The Squamidian Report – June 2 / 18
Issue #836
Including:
From Sus
From Lorne
From Russ
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Well now, our Eastern visitors have come and gone. Actually, their part
of the country is more the 'Central' part than the 'Eastern' part
because the east is way east of there, somewhere out by the east coast.
Thats kind of funny because the 'West' is east of here. We are west of
west. To get to the 'West' we have to drive east for about a thousand
clicks because once past the Rockies its no longer considered the
'West', but deemed to be the coastal part of the country that we
apparently are not part of, given the treatment we have received from
'The West' and from the Feds way back there in the 'Central'. Oh well,
every once in a while Washington State and Oregon State and BC make
noised about slitting off and forming their own country. Thats starting
to make more sense these days.
But I digress, our visitors have gone home. I assume they had a good
time. We did our best to provide with good weather and I must say they
had great weather. We did our best to supply good meals and 'The Wife'
out did herself with the meals she (with the help of my sister)
prepared. We did our best to show them around and they saw some nice
and or interesting places. We did our best to give them some nice views
of the ISS passing over head as well as showing them Jupiter and a few
of her moons, and Venus, and they did indeed have some nice viewings. I
hooked up my cell phone's camera to my scope and had the phone transmit
what it was seeing to the TV to make viewing easy for everyone. Even
the people at the gondola made them feel welcome. So if there are any
complaints, I don't want to hear them.
The car is back in its usual side of the garage, the motorcycle is back
in its side and all is well. And just in time for my sister to be gone
from here, someone threw a switch and it is now June-uary. I had to
bundle up big time for my Friday afternoon ride down to Horseshoe Bay.
The ride was good and the warm layers of riding apparel were very
welcome. As for it now being 'June-uary', thats fairly normal. Here in
the 'beyond the west' its quite common for May to be warm and sunny and
dry and then most of or all of June being cold and wet. Right now we
could use the wet part because there are now dozens of forest fires
burning and the vast majority have been started by human carelessness,
either by abandoned camp fires or by cigarette butts being tossed by
brain dead morons. I'd like to write how I really feel about brain dead
morons but if I did, as editor of this letter, I'd have to censor
myself and remove what I had written. Somehow that just doesn't seem
right so the easiest way to go is not at all. So, I guess my part of
this letter is done for this week.
doug
****
From Sus
I am enjoying reading the Squamidian and hearing from family and
friends about their travels and stories. It's so nice to keep in
touch when we all live so far away from one another. The internet
has made all that possible. How did we live without it! I
guess you don't miss what you don't have.
We have started a new project, raising chickens! Two weeks ago we
bought 18, one day old chicks at $1.45 each to raise for meat.
Being new at this we asked many questions and got advice here and
there. I'm amazed how many people love to talk about their
experience raising chickens, some good and some not so good. We
purchased two kiddie pools, one for the chicks to stay in and one for
the top. We cut a hole in the top one and then put a screen over the
hole so we could reach in to feed and water them. All they do is
eat, drink, sleep and poop and grow very fast. Two days ago we
had to move them out to our chicken coop since they had already
outgrown their home. A while back in preparation for the chickens
we built a very secure chicken coop with a fenced in outdoor pen.
We tried hard to make it impossible for any creatures to invade so we
will see how that goes. They aren't using the outdoor pen as yet,
one step at a time. So far they are all very healthy and strong
and not so cute anymore. We are trying not to make them into pets
and think of them as a farmer would.
Lately there have been many bear sightings in our area so we are trying
hard to not have anything that might entice them to our yard.
Last night our green bin was knocked over and moved so it's likely it
has found us. I did see more proof nearby in the form of bear
scat. I have an air horn I carry with me that hopefully will
scare them off. Its so loud it would scare anyone especially if I
sound it off at night doing my check of the chickens before I'm off to
bed.
Gardening is keeping us busy too what with having 2 outdoor gardens and
a greenhouse to keep up. I love being outside so much and getting
lots of fresh air and exercise. The only drawback now is the
black flies.
That's all for now,
Sus
****
From Lorne
Sunday evening, May 27, several more trips up through the clouds
and more to follow. I will report the total number sometime in June
when Doug isn't around to tell me I'm wrong. This morning we
traveled to Horseshoe Bay. Always interesting to wander around watching
the BC ferries departing for ports on the islands and Sunshine Coast.
Some nights have been clear enabling us to view the Space Station and
to-night should be another. The only problem is, it passes over
head about 10.30 pm, making that really 1.30 am my time. We went
to watch eagles along the river. I only saw a crow but was told that
crow is an eagle.
