continued to work for a number of years as a gas jockey for a couple of car dealerships. Sadly, he suffered a stroke in 1971, and when Nan passed away suddenly in May 1972, our family moved from the farm to town to live with him for several months. He had several more strokes, and due to the level of care required he was moved to the nursing home less than a year later. He passed away in July 1976.

All of this information tells you what Grandpa did, but not much about who he was. I was only 17 when he passed away, but I have early memories of him. When we were children, he and Nan used to come to the farm most Sunday afternoons for dinner. Grandpa always called us kids, rats and I took to calling him mouse as I got older. Somehow I thought that was funny, :p. 

After dinner, Grandpa always took a nap on the couch - I think it was his way of getting out of helping with the clean up of the kitchen. Heaven help the child who disturbed his sleep. Once awake, he and Nan would head back into town. I don't recall him every playing with us and there was never a hug. In fact, neither he nor Nan were demonstrative, even with their own children.

Grandpa didn't seem to keep a job very long throughout his life, always chasing a new venture, and his time in the oil patch - however long that was - would have been unusual for him. There are family rumours (not confirmed) that at one point, my mother was supporting her parents when she got her teaching certificate. I do know Grandpa and Nan, when they left for Alberta, had divided the house into apartments that were let out. Before that, my mom and dad lived with them for a period of time before we moved to the farm. There was still one apartment on the main floor that became my parents bedroom when we moved there so mom could care for her dad.

Grandpa wasn't necessarily a "fun" grandparent. He certainly never played a game with us, but he was a constant in our lives. He liked to tease us and we could count on a Christmas gift of a $2 bill.  Sadly, after suffering a number of strokes, he became cantankerous and would yell at us for "making tracks" in his carpet. However, we had the whole upstairs of the house in town to ourselves so could avoid him when he was in a bad mood. 

By the time he passed away, his dementia was so severe he no longer remembered any of his family. He often thought mom was Nan, and would ask her "who the hell are those kids" pointing to the photos of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren on the dresser in his nursing home room. Yet, he could remember in great detail things that had happened back in the '30's and 40's. He'd often tell mom that he'd been out all night working on one project or another. I visited the nursing home once about a year before he passed away, and found it so disturbing I didn't return. 

In any event, he was a big part of my early childhood, and I often wish we would have had a few more years to get to know one another.

I believe this photo would have been taken in the late 60's. He definitely was a dapper fellow. 

Winter of my discontent

Have I mentioned recently how much I dislike winter? It's only mid-December and I'm already tired of shovelling snow, bundling up in a parka, mitts, and toque just to take out the garbage, chapped lips and dry hands...  Well, you get the picture. We had a couple of reasonable winter days, meaning overcast, not too cold, and no snow.  However, on Wednesday, a Colorado low moved in from the southeast, and another storm came from the northwest. Here in the city we didn't get as much as other areas did, but there was another 3 inches on the ground when I got out of bed Thursday morning. I had shovelled the inch or so that accumulated by Wednesday afternoon when I returned home after the stitch and chat.

Alright whine over...nothing I can do (yet) or anyone else can do to keep this from happening. I did enjoy our stitch and chat this week; S has returned from Arizona and the lady (Io) I've been meeting with, while she was away was there too. Poor S, she arrived back in Regina the day that the windchill hit -48C. Things haven't improved much, as her car wouldn't start, the picture on her television has gone wonky, and some forms she had sent into to a provincial department were rejected because her cover page said 16 pages, and there were 17 attached because one page was duplicated. You'd think someone on the receiving end would be able to remove the duplicate, but apparently not, and she has to resubmit the documents.

She brought along a couple of knitting pattern books she no longer needs/wants and gave them to me. The patterns are lovely, meant for older children (8-16) and adults. I'm sure I'll be able to use them as Eli keeps growing. Funny that! S also brought a piece of knitting (a UFO) that was tucked away in her closet in Arizona. She had lost the pattern, but we were able to identify it as the moss stitch and with a Google search had the pattern figured out. Io was was finishing sewing buttons on kitchen towels, and then brought out her embroidery. She's making a set of tea towels that are likely to be gifted to her granddaughter.

I had my crocheting with me. I pulled a couple of balls of yarn from the stash and started working on a lap blanket. I'm not a fan of the colors but I need to use up the stash and they do look bright and cheerful together. 

