This is Not Nice

Old Mother Nature sure spit out raspberries yesterday/last night.  The snow just kept coming, and coming.  Of course there is a real nice inch or two of ice under the snow so it is slippery as all get out.  The wind is still blowing quite strong which is putting a nice crust on the snow banks and slicking up the ice patches even more so.

Needless to say my papers didn’t arrive until 9:20 a.m. which makes it a bit difficult to get them delivered by 7 a.m.   While I was waiting I took the snow blower to my driveway and the sidewalks in my area.  I was going great guns until I sucked up a rock and it jammed the impeller.  That was the end of the snow blowing for the morning.  I did get the machine back into the garage and put a heater on it to melt some of the ice and snow so I could see what was wrong.  As soon as I saw the rock I knew I had found the problem.  Once I got a pry bar and a large hammer and removed the rock, then the blower was back in good shape once again. 

By the time I had the blower fixed I figured I’d better get down to the hall and clean off the walkway for the days traffic.  Lots of ice on the sidewalk so I used the scraper and got a fair amount removed.  I’ll pick up some salt today and get rid of the rest.  Right now with the wind blowing so hard there isn’t a lot of sense throwing salt on as it will just blow away.

After that I noticed my papers had just arrived so I headed out at 9:25 a.m for my normal 45 minute walk.  With all the nice slippery roads and snow drifts I didn’t get home until 10:45 a.m.  So 45 minutes took me 80 minutes today.  Of course with all the trudging through the snow, my legs feel like rubber.  I’m sure they’ll be a bit sore tomorrow.

Sandra actually had a appointment in the city today to see a therapist, but with the roads the way they are I just felt it was not worth it so I cancelled it.  I called the office and got another appointment early in November which is actually better for us.

As I’m typing this the sun actually popped out.  Hopefully it will stay out and melt a bit of this darn white stuff for us.  We can only hope anyway.  It will be soon enough that the snow will be here to stay though so we might as well get used to the idea.

Nasty Morning

We knew it was coming and that it was only a matter of time before it arrived.  We got our first taste of the upcoming winter over night.  It drizzled all day yesterday and as the day moved on it got cooler.  On my way home last night at about 10 pm I could definitely feel the bite in the air.

I was not surprised when I went out this morning at 5:45 am to find a skiff of the white stuff.  The wind was/is quite strong coming out of the northwest.  This didn’t make for a very nice last 1/2 kilometer walk home as I had to walk right into the wind.  It is snowing albeit sort of a pellet type snow, but with the strong winds the face takes a kicking when you are walking directly into it.

The weatherman says we should have this off and on all day today.  But of course it will warm up a bit and take all of this away.  It is our wakeup call to what is to come for the next 5 months or so

Foggy Morning

The fog was hanging quite thick over the town as I did my morning papers.  Of course after yesterday’s 7 mm of rain, the roads are a bit mucky, but the new gravel that was put on some of the streets certainly helps.  Another benefit of the little rain we had is that it settles the dust down.  With no rain for the last 2-3 weeks everything was powder dry and the least movement caused the dust to fly.

However, I guess we shouldn’t complain as the local farmers did need some dry weather to try and get their crops off.  There are some that will just have to wait until freeze up as the grounds are too wet still to drive on.

What a year for weather

Scary Thoughts

For the last week or so the sky around town has been full of geese. There is a field of peas just on the edge of town and the geese have found it and are delighted in filling up on the peas for their long jaunt south. Sometimes the air is just black (and white) with the geese trying to get the best landing spot checked out. Of course they are very vocal as well when they are trying to land and when they are landed and feeding.

The one strange thing I have found for the last couple of days is that when I'm heading out bright and early in the morning; I'm hearing chick-a-dees chirping away. Now what the heck are they doing this far south at this time of the year. Normally we don't hear/see them until the middle of winter when it gets too stormy in the north. We haven't even had a sniff of snow yet and in actuality the weather has been quite nice for the last couple weeks. No rain finally :)

I'm just hoping this is not a sign of what we are going to be in for this coming winter. Mind you the way our weather has been since last year, I certainly would not be surprised if we had a lot of snow and a long cold winter. Brrrrrrr

Is It A Rule?

