Beautiful sunny day , no snow . It has been very spring like over Christmas . Chickens were enjoying the great weather . Even the cat was into what was left of the catnip . This is " The Family " . They live on a shelf near the ceiling . They are very quiet during daylight hours , but at midnight they slip down off the shelf and make mischief . If you awaken before dawn and listen very carefully you can sometimes hear tiny footsteps rushing here and there and the rustling of their clothing . Occasionally you will hear a thump when something has been accidentally knocked over . On arising in the morning you will see that they are all safely back in place on the shelf . This brings back a memory of when I first moved in with Roger . We were both living in the city at the time and he had a boarding house . The boarders were mostly people from the insane asylum whom the authorities in their ultimate wisdom deemed it ok to let them out as long as they took their medication . I took it into my head one day to make a two foot high old lady doll with great bulging eyes and grey hair , all frazzled out . When she was finished , I made a fake knife and attached it to her hand . The guys had their rooms on the second floor of the house and had to go up so many steps then there was a landing then a few more steps . So . . . . over the landing I hung a macramé plant hanger and sat the doll in it . To tell the truth , I thought it was rather cute . After a while Rogers says , " What have you done , the guys are doing double takes and rushing past that creature , you will have them sent back to the hospital . " I thought everyone would get a great laugh out of it . . . . . . not so . Well , what can I say , that 's my macabre sense of humor . Well , I really must continue on for a moment about yesterday . I went out to let the chickens out into their greenhouse area , when I got inside the greenhouse didn 't the door slam shut making the latch come down over the hook and there I was locked in with the chickens . I had just a brief moment of panic I must admit . Yelled out hoping Roger might hear me but he was in the bathroom getting washed up . Well , I thought , eventually he will wonder where I was and come looking but then thought he would probably just turn on the TV or radio to get the news , make breakfast , etc , forgetting me entirely . I just burst out laughing with the thought of it all . So I said to myself , you can get yourself out of this if you just stop and think . I spied a piece of thin wood lying on the floor , then managed to push it out through a very thin opening where the top of the door meets the main part of the greenhouse . I was able to bang on the latch and bingo . . . . . it popped open . Now to the snow storm . Woke up to a lot of heavy snow down and still snowing . The electricity had been knocked out and consequently we had no water as the main pump in the community is run by electricity . We spent a good part of the morning shoveling snow and finally got it all done . The electricity and water came back on about 2 : 00 pm . What a day ! More snow expected tonight . While sitting at the computer this morning , enjoying my coffee and reading blogs I hear a great crash from the guest bedroom . Went running in to see what happened ! ! ! On one wall I have two miniature doll houses , fully furnished . The two shelves were off the wall , houses , people in them , furniture , some broken up , all over the floor . What a flippin mess ! ! I 'm inclined to blame one of the cats for trying to jump in one of the houses but see no guilty faces about . The morning will be taken up with trying to sort all of this out and I had already planned on making some seasonal wreaths , after shoveling more snow of course , yuk . Now a winter storm is expected overnight , jeez , is there no end to it . Woke up this morning full of aches and pains and wondering why until I remembered I was shoveling snow yesterday and up on the ladder pushing the damned stuff of the chickens roof . I ' M GETTING TOO OLD FOR ALL THIS STUFF ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Started off on Wednesday for the nearest large town , wanted to get groceries in for the next month or so , look for presents for the family and one of the supermarkets had fake six foot xmas trees on sale for $ 15 . 00 . We 've had a fake tree for years as I don 't like " killing " a live one . I know , I know , it smells lovely and all the rest of it , but I don 't think it 's necessary . Anyway , the old one has started to lose its needles so time for a new one and at that price I couldn 't pass it up . Finished all the shopping and was coming out of the supermarket with a cart full of groceries and said tree . Now , normally when we empty the cart we put it back in the section for the carts . Well , it was quite windy and bitterly cold so I jumped in the car and let Roger put the groceries in the trunk . He being cold as well , got in the car and forgot to put the cart back . I happened to look back as we were driving off and a woman had one hand on the cart and was shaking a fist in the air , obviously cursing at us . So we arrived back home , I was putting stuff in the freezer when a voice came from the kitchen yelling " Come here quick " . I ran in , the floor was full of water and the carpet I have under the kitchen table was soaked . Oh no , I thought , not a busted pipe . Then all of a sudden I realized that a jug of water I had on the floor had been tipped over by one of the cats . What a mess , groceries , and other items all over the kitchen and this mess . Got it all cleaned up eventually and had to roll the carpet back so it could dry . So , that night when Roger was getting washed , I hear the voice from the bathroom , " Come here quick . " Oh God , I say , what now . NO HOT WATER ! Called the plumber , he came the next morning and said the hot water tank had a leak in the top so had to get a new one . Jumped in the car and bought another one . They delivered it that night so next day the plumber came and it is now installed . He drained the old one , hauled it outside , hauled the new one in and set it up and he only charged $ 25 . 