The sugar cookies and red velvet mini-cupcakes were iced and decorated early one morning. Two of the sugar cookies broke as I was working on them, so they and a cupcake were that morning's breakfast. Breakfast of champions? Probably not. :) On the weekend, I had finished the peppermint sandwich cookies. They're tasty, but not nearly as good as my sugar cookies. I'm not sure what I did differently but man, oh man, are they good. 

I've finally caught up on my updates on Ancestry this week. I was thinking I might cancel my Newspapers.com subscription but received notice that they've added a number of additional newspapers from Scotland. I'm hoping I might find mention of some of my ancestors, though it is much like looking for a needle in a haystack with the last name of Stewart. Recently, I picked up a book "Online Genealogy", which I've skimmed and I think may help me identify other sources for searching. At the moment, my hopes are pinned on DNA testing. My adult children purchased the kit for me as a Christmas gift, and it arrived a couple of weeks ago. I've mailed it off and received an e-mail this week that it has arrived at the lab. Results are expected with 6-8 weeks. I'm hoping against hope that this information might be the key to finding the links to origins of various family members.

The other (and much more exciting) thing I worked on this week was preparing for my January cruise. My travel agent L and I had a chat Thursday morning and went through her checklist of things for me to remember and consider. She is truly amazing and is so detailed oriented. L was concerned about my airline e-tickets as they have my first name and only my initial for the second name. This doesn't match my passport which has both full names. We went through the list of things to be saved to my phone and items I need or want to have in printed form as well. I was a bit ahead of her on that as I had the printouts and had updated the electronic documents before our call. 

I made a call to the airline and confirmed my full name is in their system, but the tickets will show only my first name and initial. To be certain, I asked the agent several times, and she confirmed it will not be an issue at the counter. My next call was to the hotel to confirm my reservation. I booked through Airmiles, a third party booking system, and wanted to be certain there was no hiccup. Several years ago, I had used Airmiles to book a New York hotel, only to learn on arrival that they had no reservation for me. I had to pay $400 room for the night. On returning home I contacted Airmiles and eventually learned that the booking had been made for February instead of September! They reimbursed me for the cost of the room, but I'll never book again without following up directly with the hotel to confirm.

I pulled out the suitcase and carry-on bag, and went through my summer and "cruise" clothes. Yes, I have certain items I only wear when I'm cruising. I'm hard on my everyday clothing, so I keep some nicer pieces for my trips. This is a 14 day cruise, with an added travel day at the beginning - I always fly in a day ahead, in case there are delays. I've learned to pack enough clothing for 7 days, along with a few nicer items for evening wear, not including the travel day clothing. The ship has a DIY laundromat that I'll use on a sea day. We have eight sea days and four ports and full day transiting the canal. I do enjoy sea days! One port that was initially on the itinerary, Nicaragua, was cancelled - no reason given, but I hadn't planned to get off the ship there anyway. It would been a long bus ride to the nearest city and none of the posted excursions looked particularly worth the travel time and money to me.

Friday, I ran out to pick up a few groceries to get us through the next few days, and more cat food and bird seed. The birds and the squirrels have been inhaling the seed and at least one rabbit is enjoying the feed too. He/she leaves behind evidence of their visit. It was out in the front yard the other day - looks pretty healthy doesn't it?

No curling streaming this week, though there is an event in Japan that I'll be keeping my eye on for the scores. I'm planning to relax this weekend, watch some sports, catch up on PVR'ed television, and continue crocheting the lap blanket. I better not have to shovel any more snow! Shouldn't have to, as the weather forecast is for more cold weather. I'll end this post as I started...I hate winter!

Have a good week ahead everyone.

Winter plans to stay

My guess is winter is here to stay. The storm that blew in on Sunday left about 8 cms (3 inches) on the ground, and another storm dumped another 7 cms. (2.75 inches) on Monday afternoon. I shovelled both Monday and Tuesday; the photo from wordless Wednesday is the aftermath of my efforts. AND then it got cold! By Thursday morning, I awoke to a temperature of -21C (-6F).  That's more like late January or February temperatures. It didn't warm up much by noon when this screen shot was taken. 

According to the weather forecast we're stuck in this weather for at least two weeks. You know I'll be whining and complaining about it too.

