CANADIAN REGION:What are you doing October - December 2018

sanderson, I did not think of rabies, but I believe it is very rare where we are and I have never heard anyone suffer from it.

The tetanus shot is common. My ankle is still a bit swollen and tender but I am able to get around. Cannot wear a high sided shoe yet.

TD. The dog is medium size,and has not bitten anyone else and yesterday as I was walking up the road to my home my neighbour had the two dogs with him and this dog lunged at me but luckily he had a firm hold on the leash. He was looking after it for the day for his girl friend. He did look a bit embarrassed.

WE are having some wonderful weather here, zero to start the morning and then lovely sunshine to enjoy the fall leaves of all colours.  Cannot mow the lawn as it is too wet all day; season of mists and mellow fruitfulness etc. A lot of fog in the early morning.

Definitely the end of the Fall sun now for a whole week of rain. I will never get that last cut of the lawn that I wanted.

I had to get some more anti-biotic medication for my foot as it started to get a little swollen and sore again.  I should have had more but I  did not think to ask what now after the first three days of meds. All should be well now as after one day it is already feeling better. Four more days to go.

Do take care of that foot! The older we get, the slower the blood circulation in the lower extremities.

Not much doing in the garden right now as too much rain has made it rather hard to shred leaves etc.  I have several bags waiting but I seem to be busy doing something else whe the sun does shine.

Snow on the mountain passes so we watch the snow lin on the surrounding hills coming lower day by day, something I was never able to do in the low-lying area where I lived in Bedfordshire,  England,  where standing on a hill 100 feet elevation one could see for miles.

How is your foot KJ?

trolleydriver wrote:How is your foot KJ?

 It is nearly four weeks now, TD, and still not quite healed completely so I have to be careful not to knock it against anything and there is still a little swelling but is is getting better, slowly.

But it has made me rather wary of strange dogs now, as I had a little jolt the other day when I went to collect the leaves from my neighbour and her dog was off leash and ran at me and started barking and I must admit it rather scared me.  I explained to her why I acted a bit scared was because of the suddenness of it. She was concerned but no harm done, the dog was doing its job but was not dangerous. It was a little dog.

KJ, My dear, please take care. Foot health gets harder to maintain with each year. It's strange to me that all cities and towns don't have leash laws, but that is a local prerogative. Thank goodness most dogs are friendly or well behaved.

Our first snow of the season here in British Columbia. As usual it looked pretty. falling down most of the day.  One or two degrees increase in temperature and it will all melt away. I hope.

My heart breaks for California.

Thank you, KJ.

How near are the fires to you, sanderson?

200 miles from the southern Woolsey Fire and maybe 300 miles from the northern Camp fire. The Woolsey Fire has filled the North Valley and my Central (southern) Valley. The sky was "cloudy" looking but it was really smoke blotting out the sun. I was suppose to drive up to Sacramento Sunday for my birthday dinner and cake with the kids but we have pushed it back to Monday, maybe Tuesday. Their smoke up there is horrible, worse than mine, as they are maybe only 100 miles from the Camp Fire. I don't do wild fire smoke very well. Hey, I am almost 70.

I feel for you sanderson as i know how the smoke can hang around for weeks at a time and it can get very depressing.

I know I mentioned snow, but snow beats fire every time.

So many people every where are losing everything and things will never be the same again for those that lose all.  It will take a generation for family to be normal. the children to be who will have know nothing different.

At the moment I am really getting rid of a lot of the clutter I have gathered since my husband died and I am cheerfully making decisions about what to  save and what to give away or trash. That is because I want to do it.  But to have that decision taken away from me by fire is certainly a different situation.

Take care, my friend.

This morning we are watching on TV the Remembrance Day service at the War Memorial in downtown Ottawa. We should have gone to be there in person but a family matter prevented that. Sunny and very cold day. Amazing to see some of the vets especially the old ones from Second World War. And of course this is the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI. Lest We Forget.

Poem by Canadian poet, soldier and physician John McCrae.


In Flanders Fields
By JOHN MCCRAE

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
    That mark our place; and in the sky
    The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
    Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
        In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
    The torch; be yours to hold it high.
    If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
        In Flanders fields.

TD: I have been watching the Remembrance Service from Ottawa and I was very impressed with the singing of "In Flanders Fields" sung by the Ottawa Children's Choir.

You might like the version below, based on John Macrae's poem in memory of the seamen.

IN WATERS DEEP

In ocean wastes no poppies blow,
No crosses stand in ordered row.
There young hearts sleep...beneath the wave...
The spirited, the good, the brave.

But stars a constant vigil keep
For them who lie beneath the deep.
'tis true you cannot kneel in prayer
On certain spot and think, "He's there".