I turned on the TV the other day and was presented with the weatherman from CTV Regina giving us the good news about the upcoming weekend. His name for those of you who don't watch this channel is J.C. Garden and goes by just JC.

So once the weather was done I switched over to Global Saskatoon to watch a bit of the sports. The sports cast announcer is Kevin JESUS.

I continued to watch a bit of national news on Global and the story was sent to 'the reporter in the field', Ross LORD.

Okay, what the hell is it with all these people having these names on the TV news?

I was tempted to channel surf around the channels to see if I could find Mary MAGDALENE out there somewhere broadcasting away, but that would be just too much for my feeble brain to try and digest at one sitting.

I did come to the conclusion that it must 'Be A Rule' to have a funky name if you are on the TV news, weather or sports.

It's Getting Better Every Day

It's not even the end of March yet and I saw and heard my first couple of robins this morning while out delivering the papers. They were just a singing away from the treetops. Mind you they may be singing to complain about the ground being too hard (ie frozen) yet to get any worms, but at least they are here.

After I saw the robins I took a good look around and holy smokes, the snow has almost disappeared. It is just unbelievable how fast the snow has melted. The other thing is that there is not that much water left around. That would gel with what I thought. We just didn't get very much snow this past winter and what we had didn't have a very high water content. I've already heard that sloughs that are normally overflowing at this time of year have hardly a trickle of water in them.

It could be a dry, dusty summer! But of course if we get some rain in the May/June timeframe it will change everything.

Not a darn thing you can do about it though, so you might as well just go with the flow :)

Still Not Spring Yet!

We went from +16 C yesterday, March 17th to -3 C (-9 C with the windchill) today. Believe me the wind seems to just blow right through you. Of course half the population is already switching over to lighter coats/jackets, no gloves, etc so it seems even colder than it really is. At least with the higher winds, the snow cover is disappearing quite quickly.

This morning while I was delivering the papers the puddles were not totally frozen as I so eloquently found out. I had to cross the ditch at one customers house and I stepped on the ice only to sink in over my ankle. This was just about the furthest out on my route, so needless to say I had a wet and soggy cold walk home for the return trip. At least the roads are drying up a bit.

Soon we will be complaining about the dust blowing around :)

Getting Close To Spring

For the last couple of days we finally have been getting a bit nicer weather. The sun is actually coming out and warming up everything. The snow is melting and the roads are getting muddy.

But today I got another first of the new spring year and that was while I was doing the papers this morning a lonely goose came flying over the town just a honking away. Now this isn't too unusual as there are geese that stay around the province all winter, just normally not in our neck of the woods.

This goose that winging by this morning was heading north at a good clip. So maybe it knows something we don't :)

Crappy End To The Year

With the announcement of 4 Slain Soldiers Identified the count for killed military members in Afghanistan rises to 138. This time there is also the additional death of a journalist to be reported on.

It is sad enough that our military members are being killed. They are serving their country and doing what their government tells them to do and go where they are told. However, the journalist personally chose to travel to Afghanistan and put herself in harms way. Lang's intentions were great and noble as she wanted to get the soldiers story out, however, Afghanistan is still a war zone and no place for civilians to be outside of the wire, journalist or not.

For myself, 2011 can't come soon enough. I don't really see that in 10 years time we in the West are going to see any difference in Afghanistan than there was prior to the start of this war. As soon as all the military leave, the Taliban will be right back in power and reverting to their revolting practices and way of living. I guess we in the West didn't learn anything from the Russians attempt to 'take control' of Afghanistan in the past.

Number 134 :(

Sadly Canada has lost another of our soldiers in Afghanistan as reported by the CBC in Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan.

This is the 134th military person to be killed in this conflict.

What a waste.

H1N1 Shots

Like a lot of people, I was betwicked and between whether we should get the H1N1 shot when it was available to us. Yesterday I had printed out and filled out a couple of consent forms and took them along when we went to the city today just in case. We did have some spare time so I drove to Prairieland Park and noticed there were not that many vehicles in the parking lot, so in we went.

With our forms all filled out, we scooted right through the initial line. Then you get to sit and watch about a 6 minute video on the H1N1 flu shot. From there you then got in line to await your turn to get your actual needle. This line took us about 45 minutes before we actually got to sit down and get our shots.