I've bundled up every morning to feed the birds, and the squirrels. One morning I had three squirrels at the feeder and another six Hungarian partridges. The squirrels aren't as afraid of me as I wish they were, and the partridges made me laugh. When I came out of the house, they scooted around the sunroom out of sight. When I'd filled the feeder and back in the sunroom, I looked out to the partridges had raced back to the feeder. Since I know they are around I spread some of the seed on the ground. They do fly, but the feeder isn't set up for that size of a bird.

As a result of the weather I spent most of my time indoors. I didn't go to stitch and chat on Wednesday, but I did get some crocheting done. I'd finished the scarf I was working on earlier in the week, so decided to play with some of the yarn I'd used for the Rudolph. I've finished two of these "cups of hot chocolate", one I plan to keep and the others will be a gift for my brother and his wife. I just need to add the hanger for the tree. I've got another pattern to use a bit more yarn that I'll work on this weekend.

Even though it was cold, I needed groceries so headed on Thursday morning. In addition to regular items, I was picking up supplies for Christmas baking, and the ever needed cat food and bird seed. While it was more than my usual spend, it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. There were some decent sales out there and the fridge, freezer, and pantry are again stocked up. Saku (the cat) and the birds should be happy too.

In other news, my younger brother has Covid. His son K tested positive last week, so I'm pretty certain he passed it on to R. While his wife and daughter have had it previously, R has avoided it until now. We've been texting back and worth this week and he's definitely not feeling well. He told me Thursday that the day prior was a 2 and that day was a 2.5 but at least he wasn't in hospital or at work. They live on an acreage, with horses, a dog (or dogs depending on whether K's dogs are there) and two cats. R has continued to haul hay to feed the horses and take the dogs for walks. Normally he runs, but on Thursday he only managed a 1/4 mile with them. That's how I know for certain he was feeling poorly. He has seen a bit of improvement each day, but it's a slow recovery.

When I haven't been crocheting, I've been working more on Ancestry and I've been in touch with a couple of distant cousins. One of these cousins lives in Quebec, where my paternal grandparents were born and raised. She is the great-great granddaughter of my great-grandfather's brother. It's a community I've always wanted to visit, perhaps one day she and I will meet.

On Friday, I started to watch the Remembrance Day ceremonies being held in Ottawa but made it only 10 minutes in before the host of the show annoyed me. She kept asking what people were thinking about. I'm pretty sure I could have answered for all of them - they were thinking about those who sacrificed their lives or health to fight in the two World wars or other conflicts so that we can enjoy the rights and freedoms they fought so hard to protect. Instead I did some laundry and thought about my uncles, Wilfred and Robinson who went overseas in the WWII. Uncle Wilfred was gassed, broke his legs while Uncle Bob contracted tuberculosis. I knew the story of the two of them ending up in back in Saskatchewan at the same hospital. 

What I didn't know until I found a newspaper article is they were both on the same ship and then hospital train that brought them home from overseas. Wilf had written a couple of letters to Bob, addressing the letter to his last post in Holland, and when they were returned to the hospital, the brothers learned the other was there as well. Uncle Wilf was quoted as saying about his injuries, "All I know is that I was hit by something while on patrol New Year's Eve. I've been told that it was a jeep that got me." He never spoke of the war, so I had no idea how his injuries ocurred.

Today I awoke to another cold day, -20C (-4F). The birds were waiting in the neighbour's tree for me when I went out to feed them, and made short work of the seeds. I don't think the squirrels got any this day. Though the sun is shining, it's another day to stay indoors and stay warm. I've got DVR'ed television to watch, I'm playing on Ancestry, and when I get bored with that I'll start another crochet project or work on Eli's sweater.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

The future, the present and a look at the past

Thank you all for your kind words regarding my back pain. I've had a follow-up with my chiropractor and we both agree I'm back to 80% or more. Every day I'm seeing improvement. Moving from a sitting or lying position is still somewhat painful but I'm getting there and once I'm up and mobile I'm good to go. I'm also continuing to take an anti-inflammatory every morning and use the RubA535 ointment for pain relief. I didn't do a whole of lot of anything this week, but did continue to stay active by walking frequently during the day. 

On Monday I went out to Walmart to pick up a few needed grocery items, milk and fruit. While I was there I also got the goodies for the Halloween trick or treaters. The box of mini chocolate bars and box of chips are tucked away in the garage for now. I couldn't find one of the items I wanted so stopped at the Co-op on the way home where I picked up a few more items. We should be good for the next ten days or so.