00 . As to today , we are gPosted by Light snow falling , chickens aren 't too thrilled about it all . They have gone for cover under the deck . Hopefully it won 't amount to much . The quicker winter is over the better . I do believe I have a rat making a home under the hen house . There is an opening just under the left hand side of said house and a couple of days ago I noticed a lot of fresh soil kicked out around that area . No reason for it , but that a creature has been throwing it out from under the house . Now there is a haphazard , though strong and steady greenhouse attached to the hen house so the girls have a nice warm area for daytime use when snow is on the ground . Their food and water is kept there and this morning I saw a lovely little packed down path going from the corner of the hen house to the bowl of hens food . I am assuming it 's a rat . I don 't mind it staying there as long as it doesn 't cause any trouble . I threw some mint leaves in the hen house itself as I read somewhere that mint will keep rats at bay . Otherwise , it has been a very uneventful few days . Went into the city on Tuesday to get a new computer . I took the small bus in and it always stops half way for ten minutes so the passengers can go to the bathroom or buy something to eat . Everyone got off the bus and just before our ten minutes were up the bus driver comes racing towards us saying he had locked the keys in the bus . The male passengers and driver tried everything to get the door open even shaking the bus which was quite a sight . The driver had also left his cell phone on the bus so had to use the telephone in the restaurant . He came back out saying someone from the garage in the nearest community would be here as soon as possible to get the door opened . He didn 't know how long it would be so we all settled in for a long wait . Thankfully , about 20 minutes later we were on our way . The next day I bought a computer and took it to my daughters who started getting it set up for me . As there was some stuff she had to do out here , we both came out yesterday and now I 'm all set to go . Yay ! ! So , now everything is back to normal , inside and outside . I say outside because such funny things happen to me every once in a while . I went out with seed for the feeders this morning . I quickly pulled on a pair of pants with a draw string at the waist to tighten or loosen them . I was just about up the top of the ladder to get to a feeder on a high branch , container of food in one hand and hanging onto the ladder with the other , when my pants fell to my knees . Didn 't have them tied tight enough . So here I was , winter hat on , short winter jacket , pants down to my knees and to top it all I had no underwear panties on . Two cars went down the road at this time . Need I say more . lol After the Pumpkin I had threw itself off the deck and committed " Pumpkin Suicide " , I emailed the friend who grew it and brought it to me , telling him what had happened . He emailed me back and said that I would not be without a Pumpkin for the 31st . He and his wife dropped by yesterday and told me I would have the pumpkin in the afternoon . Well , shortly after they left it poured down with rain , so later in the afternoon , still raining , I phoned them to say that it was just too wet and miserable a day for him to be doing this . His wife said he was outside , soaking wet , taking the inside of the beastie out and they would be over with it shortly . He had already done a larger one but it was so big he couldn 't get it in the car . Before long they arrived and lugged the creature up and onto the deck . Put it in one chair and it broke the chair , lol , had to get another chair and managed to get it in that but it wouldn 't go all the way into the seat . Never the less , it stuck there . Now are they great friends or what ! ! Early this morning I was out carving a face in it . I am so pleased . Well , I couldn 't connected to the internet most of the morning so needless to say I was getting a little frustrated . I figured I 'd leave it for awhile so my mind went on to this large Pumpkin a friend grew and gave me . I wanted it on the front porch and had to get it up four steps . As it was so heavy I couldn 't get it off the ground , someone suggested I cut the top off and take out the inside . Brilliant idea ! So I go out with a very large knife and a scoop and start to work on it . This made it considerably lighter so still , nearly wrecking my back , I get it up on the deck . Thinking I would carve the face out later today , I put the top back on , went down the steps and looked back at it and decided I had found the perfect place for it . Came back inside and tried the computer again . Yay , it was working again . After a while , I got up and looked out the front door . . . . Sob ! ! . . . . there , back down on the ground is my pumpkin all in peices . I was shattered , not unlike the pumpkin . I don 't know how it got knocked over but one of the cats was there looking up at me . Could it be that she pushed it over ? ? Something nice happened yesterday . I saw a Grey Jay outside . Haven 't seen one around for over a year I 'd say . So , I got my camera and some bread and managed to get a picture . It was very awkward with the camera in one hand and holding the other hand out with the food for the Jay . I hope more start coming around as they are such sweet creatures . I don 't seem to have much to write about here on a daily basis . My life seems rather boring compared to other bloggers . Up before daylight , put coffee on , feed cats , light fire in stove , let chickens out at daybreak , fill bird feeders , clean house , do things that need doing outside . Roger has been away for a week now , two more to go . My daughter came for a few days last Thursday and stayed until Monday past . As always it was wonderful to have her here . We didn 't accomplish all the things we had planned . She spent a lot of time upgrading my computer . A friend , who grows these giant Pumpkins , brought me one on the weekend . I told him to bring the smallest one he had . As it was , he had to strap it onto his body with this carry thingy . I told him to put it down near the gate as I couldn 't think where I wanted it at the time . Later , my daughter suggested I put it on the small front deck so that it could be seen from the road when lit . The next morning I went out and rolled it across the lawn and managed to get it to the bottom of the steps . Today , if it ever stops