When we finally did get to the table to get our shot, the forms were scrutinized once again for correctness before we were given the shot. The young lady also wanted to ensure we didn't have the flu, or were sick in any way.

It was a bit funny in one aspect. On the 'Consent Form' you are asked "Are you/your daughter pregnant?". I of course checked off "NO" I am not pregnant. I also advised the young lady that I had no idea if my daughter was pregnant or not. It really isn't any of my business. But I did assure her that I was not pregnant in any way, shape or form.

With that all settled, the nurse gave us our shot and filled out our card. She then advised us that we both got the 'unadjuvanted' H1N1 flu shot. And here I thought that was the shot that was to be given to pregnant ladies. So maybe it wasn't all settled at all ?

We then got to sit and watch another video on the H1N1. You are supposed to sit and wait 15 minutes to ensure you don't get any side affects from the shot. From what I noticed, many people didn't wait 2 minutes and out they went. You can only hope they don't get a reaction once they have departed the building. We did in fact sit and watch the video and chat a bit and waited our 15 minutes before we departed.

All told it took just over an hour for us to get our shots. From some of the horror stories I have seen on TV lately, Saskatoon Health Region had planned very well for giving the shots. There were lot's of guides to show you where to go and what to do and all we came in contact with were very pleasant. Hats off to all the people involved.

Now if I can just get this pregant thing straightened out :) . . .

Add Another Death To The List

I always get the feeling when I read of one of our military members getting killed in Afghanistan that we are likely to have another death soon. The deaths seem to come in groups for some reason.

Yesterday the world was advised of the 133rd death of a Canadian military member in the story of Sapper Marshall remembered.

I can only hope the number stops at two and does not increase in total in the foreseeable future.

Poppy Time

It is that time of the year once again when we can 'officially' wear a poppy.

The Royal Canadian Legion dictates that the wearing of a poppy should only be worn during the Remembrance period, starting on the last Friday of October and ending at midnight on Nov. 11, or at other veteran-related special events. Of course civilians can and do wear poppies whenever they want. There is no law against this and to some people they feel it shows respect for our military all year long.

A few other reminders for 'Poppy' time as reported by CTV News in 2008 are as 'quote':

Poppy protocol:

- The poppy should be worn as close to the heart as possible or on the left lapel of the outermost garment.

- The poppy should only be worn during the Remembrance period, starting the on last Friday of October and ending at midnight on Nov. 11, or at other veteran-related special events.

- The poppy should never be defaced in any way including replacing its pin.

- An old poppy should never be reused. Appropriate disposal of the poppy is left to the discretion of each individual.

- Any poppies found lying on the ground would be best placed lying at the foot of a war monument or in a local cemetery.

Little known facts:

- Until 1996, poppies were handmade by veterans in Vetcraft workshops in Montreal and Toronto. The work provided a small source of income for disabled ex-service persons.

- While the traditional lapel poppy is the most popular, car models, large table varieties and metal pins are also available at most Legion branches.

- The centre of the poppy was originally black but was changed to green more than twenty years ago to represent the green fields of France. In 2002, it was changed back to black to reflect the actual colours of the poppies that grew in Flanders, Belgium.

- The poppy is an international "symbol of collective reminiscence."

- Poppies have been associated with those killed in combat since the Napoleonic Wars of the 19th century, more than 110 years before being adopted in Canada.

- Prior to the First World War, few poppies grew in Flanders. Trench warfare enriched the soil with lime from rubble, allowing "popaver rhoes" to thrive. When the war ended, the lime was quickly absorbed and poppies began to disappear again.

- In 1915, Guelph, Ont. native John McCrae, a doctor serving with the Canadian Forces Artillery, wrote about the poppy explosion in his famous poem In Flanders Fields.

- An American woman inspired by McCrae's poem wore the flower year round and exported the idea to Madame Guérin of France who sold the handmade poppies to raise money for poor children. Guérin later convinced friends in Canada to adopt the symbol as well. 'unquote'

The monies that local Legions make from the sale of the poppies and wreaths are used for the betterment and welfare of Veterans and their families in your local area. So the main thing is to purchase a poppy (or two, or three, or more), and wear them proudly during this time of the year (or all year if you are so inclined).

