Roman Petrovich Romanenko 9/12/1982-1/01/2013

Roman Petrovich Romanenko passed from this life at about 10 am this morning, January 1, 2013 after suffering (from what we believe to have been) a massive heart attack. He leaves to mourn him his beloved wife, Liana; his mother Tanya Romanenko and his step-father Allen Hingston, his brother Andrei (Tania) Bainov, his aunts Raia (Vladik) Vaiman, Vera Romanenko and Luda (Valerie) Antonova, niece Masha, several cousins and an extended family too great to number. Roman was predeceased by his father, Pyotr and his uncles, Vasyl Romanenko and Sasha Franskevich and both sets of grandparents.

Roman was born December 9, 1982, in Beli Yar, Republic of Khakasia, Russia SSR. He moved to Zholti Vody, Ukraine with his parents at about 5 years of age and attended school in Zholti Vody. He moved to Dnipropetrovs'k when his folks moved there and that is where he met Liana Rozhko, who was a grad student at his mother's research institute. They had six wonderful years together, the last three here in Zhovti Vody.


Roman's health was very bad most of his life.  At 16 an emergency operation saved his life and he inherited diabetes and a bad heart from his late father. He was unable to do physical work and had no aptitude for academics, (though he could have if he applied himself).  He was quite artistic but Ukraine is over run with superb artists.  His computer was his refuge and he was quite at home on the internet.  He was never in a bad mood and could always be relied on to bring smiles to everyone's face with his humour.  He loved to cook and was the best shashlik BBQer in the country!

Funeral arrangements TBA.

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We all knew, and you knew too, that you were living on borrowed time, my son, but even another 10 years would have been nice. But it was not to be.  Rest in Peace.  The world is a sadder place.

In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

Forty Days

Today was 40 days since Tanya's Papa passed away.  The Orthodox church believes that the soul enters Heaven after 40 days and tradition requires certain activities of remembrance   We invited the family for lunch.  Tania was not feeling well so Andrei and Masha stayed home too.  Roman and Lina came.  Roman's cousin Svetlana was here for the weekend so there were five of us. Tanya had even found a bottle of Siberian vodka for the occasion.

It was not an easy day for Lina either as it was a little over two months ago that her mom died of congestive heart failure.  Her mom was 60.  Papa was 80.

Papa had heart trouble for several years and a series of mini-strokes left him bedridden this summer.  We were in Turkey and connected to the family by Skype.  What a great invention.  Tanya had been able to talk to and see her Papa every day on Skype from May 2011 when Luda and Valerie got a computer.

Today we connected again with the family in Siberia.  Luda had her cousin Natasha and Natasha's two girls  and grandson Tolik there for dinner.  We had not seen Natasha for several months as she had been in hospital.  Her hair was starting to grow back and other than looking a bit pale, she looked like the old Natasha - full of fire and fun.  Tanya says she is to be my next wife.  She is 10 years younger than Tanya and I do not think I could begin to keep up to her.  Viagra would be like putting a new flag pole on a condemned building.

Natasha's youngest daughter Liza is a singer and performs in the clubs in Abakan.  She was in Belyy Yar (lit. White Ravine) to perform at a concert which is how she ended up at Luda's.  We had not seen her since 2006.  A very pretty young woman.

Having Sveta visit is always fun.  She is one of those people around whom it is impossible not to smile.  Sveta is a plant breeder and works for a (French) corn-breeding company, managing lab work, test plots and such, about half way between Dnipro and Kyiv.  Her mother lives in Lozuvatka which is about an hour from here so we don't see Sveta very often.  Maybe things will slow down this winter and we will see her more often but in summer it is long days and when she gets a chance she goes home.

Remembering the Farm - Reading opens every door.

Author Lynda Beck Fenwick (blog HERE, Facebook page HERE) has written several blog posts and Facebook comments about the importance of education in both homesteading times and today.  She emphasizes the role of literacy and accompanying love of books in formal education and in continuing one's education throughout one's life.

That got me thinking about reading and books in my own life and the lives of my children.  Before I started school, I drove my mother crazy with questions.  I wanted to know everything and especially WHY?  Once I started school and learned to read, her life was much simpler.  By the end of Grade 2, I was reading at an adult level, which is to say, anything around the house.

