REARRANGING MOTHER NATURE

While I have been working up stairs in my studio, trying to get caught up on some Christmas projects, my mind has been on my gardens.  Most specifically next years gardening season.  I have been reading gardening articles, searching stories on prairie gardening, and listening to neighbours and others in this area talk about their gardens.

Sometimes I work at my little school desk from the 40's which sits in the kitchen in front of the window looking out to the back yard.  Truth be told, I really don't get much done there, because I can't take my eyes off the yard outside.  There is so much I want to do to this part of the yard, I hope that this time next year, it won't look anything like it does right now!

Here is what I see when I look out my window from my seat at my little school desk.  Well it is not looking this sunny or green anymore, but I just want you to see the blank slate I am working with.

This is a side yard, we call it the back yard.  It is bordered on the west by three huge Blue Spruce trees and then a row of Karaganda Hedge, which actually takes up a good 6 ft of our property and continues across the back around to the east side and all around are whole property.

The spruce trees most likely will have to go, as they are creating a very acidic garden especially this fall, the ground is covered with pine needles and cones from all the wind and rain we have had. With those trees gone, we can then move the hedge back 6 ft to the property line, creating even a larger area to work in.

  Inside the border of hedge is a very large lawn, and a  huge garden in the shape of a L.  Aside from a few flowers and way too many strawberry plants growing in the garden, it is a blank space.

My brain has been working overtime since we moved here.  I was so tempted to start digging and changing the yard, but something told me to live with it, and take note of things - like where the sun rests at different times of the day; where long periods of shade are; how the wind moves through the yard.  I also gave the garden a chance to show me if there were any perennial type plants that might show up without intervention from me - and I wasn't disappointed!

So I have been watching, and journaling all of that information.  I also have made lists of the things that I know I want to see when I look out in my yard, and what I want to grow.

I want a frog pond... remember I mentioned I have a resident toad and a snake - well my cousin tells me that if you have frogs/toads and snakes in your yard, you have a healthy yard... so I am putting in a small pond for the frogs, and if there are frogs, there will most likely be snakes too...I think!

I want a few raised beds - three, is what I am planning on at the moment.  I want 3 -  4x8 ft raised beds for things like strawberries, tomatoes, beans, beets, lettuce, one will have attached lattice for plants that need to climb such as cucumbers, melons, zucchini - etc.  And one will be for a tea and herb garden.

The ground garden will grow potatoes, squash, pumpkin, etc.

I want at least 2 fruit trees, an apple for sure, and maybe an apricot... there is one in the T&T catalogue that I have my eye on.

I want birds in my yard so the fruit trees will help with that, but I also want houses and feeders to attract the birds.

I want a bee house or two because a good garden needs lots of bees.

I want areas to sit and read, or sit and watch the birds, or the bees, or sit with my camera.  There will be a small patio area for outdoor entertaining, and somewhere there will be a fairy garden - just because.

It is a tall order, and I know it will be back breaking work, but hopefully one day I will be able to sit outside in the summer months in all that is my revamped yard and write my blog posts from one of those areas.

My home has a huge cold room, which right now is wall to wall - empty.

I plan to fill it up next year with home canned vegetables from my garden, my own potatoes, squash and pumpkins... all the things that are so good to eat - grown right here in my own yard.

Now that I have taken measurements, I am going to start planning the new yard on paper.  I am kind of looking forward to spending my winter working on the outside - from the inside.

When spring comes, I hope to be able to start working on my garden plan.  No doubt it will take several years to become the garden I want, but that's okay... really great things often take time to accomplish.

But first I need to finish my Christmas orders and gifts...

SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND!

When I was rummaging though boxes looking for old photographs of my Mother's school, I came across a pile of black and white photos, tied together with some string.  I stood with them in my hand for a few minutes, trying to remember why they were tied together as they were, and where they came from.  I knew they were not any of our original old family photos.