Tuesday was an exciting day, not for anything I actively did but because it was time to make final payment on my next cruise. The photo from Wednesday was taken from the cruise company website of the Island Princess navigating through the Panama Canal. I booked this cruise in April 2021, hoping against hope that the pandemic would be over and life be back to semi-normal. I guess I was almost right.

The cruise I'll be on is a 14 day cruise sailing from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles with a full transit through the canal. We also have stops in Columbia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Huatulco, and Puerto Vallarta. It is the first leg of the world cruise (111 days) leaving from Fort Lauderdale. I can't imagine a cruise of that length, and reading about passengers dealing with Visa's and the like in various countries makes me content to be on the shorter cruise. Just about 90 days to sail-away!

When we reach Los Angeles, I expect there won't be a whole of passengers disembarking. It should make for an easy transfer to the airport for my flight home. The other thing that will be quite different for me is the size of the ship. The Island Princess has capacity for just around 2200 passengers and 900 crew. In comparison, the smallest ship I've been on previously had over 3000 passengers and 1200 crew. (Basically the size of the town when I was growing up). The larger ships are too big to go through the old locks. 

Back to the mundane, on Wednesday I managed to get some floors mopped before I settled in to watch the first of a Jays baseball double header. When I left for my stitch and chat group the Jays were leading but the Orioles rallied and one for the first game. Stitch and chat was good, with six of us there working on various projects. D was back this week and we had a great chat about the Panama cruise. She's done the route twice before so had a few ideas for me. 

Thursday morning dawned cold with a temperature of -5C (23F). It never got warmer than 8C (46F) and while I should have gone out to pull the remaining annuals I left them for one more night. It was chilly out there and I was procrastinating. Most the plants looked fine on Thursday morning but after an even colder night into Friday morning, the geraniums and ivy that I meant to bring indoors are done, and my impatience is finished too. The marigolds and petunias were still looking decent, but I had to pull them before the soil in the pots froze solid.

The other activity that has been keeping me busy is a return to Ancestry website. I had paused my membership and re-started it late last week. I signed on and found over 600 hints waiting for me. This doesn't include the 400-500 hints I had identified through Newspapers.com while I was able to view Ancestry but not update. It's going to take some time to complete the revisions and add new information. 

One of the new individuals, was the great niece of my 3X great grandfather. Alice May was born in Quebec in 1885. She married sometime between 1901 and 1905 when her oldest child was born. Five more children were born between 1907 and 1914 including a set of twins; sadly none of her children lived to see their first birthday. At some point, her husband remarried and had two surviving children and he passed away in 1949. No 1921 census records are available for Alice May or her husband, though I did find a voter's list for 1940 and discovered she was living with her mother and sister in Montreal.  The last document I've accessed was a border crossing from 1945, when at the age of 60, Alice May went to visit a male friend in Detroit, Michigan. I've had no luck in finding this friend, as his name is very common, and she seems to have disappeared after this point in time. 

One can't happen but wonder what happened to Alice May. She suffered many losses, her children and her husband when she was a young adult. She clearly supported herself as she is listed as a servant in 1940, and a cook in 1945 on the border crossing declaration. Whether she returned to Canada or remained in the U.S. is a mystery with no conclusion. Perhaps as more records are made available, the end of her story will be revealed. 

I won't end this post on that solemn note, so will drop in a couple of photos from this week.

I've finished two scarves in the past ten days or so, both crocheted, and a pair of knitted mitts. I have a toque/beanie started in the same color of brown, and a baby dress from skein of yarn that's been in my stash for a long time. There aren't too many more bits and pieces of yarn left in the tub.

This is photo of the trees in my back yard on Friday morning. As I mentioned we had frost overnight in Thursday and Friday. I was doing dishes on Thursday afternoon, and noticed the trees were dropping their leaves, even without a wind. It seems they just changed colour over the weekend and they've both lost most of the leaves in just a 24 hour period. 

I did get the containers cleared out on Friday afternoon, after the curling and baseball game, and before the football started. The patio furniture was put away, and all the containers stored in various places in the yard or small shed for the winter, along with the garden hoses. It all looks so bare now with the exception of the perennials in the front flower bed. I'll cut those back in the spring. 

Today is going to be quiet day. A little baseball, a little football, and some knitting. To my Canadian readers, Happy Thanksgiving!

Mysteries and the mundane

First off, some words about my wordless Wednesday post. The book was published in 1985 by Powell River News, with an initial printing of 500 copies. I suspect that was the only printing and it was likely shared with family and friends. As I mentioned last week, it was written by a third cousin, Golden Stanley, who passed away less than a year after his memoirs were published.

