Political Pundits' Stupidity

I happened to look at a video of Rachel Notley making some comments about the Red Deer Hospital and the need for funding to upgrade and made the mistake of reading the comments below the article. There were 20 comments and only one was positive. The other comments showed the absolute ignorance of the writers not only about the positive benefits that have occurred over the last four years but also about the history of the previous 44 year regime of the Conservatives. Their legacy is appalling and Kenney’s plans are more of the same – regressive politics and spending, punitive measures to those who can least afford it (youth and service industry workers).

But what should I care since these idiots are only shooting themselves not in the foot but in their heads. Can anyone point out to me what the average person has gained through the Conservative government? The tax breaks have not come to the individual but to corporations and if you think that has meant more hiring you are in error once again.

People are complaining about the carbon tax but what you end up paying with this tax is minimal compared with Kenney’s promise to bring back health care fees. Gee, what would I rather pay – a tax that I can control via my consumption of natural gas or a fixed monthly fee of $50 for health care? Now that fixed fee would be $600 / year . . . my carbon tax works out to about $250 / year . . . but wait, I actually get all of that back because I am retired and therefore low income.

Just a tiny lesson on COSTS . . .

Sorry but I am a little incensed by these jerks’ comments – I decided to edit myself as I didn’t want to fall to their level.

Trucking On

As promised I want to give you an update on my 3 days into the new cancer treatment I am receiving. It works out to 8 pills a day (4 in the morning, one hour after breakfast and 4 after supper). The most common side effects are diarrhea, vomiting and / or fatigue. Others include rash, sore throat and mouth cankers.

So far I have not experienced anything in the way of the side effects they have mentioned.

I feel very lucky but several times a day I think about (and feel) the pain in my right side and ask the Good Lord to make the cancer go away either by remission or through this drug. I use all my positive thinking to push my little red and white blood cells to do their powerful work in combating this disease.

Staying positive and strong and using all the tools I know about may sound strange and hopeless to some folks but I truly believe that it all helps. The proof is in those who I know who have survived like my friend Wallace. Conversely my best friend’s brother died very quickly after being diagnosed because he completely gave up the fight. Well, I am not going to do that. I will be here for as long as the Good Lord will allow me to be . . . with my own positive beliefs assisting Him. 

Keep on truckin’ my friends.

Pumped Up and Ready to Go

Yesterday’s writing conversation got me really pumped up and ready to up my own game. I ended up starting tomato and pepper seeds in two big trays of starter plantings. The summer garden is on its way, yippee!

We are still in a deep freeze but it doesn’t mean that the mini-greenhouse can’t be moved into the sunroom and that is my challenge for today. I am not sure if I can wrestle with it on my own but if I have to take it in piece by piece, which will be today’s project. It’s a big one but it will be worth it to start my plants early while learning new techniques on how to make certain plants grow. I am glad I bought extra bags of potting soil last fall so I have a good head start of the garden centres.

When I was speaking with my treatment specialist last week he was quite surprised to learn how active I had been in my garden last summer and well into the fall season. Despite seeing him for 2 years he really does not know much about how I tick. I am so meek and submissive in his office that he doesn’t have a true sense of the Viking girl I really am. I am hoping that I will really surprise him with this new medication that I have started this week. I will write more about that as I get an idea of the side effects . . . so far so good.

Meanwhile I have a summer garden to plan and work towards. That is one of the projects Jeanette will be assisting me with in May. I can hardly wait.

Talk About What You Are Learning

I got a little pamphlet from Blue Cross a couple of weeks ago and I finally had some leisure time to read it. On one of the last pages there was a little note that said:

“Sharing what you’re learning not only reinforces the knowledge, but can also make a really interesting conversation. Taking the time to reflect on how you’re feeling and connecting with others will help you improve your overall well-being.”

As well there was another “Habits of connection” which said that every morning one should take 10 minutes to learn something new. “By building this habit into your morning routine, you start the day a little wiser and with an open mind.”

I am no slouch at talking in general and I often share my tidbits of new thoughts, ideas and philosophies as I go through my daily routine. Mom and John are probably the biggest beneficiaries of these moments but as my readers know I end up blogging about a lot of these things as well.