I released the string and started flipping through the photos.  I tell you I struck GOLD!  They were all photos pertaining to my Father's side of the family, and then I remembered that the last time I had seen my Aunt Margaret, who is the eldest of that family, she had handed me the bundle telling me she wanted me to have them.

These photo's are old, but in incredible shape.  My Aunt Margaret always put dates on her photo's and most of these were from the 1940's.  There were some of my Grandpa Fischer on his farm, when his farm looked way different to how I remembered it.  There were some of Aunt's holding babies, some of Great Grandma Effie Owens from Iowa - and then there were about 12 photos that looked like a parade.

I flipped them all over and then pretty much flipped myself!  What I held in my hands were original photos taken by my Aunt Margaret during a visit to Winnipeg in 1949, of a parade in downtown Winnipeg, honouring Winnipeg's 75th birthday!

Can you imagine?  I have these original images of a historical occasion in the City of Winnipeg!

I am not sure what I should do with them.  They belong to me - but really, they belong to the City of Winnipeg as well.

I think I am going to try and take photos of the photos, so I can work with the images.  I would love to have some of these images of old city buildings and parade floats on my walls... any maybe then I will contact the archives.

In the meantime, I am organizing this wonderful pile of memories that my Aunt placed in my hands.  Some will be framed and go on my Family Gallery Wall in the family room, others will go into albums...


I decided to try taking those shots of those old photos before I finished writing this post - it was not as hard as I thought it would be.  I will work with the images a bit more and see if I can get them clearer, but for now I just wanted to share my find with you.

Here are a couple of pictures from Winnipeg's 75th Birthday Parade in 1949

As great as these are the one picture in the pile that really touched me was this one.

This is my Mom, with her three oldest sons.  My oldest brother Wayne, on Mom's left, Mervyn on her right, and Norman on her knee.

I have never seen this picture before, and it is one of the happiest pictures of her I have ever seen.

I am so glad I rummaged through that box of pictures - 

What an awesome day this has been!

BACK ROAD MEMORIES.

I had a lovely weekend - hope you all did too!

On Saturday Gary and I took a drive to Plumas Manitoba to attend their Christmas Craft Sale and because it was a beautiful sunny day and not too bad temperature- wise I took my camera out for some much needed exercise.

We sort of take the back roads to Plumas when we go there now, and we pass right through the community where my Mother was born and lived until she married my Dad.  There never really was a town there, and it is not on a rail line, but mail is delivered there, and perhaps always was, so maybe that is why is is still on a map today.

The place I refer to is Waldersee Manitoba.  At one time there was a store, a school, a church  - now there remains only a church and a couple of houses beside that property.  My Grandparent's original home and farm was a mile or two northeast of the church and that is where my mother grew up.  She attended the one room school there and graduated in 1937.

The school my Mother attended is no more, but this school which sits just past the church, is very much like the one my Mom went to as a child. I actually thought this was Mom's school, but a cousin who has lived in this community all her life, was able to fill me in on the correct information. We pass this school house every time we go to Plumas, this is the first time in many years that we actually stopped so I could get some pictures.

I did some editing on the original colour photo and came up with this photo, which I want to print and hang on a wall here in my new home.  

I love old buildings, and this one is wonderful...what a story it tells!

The Church at Waldersee is a Lutheran Church and always has been.  My Great Grandfather helped build this church.  He rests behind it in the cemetery there, as do my Grandparents, many Aunts and Uncles and cousins.

I still have family members who attend this church, and since we have moved here Gary has been working in the church, trying to restore the old organ that sits up in the balcony now silent for many years.

My connection to Waldersee is strong, and I feel that connection every time I am near this area.  Since moving here, I have felt so close to my Mom... I think this church and this school and this piece of history is why I feel this way.

I drive down this stretch of narrow highway and I can imagine her walking down gravel roads nearby on her way school with her siblings and cousins.  I see a open field and ditches filled with prairie grasses and I know she has been here.  I see this church, and I know she has knelt and prayed here.  I see headstones with my family's names written on them - and I know to whom I belong.