Reading was a struggle for my father.  I don't recall him reading anything other than farm papers and The Bible.  He preferred to read early in the mornings when he felt at his peak.  One of the weekly farm papers ran serial fiction, one of which was called "Death and the Gentle Bull" featuring a Black Angus bull.  Dad had to read that and got hooked on the story.  We teased him ever after about "getting up early in the morning to read a murder mystery.

Mom loved to read.  I have no idea how or even if she did anything to foster my love of reading other than make sure there was lots to read.  The farm papers, Canadian Cattlemen, Country Guide, The Western Producer, Free Press Weekly, and  Family Herald (the latter two ceased publishing long ago) interested me, especially as I got older.  But Macleans and Chatelaine magazines interested me from day one.

They were quite different then from today's versions.  Both were monthly or bi-weekly, I forget which. Macleans was more literary than news magazine and I loved the stories and articles. Chatelaine was targeted at the 1950's housewife with a great deal of human interest and educational stuff.  Especially educational stuff.  I have no idea if my parents ever had "the talk" with my younger siblings but mom knew I was getting my education from Chatelaine so she didn't worry.

My first real book was Black Beauty which I got for my 7th birthday.  I had two Robin Hoods; one by Howard Pyle and one by Henry Gilbert.  Preferred the latter as I grew older.  Kipling's The Jungle Book or All the Mowgli stories was another favourite.  I was about 11 or 12 when someone gave me Zane Grey's "Spirit of the Border" and I was HOOKED.  Read a great many of his books, graduating over the years to Ernest Haycox (the best) and Louis L'Amour.  Westerns are still my reading to relax genre.

Dad was able to buy us the World book encyclopedia in the late 1950s.  He had no money but managed to find enough for the cheapest no frills set.  The lady who sold them was someone Dad had worked for back in the 30s and I think gave them to us at cost. It was our "internet" and provided hours and hours of reading.

No idea when I joined "Book of the Month Club" but was a member for over twenty years, maybe more.  My library was starting to grow.  Used book stores and the bargain shelves helped add volumes without exorbitant cost.  Couldn't say exactly when I morphed into history but by my mid-20s for sure.  If I had it to do over, maybe I wouldn't have taken Animal Science but History instead.  though reading it is likely more fun than writing it.

Ella was also a reader.  Mostly human interest stuff, biographies, that kind of thing.  And Harlequins. And Royalty.  When our kids came along the house was full of books and we made sure that there was lots for them to read too.  Little Golden Books, Berenstein Bears and Dr Seuss.  I can likely still recite Hop on Pop or Hand Hand Finger Thumb.

Likely I am responsible for warping my kids' minds with my interpretations of their books. The Three Bears opened with "Once upon a time there were three bears who lived in a house in the woods. Papa Bear pounded nails in the roof; Mama Bear watered the flowers and Baby Bear did tricks on the lawn".  I would explain to the children that I had no idea who Tricks was and that since she was never mentioned again must have been unimportant.  This horrified adult listeners but the children were oblivious.

The public library became a favourite haunt.  When we lived in Kindersley and our youngest was a wee new babe we had a blizzard that shut down the town.  So we bundled the kids and pulling two on the toboggan, we walked through the drifts to the Library - which was actually open.  When we moved, the Regina Public Library closest to us soon knew us all by name and our tastes by heart.

Our house continued to fill with books.  More and more shelving units were added.  One NEVER discards a book.  EVER.  The kids used to say that for any topics concerning WWI or WWII they had only to go to my books for their highschool reports.  They began accumulating their own libraries and by the time they began moving out it was "20 boxes of stuff and 20 boxes of books".

My oldest daughter has similar reading tastes to her mother.  After two degrees (Human Justice and Social Work) she swears she will never read anything on purpose from which she might learn something but on occasion she lies. My son reads history like his father but likes good novels even more.  If you take any newspaper's "Top 100 novels ever written" he has likely read 75 of them.  His thinking ability is far ahead of mine.  History helps me understand what happened and why.  Novelists invent the future.

My second youngest daughter is finishing off her dissertation for a PhD in Victorian Literature.  Everything between Jane Austen (pre-Victorian and L.M. Montgomery post-Victorian.  And my youngest daughter took her history degree and a Masters in Library Tech and is now a Librarian in a highschool in London England. She specializes in reading Young Adult books as those are her students' reading material. Oh, yes, and Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis.  (By the way, LynnieC, there are several new Latin translations of Harry Potter books available).