The worst thing anyone can do for themselves is to have a closed mind and be unreceptive to new ideas, thoughts or even conversation. On the other hand “when you connect with others in order to broaden your mind, learning becomes a lifestyle.” (Another quote from the last page of the Blue Cross pamphlet).

Mom also got the same pamphlet and she asked ‘what do I have to do with this?’ and I said ‘read it, that’s all you have to do’. I suspect that this did not happen so I am going to put it on her pillow tonight in order to raise the red flag. I am also sending out the red flag to my readers . . . ensure that you learn at least one thing every day, however tiny that one thing may be!

·         YouTube a recipe, technique for cooking (like say an omelette) or other learning lesson

·         Pinterest has great ideas for making mini gardens, cards, scrapbooks, all types of art, knitting, sewing, etc. There is bound to be something here to pique your interest

·         Read, read, read – whether it’s a magazine or a book, reading will always teach you something

·         Watching documentaries, nature channel, news, parliament news or even a blooming soap opera – if you have an open mind you will always learn something new

·         Listening to different types of music also opens up the mind

·         Meditation – open up your mind by being still, you will be amazed at what is inside yourself

·         Talk to your friends and family – the social interaction IS SO IMPORTANT – pick up the phone because someone is sure to be glad to hear from you

·         Stay positive and active

Giving a Monkey

Don’t you sometimes wonder how slang phrases and words came into being? Watching Coronation Street I have discovered a whole new world of weird and wonderful words and phrases. Forget about bangers & mash and ask “what the heck is a buntee”? I think it is some type of breakfast sandwich. And they don’t say “would you like a cup of coffee”, instead they said “want a brew” but is a brew coffee or tea? For the longest time I thought it was a beer (having been in the brewing of beer industry – LOL).

Then every once in a while my mother will come up with some never-before-heard phrase in the Danish language. She will argue with us and say “of course I’ve said it before” and John, Erik, Charlotte and I will all say “no way have you ever said that one before”. We are still bilingual in our home and we use lots of the old proverbs or Danish sayings like (translated) “those who will not listen will have to feel” and so forth. One day we got the shock of our lives when she told us that “neger sukker” (which is what we called brown sugar in Danish) actually meant “nigger sugar”. It seems odd to have been so ignorant but we were incredibly shocked and embarrassed and I just wonder if I ever used that term while I was visiting my family in Denmark (I really hope not). I know we are not supposed to use the “N” word but in this instance I think it is appropriate to recount the story without having to go totally P.C. (i.e. politically correct) since it was a high impact moment for us.

Another phrase they use on Coronation Street is “I don’t give a monkey” which is the same is “I don’t give a care (or crap, or whatever curse word may come to mind). I rather like the monkey instead although I can’t say I have used it yet. They also say “owt” which I think is “not” and they also say “our Anna” or whatever name but with “our” included – I suppose because there could be more than one Anna in town. It can take time to figure out what the heck they mean.

Slang can be fun but it can also be confusing and even kind of lazy language. I have a tendency to use long or “fancy” words but generally I use them when I feel I am in company with literate people who would / should know the vocabulary I am using. I don’t believe that I am ostentatious like that jerk Conrad Black who uses words that no one has ever run across in their wide reading (aka ME). J

Another thing we have going in our family is our continual use of film jargon . . . “60 foot of bridge I can get almost anywhere” (Kelly’s Heros), “horse is best” (The Quiet Man), “red is more durable” (The Quiet Man), “know your colours, know your fabrics” (Mermaids) – and so on.

Denmark, World War II and Xenophobia

The other day John mentioned a program he had watched which mentioned that there was a Danish outfit of SS, a fact which shocked me. I have looked for more information on Danes involved in the SS via Google but have not found anything which gives numbers – as I recall John said there were about 6,000.  It’s not a lot but it’s still a lot more than I had any idea of.

As a Dane I have taken pride in Denmark’s role in rescuing their Jews and I have often cited the book “Countrymen” by Bo Lindgaard as a definitive work on this matter. But as the old Proverb says “Pride goeth before a fall”. I write this forward so you can see where my mindset is; I feel that I am a very tolerant and understanding person who does not want to discriminate against a people.