raining I will try to get it up the four steps to the deck . Don 't think I will manage it though . I daresay I will have to call on " a Man " to do the job . It 's been raining here for days . Everything is soaked outside , however , I can hear the stream rushing and when I walk over besides it I feel I am in another world . So quiet except for the sound of the water . I lean up against one of the big trees and close my eyes , it 's magical . I got word early this morning that bears have been sighted all around here . We were thinking they weren 't around this fall as we had not seen one and no signs of any . We have heard noises coming from the woods and it sounds like a larger creature is about , but then I 've heard scratching and scraping and on checking it out it 's only been fox sparrows scraping through the fallen leaves looking for bugs . Now fox sparrows I don 't mind but bears make me nervous , although there has never been a bear attack here to my knowledge . Last spring , I was in the city , and my partner said he looked outside and there was the largest black bear he has ever seen , sitting in one of the flower beds munching on a plant . This was only about 20 feet from the deck . He goes out and starts yelling and blowing his whistle to try to drive the bear away , but this only gets the bear curious and he gets up and starts walking towards the deck . That put paid to that nonsense ! Another time , I went out early in the morning to let the chickens out when I saw the door was off the chicken house . The hens were fine but all their food was eaten . One time I had left a line of clothes out overnight as it hadn 't dried during the day , the next morning all of it was off the line and rolled up in large balls . Another time I was carrying a bucket of compost through one of the archways when I looked up and there was a young bear running towards me . Needless to say I got out of there quickly . Looked like he was having a bit of fun . I 'm not going to go into all the stories I can tell , the thing is , my partner is soon going away for three weeks and I 'm stuck here by myself with bears around . It can be rather nerve wracking to say the least . Looking over my shoulder any time I 'm outside . So , at day break , I 'll be in my pajamas , with a Spanish dueling knife in my hand , as if that 's going to help , lol , nervously headed for the chicken house to let them out and hoping that I don 't see , I 'll say it , an amazingly beautiful creature in my path . I took the afternoon bus into the city last Thursday , my parents picked me up once I arrived , then went to their house for supper . My daughter met us there and after supper we went to her house . I went in specificially to help her clean and fix up the third floor of her house as she is hoping to get a boarder to help with expenses . I also had a list of things I wanted to get while in the city . Friday morning , I started in on the cleaning and by lunch time it was looking pretty darn good . We decided to go shopping for part of the afternoon . I managed to get a few things on the list so after about two hours we went back to her place . After having a bite to eat we went to an opening at one of the art galleries then on to the Crows Nest , a private club , where we met up with a friend for a drink and chat . It was all lovely until we arrived back at my daughters at about 8 : 30pm . She checked her phone messages and there was a frantic call telling me to phone home immediately . I phoned and my partner answered , I could barely understand what he was saying , then a friend whom he had called when he found he was in trouble took the phone . Her and her husband were there , the ambulance had just arrive , partners speach was all slurred , his right eye was swollen and painful , his right arm wasn 't working right and he could barely walk . She said that her husband was going to follow the ambulance to the hospital , an hours drive away , and she would phone back as soon as she heard something . Her husband , bless him , stayed at the hospital until 2 : 30 in the morning . In the mean time my parents said they would take me back home and stay with me for a couple of days . I phoned the hospital when we arrived and they said everything was fine , blood work , EKG , and cat scan were all negative . He was released that same afternoon so my Dad and I went in and picked him up . Although a bit weak , otherwise in good spirits . However , around midnight that night , it came on him again , only this time not so bad . He sat up for awhile , then lay down in bed Posted by I was in a chat room the other night when a window came up telling me that an error occured , almost immediately I lost the chat room , lost Yahoo and my email was in a mess . The next morning I finally got it all straighted out and it started me thinking of when I first got the computer and internet . This was only a little over a year ago . Friends and family had been pushing me for sometime to get on the internet . My answer was always , " No way , I want nothing to do with it . " So , last June I went to the city to visit my daughter and while watching her on her computer I expressed an interest in it . She was quick to say that she knew of a second hand computer shop where I could get myself one really cheap . Well , I mulled it over in my head for a time and finally said , " Ok , lets go . " Well , as I knew absolutely nothing about these things , she picked one out for me and I did get it all quite cheap . Excitement was setting in , wow , I had a computer . We went back to my daughters house and she phoned the company who services my area , talked to them about what I needed and they said they would have a guy out to hook me up in three weeks . So , I bring my new purchase back home with me and wait patiently for the cable guy . The day finally arrives when he is suppose to come . Ah ha , here he is . Oh , I 'm so excited . So , he 's here working away and I say " I guess you know all about computers . " thinking I might get a tip or two . " Nah , " he says , " Don 't have one , don 't want one . " " Oh ! " says I . He finishes and proceeds to tell me that I have to phone head office , get ahold of a technician , who will help me set up an account . Ok , this shouldn 't be too hard and I had learned how to turn the computer on . Here