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Issue #1110
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Nova Scotia Sus

Russ

The Ontarion

Well now, how’s it going…..

Well, here we go again. Amazing how fast summer went, or at least the part of summer that we think of as ‘summer’. For whatever reason no one seems to think of that last week or so of June as summer or that first three weeks of September as summer but they are still ‘summer’. I guess it’s just that everyone seems to settle back down, get back to work or back to school, when September starts. In a lot of ways September 1^st would make a way better New Years day than January 1^st. But I digress. It was great to hear from you guys and to know that our weekly endeavor is looked forward to. To that end we will continue to give it our best.

As some of you know, I had continued to write my column throughout the summer for a couple of reasons. I didn’t want to get totally out of the habit. I like to be able to look back on past ‘issues’ to see what had caught my attention at a given point in the past. It was actually easier to keep doing it as there was no pressure, no stress, no deadlines, so I could simply write whatever I felt like writing without any thought to anything. And we all know I’m pretty good at not giving any thought to anything at all and that’s when life is at it’s easiest. As well, continuing to do a weekly issue let me continue the issue numbering unbroken. That’s why we are up to issue #1110 now. It’s also why I didn’t have to write about my summer in this issue because I’ve already done that.

So, good to see you all, so to speak. We seem to have a couple of new members in our group and that’s cool. Hopefully we will occasionally hear from them. That would be cool too. And hopefully we will continue to enjoy the participation of all of us because that’s what makes this whole thing interesting to everyone. Everyone has a story to tell and an interesting angle to what’s going on. So, on with the show…..

Kiwi fruit….

Did you know that kiwi fruit is good for you? And I mean really, really, good for you. It has actually been prescribed to me by the guy who shoved a scope up my, well, you know where. Apparently kiwi fruits have 8 times more nutrients than an apple has. So if an apple a day keeps the doctor away, a kiwi a day must really be potent. It must help keep all sorts of people away, so there’s no down-side at all. And I’m supposed to eat 2 per day. They are about the best source of fiber you can get plus contain massive amounts of vitamin C plus all those nutrients that put those apples to shame. And you know, I’ve come to like them. I’m enjoying 2 different kinds. The ‘green’ kiwi is the best for fiber, I have one of those at lunch time. The ‘green’ refers to the internal color, not the state of ripeness. You eat them like you’d eat a boiled egg, just cut it in half and scoop out the insides with a spoon. The skin is also eatable and very good for you but its a bit tough so that’s up to you.

After dinner, for dessert, I enjoy a ‘golden’ kiwi. They are sweeter and softer than the greens. The ‘golden’ comes from the color of the insides which are sort of green-yellow-ish. I just wash the whole thing, slice it into slices and eat it skin and all. Very enjoyable. Both kinds come from New Zealand but can also be from Chilly and some other places. I prefer the ones for New Zealand. They just seem to be nicer. So, if you’r not already into kiwi fruit, treat yourself to them and do your creaky old body a favor.

Some music….

I bet you figured I’d have stock piled a whole bunch of recorded songs over the summer. Well, you would be wrong if you did because I didn’t recored any music. There simply wasn’t any opportunity to do so. I need a quiet comfortable house in order to record and that was never able to happen for various reasons which is unfortunate because putting together a song, arraigning it, recording the tracks, and so on is one of my most favorite things to do. So, this past week I asked ‘the wife’ to sit quietly down in the living room as she played a game on her iPad and I started working on a rendition of the old Engelbert Humperdinck song ‘There Goes My Everything’. It’s a rather sad song from way, way back. You might remember it if you are my age or older. I only needed quiet for the vocal tracks as they are captured through a rather sensitive mic. The instruments are captured through their own internal pickups so external noise is not a problem with them. What was a problem is that ‘the wife’ would only hear the vocals of the track I was singing on it’s own, without the rhythm or other vocals, making it a strange experience for her. It would be like tasting a single ingredient from some recipe without knowledge of the other ingredients or the end product. Not at all like the mixed and cooked cake the individual ingredients are part of. And to make it worse for her, I put 7 vocal tracks in my version of this song. So, for better or worse, here’s my attempt at arraigning, recording, and mixing a song, the first one in quite a while. Hopefully, not too rusty. Enjoy.

There Goes My Everything

Doug

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From Nova Scotia Sus

The summer has gone by quickly and here it is September already. Looking back we had a very eventful time. My brother ,Warren visited for a whole month of June. He wanted to help with the ongoing clean up of trees from hurricane Fiona last September. He came to work and that he did. He also couldn't believe how changed our properties were. We did have some good visits where we toured around the countryside visiting properties he had built log homes on way back when he lived in Nova Scotia.

In July Hugh Cameron and Mary from Wellesley Ontario spent some time with us after the Antigonish Highland games where he does his drum judging every year. They are a fun couple and we love having them.