When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.     Erasmus

Family Dinner

Yesterday we took a chance and invited the boys for supper, hoping we could have one more feed of shashlik before it got too cold.  The wind howled all night.  This morning it was +20C, though misty and drizzly.   A warm enough day for shashlik if the BBQ could be kept in the shelter.

Tanya made chicken salad this morning and cutleta (fried hamburger patties), chopped up the pork and put it to marinate. I drove Tanya to vote about 2:00 pm, then picked up Roman and Lina about 3:00 to start the BBQ.  Roman is THE cook when it comes to perfect shashlik.  Masha was in dance class until after 4:00 so I drove back into town at 4:30 to pick up Andrei, Tania and Masha.  School is out next week so Masha is staying over (and I get to sleep on the divan).

We all seven of us crowded around the table, ate and drank our fill and had a good visit.  How Sunday nights should be; filled with family, food, fun and love.  I wish the rest of our family could someday join us so we could all be one family.

Sympathy is what strangers are for

The following is condensed from a FB conversation after my daughter dropped her phone in the toilet.

My Father

My Father died in a single vehicle roll-over 10 years ago on the 27th of June; 5 1/2 months after my mother's fatal heart attack.  High gravel ridge down the centre of the highway which was being resurfaced.  It blended into the highway too well and in spite of signs, he didn't see it.  Skid marks were less than 6 feet in length. He was 80 years old, had planted his 60th crop but didn't get to harvest it.

I learned a lot from my dad.  Some things he taught me he knew about.  Straight fence lines were important to him.  I learned to like cattle and how to work with them.  Our handling facilities were atrocious so one had to "think like a cow" to patiently anticipate and counter each move until she went into the barn or the corral or wherever.  He taught me to play checkers by never giving me a break until I mastered the game.  I lost hundreds and hundreds of games over a three or four year period until I finally won.  Eventually I stopped losing entirely.  Then it was no more fun for either of us.

Other things I learned he didn't know he was teaching me.  Like to put away your tools and tidy up after working on a project.  I don't always but he never did.  Like avoiding auction sales and accumulating junk "that we are going to do something with someday".  I accumulated books and papers instead. I also learned to be pro anything that gave women more rights, more recognition as human beings and equals and learned to hate the words submit and submissive, the religious males who spew them and women who endure abuse of any kind rather than fight back because they have been brainwashed into believing "God" wants them to submit.

I spent one year trying to farm with my father after university.  I left before one of us killed the other.

I set out just now determined to write a great deal more but my conscience has invoked the Thumper's Mother's Rule.  They are my own demons to wrestle.  But at least I wrote something on the 10th anniversary of his death.

This is dedicated to the one I love

Happy Valentine's Day. This song makes me laugh every time.  Also makes me want to go and choke someone.  I only knew one couple in my life that came close to living the chorus.  She didn't leave him.  Being a good Christian woman, she hung in until he eventually died.  I do hope she is enjoying the rest of her life.

Darren is in the Doghouse

A Facebook friend of mine, we'll call him Darren because that's his name, posted this on his status yesterday.  Too funny.  His wife immediately countered that he was in the doghouse and his sister followed by posting the link to the JC Penny Doghouse ad, below.

Which takes us to a whole new area.  Gifts for women.  Men will never understand why women aren't happy when they get some electronic gadget for their birthday or Christmas gift. Men are ecstatic.  I got a jigsaw for Christmas from Tanya and thought I had died and gone to heaven.  If she gave me a slow cooker, same thing.  Women, not so much. There is no use trying to understand, just don't do it. Unless they are the practical kind and actually ask for it because they need it anyhow and finances are tight.

After I left Grad School, we lived in northeastern Saskatchewan for three years.  it was 100 miles to the nearest decent shopping and I made the trip once a week.  Ella usually went with me but the kid(s) were young and she couldn't always.  So one Saturday, I drove into Nipawin and among other things bought a garden wheelbarrow as we talked about needing one for around the yard.  Half way home, it occurred to me that the next day was Mother's Day and I had no gift for Ella. 

