The Squamidian Report – March 8 / 08
Issue #302
Including:
A Note From Barb
From
the Shores of Lake Huron
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Contrary to popular belief, the Prince George Cougars are not a junior A hockey team. Rather, they are wild mountain lion type cats that have come down out of the hills to prey upon local farm livestock and pets. Seems the snow pack is so deep that the cougar population is having trouble finding enough natural food and so by necessity they have broadened their menu to include dogs, goats, and whatever else is convenient. Several rural residents of the Prince George area have reported livestock being taken, and several have witnessed their own dogs being grabbed right in front of them. Some have even been stalked themselves.
So the local authorities have been forced to ‘eliminate’ some of these animals. Just thought I’d pass that along.
*
Our house finally has its new roof. This past week was sunny and mild giving the roofers a chance to do the job unhindered by rain. The roof is high and steep so they didn’t want to have to work under tarps as they sometimes do during rainy weather. They stripped the back (west) side first and then re-shingled it. There are 6 skylights on that side so they had to do a lot of flashing work and cutting and piecing.
Then they tackled the front side. By the time it was stripped there was a pile of old shingle material all the way around the house. It was hard to find a way in. Once it was stripped they laid those shingles and then did a bit of a clean-up before doing the little roof things that overhang the front door and garage. During the whole operation I had to park out at the street because the driveway was covered with debris and material. That’s a real hassle when you are used to parking in a nice warm garage. Or maybe I’m just getting soft in my old age. Hard to say.
All I know is that one clear chilly morning I had to scrape my truck windows. That was the first time this winter that I had to do that. When you park inside the windows are always nice and dry and clear. Like I said, a real hassle. However, once the big garbage bin has been taken away I’ll be able to get back into my side of the garage. Sue’s side is clear so she can still enjoy indoor parking.
By the way, she just got back from a week in Winnipeg where it was –25 to –30 for daytime highs, with wind chills of –48. Now that’s cold.
doug
****
On the weekend of Feb. 2nd I was preparing the traditional Sat.
night supper - pork & beans. I was pondering what to do as I’d
forgotten to thaw the pork chops, and Russ had already made the salad, so I
grabbed a couple of wieners out of the fridge to make do, when somebody touched
me on the shoulder. Since there’s only the two of us living here, and
Russ was in at the computer, I turned around quickly to look into the smiling
face and open arms of our youngest son, Greg. While he was hugging me he
said, "Come on around the corner", and there smiling smiling like a
Cheshire Cat, with open arms was Mac, our other son and his wife, Marie from
Calgary. They came in on the same flight, but Greg had come all the way
from Ft. MacMurray!
I tried to control my emotions, but everyone was laughing and hugging. They could see I was overwhelmed as they shouted, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM. That really did it.....the tears flowed! Greg’s wife, Bettie, had picked them up from the airport and was parking the car. I don’t know how they kept this secret from me!
When things settled down a bit, I figured I needed a few more cans of beans.......they were STARVING !
Greg and Bettie returned to their home in Ripley that night, and came back here the next day for the festivities and brought our Great grandson, Glenn, with them.
The next few days were lots of fun .....Marie took over the kitchen, (she’s a great cook) leaving me free to visit with my boys.
Mac is a Dealer when they hold special Casino nights in Calgary and Banff, so they wanted to see and try out the big new Casino at Niagara Falls........all left with empty pockets!! We tried to get a look at the Falls, but because it was so cold that day they were socked-in with fog.
Greg had to be back at work on Thursday, but when he went to the airport, his flight was cancelled due to that snowstorm that everyone was talking about........so he came back here. It was very important that Greg get back to Ft. Mac., as he is the petroleum Consultant for a big Oil Company there. Mac, an Underwriter for a large Insurance Co. in Calgary, knew he had to be back to work on Thursday, and hoped his flight would not be cancelled as well! But it wasn’t, and so all three left on the same flight on Thursday. Boo Hoo!.
They made this Birthday for me the happiest ever, since I was in hospital in Feb. `06 and in Feb. `07. Boy, this apartment is lonely, just Russ, Donny,(our dog) and me.
****
Greetings everyone,
Well it was a great week in the Port Elgin area. I successfully fixed my skid steer problem. With perseverance and a few new parts its working fine again. The problem was in the sensor for the seat bar arm. I should have just ordered all the parts for that area at once as the one part was damaged that turns the magnet that the sensor detects that the bar is down. Now if it wants to it can snow again (not really).
We dodged a bullet here on Wednesday as everyone to the south of here seemed to get dumped on again and their talking another storm for today (Friday). The salmon fry in the hatchery are doing great. All but the last fish that were gotten late are now in the large tanks. Most of the first group is now between 1.5 and 1.8 grams in size or about 2 to 2 1/2" long. You can see from week to week the growth in the little guys. If you recall last year we had a major die off around early to mid February. This year we have maybe an average of 12 to 14 fish a day or two. PRETTY DARN GOOD!