It is a spiritual thing and it gives me a measure of peace that I have never felt before.

My next pilgrimage will be to take my camera down the gravel road northeast of this church, to where my Grandparents homestead was.  The house was still standing several years ago when we went with my cousin and his wife to see it.  We were able to go into the house and it was an amazing experience indeed.  As we left the property that day, I noticed a section of the chimney from the house lying on the ground.  I picked it up and took it home with me...  An old Chimney to some, but to me a priceless piece of my heritage.

SWEET NOVEMBER!

It has been over a week since we saw the sunshine.  For Manitoban's anywhere in this province, that is a long time to be without sun.  I need the sunshine to get myself going in the morning.  I can go a couple of days, but after that I feel myself beginning to drag.

That has been the case here, all week.  I have lots of plans for my days, but no energy to get going on anything.  I can see how easy it could be to become melancholy and blue on these gray days.

I struck me in one of those melancholia moments this week, that November marks a year since our beloved Molly went blind.  To be honest there have been a few times in the past year that I wondered if we would loose her - like the rest of us, she has her good days and her not so good days.

Her blindness causes her to loose her balance sometimes, she steps out cautiously and sometimes falters. She stumbles between pavement and turf - she can't see the difference, and if I don't stop and let her feel the difference slowly - she falls.

Even so, her spirit and her determination is just plain amazing.  We all could learn so much from animals like her.  She hasn't given up on herself - and we haven't given up on her!

But life with Molly can be trying.  We are not saints, and sometimes we grumble - especially now that we can't just open the door and let her out to do her business.  Each time she goes out now requires one of us to go with her.  Whether it be two in the afternoon, or two in the morning, whether it be sunny and warm, or cold and raining or snowing!  We have to put her on a leash, take her outside, down three cement stairs and lead her to the yard.  Daylight or No light - the routine is the same.  She doesn't know the difference, but we do.

We sometimes get to feeling sorry for ourselves, until we stop and chat with people on our daily walks with Molly.  People are so taken with her, and so surprised when they hear she is blind - and pride in her replaces every other emotion we might have been feeling just a moment before.

She has her struggles, but she is still happy - the tail still wags for hugs and massages, and she still gives the sweetest dogie kisses I have ever received.  She is not in pain, but she does love to whine when she doesn't get her own way - why not - she's a female - she's entitled!

This year has taught us so much about Molly and about ourselves.  Her love for us is unconditional, as ours is for her.

I hope we have our blind dog for many more Novembers to come, I just can't imagine our life without our Molly in it - blindness and all!

                                                                     . . .

The weekend is here, and they say tomorrow the sun will shine!  I am counting on that forecast and have made plans to head to Plumas for their craft sale and to pick up and get lessons on how to set a Mole trap from my cousin Lorne.  Looking forward to both events tomorrow!

Have a Great weekend everyone - Stay safe!

COOKIE JAM!

No, sorry - not the game...



How is this for a cookie?

I told you I was going to bake!

I had all these little bags of Reese's pieces (the peanut butter ones) left over from Halloween, and they were driving me crazy every time I passed the cupboard.  So I took them out of the cupboard and emptied all the little bags into a 2 cup measuring cup.  I got a cup and a half...

So I made cookies... and are they good - they are a cross between a Monster Cookie, a Chocolate Chip Cookie and  Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.... UMMMMMM.

I added  half a cup of Chocolate Chips to the pieces to make 2 cups.

Here is the recipe...

1 Cup       Becel Margarine ( use butter or any soft margarine if you would rather)

1 Cup       Brown Sugar, packed

1/2 Cup    Granulated sugar

2               Eggs ( I blew mine out so I could used the shells to make Christmas tree ornaments)

2 Tsp        Vanilla

2 1/4 Cups     Flour

1 Tsp             Baking soda

1 Tsp             Salt

1 1/2 Cups           Reese's Pieces ( Peanut Butter flavour)

1/2 Cup               Chocolate Chips.

Cream butter and sugars together.  Add eggs and beat, Add Vanilla and beat well.