The final episode. To-morrow we return home. That is to muggy old
Ontario. The air here is crisp and clean and often blowing across ice
fields making the temperatures much cooler and refreshing We did
get up to Pemberton, a town beyond Whistler that lies in a broad flat
valley between mountain ranges. It is very interesting and
attractive because of an extended peaceful ranch and farming area. Like
a garden of Eden or Shiangrala. I now have taken 50 gondola trips to
the summit of Habrich mountain, the total distance travelled is
200 km. About the same distance by road from Kitchener to Lion's head
up in the Bruce . It took 3 trips out here to reach my goal. I don't
want to make things sound too inviting because there are enough tourist
here already and Doug and Sue need a break. By the way, we hiked the
1.6 km Panorama again while up at the top and crossed over the
suspension bridge again as well. While we depart Thursday
may 31, we don't get in until Friday June 1. 2018
Lorne
****
From Russ
I thought I knew the meaning of the word, “lump”, until reading it in my trusty, very old GAGE Dictionary:
Lump > a solid mass of no particular shape.
Well, that pretty well describes me, as it could also mean
A dull or stupid person(informal)
When used as a verb > put up with; endure.....
(they could still be talking about me).
GAGE goes on:
If you don’t like it, you can lump it.
He’s tough....he can take his lumps.
Some lumps are sweet, as in sugar lumps; some lumps are bitter, as in
those lumps you look for but hope you never find(breasts/testicles)
Some lumps are exciting, as when you win a lump sum of money.
Some lumps can be dangerous, such as when you hit one while driving on
these ‘spring roads’......a “pot hole” is an ‘inverted lump’; a “frost
boil” is a lump with a ‘soft centre’.
Well, let’s lump this all together until next week when we’ll tackle humps.
PS
A “lump” can also be a swelling, this has been ‘swell’, so maybe you’ll see your old Uncle Russ again next week.
Russ
****
THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello Everyone!
Not much but lawn mowing going on around here these days. The only
other item on the list was to finally have the stitches removed from my
head. Two weeks ago I had a plastic surgeon as you will remember remove
a “thing” from the top of my head and on Wednesday of this week I
finally went back to him to have the stitches taken out. He informed me
that the lab results showed that the “spot” they removed from my scalp
was indeed cancer! He also told me that the lab confirmed that they had
successfully removed all of the contaminated flesh. SO, he said I’m
cancer free for now! I’m going back in two months to have him take
another look at the rest of the spots on my scalp and hopefully there
will be no more cancerous ones to remove. Fingers crossed! I’ve been
enough of a challenge to the medical community over the past seven
months and I’m sure they’re getting as tired of seeing me as I am them!
LOL!
*
Thursday
May 31st was Adams birthday and we went to Enio’s Restaurant on Fairway
Rd to celebrate his 42nd! WOW! It’s hard to believe that we have a son
that old already! The years have gone by so darned fast it’s amazing.
We discovered Enio’s a couple of years ago when we wanted some
authentic Italian food after visiting Rome and enjoying the food over
there so much. Enio’s is authentic Italian food and it’s amazing. Also
the prices are fair for the quality and amount of food they serve. I
usually get the spaghetti and this time was no exception. They also
serve the best Caesar Salad in town!
*
Robins
that usually nest on a shelf in our back patio did so again this year
and they laid four eggs. We’ve been watching the progress as the pair
of Robins took turns sitting on the nest over the past few weeks. The
babies hatched about a week and a half ago and have grown at an amazing
rate. They were so large that they could hardly fit in the nest anymore
just a few days ago. Two days ago Carole and I were out back doing some
yard work and one of the babies fluttered to the ground on the patio
beside me as I stood there. She/He looked up at me and then just hopped
off into the growth of the garden. We’ve seen him hopping around the
yard a few times since but most of the time he’s invisible to anyone
out back. Two others have managed to fly the nest as well but there is
one left. I guess he’s the runt of the litter because he’s still
hanging tight in the nest. We though at first that he had maybe been
abandoned by the parents but finally after several hours we noticed the
mother return to the nest and both the mother and father are still
frequenting the front and back lawns picking worms to feed both
themselves and the “runt” of the litter as well. They still fly up and
spend time feeding the last baby in the nest. He’s getting large enough
now that it won’t be long before he’s gone as well. It’s amazing how
quickly they grow from a tiny spot of flesh with fuzz on them into
full-grown Robins! It’s kind of like watching your own children grow up
only, on a much faster pace! I wonder if Robins get together and
celebrate birthdays with their children?
Hahahaha…. I guess NOT!
Since this is kind of mish mash of a column this week, I’ll end off
with an update on the repairs of the MGB. I decided to take a drive to
Blair to confront the owner of the body shop face to face since he
hasn’t returned my four phone calls about a time and price to finish
the repairs on the MG. Of course, as luck would have it, he had just
left the premises a few minutes before my arrival. The fellow I talked
to upon arrival promised to give him the message about my inquiry as to
a price and date for the repairs once more and urge him to call me
“soon”. That was two days ago and I’m still waiting. Oh well, I guess
I’m still just going to have to be patient. I’ve bugged him enough that
I’m sure he’s gotten the message and will call in the next few days. If
I’m lucky!
Guess that’s all for this week folks!
Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next week in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now … Greg.
PS: Something To Think About>
Make sure to either wear a hat on not sunny days or coat your exposed skin with at least a 30 sun block!
****
Have a good one..
the doug
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.
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