The Squamidian Report – Dec. 25 / 04
Also in this issue:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
I sure hope you are all enjoying a relaxed, laid back Christmas. Ours always is. For starters, while some of you guys were enjoying those minus 20 temperatures, Ryan, Warren and I took advantage of a nice west coast pre-Christmas day and went motorcycling. Didn’t bother with any pictures and I won’t bore you with any details. However, Warren took some great shots so for anyone interested those pictures can be seen at: http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b2/Pictures/mashiter.htm
Christmas Eve was quiet. Both Ryan and Emily had to work up in Whistler, which is normal in their kind of jobs. She is doing massage treatments at the chateau for the rich and famous and he is running the sound equipment at some big function. Sue and I went to Warren’s, that has become our tradition. They come here on Christmas Day. We made some guitar music and had a nice dinner and chatted. That’s how you spend Christmas with good friends.
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I’ve always attempted to avoid relating anything about my past in this newsletter. For one thing, most of it is pretty boring. It is great when others send in their stories as that is their intention. My personal mandate has been to share the ongoing west coast adventure. Our daily lives are all so different that what is normal to one will be interesting to someone else. However, after being inspired as well as reminded by Vivyan’s story last week I’m going to step outside my mandate a bit tell you about a Christmas holiday I spent up on her parent’s farm (my grandparents Hockridge).
I don’t remember how old I was so I will guess about 12 but perhaps a bit younger. My grandparents were away for several weeks visiting one of their sons who lived west of Sudbury. Vivyan’s younger brother Carman was living on their farm and so was there alone. Don’t know how I managed it but I was permitted to be there for the holidays. Not sure who was happier about it, me or my parents. This was in the days before they had hydro on the farm so any lighting was by candle or coal oil lantern. A large Dutch oven, a beautiful old stove, heated the old farmhouse. Incidentally, this is the farmhouse I was born in. The farm was several concessions north of the road that ran through Cedarville, the closest village. This is up in Grey County, south of the Bruce so winter can be brutal.
Within minutes of being dropped off at the farm we were snowed in. The temperatures stayed bitterly cold and the wind sent the non-stop snowfall into huge drifts. The wood burning Dutch over could never keep up with the cold as it tried to warm the house so we did what was normal for all those farmhouses in the winter. We moved the oven into the living room and retreated to there, surrendering the kitchen and outer rooms to the deep freeze. There were two bedrooms off the living room but it was so cold out that even these rooms had to be abandoned. We moved all my grandmother’s plants in with us. One thing that was not at risk of freezing was the plumbing. There wasn’t any. The water was down in the well and you used the drafty outhouse when things got desperate enough.
Because of the weather we were running short on supplies, including feed for the barn animals. The cows could eat the hay that I forked down from the mow but the pigs needed chop, which was just ground up oats. As we ran low on people food we started gathering chicken eggs. The hens ran loose in the barn. The eggs were frozen solid so we didn’t need to worry about how old they were. I also made my first pot of porridge. We ended up living on that for a while. You can slice off chunks and fry it in bacon grease. You can re-heat it and eat it with the now cooked eggs. Came in quite handy.
After about a week of constant storm the weather broke. Still bitterly cold but calm and clear. That meant a trip to Cedarville on the old Ferguson tractor pulling a wagon. It took a small fire in a pail under the engine to get the tractor warmed enough to start but it did start eventually. Those old tractors did not have comfortable heated cabs, they were just a seat and steering wheel out in the open. But the ride was any kid’s dream adventure as we bucked snowdrifts on roads that would never see a snowplow. In town we picked up the pig feed and some people groceries. Especially coffee. My uncle had run out days earlier and was getting frantic. I didn’t drink the stuff at that time, probably shouldn’t now.
And then we had one of the most memorable Christmas holiday nights of my life. It got so cold that we pulled chairs up to the Dutch oven, opened the oven door and slept sitting in the chairs with our feet in the oven. When the fire would die down the cold would wake us so we could put in more wood. The whole time was just one big fun adventure for a kid.
The unfortunate side effect of having broken a trail through to the main road when we went into town was that my parents were able to retrieve me in time to go back to school after the holidays, which meant I had to go home.
I think this whole thing explains why I’ve always liked winter storms and farm tractors. There, I think that tells more about me as a kid than any of you ever needed to know.
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No one wanted this spot!
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THE ONTARION REPORT
DECEMBER 25, 2004
Season’s Greetings everyone!