Able to resist anything but temptation and knowing exactly what I was doing, I proudly presented her with the wheelbarrow as her Mother's Day gift.  She did NOT see the joke as funny and even on her deathbed I doubt she forgave me.

Jewelery is fine if it is real.  Flowers, of course.  Perfume if you actually KNOW what she wears.  Real estate (but NOT potting soil).  Holidays to exotic resorts.  Gift certificates.  These kinds of things.  But certainly not anything useful.

The End of Holiday Season

Today is old calendar New Years Day in Russia, Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe which used the old calendar up to the Revolution. Last night the kids all came for supper - one last holiday feast.  Roast goose, roast pork, liver cutleta, cabbage rolls, mashed potatoes, three kinds of pickles, lots of fresh veggies filled the table to overflowing.

Goose meat is very dark but tastes wonderful. Lots of fat melts down into the bottom of the roasting pan which the dogs will enjoy today. We bought the village raised goose in the market.  When we went visiting on January 2, the village streets were filled with chickens, turkeys, geese and ducks all out enjoying the mild winter.  I saw at least two breeds of everything.  Chickens that looked like the Rhode Island Reds of my youth and Bronze turkeys which I didn't know they even made anymore. 

Today, Tanya took down all the Christmas decorations. Kuchma was busy casing the attic while Tanya stows everything.   She put them up while I was in Canada so they have been up for over a month.  Last night she went around taking pictures of the decorations and of all of us in various states of recovery from supper. That is what I get for putting fresh batteries in her camera.

We didn't wrap any gifts this year.  Bagged them all (thanks, MayB)

Ewwww.  They're kissing.

2002 - The Year from Hell - 10th Anniversary

Ten years ago yesterday morning, 11/01/2002, my mother dropped dead of a massive heart attack, two months shy of her 81st birthday.  This was the opening salvo in a year like none other.  She had gone into the local hospital in Biggar 50 km away for a couple days of tests and they found nothing out of ordinary so she was being discharged that morning.  Dad was driving in to get her and they met him at the door with the news.

Ella and I were in Edmonton when we got the phone call from Dad.  We were at Ella's cousin's, having arrived late the evening before.  Carolyn was in the last stages of an 8 year battle with breast cancer and we wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.  She and Ella were closer than cousins, closer than sisters.  Her battle was Ella's battle for eight years.  Carolyn's funeral was mid-February.  Ella was devastated.

Two weeks after Mom's funeral, Dad went in for replacement of his right hip   Something to take his mind off being a widower after 56 years.  He recovered pretty well and was adjusting to being alone.  He was actually able to seed the home quarter in late May.  His 60th crop planted but not harvested.  On June 27, in the afternoon, he was driving into Biggar, hit a gravel ridge in the middle of the highway, rolled the van and it was all over.  The construction was well signed but in the glare of the sun, the gravel was the same colour as the road.  We learned later that friends of ours almost hit the ridge earlier.

My Uncle Frank, husband of Mom's youngest sister, came out to the farm the day of Mom's death but he never got to her funeral.  He was admitted to hospital with a brain tumor.  His funeral was in October. His wife had remarked at Christmas that it was so wonderful that the three sisters and their husbands were still alive and well.  Ten months later three of them were gone. Such is life.

About a month after Carolyn's funeral, Ella started bleeding.  Badly.  This had happened eight years previously when Carolyn had been diagnosed.  She should have had a hysterectomy then but whatever meds the doctor gave her at the time did the trick. We assumed they would work again this time so I took off for Ukraine where I had a four month contract, two in spring, two in fall.  The meds didn't work.  D&C didn't work.  She was VERY sick and MayB carried the load because I was away.  Finally had the hysterectomy just before I got back from Ukraine.

Can't recall whether it was just before Dad's funeral or just after but the biopsy report had come back and Ella went into see the surgeon.  I sat in the waiting room.  She sat down and the Dr asked if she had anyone with her who could sit in on the meeting. It was not going to be good news. 

There are two kinds of cancer, Carcinoma and Sarcoma.  You can look them up.  If you have to have cancer, carcinoma is the kind you want.  Sarcoma is BAD news.  Fortunately it is rare.  Not only that but there is a very bad kind of Sarcoma, the name of which I cannot recall, which is even more rare.  Not rare enough.  Most cancers are rated by stages 1-4 or a-d.  This one had no stages.  You got one cell in your body it is all over but the crying.  They hoped they had it all and would use radiation to make sure.  So they did.  All summer. Things were looking good.  I went back to Ukraine.