I can, however, be judgmental on an individual level against persons and to that end I would like to give you my take on this Shamima Begum.  I have seen several interviews with her and I have listened to political discussions regarding her. My take is that she is radicalized, has no remorse and is in fact a danger to her native born country. I feel that the British Government has done the correct thing in denying her entry into the UK since I believe she has the potential to radicalize others and cause trouble inside the UK. I listened very carefully to two experts who were on Amanpour & Co. last night and their consensus was that she was indeed a danger to the UK.

So how can a 19 year old woman be a danger . . . well, she says herself that she was fully cognizant of what she was getting into when she left the UK at age 15 to marry an ISIS fighter and in the interview she says the bombing in Manchester was no different that the women and children being bombed in Syria. I found when listening and looking at her that she had zero empathy for the Brits, and I mean ZERO EMPATHY. To me that is a big red flag that says this woman has no feelings except those in which she has become immersed in through the radicalization process. I am by no means and expert on this, but I am very good at reading people and I feel certain that she is a definite danger.

I feel very sad that there are many people like Shamima out there who may never recover their sanity and empathy for ALL PEOPLE.

I really cannot say what is going to become of our world in this cesspool of xenophobia and refusal to understand or even listen to each other. It is worrisome, sad and wrong.

Did You Know?

When we were still in school my father would sometimes play a game with us wherein he would ask us if we knew the name of the most expensive hat in the world (Borsalino), who was the most famous designer (Coco Chanel), where was Istanbul (Turkey) and so on. Just little quizzes to test our more obscure knowledge. We also played a game both my parents had played when they were younger and which is still fun today.

You take a piece of paper and at the top you put the categories:

GIRL NAME, BOY NAME, FLOWER, ANIMAL, CITY, COUNTRY (I seem to remember there was a 7th category but I do not recall it at the moment)

Each category is divided by a line down the paper and then one of the players chooses a letter of the alphabet; then it’s “go” and we have to write down something in each category that starts with that letter (N is really hard on the animal side). The first person who finishes calls “stop” and we have to stop. Then we say our answers – if no one has the same name you get 10 points, if there’s a duplicate you get 5 points and of course if you have nothing its zero. It’s a lot of fun and even the adults enjoy playing it in our house.

Another game we played was “Categories” where we would sit in a circle and do the clapping of hands and then come up with a category such as “TV westerns”, “Children’s Books”, “Native American Tribes”, animals, bugs, flowers and anything we could come up with. We would go out if we accidentally repeated someone else’s answer or we simply couldn’t think up another answer.

It was certainly a simple, cheap way to keep our minds nimble and our knowledge growing as youngsters.

Ah, the good old days!

https://www.borsalino.com/

Climate Change - It's Real

Below I have put up a few links (there are 100’s) on climate change in the hopes that I may sway doubters to a more logical frame of mind. People are allowed to have their beliefs but I think they should take the time to understand what they refer to as “main stream media” actually says about climate change rather than listen to a bunch of pundits who hide their identities or make false claims about their education. In reality 97% of scientists (regardless of their speciality and including climatologists) support the FACT of climate change.

Why do I care about the deniers? Because I believe it behooves all people in all countries to do their part in reducing carbon emissions, cutting down forests and basically polluting our planet in sundry ways. It includes corporations as well as individuals. Instead of driving a 4-door dually truck (with one person in the vehicle) get a fuel efficient vehicle, preferably a car and not even an SUV. This is particularly important for city dwellers. I can remember when our family first moved to Calgary in 1976, the first thing we wondered was “why all the pickup trucks”? That was before any DIY hardware stores and at that time Sears, Eaton’s and Hudson Bay all had mail order catalogues that delivered directly to your home. We thought it beyond strange and I personally still think it is strange (and selfish) for people to drive trucks in the city. I don’t understand the rational except “me heap big man” syndrome.

I’ve been recycling, composting and doing my part for decades (not years) and I don’t find it difficult to do. When people complain about the carbon tax they are not paying attention to the rationale behind the tax. It is NOT a tax grab but a method of encouraging people to be more efficient with their usage of natural gas.

People need to listen more and research more and lastly care more about their planet.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2019/02/16/11-things-climate-change-dismissive-people-say-on-social-media/#48fa093a15e4

https://davidsuzuki.org/our-work/climate-solutions/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Rees  THE MOST EMINENT SCIENTIST OF OUR TIME – Martin Rees

https://www.njtvonline.org/programs/amanpour-and-company/astronomer-royal-lord-martin-rees-climate-change-y6japt/  Martin Rees on Amanpour & Co – what he says about climate change and how many scientists are on the believing side.