I am sitting in front of the machine , with the telephone to one ear and trying to follow this guys instructions . He finally got so fed up he told me I had better get someone who knew how to use a mouse . I nearly wept . I had to call a friend to come over then call the technician back and my friend went through the process for me . All I cPosted by Yesterday we got the tail end of a hurricane that came up the east coast of the U . S . Lots of wind , the trees were dancing . As there are many aspens around the house , some more than fifty feet tall , it was a bit of a worry that one might fall over and come through the roof . Of course this didn 't happen and I really didn 't think it would as the trees around here are well use to high winds . However a couple of the smaller trees broke off . Poured rain all day but that never stopped ten Blue Jays sticking around , cleaning out the feeders . What a bedraggled lot they looked . This past weeks the birds are emptying the feeders faster than I can fill them . Maybe they are aware of something I 'm not , like maybe winter is close at hand . Ah well ! Today is a beautiful sunny day , the ground is very wet but as its suppose to be sunny for the next week , hopefully it will dry up fast . The stream is rushing and it sounds wonderful , birds all around , sun shinning , what else could anyone want . Some pictures of the stream and a couple of small trees that broke off : Tommy was a homeless cat when we took him into our hearts about twelve years ago . If a cat can be called a gentleman , that 's what he was . Everyone loved him . He spent many hours in sunny weather stretched out on the rail of the deck with one arm hanging over each side appearing to be meditating . To get me up in the morning he would lay across my shoulder and pull on my hand to tell me " Come on now , I want my breakfast " and of course I always responded . In the winter he would walk up through the woods with my partner , playing hide and seek along the way . So many things can be said about Tommy . So many stories . Well , we noticed that he had lost a little weight but he seemed fine otherwise . Then last Saturday I noticed his weight had dropped quite a bit and he was looking sick and just not his normal self . As the Vet wouldn 't be open until Monday I had to wait until then to make an appointment . Between Saturday and Monday he wasn 't eating and I would find him lying in one of the flower beds staring into space . I would bring him in but he would want to go outside again . So , Monday arrived and I got an appointment for the next day , yesterday . He was looking pretty bad by now . We arrived at the vets and my partner said he just couldn 't go in . He told me to take food and water with us because he might be hungry after the vets visit . I knew Tommy wouldn 't be coming back alive but never the less I took the food and water . Looking at him at first the Vet said he had something quite serious . She examined him , saw his mouth was full of cysts ( not the right word , can 't think of it now ) , and as he had been drinking an awful lot of water and other signs , said he had liver disease . She said it was not curable but he could be put on drugs to extend his life for a few months . I broke down , went to peices . I said I didn 't want him suffering anymore and to put him down . How terribly , terribly awful . She said she would leave me with him for a few minutes so I told him how much I loved him and loved him and kissed him with tears runniPosted by I just sat down to write a different blog this morning but can 't seem to get my head around it . I have a heavy heart today . We are taking our oldest cat Thomas to the vet this afternoon . This past week he has lost a lot of weight , has stopped eating and is very weak . I 'm afraid of what the end result of the vet visit is going to be . Sorry , I just can 't go on writing about this . I love books . I love reading . Two of the living room walls are nothing but book shelves holding close to three thousand books , all doubled up with one row in front of the other . I keep putting off the job of sorting through them all and getting rid of at least a thousand . Books also piled up on the bedroom floor and other places . As we don 't have access to a book store or library , this time of year I go to yard sales to see if I can build up a stash for reading over the winter . Most of the reading material at these sales are romance novels which I really have no time for but this morning I went to a yard sale and lo and behold the woman had a pile of them on a table and her taste was like mine . I came away with a large bag of books , mostly British mysteries , my favorite . I was over the moon to say the least and only 25 cents for each hard cover . I felt like I had just found the pot of gold . Well , my partners friend is leaving today . They both weighed themselves yesterday and my partner had gained five pounds and his friend had gained four pounds since Wednesday . A bit of depression set in to say the least but once we get back to normal he will lose it again . Must have been all my great cooking , did them in , lol . Bloody cold here this morning , had to put the fire in again . Ah well , it 's suppose to warm up a bit this coming week . There is no question that fall is here though . There is a man up the road who gets a lot of hens in the spring so he can make some money selling eggs all summer primarily to the tourists . As we were going by last week I saw him standing outside by his fence and thought I 'd stop to ask him if he was getting rid of any of the chickens . He said yes after the 15th of September I could come by and he would give me half a dozen as he wouldn 't be selling many eggs after that . I was well pleased as the two I have are getting quite old and if something happens to one of them the other one would be quite lonely by itself . I will probably be going to the nearest large town this week . About an hours dPosted by Well " he " has lost eleven pounds to date , bless him . Says he is starved to death all the time . It 's going to be difficult the next few days as his friend is visiting from Nova Scotia and there is lots of great food and wine around . Pouring rain today but had to go out and fill the feeders . The birds are eating so much these days it seems I spend half my time