Mix flour, baking soda and salt, and add to the butter mixture.

Stir in Reese's pieces and chocolate chips,

Drop by spoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 8 minutes or until golden.

Makes approx 48 cookies.

This basic cookie batter could be used with crushed candy such as candy canes, mints.  Jellied fruits, nuts or anything you wish....

These however, are gonna be on the top of the list for my cookie jars from now on...

Now I have to figure out something to do with the OHenry Bars that are calling me from the cupboard.

Remind me next Halloween not to buy so much chocolate!

Enjoy your cookies!

NO SNOW; SUPPORT LOCAL - RANT ON!

I am going to go on yet another mini-rant today.  I discovered something yesterday while shopping at the IGA in a little town near here, that has me really buzzed.

But first - the snow has not materialized... I think we have escaped that for now - good thing too, because we have just realized that we don't have a snow shovel.  We left it behind for our son when he bought our home in the Peg - we will remedy that very very soon, needless to say!

So, no snow - we decided we should go and pick up a couple of things in case it does snow - and we just felt like getting out for a bit - so we drove down the highway to our favourite little shopping mall in St. Rose Du Lac.

We love the IGA store there, it is small by city standards, but it far surpasses any city store in quality, and prices.  I needed a few basic staples like milk, butter, flour.  We were ready to check out and I discovered I had forgot to get flour, so  I backtracked through the store thinking how great it would be if I could get a 10 lb  bag of flour for a really good price.

Bingo - there was a sale.  A 10 lb bag of PRARIE FLOUR MILLS  flour, made in Elie Manitoba -  for $7.49.

What?  Never heard of Prarie Flour Mills flour before, Elie is less than an hour away from Winnipeg, how come I have never seen this flour in any store in Winnipeg?

I bought a 10 lb bag, we made a few more stops at a couple of little shops where I am becoming known as a regular; stopped at Chicken Chef for lunch, then headed home.

I got right on the computer and checked out PRARIE FLOUR MILLS...

http://www.prairieflour.iwarp.com/profile/profile.htm

They have been in business a long time, and an article was written about them in the Winnipeg Free Press Dec 14, 2012 - stating they ship flour to major American Cities such as New York!

So if they can ship to great big New York City and they can ship to little old rural St.Rose Du Lac - how come not  to right down the road, Winnipeg?

Wanna bet it is not the flour company but the Winnipeg retailers at fault here?  They most likely have contracts with the big companies from all over the world, when home grown is right next door.

This is flour made from wheat grown right here in Manitoba!  You bet I am going to rant about this.  To my way of thinking, this flour should be the only flour we see on our grocery store shelves here in Manitoba!

Now that I know this company and their product exist - you won't catch me buying any other flour ever again.

Now I can't wait to get baking!

Is it too early to start Christmas baking?

HAPPY NOVEMBER!

Can you believe it's November already?

In our neck of the woods November means one major thing... SNOW!  We have been under a weather advisory which is continuing through Wednesday for rain ( which we have now had for 3 days straight) turning to freezing rain or snow.  Accumulations - who knows!

Personally I don't think it is going to happen - but if it does - I am prepared!

Yesterday I starched 10 bears, so they need to be put together and embellished.  I have 4 to make for an order and a couple to make for gifts, and will have a few in pieces in case someone wants any before Christmas.

 I also dragged out several containers of broken or needing repair Christmas Tree ornaments that my Mom and I made in the 70's out of goose eggs.   Nothing major to fix, just beads falling off, angels falling out, hangers missing or damaged.  They need a few hours and some new glue and they will be good for another 30 yrs or so.

I haven't been able to source any more goose eggs and I really have a hankering to do some eggs, so I am blowing out chicken eggs and will make some small versions of these type of tree ornaments - and I'll do some baking with the contents of the eggs themselves... no waste there!

I have signed up for a Christmas Swap which has to be in the mail by December 5th, so I will have to decide what I am going to make and get busy on that as well.

So Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow! 

I have work to do!