Lest We Forget

Loss Number 132 in Afghanistan

This morning we lost another military member in Afghanistan as reported by CBC in Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan.

Lt. Justin Garrett Boyes, 26, was killed when his foot patrol was hit by the blast of an improvised explosive device, at about 9 a.m. local time, 20 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City in Panjwayi district.

Boyes grew up in Saskatchewan and belonged to the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry based in Edmonton.

Increase The Count To 131

Sadly we are being informed of the 131th death of a Canadian Forces member this evening. Pte. Jonathan Couturier, 23 a member of 2nd Battalion, Royal 22e Regiment, based in Valcartier, Que., was killed when his vehicle detonated an improvised explosive device some 25 kilometres southwest of Kandahar city.

The Toll Is Now 130

Sunday appears to be a bad day for the Canadian military of late. Canadian soldier killed by IED blast in Afghanistan reports the death of another soldier on Sunday. This is only 1 week since we were last advised of 2 soldiers being killed on September 6th.

Even though the current soldier that was killed was announced immediately to the media the military had put an embargo on the news so the media could not report on the death until today.

The Toll Increases


Sadly we are hearing about two more Canadian military members being killed in Afghanistan. Bodies of 2 Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan head home

They were killed on Sunday when a roadside bomb hit their armoured vehicle.

129 Canadian soldiers have been killed serving in the Afghanistan mission since 2002.

Gorgeous Lake (and Harvest) Weather

We finally made the decision to 'make a break' for the lake last week. Even though I was offered weekend work at the Hardware, I decided to head north instead. I finished up my cleaning routines on Friday night and then only had the paper delivery for Saturday morning. Once the papers were delivered we hit the road.

The traffic was minimal so early in the morning as most of the major traffic travelling on Friday evening. We made great time and arrived at the cabin around 10:15 a.m. The weather got warmer the more we drove. The sun was out and the wind was down. Craig arrived about an hour and a half after us.

Craig and I got to work and put the chain saw to work and got some dead falls cut up for firewood. We then got a smoke going and sat around the fire and chatted the afternoon away. For supper we fired up the BBQ and had a steak, potato and trimmings. It was an early to bed evening as we both had been up bright and early.

Sunday was about the same, except I let Craig do the work and I just got to sit and supervise. The weather was just great and we wished we could stay, but of course I had papers bright and early Monday morning. We departed at 5:10 p.m. arriving home at 7:30 p.m.

It was just a nice little get away for a only a short time, but it was worthwhile. I'm not sure whether we'll get another chance this coming fall or not. It would be nice. I'm hoping I don't have to make a quick one day trip to draining the water and close up for the winter. With the long weekend coming up, maybe we'll get another chance to head north. The weather is supposed to be staying nice and warm.

We'll see...

Autumn in August

I was just walking home from downtown and noticed the chill in the air (temp 18.6 C). I also noticed that quite a few trees in the Cenotaph park have their leaves starting to turn yellow.

In the last day or so, the majority of the purple martins have headed for warmer climes. Mind you the martins usually leave about the 12-15th of August, so that isn't much new. Actually quite a few of the bird population appears to be on the decline and their absence is certainly noted. It sure is starting to look and feel a lot like fall outside.



But wait; it's only August 14th. What the heck happened to summer? I think I can probably count on one hand the number of nice hot days we have had since June this year. The weather has been windy and cooler than normal this year. When we are fortunate enought to get a nice hot day, you only get one of them and then it is right back into the windy, cooler days again.

I was planning on going to the lake this weekend but then I heard the forecast (rain and cool temperatures) and figured we might as well stay home. Good thing too as Kevin called and wants me to work the lumberyard on Saturday and Monday as he needs to pick up a load of lumber up Glaslyn, SK way.

I might as well work as it certainly doesn't appear to be a great weekend for any outdoors activities . . .

The Toll Increases By Two

CBC is reporting the death of two more of our Canadian troops in Afghanistan in 2 Canadian soldiers killed in roadside bomb blast on Saturday.

That brings the total deaths of military members to 127.