putting food out for them . Two of them nearly knocked me off the ladder as I was filling two feeders . Cheeky devils , some of them have no fear of me . Needless to say I got soaked to the skin . Chilly inside this morning so have the woodstove going . Very cozy . Dreading winter , so much shovelling and it goes on for so long . I 'm not sure if it 's good or bad to be able to vent ones frustrations on a Blog , never the less , here I go . Now , the thing is , me and my partner can not work together . Maybe I should say that he doesn 't mind working with me but I can 't stand working with him . If he puts something together it 's all cockeyed , not measured right and if it takes two nails or screws he will put ten . I 'm not saying that I can do everything perfectly , but I can see how things work far better . So . . . . . I bought a new medicine cabinet for the bathroom . I was hoping to put it up myself while he was out of the house , but for some god forsaken reason I decided to put it up this morning while " he " was here . First , the screws he was trying to put on were too fat for the holes provided , then as he was putting the screws through the back of the cabinet , it fell , as he needed three hands , and commenced blaming me for not being right there . Ok , so I held the cabinet up for him . Ah , all done , only problem is I have to stand on my toes to be able to see in the mirror . Of course , being taller , he says he can see in perfectly well and doesn 't know what my problem is . Rather than go through the whole process again I decide to let it remain as it is . Now , I had also bought a nice little wooden shelf cabinet to go under the medicine cabinet . He goes and gets that saying we might as well put this one up now too . I say , " Why don 't you go for your walk and I will look after putting this one up . " No chance ! ! So I 'm told to measure the distance the holes are apart , mark the wall , etc . No , I 'm told I have it measured wrong . Ok , I say , you measure it . He does . I 'm watching and tell him he has it measured wrong . No , he says , he has it right . Ok , I say , put the screws in and try it , it 's not going to go on right . He does and realizes that the thing won 't go on the wall as the screws are too far apart . So , now he tells me to measure it , ha , I do . He puts the screw in the right place but down too low , which I remark on to no avail . That done the wooden shelf cabinet Posted by Well , he 's been dieting for three days now and has lost five pounds . Granted , that 's mostly water , however he says he is encouraged . I think this will keep him going for another while . I 've noticed that this year in the garden there are more bugs than ever before , some I haven 't really seen since I was a child growing up when there were all kind of insects flying and walking around during the summer months . It seems the garden is settling into a comfortable harmony . I was outside collecting seeds yesterday when I heard the sound of wood hitting wood . Couldn 't figure for the life of me what it was . It was spooky as otherwise it was very quiet outside except for the sounds the birds were making . I started walking around , following the sound when I saw what it was . The squirrel had finally figured out how to get into the squirrel feeder and as he got the food out , the top of the feeder would come down and knock against the bottom part . I was so pleased with his success , I just stood there watching . It 's a glorious day here now so I 'm off to cut back the herbs and tie them up into bundles for drying . Well , it 's a miserable rainy day . The cats are all curled up asleep on beds and chairs . Partner is napping , and I 'm thinking of all the things I have to do and want to do in the coming months . Although the days have been relatively warm , the nights are getting quite cool and the feel of fall is in the air . Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day so as I had a lot of plants started from seed and still in pots I decided it was time to put them in the ground . Spent the morning moving other plants to other areas to make room for the new ones . This meant digging , lifting , and carting soil from the compost heap to the new areas . I was beat by noon as I usually go at this stuff like a mad person and want it all done yesterday . At least I had a feeling of acomplishment when I finished . I lay down after lunch for a bit of a read and two hours later , woke up . I 've started collecting seed from some of the plants and the next fine day I have to cut large bunches of herbs and hang them up to dry . I do this every year and the only place I have to dry them is the small guest bedroom . Needless to say for a period of time the room is packed with drying herbs but I love the smells and it only takes a couple of weeks before I can bag them . Then I have to get to the beach to get a load of sea oat grasses to make Bridget Crosses . I have to cut alder branches to make Dream Catchers and I have to make up a pile of Protection Kits . That 's for starters ! Next month , I have to amend the earth in most of the gardens , cut back plants and move some to better areas . Then a general tidying up until next spring . I 'm hoping to get back to painting over the winter and am also considering writing a childrens book . Something I 've been putting on the back burner for some time . I bought a bunch of jointed teddy bears and I want to make clothes for them so I can give them as gifts . Don 't know how much of this I will accomplish before the spring seed catalogues start arriving , then I will be lost altogether . My partner was told by the doctor today that he hPosted by Well , it 's been a bit of a tramatic week and a half . My daughter had to get one of her cats put down as she was full of growths and tumors and had started to fade . Nothing could be done for her and she seemed to be suffering . She brought her out here and we buried her next to dear old Fred in a nice spot among the trees . It was a tearful goodbye , very sad . Then , Tuesday past I was ready to go into the city . I had about five minutes to get my luggage in the car and get to the highway to catch the bus . As I was picking up my suitcase to go out the door I heard one of the hens cry out . The three hens have full run of the property and never leave it