Positive Reinforcement

Even the most positive of folks (that would include me) needs a boost now and then. Here in my office I have one bookshelf dedicated to self-help, self-improvement, spirituality, creativity and daybook inspirations along with some odd sod reading. On the other book shelf I have my classic books and childhood reads and THEN I have a small stack of extra books that haven’t found their way to the bookshelves in the basement. The reason for the delay is the shelves have not been put back up after the flood last year. I am really starting to get anxious about those repairs which I sincerely hope will happen soon.

The good news is that John’s arthritis woes seem to be abating and he thinks it is in large part to his refraining from eating red meat. Instead he has been eating a lot of seafood and a little bit of chicken. Apparently red meat is very inflammatory (good to know, eh?). The new Canada Food Guide suggests that folks should eat less meat overall and more plant based foods to stay healthy and avoid obesity. Apparently some farmers are quite upset about the new guidelines because their bottom line may be affected. Hmm, is this another one of those teachable moments like “Let’s Talk about Being Selfish”? I remember reading those books to my nieces and nephews when they were little. It would appear that grown-ups didn’t get the message loud and clear.

But I digress from the need for positive reinforcement! I have rediscovered Christiane Northrup’s “Making Life Easy” which has a lot of instruction on health as well as tapping into the Divine. I’ve put that one back on my night table for morning reading. I am preparing myself already for when I start my Palliative Care counselling (which I hope will start next week). Yep, I am a keener!

I will keep you posted on this progress but at the same time I don’t want to burden my readers with too much of the “hard stuff”.  That said, I am doing well.

Freezing Weather Go Away!

Oh my goodness but I am getting awfully tired of this weather! It’s been more than three weeks of this grueling, cold weather and my poor hens are looking at me in consternation “what is up with this being locked in”?  I think that is the hardest part for me, feeling sorry that the hens cannot possibly venture out in this weather but also the fact that I am hauling so much water out to them because even in the chicken coop it is freezing up the water. I haul the water, extra seed and as much greens as I can carry for the poor girls.

If it wasn’t for the hens I wouldn’t care half so much but there it is; I am like my great grandmother Ane Kristine who actually would wipe her geese’s beaks for them. I am just a really strong nature lover!

I have been busy with my card making and if my camera would cooperate more (or I would be more diligent in learning its intricacies) I would post some of the examples – we will see what happens in the next day on that score. Right now I am on my way out to the back sunroom to do some more creative work. It certainly helps to have this hobby not only in this horrid weather but to keep my mind off my symptoms.

I’m not a hypochondriac but there is no getting away from it; every twinge I feel in my back I think “was that a muscle spasm or the tumour?” I confess, it is hard to deal with but I continue to stay positive and optimistic because the alternative does not bear thinking about!

Mom is making ølebrød which is a breakfast style porridge made out of dark Danish ryebread. It’s a favorite of mine and she is using real non-alcoholic øl (ale). That will be our brunch today, just what the doctor ordered for this weather. And later I think I will take out “On the Shores of Silver Lake” to read since I’ve already read “The Long Winter” this winter!

Sleepless Nights

I don’t count sheep when I wake up in the middle of the night and can’ fall back to sleep right away. Instead I think about how I will handle the winnings of a 6/49 draw!  I laugh at my brother Peter when he says “well don’t ruin my life by giving me any money” loaded with sarcasm and humour. I guess that is what a lot of folks who win say “I don’t want to ruin your life by giving you money”, meanwhile they are blowing the money left, right and centre.  It’s fun to dream about winning but I think if I ever did win I wouldn’t tell anyone just to avoid the stress!

The next phase is to get up if I still can’t fall asleep and catch up on emails and Facebook comments which can take about an hour. After that then it’s time to blog (which is what I am doing right now). Finally there is chocolate milk and chocolate milk powder on some bread and butter. Usually after that I am able to fall back asleep.

So here’s for the final step – chocolate here I come!