Got back in late October.  Ella met me at the airport looking scared to death.  She hadn't told the kids.  Her abdomen was so full of tumors you could see them. Oncologist said we'll try radiation but take lots of family pictures.  The stuff they put her one was pretty deadly.  The handlers gowned up like it was nitric acid.  One week a month, then hope her blood count would recover enough to give her another treatment. There was a limited number they could give her before the treatment would kill her.

One thing about having a cancer no one survives is that someone has got to be first.  So we all put our hopes on that and carried on.  The kids painted the kitchen while she was in having a treatment.  Our friend, Lois, whose house at Christmas is dubbed Little Las Vegas, came and decorated our house for the holidays while Ella was in having her third treatment.  No. 1 Son and LynnieC late one night cut David Letterman's picture out of the paper and hung it on the Christmas tree to see if anyone would notice.  We didn't but DL's picture is now a family tradition ornament. Ella even got her annual Christmas Letter out.  We survived Christmas.

Not a year I would care to repeat.

I'd like to end the story there but need to close it off better than that.  2003 was a pretty good year for 10 months at least.  After 6 treatments, they could find no sign of cancer.  Nothing.  Nada. She was the poster child of the cancer ward.  Ella even went back to work half time for six months and had the opportunity to clean up a problem that had been bugging her for several years.  Alas, the first survivor had yet to be and the cancer was back in November this time as a brain tumor.  The operation paralyzed one side and it was time for a wheel chair.  Then the abdominal tumors came back with a vengeance and April 9, 2004, Ella lost her battle.

A roller coaster ride I would not care to repeat either.

Grandma Turns 92 Today

My kid's last remaining grandparent completed her 92 year today and is still pretty chipper for an old girl.  One of my "must visits" on my trip home in December was to see her.  She was the best Mother-in-Law a person could ever hope for and I love her dearly.

She is living in a senior's residence not quite a year now, in the same city as her youngest son, leaving her home of some fifty odd years.  Her short term memory was getting so bad it scared even her.  She would forget where she put money or her keys or something and then stew about it no end until she found it again.  She quit likes her new place but would rather live on her own if she could of course. She says there is nothing to do there.  And worse, no one to look after. She, who spent her whole life looking after everyone else, feels lost without busy work.  So she reads a lot.  The place has a good library so she never has to walk far for another book.

She is in good health she says and now that she gets three square meals a day has actually gained some needed weight.  Tanya bought her wooly PJs and felt slippers for me to take her and the slippers fit but the PJs were too small.

Her little dog, Vicki, (who used to be my little dog), now stays at her son's place, and can only visit periodically but can stay all day on Fridays.  Vicki still knows who she loves and sits on Grandma's lap any chance she gets.

I called her just now to wish her Happy Birthday.  She had had several calls (couldn't remember from who all but could if we gave her time, I expect) and was surprised I remembered and would call from so far away. We chatted on the phone for about 10 minutes. I asked what she was going to do for her birthday.  She said read a book, go for meals, go to bed and keep breathing.  Same as she does every day.

Happy Birthday, Grandma, and keep healthy (and breathing) for many more years.

Regina's Mobile Crisis Services answering calls for help

 What my daughter MayB does at work. Going on 12 or 13 years now.  She is awesome.

Regina's Mobile Crisis Services answering calls for help

Celebrating Five Years of Marriage

Tanya and I celebrated five years of marriage on Dec 23rd. We found it hard to believe that time had flown by that quickly but I guess with age time speeds up. For supper, Tanya made Chicken _?_*  that she saw on TV and we drained a bottle of bubbly between us.

On the 24th (yesterday) we had a dinner party for 16 friends at a local restaurant owned by a friend of Andrei's whose son is in Masha's class. We ate, drank, danced and sang and had a great time.  Since we had been married in Canada, this was the celebration in Ukraine we didn't have then.

It has been a good five years, we both agree.  Filled with love, filled with fun, filled with happiness.  We suit each other in so many ways.  And our families get along.  Tanya loves my kids and they love her.  I love Tanya's kids and they love me.  Someday we would like to have the whole family together in one place, even for a week, just to say we did it.