and this noise was coming from the front of the house . I immediately looked out and saw a dog run around the side of the house . I went tearing out the back door to try and head him off . Dogs are not allowed to run free in this community so I never have this sort of problem . Anyway when I got out there were two great huge dogs there . They looked something like rotweillers but weren 't although they had huge heads and big chests . They looked very well kept and well fed . I screamed at them to get out of here and they ran toward the gate . One turned around and started coming towards me . Now , was this dog in attack mode ? Well , he came within a few feet of me and I yelled at him to go so he headed back around the property with me chasing him to get him out the gate . My partner yelled out that he had one out and I yelled back that the other one was coming his way . We got that one out and they both ran up the road . What a mess ! I was panic struck because I couldn 't find two of the hens and also because I had to catch the bus . It , going to the city only once a day . We searched all over and couldn 't find them , I was sick about it all and had to go . Later that evening I phoned my partner and he said one of the hens had come back but he looked all over again and couldn 't find the other one . He asked around to see if anyone knew who owned the dogs but no one did . I was ready to tear a Posted by Well , this week my wonderful old beauty of a lawn mower bit the dust . I bought it off a neighbour about five years ago for the great sum of $ 20 . 00 . He says it 's about forty years old but it never failed me even though it was rusty and had bits missing . Every year I would haul it out of storage , pull the rope and off she 'd go . The old fellow next door would just shake his head and in great amazement say he couldn 't understand why it was still working . I guess everything just gave up inside it this week , a large peice fell off it and there was smoke and gas flying everywhere . So , now I had to get a new one . I heard they were on sale about an hours drive from us so Friday morning we hopped in the car and set off . I don 't know what I was thinking , I thought it would come assembled , ha , ha . I was given a box and told it was just the wheels and handle that had to be attached . I can do that , I said to myself , so we put it in the car and made our way home . We got home in time for a quick lunch then out I went to open the box and see what I had . A lovely bright red machine . There were the wheels , the handle in two parts and a funny cable that went somewhere and of course the usual bag of nuts , bolts , washers and screws . I could see trouble on the horizon . Now , most times , I 'm pretty good at getting my head around how things go together while my partner is absolutely hopeless at this sort of thing . Hence , we can never work together without me blowing up with frustration . He offered to help , but I said to stay away from me , I would manage it myself . lol . Now to the instruction book . I couldn 't understand a word of it , might as well have been in another language and oft times these instructions are . I laid all the nuts and bolts out , looked at the book , the pictures and the parts . Tried attaching parts , no didn 't go on right . After about an hour I was so frustrated I was at the point of throwing up . I had to break down and ask my partner for help . We were at it for about three hours and I can tell you it wasn 't a pretty sighPosted by Well , I got my camera working again . Such a silly thing really . Friends stopped by yesterday and I was telling them about the problem I was having with the camera . It telling me the batteries I was putting in were no good . So they suggested I try a couple of the re - chargeable ones that they use . One of them went back to their house and brought back two , put them in the camera and Yay , the camera worked fine . Guess who is buying a battery charger and batteries this week . In the afternoon I was going about taking pictures of all and sundry . It was great ! What a feeling of satisfaction to have the camera working again . My brother stopped by on Saturday for a short visit . It was so good to see him . He is so witty and funny . We had a great time and caught up on a lot of things . We had a great meal , Asparagus pastry , pakoras , large veggie salad and stuffing , plus I might add , two bottles of wine . The day was perfect , warm and sunny . I was sad to see him go but so happy I did get to see him . He brought with him an old school chum who he has been friends with since they started school and that was a long time ago . Today the sky is black with cloud but I 'm not complaining as the gardens need a good soaking . Everything is growing well and it all looks very pretty . The Blue Jays have been here with their young . Such a racket at times and the young on the tree branches shivering their wings in anticipation of the food the parents are taking from the feeders . Ah , isn 't life grand ! Well , it all started yesterday morning . . . . my daughter emailed me saying she wasn 't coming out this weekend because she had to finish some paintings . Now , that I can handle , but this is the third weekend in a row . You get all excited and on a high , then bang . All gone ! Then , shortly after this , I get word that my brother , who is visiting my parents in the city and had planned on coming out here on Friday and see me before he flew home figured he couldn 't make it . Then , I had taken some pictures of the garden and the computer wouldn 't take them off the camera . I then looked up the flippin Users Guide for the camera . It said I would have to re - install the software . Didn 't have a clue how to do that . So here I was , sunk in the depths of depression . I figured the only thing for it was to go shopping . What did I do ? ? ? Why I bought myself a hair colour . Light Amber Brown . I felt much better and not only that , I was going to be a new woman when I put this wonderful color in . Now , my hair is a medium brown , but I had it streaked blonde a year or so ago , then of course there was the grey coming in . So early this morning I decide this is the time to do the job . Ha , Ha , Ha , Ha . You 've seen pictures of plump older women with bright orange lipstick on , a cigarette