What a beautiful day in Southern Ontario today! Now this is the way to celebrate Christmas. With lots of snow and a little sunshine thrown in for good measure. It only took me an hour and a half to clear the driveway and sidewalks today and I enjoyed every minute of it. Well, almost every minute. I had ¾ of the drive done when my blower auger stopped blowing. I took a quick look at the auger and it looked ok. I figured I had broken a belt so I ran it into the garage and left it there for a couple of hours. I had decided to meet Clyde at a mutual friend’s place on the north side of Kitchener to spend an hour or so jawing about Christmas and whatever. We have both know this man for about 40 years for me and I think 50 for Clyde. Just before I left, Clyde called and told me he wouldn’t be able to make it. I went over anyway and had a few hot wings and a good visit. When I got home, I figured I’d head out and buy a new belt for the blower. As it turned out, when I had a better look at the auger, there was a large rock jammed in it that had stopped it dead in it’s tracks. I took it out with a precision hammer and adjusted the belt and it has never worked better. I think I’ll keep it for at least this year anyway. Maybe next year when I’m a year older and a little weaker, I’ll look at buying a new, lighter weight blower.
This past couple of weeks have been filled with plenty of movement around here. There has been loads of Christmas shopping to be done and believe it or not, I enjoy doing it! Every year, I listen all year long for things that Carole says she likes and make mental notes to get her these items for Christmas. Then, I promptly forget every one of them when it comes time to shop. What can I say? LOL! So, about a month before Xmas, I ask her to write me a list of items she’d like. I usually stick to the list and then add a couple of things that “I” think she would like. For the most part, I’ve been successful with my picks. At least if my picks are not so good, I have all the really good items from the list to fall back on Christmas morning. One of the other really fun things that we’ve been doing since Carole got Bailey (her Toy Poodle) for Christmas 2 years ago is take him to Pet Smart to have his picture taken with Santa. I took my digital camera along and managed to get one shot of both Bailey and Santa looking at something on the floor! Oh well, I couldn’t really ask Santa to pose for me for free when everyone else is paying for photos. We paid as well but I didn’t want to overstep my bounds. I’ve attached the picture I took and will ask Doug to put it with the pictures on his website. If you want to see the cutest puppy in Southern Ontario, you can see him there. Of course Carole gave Bailey a bath and a light trim before the big event. He looked his cutest next to Santa’s big white beard. Bailey was more of a “Bailey’s Irish Cream” colour when we first got him. Now he’s gotten much whiter since he’s matured. He almost blended right in with Santa’s beard. It’s amazing what we do for our pets isn’t it? This little guy is so much fun that we can’t help but treat his as a full fledged member of the family. This was the third year for his Santa picture and I guess we’ll keep it up until whenever! The pictures are mounted in a plastic frame with a magnet on the back. Of course they are displayed on the front of the fridge at Christmas. We tried to talk Adam into sitting on Santa’s knee (just kidding) but he said 28 is a tad old to be doing that, especially at 6’4”. Oh well, we do have loads of pictures of Adam from years gone by anyway. We were surprised to find that there wasn’t a line up at Santa. Other years we stood in line for a good half hour before getting a turn. I guess we hit it just right this year. While walking around after getting the picture, Carole spotted a doggie pouch that you wear round your shoulders to carry your puppy in front like a baby. She tried it on and we placed Bailey in it just see if he’d like it and we couldn’t get him out of it. He loved it! Of course we had to get it for him (or was it for Carole). Actually it’s a handy way of carrying him around when we go out. Most stores don’t mind if we have him confined to the pouch and take him into the store with us. At least he isn’t running the isles or making a mess and we would never leave him in the car. I haven’t worn it yet but Carole says it’s very comfortable. I guess there’ll come a time when I’ll give it a try.
For other ‘Greg’ pictures go to:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/Greg/Greg.htm
I spent all day yesterday wrapping my gifts to Carole. I think I’m spoiling her……..naaaaa no such thing. She deserves everything she’s getting and more. This is the time of year when I like to do a little spoiling. We’ve both worked hard for so many years and if we can’t spoil each other at Christmas, when can we do it?!!! I’ve probably said this before but when it comes to my making a list or even just asking for one specific thing for Christmas, I’m at a loss. I guess that comes from being able to acquire most things that strike my fancy all year long. I’ve always loved Christmas. It will always be my favourite time of the year.
Well, Carole has the tea ready so I’m going to sign off for now and enjoy a cup before hitting the hay.
Carole, Adam, Bailey and I wish each and every Squamidian member a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Have a wonderful holiday and a safe and happy weekend and I’ll talk to you all again next week in The Ontarion. Thanks for tuning in!
Sincerely….GREG. Ho Ho Ho!
PS: Something to Think About>
If you’re at a loss for a last minute gift for a loved one, head for Home Depot and buy them a Smoke Detector. What better gift can you give someone than one that may save their life?
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The family site:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/
The Squamidian Site:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b2/
Have a good one..
the
doug