We are not without our differences (viva la différence) and misunderstandings. Some is personality, some is family tradition and some is cultural, I am certain, but they are all mixed together and hard to sort out.  Men and women never speak the same "language" anyhow but we really do speak different languages and have different cultures so it makes us doubly aware that we need to be careful and let things slide many times.  Both of us, I am sure, feel we give more than we take so it is likely pretty well fifty:fifty, as it should be.

Speaking for myself, I am happy and contented.  Many years ago I named my consulting company Odyssey because I felt like Odysseus wandering the planet trying to find "home".  I think my quest is over and while I will still wander the planet (as long as someone else pays) I know where home is.  It is wherever Tanya is.

The anniversary couple

The anniversary cake

A few of the guests, (while we waited for the rest)

*Chicken breast sliced thin, a layer of ham and a layer of cheese with another layer of chicken breast on top, dipped in egg, rolled in bread crumbs and fried (could have been roasted) and took her all of 10 minutes to make.  She said it is NOT Chicken Kiev; anyone know what it is called?

The Final Leg of the Journey

The last four days in Regina were a mad dash to finish business and see as many people as possible.  MayB had people for supper Thursday night and Friday night and when they left, more people came for coffee. Sunday was her church's annual Christmas program and dinner so I was able to see many old friends and eat another Turkey dinner.

She hauled me to the airport Monday morning on her way home from work (MayB works 10 pm to 8 am and The Guy from 4 am to 1 pm; they see each other occasionally) and the long trip home began.  AC left Regina on time (surprise); so far so good. Even the Toronto-Frankfurt leg was relatively uneventful.

When we got to Frankfurt, it was snowing heavily. Not good.  Four hours late leaving Frankfurt meant I missed my train connection in Kyiv.  Our long time taxi-driver, friend and all around fixer, Kostia, came to my rescue and helped me acquire a ticket for a later train.  Not an easy task at the last minute and beginning of holiday season but possible for Kostia.  Upper bunk in an open car but a ticket never-the-less. Instead of arriving home at 11 pm Tuesday, I would leave Kyiv at 11 pm and it would be 6:00 am Wednesday before I saw my Tanya.

An upper bunk is not impossible for me to climb into but having to do that every two hours becomes a bit difficult.  Lucky for me the Car Attendant sized me up as possibly having more money than energy and rented me her roomette for the trip for $12.50 (100 UAH - same price as the ticket).  A bottom bunk and a room to myself.  I slept a little, which I would not have done on the top bunk, in spite of being exhausted.

Andrei met me in P'yatikhatki.  The fog was thick as pea soup (or in Russian, casha - porridge) and even Andrei had to keep his speed down.  Tanya had borsch and roast chicken waiting for us.

A wonderful trip.  Spent time with my children, my siblings and Grandma - the primary reasons, in that order, for the visit.  Everyone else was a bonus and there were too many I didn't see. Not enough time but it was time to go home.  There is no place like home and no one like Tanya.

Aunt Pat aka Precious Pat

Last Wednesday Ky and I drove up to Comox to visit my Dad's cousin Pat and meet her new husband John.  I hadn't seen her for several years and figured it was a good opportunity especially if Ky would drive. Pat is a very lively 88 year old and John is a spry 81 year old.  Pat has outlived two husbands named William and I told her I was glad she married a man named John not another William or I would accuse her of being a Bill collector. She said she is not changing her name this time as it is too much trouble.

We had a great visit.  John is originally from England but lived many years in Australia, working at a series of jobs that took him almost around the entire country, prior to moving to Canada.  He and Pat were in a singing group that goes around entertaining at seniors homes.  He offered to carry her accordion one day and she turned him down, saying she could manage.  Then she felt guilty she had been rude, so next time she asked him to help her. Her grandkids teased her that the accordion got very heavy over one week.

My second cousin Marilyn and her husband Bill came in for supper.  They are retired and have a B&B on the ocean front. Marilyn had been to Saskatchewan only once, 1964 for my grandparents 50th anniversary.  I remember meeting her then and once since, the last time I visited Pat.