We had a beautiful July with warm temps and just enough rain to make our gardens grow. August has rained more with less sunshine and still are gardens flourished. Living on a mountain, that is Fitzpatrick mtn. we have great drainage.

Thanks Doug for getting us all back together again. Looking forward to Saturdays and a good reads.

Sus

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From Russ

Hello everyone, and welcome back to faithful old Saturday morning Squamidian! I hope you enjoy reading my stuff as much as I enjoy writing it. Did your summer go fast? Mine went as fast as a broken $20 dollar bill!

I was going to talk about the coming Fall Season, but thought I'd first bring you up-to-date on another fall. It was one of those days when I was feeling quite chipper and was going to accomplish many things I'd left on the back burner.

It was the last week of July; I was prancing around in my kitchen, throwing caution to the wind when it happened; without warning I fell to the floor like a dead, old Birch tree. I call it a "crash landing" - my head hit the stainless steel sink on the way down, which was painless, as the pain in my lower abdomen took precedence. The fall was nearly as impressive as the one I took when Cupid struck me in the heart with an arrow - falling in love was the greatest - lasting 60 years!

As I lay there motionless, wondering if I should push the Lifeline button on my wrist (which would summon an ambulance) I decided otherwise - there was no way I could endure the additional pain of riding in the truck to the hospital 10 Km away, and then to be rolled around on the cold, stainless steel slab while they took pictures! Been there, done that too often!

An hour dragged on before I had the 'guts' to pull myself up off the hard, tile floor, made possible only because the sink was handy, there being nothing close else close-by. I must use my rolator at all times when moving about in my wee house, but it was also a victim of the crash, and not available to me at the time. Somehow I made it to a kitchen chair, where I sat in pain for another hour contemplating what to do. Here's where living alone is not safe. I should have gone to the hospital then, and there.

Ten days later, the pain was so intense, I asked my son Greg, to drive me to the hospital. The X-Ray Technician tried to roll me onto the dreaded steel table, but I refused. She was nice about it, and took all my smiley-face photos standing upright. I smiled because she was pretty, and had a 'nice bum'. The lady doctor who attended was very nice, handsome, but did not have a nice bum, I noticed. She gave me the bad news: X-Rays showed I'd fractured my spine; that there was nothing they could do about the injury, except provide morphine and recommend other painkillers; that it would take eight weeks for the bone to mend, as it was impacted and only time and rest would heal this type of spinal fracture.

Five weeks of my summer have been spent resting, eating, and turning into a 'couch potato'. The good news is, I'm getting better, only 2.5 weeks to go and I'll be able to continue chasing women, riding my 3-wheeler, and did I say chasing women?

I know we don't like to read about someones health issues in the Squamidian. Please accept my apologies.

Your broken, old Uncle Russ.🙁

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The Ontarion

Hello everyone!

Welcome back for the start of our 21st year (I think)! LOL!

Us old guys have trouble remembering such things as dates! Hahaha…..

What a different summer this was indeed! We’ve had so many happenings it’s hard to remember them all! There were a few times when I headed up to the office to write my Ontarion and suddenly remembered we had taken the summer off! LOL!

Old habits are hard to break I guess. Oh well it’s good to be back! I hope you all had a good summer even though I’m sure you all missed us every Saturday morning!

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This feels kind of goofy typing this in an e mail but I thought I’d try writing on my i pad once! Not as easy as on our main computer but it should work!

Have we all had a strange summer weather wise and It spoiled a lot of the summer. So rainy each week that we only got out in the MGB a few times! We’re looking forward to doing some fall leaf change drives if this warm weather holds!

Speaking of the MGB, Adam and I drove the B up to the Wellington Museum on the road between Elora and Fergus last Sunday and entered the car in their huge summer car show! There were about 200 vehicles in the show and we gave no thought to winning anything due to the large competition attending! There were lots of MG’s and other British cars there but, of course we thought ours was the best! We left the show before the judging was announced to drive home by supper time. I never gave that event another thought, until I opened my e mail two days later to find a congratulatory letter from he museum telling me we had won THE BEST INTERIOR AT THE SHOW!

The letter asked me to drop in to the museum at my convenience to pick up my prize! So Carole and I drove the MG up Tuesday afternoon and got our prize! I didn’t expect it would be much but to our surprise it was a lovely heavy burlap shopping bag filled with trinkets! There was a hat, some coasters, some lip balm, a drinking bottle, a large wooden spoon and a small spoon/fork and an 18” square wooden plaque commemorating our BEST INTERIOR win for the 2003 show to hang on the garage wall by the MG! How cool was that? Winning that award just made my summer!

That’s a pretty good story to start this years Ontarion, so I guess I’ll leave off now and thank you all once more for supporting the SQUID again!

Bye for now and I’ll talk to you all again next week!

Take care and be safe! Greg.

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Have a Good One
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