Onwards and Upwards

Okay so the results were not as great as I would have liked but with the new treatment plus the palliative counselling I am sure that I have a good handle on this next phase and of course I will continue with the Good Fight (now wasn’t that the sequel to The Good Wife?).  Essentially the chemo treatments may have been slowing down the cancer growth but the growth is still happening so they are putting me on some pills which have proven results in fighting the cancer.  I was given 3 options and chose the second one – I had been given the option a year ago but it was still experimental and had no results. A year later they have very positive results so that is the one I chose.  The third option was experimental and I got the sense that one of the internal options of that was I could possibly be getting a placebo. No thank you, I am not playing Russian roulette with my life, it is too precious to me. J

So my friends, keep sending positive waves my way and I promise to keep on fighting and directing my little white blood cells to the cancer!

Nice segue into talking about detectives (you know, Hercule and his “little grey cells”!)

We have been enjoying the show “Hetty Winthrop Investigates” with Patricia Routledge; we enjoyed her as Hyacinth Bucket in “Keeping Up Appearance” but I think I like her better as the detective.  She is amusing in a quiet way, not so over the top.

We also enjoy our Sunday night fix of “Monk” who I think is one of the best things in detective shows; he is unusual and the stories are very well put together. I’ve always liked “Murder She Wrote” but we are seeing them for the 5^th or 6^th time now so I would love it if they came up with a prequel to the show. It would be great to see Jessica as a young teacher and us seeing her husband Frank. Instead of murders she would be solving oddities within the classroom and perhaps in the family situations.  I think it would be a terrific show if the writers were good.  I’ve thought this for a long time – the young Jessica story.

My love of detectives probably began with my reading Nancy Drew along with some of the early detective shows like “Honey West” (Anne Francis I think was the star of that one, she had a cheetah for a pet, so cool).

And that’s about it for today!

Anxiety and Cancer

Today I go to my treatment specialist to find out the results of the CT scan I took last Thursday. To say that I am nervous is an understatement. I try to stay positive and optimistic, I pray for remission but all the time I have this underlying anxiety that things may not go my way.

I think there are so many people who live with anxiety and (put in the illness here) who do not have good coping mechanisms nor do they perhaps have the same kind of support that I have. I pity them and hope that somehow, someone will recognize that anxiety and loneliness and reach out to them. Meanwhile I count myself blessed every day for my support in both my family (near and far) as well as my friends, classmates and colleagues.

I know I have said all this before but it bears repeating because someone out there may be reading this for the first time and a lightbulb will go on.

Meanwhile my dear readers, fingers crossed for good news today!

My cup runneth over.

Mr. Rogers' Neighbourhood

How odd that after the above post I should be watching a two hour documentary on one of the nicest human beings in recent history – Fred Rogers.  He went on television as Mr. Rogers in 1968 and while I did not watch it I know my youngest siblings did and I would hear his song “It’s a beautiful day in the neighbourhood” many mornings before going to school. His program was one that reinforced a daily message that each child is special in their own way. I know how valuable that lesson is because I have noticed that when an adult looks into a child’s eyes and actively listens to whatever the child is saying, that child blossoms.

What I found outstanding that there appeared to be a protest against Mr. Rogers at one point where he was seen as someone who had created entitlement in children.  What, entitlement in children because you tell them they are special? It shocks me to think that people can tear down someone good and kind.

As much as I like to believe that people are essentially good, that they simply want to be happy, I suppose I have to accept that there are sociopaths out there who walk among us and appear to be normal. But mostly I just want to walk and believe in Mr. Rogers’ neighbourhood.

Live and let live.

Black History Month

Last year I found myself weeping day after day as I watched various programs documenting Black History. I kept looking over at Mom and saying “it makes me so sad and so upset”. She couldn’t understand why I was so upset since it “wasn’t my truth” but in reality, racism is all of our collective truth because whether we have it or not we are living in a world that has it. The onus is on us every single day to say no to acts that we believe are motivated by hate, dislike, racism, whatever you want to call it. Ditto for homosexuality.

We are CIVILIZED PEOPLE and I insist that it is possible for us to tolerate individuals for who they are without judgment or reservation. I will believe with my last breath that we, the people, are better than this. We are not perfect but we are not subhuman. Giving in to intolerance is wicked, simply wicked.

These “nationalist” or “populist” right-wing politicians here in Canada (and around the globe) should be boo’d out of even running for office. Basement religion has no place in politics nor in society. Jesus Christ would never have been intolerant and if you religious folks would bother to listen to the lectures on both the Old and New Testaments you would understand how manipulated “the Word” really is. So NO – religion as such has no place in this conversation of tolerance except TO BE TOLERANT.