Cousins of my parents are getting thin on the ground, Pat 88, Muriel 95 and Nora 99 being the only three left of 23 on one side.  Pat said she was delighted the younger generations (meaning Ky and I) still remembered the older folks.  I said she is the only thing between me and the abyss so the longer we could keep her around, the safer I felt.

Pat and John (photo by Maryanne)

Ricky's Place

My sister Evelyn picked me up in Red Deer Friday and drove me to Calgary.  We stopped to visit my brother Stan's oldest and her two girls (five granddaughters, he has!) and then to Ev and Dan's home where Ev had invited her two kids and their spouses for dinner. Saturday morning she drove me to the airport and I arrived in Victoria at 1:00 pm.

Kylee-Anne picked me up and we went directly to the Christmas dinner put on by the church group she attends. I had never been to her assembly but knew several of the people so got a visit with them.  Then Saturday evening we drove to Duncan for coffee with my friends Robert and Jo, with whom I have done several business plan projects.  He was flying to Saskatchewan next day so it was Sunday night or never. Ky was sociable for a few minutes then retired to his office to mark final research essays from her English class.

Ky finished the essay marking but then had 32 final exams to mark and also had to work Monday, so Sunday night she drove me out to Mill Bay to my friends Wayne and Gifty Dunn.  Ky knew Gifty but had not met Wayne nor his son Kabore (an up and coming hockey player at age 10) before. She visited for a couple hours and said she would be back for supper Monday night.  Wayne and I have worked together in a number of countries on CSR projects, Turkey in particular, and he was in Ghana when I was last in Canada so it had been four years since I saw him.

Kabore got an early Christmas present, a Macaw named Ricky. Small vocabulary so far.  Hello and such like.  Screams "ERIC" when he is mad.  Not sure who Eric was but figure he was either a hen-pecked husband or a teenaged kid. Ricky and I were introduced and he rode around on my shoulder or arm for a while and seemed to hit it off.  I felt like Long John Silver.  He shakes hands by grabbing your finger in his beak and bobbing his head up and down.  Next morning I went to his cage and offered him my finger which he promptly bit.  Hard.  Drawing blood.  And said "Ouch". Parrot beaks have a very powerful bite. My fault - moved in too fast.  After that I moved a bit slower and finally got him to sit on my arm and shoulder again. He is quite friendly and we got on very well.

I leaned back on the couch and Ricky sat on my chest and "groomed" me, picking and nibbling gently at my eyelids, nose, lips and chin.  That took a great deal of trust on my part because that is one wicked beak and if he decided to bite, I would have lost pieces of face.

Parrots are very clever and can have the intelligence of a four-year-old according to the book.  Ricky learns quickly. He had been perched on the railing overlooking the entry stairs and didn't want to move.  He would not get on my arm and pushed me away with his beak.  When I persisted, he got angry and would have bitten me if I'd got near him.  Wayne went to get him and he bit Wayne hard enough to draw blood.  Wayne threw a towel over him and threw him in his cage.  Ricky knew he was being punished and sorted out his attitude real quick.

Next time he was on the railing and I went to get him, he tried to bite me again so I got the towel and showed it to him.  He wanted no part of that and held out his claw for me to put my arm down to get him.  We sat on the couch and he grabbed the towel from me and threw it on the floor.

Saying goodbye to Dunns was hard and poor Ricky didn't want me to go.  He kept lifting his claw for me to put my arm out to take him. I want a parrot.

Travelling Man

Have a bit of time today to write something.  I am currently in Red Deer Alberta, visiting my son and his wife who are both at work during the day so am left to my own devices with the two dogs for company.

I arrived in Canada last Monday afternoon and called my daughter MayB on Skype from Toronto.  Where are you?  Toronto.  When do you get into Regina? 12:30 am.  I thought you were coming tomorrow.  12:30 am is tomorrow.  (Some of my family are chronologically challenged). She did come and get me, though.  And we did some visiting, shopping and appointments over the three days.  MayB and the Guy work odd shifts so was able to get visits in with them as both were off for two days I was there.  We are splitting my visit three days coming in and three days going out, as that way we don't get on each others nerves. Well, me mostly on hers, the way she tells it :) :) :)

Three days in Regina flew by and Friday morning I hitched a ride to Saskatoon with a friend Jen Evancio from Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership to meet with a business associate Al Scholz once we got there.  Stormed most of the way and roads were treacherous.  Several of us have formed a dba, CIBUS Management Group, under Al's consulting company to chase work in Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. 