The six wild turkey hens are frequenting the feeder more often now. I am still surprised that the is not a tom amongst them as the closer spring gets the more amorist the toms get, strutting around expanding tail and body feathers to grab the attention of the hens. Some women might say typical male fashion. HAH! Well, I must head out for Kitchener now so have a great and safe week.
****
Hello
everyone!
I’ve been
thinking about the weather a lot this past week or so and pretty much everyone
I’ve talked to about it is of the same opinion, that it’s a long cold winter
and they want it to end today! When it comes right down to it, this snow is
what winter in Ontario is all about and the temperatures really haven’t been
any colder than in any other good Canadian winter. I think we’ve just been
spoiled by the past few years of unusually mild ones and all that talk about
“Global Warming”. The world goes through cycle after cycle of changes in the
weather patterns and I have a feeling this “Global Warming” thing is just
another upward swinging cycle in the worlds weather patterns. I could be wrong
but I’m sure when I check the weather channel in about 50 years they’ll be full
of talk about things getting much colder worldwide and the term “Global
Cooling” will be the buzz words of the half century! I’ll make you this promise
now, that when that happens I won’t go on and on about “Global Cooling” the way
you’ve heard me blabber on about “Global Warming”. But mark my words, the world
is worrying about it for nothing and they’ll do the same about the downward swing
50 years from today!
*
Speaking
of snow, we’ve had loads of it dropped on us again lately and we here in
Southern Ontario are supposed to be getting whacked with a snow storm from
Texas tonight (Friday) and all day tomorrow through to early Sunday morning. I
just looked outside and it’s snowing lightly and coming down from the north. I
wasn’t aware that Texas was north of here??? Hmmmmm…….? I guess it’s just the
wind currents that are moving in a pattern that brings the snow in from
whichever direction. As I sat back down at the computer there was a CTV news
flash that said this could be the WORST winter storm of the year that is
starting out there right now. I guess we’ll find out when we get out of bed and
look out the window in the morning. If we’re faced with a foot of new snow
courtesy of the Texas storm there’s not much we can do about it but break out
the shovels and snow blower and clear the drive once more! I’m sure you all
remember the snows of winters past and this year is reminiscent of those high
piled boulevards and narrowed streets of yesteryear. Just keep in mind that
every day shoveling brings us one day closer to many days of beautiful sunshine
and open roads. Being tomorrow is the day (or night) we turn our clocks ahead
we’ll be even closer to spring. You see, there is reason to view the glass as
half full!
*
The storm
that dumped about eight inches or more on Kitchener a few days ago certainly
gave me enough work to do with the blower. We have a structure that we call a
“breezeway” on the side of our house. I erected it when we moved in ten years
ago. We have two doors that lead outside, one from the garage and the other
about four feet further along the same wall that is an entry to the laundry
room. I erected a “breezeway” to enclose these two doors so we could go from
the garage to the house without having to step out into the weather. It works
great but sometimes a heavy snow fall tends to leave a very deep pile of snow
on the roof. The eaves troughs on both the roof of the breezeway and the
adjoining house roof become plugged with ice and consequently when the snow
begins to melt the water has to go somewhere. This water then starts to leak in
through the outside breezeway wall behind the eaves trough and runs down the
inside of the wall. The only way to stop this from happening is to climb up on
the roof and clear off both the snow and the ice layer under it. Yesterday Adam
and I spent a couple of hours doing just that. The snow was at least two feet
deep and the ice was a good three inches thick. I started the shoveling and
Adam took over to finish the job. He hammered away with a mini sledge and
chisel to break up the ice. When we got the roof cleared it was only a matter
of wiping the dampness off the wall and floor inside the breezeway and things
were back to normal. All the snow and ice had to go somewhere so it landed on
the ground between the houses. This side of the house is the access to our back
yard and the pathway that the meter reader uses to enter out back and read the water
and gas meters. If it’s not clear, they don’t make any effort to plod through
the snow to get to the meters they just guess at an average amount and bill us
accordingly. Usually this amount is way too much so I prefer to keep the
pathway clear and receive a true billed amount. Fortunately we were able to
shovel the ice chunks off the top of the pile and then use the blower to shoot
the remaining three feet of snow into the neighbour’s back yard. It was a lot
of work but worth the effort to keep the water from ruining the interior of the
breezeway. I guess we may have to repeat the procedure if this brewing storm
dumps another heavy load of snow over the next 48 hours. What can I say, “Such
is winter life in Ontario”!
Gotta go
for now!
Thanks
for tuning in and I look forward to talking to you all again next week in The
Ontarion Report!
Bye for now…. Greg.
PS:
Something To Think About>
Tigers
have striped skin, not just striped fur.
****
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http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/
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Have a good one..
the
doug
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