The Loveliest Mother

Where would I be without my mother? I shudder to think what my life would have been like these past two years without her unwavering support. At night when we watch our soaps or one of our favorite shows I will reach out my hand to touch her rheumatic one and just look at her and say “I love you”. Sometimes it is the other way around and she is the one who reaches out first but always we are in sync with each other. 

Well, now, that isn’t quite true! It’s lovely to be sentimental but when it comes to certain topics we can be at odds with each other. I can get quite severe with her and my siblings will sometimes admonish me for being too hard on her but I tell them “no, she is perfectly compus mentus and I won’t let her get away with thinking that she can say such things”.  In her old age she has become very territorial and protective of her native land and her sister can wind her up pretty good by retelling news stories about the abuse of refugees in the country. I can listen to them once or twice but not 50 times at which point I get snarky and tell her “Mom, you aren’t living in Denmark, you are in Canada and it isn’t relevant to us”.

Of course I know it is but I have to tone her down some way. But she is feisty. She will begin again the next day, and the next, and . . . .  Mothers, what can you do with them but love them?

Making a Shift

It is so easy to become a couch potato particularly during the winter. One can become anxious by watching too much news or lethargic in watching too many pathetic movies. When you start sleeping all day or vegging on the couch it is time to give one’s self a shakeup and getting inspired. For me that includes doing crafts, painting, reading and writing.

I had a really poor experience a week or so ago when I tried to order some new equipment for my card making. It turned out that Amazon was sponsoring a bunch of different vendors and for whatever reason the orders did not go through despite my working on them several times. It was very frustrating and I am turned off by Amazon right now!

So I am sorting through the things I already own and trying to come up with some creative new cards to keep my occupied. I am pretty grateful that my fingers at least are nimble enough (despite neuropathy) to do the work. I also have some more scrapbooking to do with old memorabilia which rather excites me. And soon my sister will be here to get me into more creative photography and then I can really do some nice cards!

It’s great to have things to look forward to.

Populism, Nationalism and other Isms

We are living in a volatile time and often I feel disturbed by what we hear on the news not just here in Canada but in America and around the globe. I remember when I was campaigning back in 1993 one of my colleagues said to me that I should remember that in hard times people are looking for someone to blame and someone to save them.

Slogans can be handy things for politicians but it is also what one can call “word whiskers” that tickle the ear. It is remarkably easy to get a group of people to switch from being an audience to becoming a mob. We only have to look at history to know this is a fact.

I hope that readers will always take a second or even third look and listen before they are swayed in doing something that perhaps isn’t the norm for them. At the end of the day I always err on the side of the positive and have faith that most people are good and just want to be happy.

We shall see.

Revisiting Agatha Christie

I managed to find the bin where my mystery books were stored and pulled out a few Agatha’s for gentle reading. Agatha is at her best when she deals with murder and not as great when she goes into spy stories. As well her earlier works are more ingenious than the ones she did late in her career but overall I love re-reading her books and have done so for years. Like Georgette Heyer, Leslie Ford and Mary Roberts Rinehart she is one of my “comfort writers” that I will read when I don’t want to concentrate on anything intense. I don’t know how many other readers have this tendency but sometimes I like to coast through a book.

Erik was saying “but there’s no suspense once you’ve read it” but I say, “it’s the ambience of the story that comforts me”. If instead of having re-read the books I have I had read a new book I would like have read another 25% of books (or even more).

What can I say I am quirky!

Critters Know Things

In my crisis the other night I was cognizant enough to know that my three cats were all very anxious about the situation. Thumper was putting his little paw on my cheek, Cherie was watching me with his anxious, compassionate eyes and even little Kitsy was looking at me with anxiety. She knew something was not right.

People often discount cats’ compassion for their mistress and seem to think dogs are the only ones that “know” things. It isn’t so and my critters are exceptionally bright and loyal. My boys have been with me since birth (they are 15 ½ years old) and little Kitsy has been with me for three years and is so loyal and good and smart. She knows immediately when I am ready to go do my chores and I hardly have to say “let’s do the chores” when she is standing at the door waiting for me to open it up. She trots down behind me to the chicken house, roams about the area while I feed the hens and then heads back to the house with me when we are done.