But you can to the ocean go...
See whitecaps marching row on row.
Know one for him will always ride...
In and out... with every tide.

And when your span of life is passed
He'll meet you at the "Captains' Mast."

And they who mourn on distant shore
For sailors who'll come home no more,
Can dry their tears and pray for these
Who rest beneath the heaving seas...

For stars that shine and winds that blow
and whitecaps marching row on row,
And they can never lonely be
For when they lived...they chose the sea.

by Eileen Mahoney

Both versions are touching.

December has arrived and nothing much going on in the garden except that I visalise the compost heap teeming with the worms tucked in the heart of it, doing their job continuously with out sleeping. Do worms sleep? When ever I have looked they always seem to be moving around.

The wood chips I have laid down recently I can imagine that something there is always going on.

So far only the one fairly small snowfall that disappeared within a few days but  I still have my new boots at the ready.  The one day I wore them showed me that I had good traction on the slippery slope that is my tunnel entrance to our Down Town.

I read somewhere the other day that it was 170 days to spring, so now each day gets nearer to that lovely season of rebirth. I celebrate Winter Solstice as then I know we begin to get our Sun back by a minute each day so that by the time my birthday comes we have another hour of daylight.

I also celebrate Christmas and this year I have a whole line up of things to do.  There goes my de-cluttering of my home as I know more stuff will accrue.

Anyone else in Canada doing any gardening?  All I am doing is adding to my compost pile and, as usual, wishing I had done more in preparing the garden for winter so as to give me a good start in the spring.  I do have garlic planted and some strawberries replanted for next year and all the wood chips i have been put in place under the old cherry tree to see if I can give it a re-birth like  did with my old apple tree  that rewarded me with such a bountiful harvest a couple of years later that I am still eating or giving away the proceeds.

Our snow is gone, can only see some on the mountains here.  Cold and sunny, little wind so pleasant for walking.  I am enjoying it while I can.

Kelejan wrote:. . . the slippery slope that is my tunnel entrance to our Down Town.

I'm surprised that the City doesn't have steel grates to set down on the slippery section. They can remove and store them when the snow and ice is gone.

I read somewhere the other day that it was 170 days to spring, so now each day gets nearer to that lovely season of rebirth. I celebrate Winter Solstice as then I know we begin to get our Sun back by a minute each day so that by the time my birthday comes we have another hour of daylight.

I also look forward to the Winter Solstice as it marks the slow return of more daylight. It also means that the rainy season is approaching so any last minute winter chores need to be wrapped up very soon.

The snow plows are out scraping up half an inch of snow.  Practice?

1/2"!

Kelejan wrote:The snow plows are out scraping up half an inch of snow.  Practice?

Ha!  Has to be...that is just not resource wise!

We have made up for it now, Scorpio and Sanderson as we had about six inches up to this morning and there is more to come in the coming days.

Yesterday the Recycling Wagon that collects the tin cans (not the paper) was so late that almost everyone had taken in their stuff to put it out again in two weeks time.
I heard it go by and alerted my neighbour further down the road to put hers out again.

Checked:  yes she was able to manage it by a few seconds.

Kelejan wrote:We have made up for it now, Scorpio and Sanderson as we had about six inches up to this morning and there is more to come in the coming days.

Yesterday the Recycling Wagon that collects the tin cans (not the paper) was so late that almost everyone had taken in their stuff to put it out again in two weeks time.
I heard it go by and alerted my neighbour further down the road to put hers out again.

Checked:  yes she was able to manage it by a few seconds.

Intersting!  Here, it went from 80s to 20s literally in a week and we have not looked back.  No Fall at all...we have had a few inches of snow, nothing significant.  Fingers  crossed! 
I just bought a 4x4 F150 truck, that I have had on my list since 2014...now I have to figure out how to pay for it.  I love it!!!!  No longer scared at snow.  I gave my daughter my car which is a nice Grand marquis.  Just need to get the snow tires on that rear wheel drive baby!!!

Nice, Scorpio, enjoy you new F150.

Today is sunny and bright, which means that the snow that has fallen has turned to ice and up my way we do not get much gritting or sanding of the road, and as I have to walk to town, it is rather dangerous and I do not like it at all, even  with my new boots.
That is the problem of living the wrong side of the tracks. 

It is only the winter that I do not like, the rest of the year I do enjoy living where I am.

Roll on spring and keep safe everyone.

Be careful on that ice KJ. I have already had a fall on our road. I went down and hit the back of my head on the ice. Did not sound nice when it hit. I have started to wear nonslip grabbers (spikes) that I can slip on to my boots.

My annual contribution to the preparation of foods for Christmas at our house is to bake mincemeat tarts. This is a throwback to my British heritage. What I make may not look pretty but they still taste really good.