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The
Squamidian Report – April 25 / 26
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Of This And Past Issues Issue
#1248 ****
From Sylvia and Wayne
Spring brings out the bunnies – all kinds, young and old. As long as they are still hopping all is good.
(Left to right: Fozzie the coon cat, Me,[Sylvia,] friendly owl, Gabbi and Opi, [Wayne].) Spring this year yielded quite a good amount of liquid gold from the few maple trees we have around here. We mostly have birch and needle trees, so we do savour out Maples. Kenny brought out his great invention to boil the liquid into some of the best rich syrup which makes a better substitute than sugar and makes the oatmeal taste so much better.
This is our second batch. We wont go short on sweetness. Not much else has changed – we are still waiting for another cow birth, but other then that the spring has taken its time to make a grand appearance in N.B. We are waiting to witness the global warming, but so far we have only had a day or two in the high teens and the wind blowing over the northern regions still covered in snow make for chilly walks outside.
Sylvia and Wayne ****
From Carol
Al and I keep talking about how much we would like to see Gary’s place in Picton, Wayne and family’s farm, Sus’ changes to her place in N.S. and meet her Dave. I will always have to sleep sitting up and have eating issues but am now as healthy as I will ever be. Our thoughts are if we don’t take a final road trip now chances are we never will. With all that in mind we have decided to attempt a trip. If Gary, Wayne and Sus are willing to see us we have a window of time without appointments starting June 7th. We thought we would drive to Picton and if all goes well continue east. The question is; how would this time frame suit the 3 of you? Our weather here in Kitchener keeps fluctuating between beautiful and miserable, at least that always gives us something to talk to our neighbours about. The daffodils are in full bloom and the tulips are just starting to open. Unfortunately the weeds in my flower beds are also growing like crazy. The Kitchener Rangers junior A team is in the third round of playoffs. Al is a season ticket holder and gets very excited on game nights. The only sports I enjoy watching are the artistic ones like figure skating and gymnastics but I encourage Al to have his night out with the boys. Take care and have a great week. Carol ****
From Nova Scotia Sus
Spring has arrived early this year. Our pond lost its ice a good week ago and that's the earliest on record. We ordered cut and split firewood this year so a lot of piling going on. We will have a full woodshed and all ready for next winter. I love getting jobs out of the way. Our greenhouse is looking good too. We have trays and more trays of different veggies on the go. We will not starve. We are doing lots of baby sitting also. She is not really a baby anymore...just turned 4 years old and thinks she knows everything. We do enjoy her company and help out her mother who has to work. It's almost lobster season. I'm not liking lobster much but I'm rare...people here go crazy for it. Sus ****
From Gary
Hi everyone. Some of my family may remember Glorianne’s oldest sister Sandy. Glorianne donated a kidney to her in 1998. Doctors told her she might get 12-15 years if things go well. Sandy managed 28 years. Death is always sad but when it’s someone in my generation it really hits home. Sandy’s overall health has not been good for the last while so there are mixed emotions. Now to the weather report. 23 last Saturday and snowed on Monday. 5 Wednesday night and 21 on Thursday. . Up and down like a yo-yo. Wildflowers , lawn violets and daffodils are blossoming. Lawns are green. Maybe spring has sprung. Take care and stay safe everyone. Gary ****
From Doug
For me, having nothing to write about is a good thing I guess. Weather wise, our spring has been incredible now that we seem to be past the endless rains of winter. However, we actually NEED rain now. This part of the world dries out very fast. Sun and wind do their parts but the steep rocky mountain sides do theirs as well. Water can’t sink in, it just runs right back into the ocean. Pie is a good topic, both the successes and the failures. I’ve mostly had success but there has been one failure. Carol had sent me my mother’s recipe as best she could remember. Well, something is amiss with it. I don’t know if something was left out, or if something was in there that shouldn’t have been. I made a half batch of pie dough, enough for 3 pie shells, and used one of them to make an apple pie with raisins. It was horrible. I couldn’t eat it and ended up throwing it out as well as the two remaining dough balls that were by then in the freezer. I then made a batch of dough from the old recipe I had been using but this time substituted butter for lard. (Dairy fat instead of animal fat). It worked out great. There is a very subtle difference in the texture and flavor and color but you’d never notice if it wasn’t pointed out. The apple pie that I had to toss had been made from store-bought pie filling. I couldn't get the name brand this time so had settled for ‘no-name’. Its not as good as brand name. You get what you pay for bit it was ok. So, I made a fresh pie from the butter batch and I salvaged the pie filling from the bad batch. There was enough for half a pie, so, I made half a batch of raisin pie filling (very easy to make). That gave me a half and half pie, raisin and apple hence forth to be known as rapple. It was good (‘was’ because its long gone now, eaten, not tossed).
Doug ****
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