dangling from their mouth and bright orange hair . How does that song go " Well it 's cryin time again . . . . . . . " I expect I will be sporting a bag on my head for the next while . A bit of good news after all this , was talking to my brother and he says he will make a short visit here on Saturday . Yay ! ! We found Thomas about twelve years ago living up in a small " cabin " we have up behind the house . We had been traveling for about a year and a half and when we came back we found him there and welcomed him in as part of the family . I must also add that he took our hearts . Both mine and my partner Rogers . To set up this senario , it was summer , about two years ago and my daughter , who lives in the city , had come out for the weekend . Saturday morning I was outside puttering around when unbeknownst to me Roger took a phone call from one of the neighbours saying that there was a dead cat on the road , having been run over by a car and she thought it might be one of ours . Again , without my knowledge , Roger got a garbage bag , just in case , and went off to check it out . Still puttering around the garden , I turned around and there was Roger , standing there with the bag and obviously something in it , with tears running down his face . I asked him what in the world was wrong . He said that it was Tommy and he was dead , then told me about the phone call . Going towards him I asked if he was sure it was Tommy , he said yes and you don 't want to see him . Well , with that I went to pieces . Crying , wailing , stamping my feet , yelling " Why Tommy , Why Tommy ! " My daughter came running and put her arms around me and calmed me down . Roger asked what we were going to do with him and I said I would get a shovel and we would bury him . I got the shovel and found a nice spot under a tree , then started digging a hole with tears running down my face . We put him in the ground saying our goodbyes then I went back in the house and Roger went to fix something on one of the windows outside . I was sitting a the kitchen table in the depth of depression . My daughter was in the living room , when all of a sudden she yelled " Mom , come here . " I dragged myself out of the chair wondering what she was going on about and went to see . To my utter astonishment , there was Thomas . He had just come out of the bedroom where he had been asleep . We were all jubilant once Posted by I have to relate this story . My partner went for his morning walk today and as it looked like rain , he took his umbrella with him holding it under his arm . On his way back he saw a truck coming towards him and said to himself , " Ah , here comes Joe . " As the truck got nearer he hauled the umbrella out from under his arm and started jumping around the road like a lunatic , brandishing the umbrella like a sword . Unfortunately it wasn 't his friend , in fact he didn 't know who the person was and I can only imagine the stories flying around this community now about this crazy man who lives on the North Side . Then there was the time we had friends coming for a few days . About the time they were suppose to arrive he put on an outfit he got while travelling in the middle east . Long white robe , black and white checkered head scarf with the black band around it holding it on and a bloody big sword strapped to his waist . Out he goes and starts walking back and forth in the driveway . Nearly put a few cars off the road with that one . And there is more . . . . . . . . . . . . for later . Well , the May 24th weekend is over , although it 's always held on the weekend before the 24th , if the 24th . comes during a week day . It 's suppose to be in honour of Queen Victorias birthday but I think most people have lost sight of that fact . It 's the weekend when all the summer people come and open up their homes , people go camping , fishing , and generally partying . People line their trailers up for days to be able to get a spot in the parks . Lots of people camp in gravel pits on the sides of the highway . Someone from away once said to me that it 's the only place in the world where he 's seen people camp in gravel pits . Ha ha . In fact there has been a song written about it . Lots of police on the roads trying to catch drunk drivers . It 's rarely nice on this weekend , always cold , with rain or snow , however it doesn 't seem to deter many . The general comments are , " well what do you expect , it is May 24th . weekend after all . " We are a pretty laid back bunch of people , I must admit . My weekend was busy , between the rain showers , working on the garden . It 's never ending . I have the damn Mint and Bugle overtaking some of the beds so am trying to keep on top of it . Today the carpenter is suppose to come and re - do the back deck as a lot of it has started to rot . Any moment at all someone can go sailing down through parts of it . However , wouldn 't you know , it 's raining , so probably won 't get it done today . Ah , well , tomorrow is another day . This is about the time of year when the black bears put in an appearance . I have to be very cautious when I go to let the hens out early in the morning . I remember a few years back , every morning there was a lot more than usual amount of bear poop around . We found this a little disturbing so decided to call Wildlife to see what we could do about it , ( the bears not the poop . ) Two wildlife officers showed up and after viewing the situation said they would have to put a live trap on the front lawn . Next thing they were back in a big truck hauling a massive big barrel like thing . We had to take part of the fence down to get this on the property . Once they had it off the truck , I demanded that they show me how it worked as I wanted to make sure the bear or bears wouldn 't get hurt . I was told that the bear would go inside and the weight of the creature would trip a spring and the door would shut . I was to call immediately , anytime day or night , if this happened , and they would come and take the bear off in the country and let it go . Then they proceeded to put cake , cookies , molasses , etc in the barrel . They said any bear within a few klms would smell this and go inside , I thought that was rather amazing . They also told me , if it has been trapped before there was no way it would go inside the barrel no matter how many