In the summertime Kitsy will speed around the yard, frolicking after the chores and stays outside to do her hunting.  The boys watch her in some awe I think as she is so full of energy while they are calmer and more steady in their employment. Thumper trots off to the Lodge (the big woodpile behind the chicken house) and Cherie goes under the pergola to mouse.

It’s just routine critter behaviour but Mom and I love to watch them in their various Acts.

Braving the Cold

We are having a bitter cold snap after a relatively mild winter but so far we haven’t had a big dump of snow which makes me grateful. I am able to plod out to my Henriettas, give them water, feed and treats and then relax for the rest of the day knowing they are warm and cozy. Mom is too old and fragile to be doing any chores so despite having a lot of back pain still I am able to do the chores.

I am anxious about my bees and truly hope that they will survive this cold snap. They managed to survive last year but they were wrapped up snuggly and this year John did not get it all done and his rheumatism makes it difficult for him to walk the length of the acreage to finish it up. I can only hope for the best for my little honey bees.

As for the rest of my world I anxiously hope that all my friends and family are safe off the roads. I was talking to little bro Erik the other night and he said that he is “so over driving” where once he didn’t mind going hither and yon now he just wants a quiet life in the slow lane. I hear you little bro, it’s been my mantra for quite some time!

Stay warm and safe my dear friends!

Ambulances

It is a frightful thing to discover blood in your stoma or elsewhere. Friday night I had a panic and after an hour of bleeding I thought I should call the ambulance which immediately set Mom off as she cannot take any sort of medical emergency without falling to pieces. I felt bad for her but I was more scared for myself so it had to be done. While I waited for the ambulance I called my brother to let him know what was happening (it was about 6 p.m.)  He was ready to come and get me or stay with Mom but I said no that he should wait until there was more news.

So I had set the family into agitation and I felt (and still feel) bad about that however I know they would not be happy if they were kept in the dark either.

I will say what I have said in the past, I am extremely grateful to be living in Alberta since the health care system is amazing and those who take care of us are so very, very kind. It took some time to get all the information collected, blood tests and viewing the situation and at last the senior doctor on call was in my room, took one quick look at my stoma and said that the bleeding was external, not internal (thank heavens) and they cauterized around it with silver nitrate. Let me tell you that it hurt quite a lot but I was brave. J J I only moaned once.

The EMS folks as always were professional, calming and kind. I am very grateful for all the help I received and I am grateful that “situation normal” is still at hand.

Paper Explosion

I am looking around at my office and I cringe. I have paper, paper, everywhere. I have a book marker that says “Only Handle Once – Tackle It, Task It, Toss It, Transfer It” and I actually had a little mini session with another colleague where we listened to this genius advocate of keeping paper to a minimum. Shame on me for not doing the work. I don’t know what is the matter with me, I can come up with a few excuses such as I don’t have a shredder, I can’t burn during this dry weather, I can’t recycle what isn’t shredded. All are lame excuses.

I also have a pile of books that I mean to read but hardly even make an attempt to open them up. I should donate them or at least archive them somewhere for a later date. Again . . . what is holding me back?

Its February now and it’s time to start thinking about spring cleaning so I must get my mojo back and get to it. I can’t live in this mess any longer!

And how is your mojo today?

George Washington

I have started back on my online course on the American Revolution and hope to finish it soon. The other day the session was on George Washington and I got some more insight into this American icon of virtue I had read “Potomac Squire” by Elswyth Thane a couple of years ago and this session only verified what a really remarkable man Washington was and how protective he was about his reputation.

One of the reasons why I took this particular course was because I was very interested in understanding their beloved constitution and the obsession with their amendments, particular the second amendment. For those living under a bushel that is the one that gives every citizen the right to bear arms. I would suggested that 250 years later maybe America could take a look at that one and say:

“Let’s join the rest of the industrialized world and say no to bearing arms, after all, we are the greatest country in the world so why should we need protection from each other?”

I don’t know what George Washington would think about that but he was a sensible man and I feel certain that he would be appalled at individuals being allowed to own assault rifles. Below are 2 articles which seem to agree with my thoughts.

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/feb/20/facebook-posts/did-george-washington-offer-support-individual-gun/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/02/22/what-the-second-amendment-really-meant-to-the-founders/?noredirect=on