17 Dec 1917, The Vancouver Sun

He was born in 1910 in Vancouver, B.C. and moved with his parents in 1916 to the Horseshoe Valley, where they set up a homestead. Golden describes the trek from Vancouver, first by steamship to Powell River, followed by a train, a small dory boat, and finally a long walk through muskeg to reach his uncle's small shack. Their journey took several days and was made more difficult by rain and snow. 

Within months his father had cleared the land and built a home for the family on their homestead and they were able to move to more comfortable digs. Golden went on to describe the pets they had over the years (all who seem to have met with horrible ends), the large garden his mother planted and harvested each year, the foods they ate, the quirks and peculiarities of their neighbours, and the family activities outside of their daily life.

As I was reading the almost 90 pages, I was mindful of the title "Pitlighting Through Conscription" and was most curious to gain an understanding of its meaning. However it was never explained, and the words pitlighting (used twice) and conscription (used once) never appear in the text in the same sentence or paragraph. Based on the context in the book and a definition I located on the web indicates pitlighting is the practice of using bright lights to blind an animal temporarily to provide an easy target in night hunting. It was an illegal practice back then as it is today. The word conscription appears in a latter chapter and seems to partially explain the rationale for the family (and others) who moved to valley may have been to allow the men to avoid joining in the war effort. Though the timing doesn't appear to make this a concern in the earliest years. It was only after much debate, the Military Service Act was passed in August 1918, requiring all male citizens between the ages of 20 and 45 subject to military service for the duration of the war. Thus, I can claim no real understanding of how or why the title was chosen but it obviously had some meaning to Golden Stanley. 

While the story was interesting, it provided little in way of family knowledge that I can use for my research. However, I've spent some time on Ancestry, the newspapers website, Facebook, and Google looking for other family members. Golden was an only child, who had one son who passed away in 2014. There are two grandchildren, one with a very unusual name (that always helps the research). My goal is to make contact to offer the book to a family member. I've located a telephone number for a grandson and plan to reach out over the weekend. 

Beyond that it's been a pretty quiet week. Housework needed doing, (again, pesky stuff!), I did some errands and grocery shopping on Wednesday, and I even got off my butt and did more caulking in the new basement room. I've still got more to do, in the bedroom, laundry room, and bathroom. Next week, maybe as the weather heats up?

We had more rain early in the week and it was cool. Three of the nights the temperature dropped below 10C (50F). That's August weather. Friday started out a little cool but with a forecast of 28C (82F) I was out watering, weeding and mowing early in the day. By 11 a.m. I was dirty, sweaty, and ready for a break. My daughter called and after a brief conversation I cleaned up, made my lunch and went back to the deck. I took my latest book, Belva Plain's "Fortune's Hand" to read. It's what I call a summer read, light fare and no need to think too hard.

Back indoors for the afternoon, I sat on the couch and read for a bit but it wasn't long before I felt myself nodding off. I set an alarm for 30 minutes and the next I knew it was buzzing. I guess I needed it. That evening our Riders had a game against the BC Lions (they lost) but before that I kept an eye on a couple of baseball games. Just a tad bit annoying, the Jays game was only being streamed on Apple TV so I could only keep an eye on the score. With the sports on television, I've been working away on my knitting - I'd hoped to finish the back piece last weekend. Ha! Maybe this weekend; I am getting close.

This morning I headed back outdoors to do some tree trimming. I need to finish the waterproofing of the fence in the back and several branches need to be removed. I discovered, too, that a smaller bush had a lot of dead branches so those were cleared out too. And then there were the branches that overhang the lawn. Since I'm short in stature I tend not to notice them but I had the clippers out so several were lopped off. The debris filled a large garbage bag and now my mower and wheelbarrow are tucked away nicely near the trees.

I'm about to sit down to watch the Blue Jays baseball (and knit) so I'll leave you with a couple of photos from the back yard.

My peppers are doing exceptionally well. Both plants are covered in peppers. One of the plants is a red pepper and I think this is it. (I'd have to look at the tag to be certain. 

The second photo was taken from my chair on the deck as I relaxed after my efforts on Friday. My happy place!

Have a great week ahead everyone!

P.S. The container of petunias on this level of the deck got a hair cut recently and is just starting to bloom again. It was getting leggy and looking very untidy.