treats were there . So for three days this contraption sat on the lawn and we were waking up during the night thinking we heard a door shut . Alas , it was all to no avail , no bear in the barrel . Wildlife came and took the trap away and we continued to clean up the poop each morning until the bears decided to move off further into the country . Here are my Treasures . We share our space with these creatures . this is malacaibelow is Ratchet , Ratch for short . She is very bigThis is Thomas , who has many lives . We mistook a dead cat on the road for him , mourned his passing , started to dig a grave , crying with sadness when suddenly he walks out of one of the bedrooms after a nice nap . . . Cleo is like a china doll and behaves like the queen bee , head held high . She is very reserved . Freya came to us last . She is so loving . Life around here just wouldn 't be complete without Penelope and Lulu . They love to come up on the deck in the sun and spread their wings while laying down . They also appreciate all the bugs that surface while I dig in the garden . Just taking the afternoon off from working outside . I just remembered something that happened one day while working on a vegetable farm one summer . I always wore a pair of old pants , a tee shirt and a mans large long sleeved shirt over the tee shirt . The black flies and mosquitoes were so bad I covered up as best I could . There were three of us working that day , each of us on our hands and knees crawling up the drill weeding and thinning the turnip . I was in the middle drill , a young fellow in the drill to my left and another woman in the drill to my right . I was in the lead about ten feet ahead of the other two . Well , it was a very hot day and I was tired and sweating , so I stood up to stretch and wipe the sweat off my face . I picked the tail of the ( mans ) shirt up and brought it all the way up to my forhead and started wiping my brow , imagine my shock when I realized I hadn 't put on my tee shirt under it , and with no bra on as well , I was naked to the world . I turned to my left and there was the young fellow , standing on his knees with his jaw dropped down to his chest , staring at me . What could I do . . . nothing , but put the shirt down , get on my knees again and keep going . No doubt there were a few stories flying around that evening . This past week was mainly sunny after days and days of rain . Earlier in the week I had to haul all the pots and ornamental stuff out of the greenhouse as I had someone coming on Saturday to put new plastic on it . Then I spent two days weeding a large flower bed in the front and put compost around the plants . Roger built me four eight foot high teepees for Scarlet Runner Beans and placed them in various sunny spots around the property . I look around and have so many flower gardens that it all seems an overwhelming task as I didn 't cut back a lot of the plants last fall and they now have to be cleaned up and weeded . Some plants I have to move around as well as they are starting to over run each other . I took two buckets of sunflower seed hulls from under the platform feeder and there is probably another bucketful there . Don 't know what to do about it , I want to keep the feeder as the crows enjoy treats from it and the Evening grosbeaks come for the seeds . Friday we went to the nearest large town , an hours drive away as Roger had a dental appointment , teeth cleaning . When he had finished with the dentist I asked him how much it cost and he said as he only has half his teeth left it only cost half as much . On the way home we saw a bald eagle in a tree by the side of the road , unfortunatly I did ' nt have my camera with me . Yesterday the guy came and put the plastic on the greenhouse , between helping him from time to time and cleaning up around the property I was ready for bed very early last night . I told the guy that I would do the two doors myself so will get at that today . Got to go and finish the laundry now , then out I go . Funny the things one remembers while trying to think of something to write about . I was married to a business man , living in a fairly large town . Anyone who did ' nt know us at least knew who we were . One day I had to go to the mall , so put on a pair of brown pants , smart co - ordinated jacket , high heeled boots , great shoulder bag , hair perfect , makeup on just right and off I went . I was walking through the mall , with head held high , thinking I was the best thing since sliced bread . People were passing me smiling and I was smiling and nodding back . I saw something out of the corner of my eye as I turned my head and nearly fainted when I saw about two feet of panty hose trailing behind me coming out of the leg of my pants . Seems when I last wore the pants , i forgot to take out the hose , so without knowing this I put the pants on with the hose still inside . What to do ! ! ! I grabbed the end of the hose and started pulling , do you know how hard it is to pull panyhose out of the leg of the pants you are wearing . . . the more I pulled , the more they stretched . I was mortified ! I pulled and pulled and finally got them out and immediately balled them up and shoved the embarrassing item in my purse . Head down , feeling very humble , I went on . One day , in the winter , I was going around outside with containers of bird seed to fill the feeders . Not only was there a woodpecker following me around , but , because they saw the container of sunflower seeds , they were trying to land on my head . Now , I thought to myself , this is interesting , what to do ! So I came up with what I thought was a grand idea . . . . . I found a proper size bucket that would fit just over the top of my head , comfortably , then I drilled a hole in each side , and put a rope through each hole so it would tie under my chin and hold the bucket down . Next I drilled a few holes around the sides of the bucket , then got some branches and poked through the holes , put some peanut butter on the branches then put the hat on . I then went outside to try out my great bucket hat . Lo and behold the chick - a - dees all landed on the branches . This seemed like a great idea until three cars nearly went off the road as the drivers were looking at a lunatic with a bucket on her head , branches sticking of it and birds on the branches .