Then dropped up to the U of S Animal Science Dept College of Agriculture and said hello to Dr. Bernard Laarveld, grabbed a 15 minute visit with my hero, role model and friend Dr Red Williams, Professor Emeritus, who is in his mid-80's and still goes into the office at Animal Science almost every day.  Dr. Dave Christensen, Ruminant Nutritionist, Professor Emeritous, mentor and long time friend, called his wife to put some water in the soup and slice the baloney thin as he was bringing me home for lunch.  We spent the afternoon discussing nutrition (I am still his student after over 40 years) and the world's problems.  Dave doesn't solve problems; that is what grad students are for. His job is to give them problems.  I know this.

My brother Stan (The English Cowpath) drove in from Rosetown to pick me up about 4:00 and I spent the night with him and his wife.  They have five granddaughters under age 6.  We stopped to see three of them, including the youngest Tatiana, who is 6 months old.  Pictures to follow (Stan, ask Shauna to email me the pictures she took, please).  Next day Donna drove me out to the farm at Wilkie where my brother Ross lives, having retired from Toronto about two years ago and moved back west. My son drove from Red Deer to pick me up and he and I spent the night at the farm and had a good visit with my brother whom I had not seen for several years.

Next morning we drove to Lloydminster to visit Grandma.  Grandma is Ella's mom and my kids' last remaining Grandparent.  She will be 92 in January and is now in an assisted living home as her memory is failing somewhat, though she is still very spry for an old girl.  Now that she is eating better she has gained weight and the pajamas I brought her didn't fit.  Awesome!  We went from Grandma's over to her youngest son's place and had a short visit with him and his wife and three of the kids before leaving for Red Deer.

Trying to see everyone in three weeks is impossible.  Some people will be angry that I didn't stop to visit and I am sorry as I would dearly love to see everyone of my friends and cousins.

Next year maybe Tanya and I will come over in summer and spend a couple months vacationing and visiting.  She didn't come this time as she has been battling a cold and besides she has been to Canada twice in winter...nuff said.

On the Road Again

Off to Canada to visit my kids for three weeks.  Haven't seen my son and his wife other than on Skype for over two years when we were last home for MayB's wedding.  LynnieC was here from London last Christmas and MayB and Ky were here in July 2010.  It is a long time between visits.

Tanya says she will go with me next summer and we will rent an RV and camp in the mountains for a month.  Sounds like a plan.

72 hours home is not long enough between 3 week long trips.  I love my kids but I also love my wife.

Train to Kyiv, Lufthansa to Frankfurt, Lufthansa/Air Canada to Toronto and Air Canada to Regina.  Makes for a long day.

Mouse in the House - GiST #8

1. Kuchma caught a mouse on our upstairs landing.  It is fall; mice move indoors for winter. I felt sorry for the mouse but better the cat caught it than if I had to try.  Tanya was not going upstairs ever again with the mouse on the steps.

2. Skype - talked to all four of my kids and both spouses this weekend.  A 2 cent phone call to get them onto the computer and the rest is free.  Connection is hit and miss so the webcam is only on for a minute but at least we get to see each other.

3. Refillable ink cartridges for my Canon iP4300 printer.  Fast, easy and cheap (That's me). Brand is Color Way.  Website is in Ukrainian but the spelling is American.  Maybe it is available in NA too?

4. Ky and Lyn are successfully dealing with the challenges of their new jobs.  Meaning they haven't killed anyone yet or taken to strong drink.  Ky is marking assignments from her first year students.  She is quite positive about it.  Positive they are dumb as bricks but are teachable and will improve.  Lyn is coping with teenage boys who make her library smell like goat and with a filing system that appears to be more random than librarians are used to.

5. Tanya is feeling better this morning.  Got up, made tea, took her meds and went back to sleep. Head colds are no fun.  I gave her hugs and will try my hand at making soup.  Not chicken.  We ate that for supper last night.

Relatives are where you find them

My Great Grandmother Georgina Ross had a brother George who ran away from his home in Rosscarbury, County Cork, Ireland at the age of 15 and was never heard from again by his family.  Rumour had it he was in South Africa.

My brother Stan is the current family genealogist and a couple of years back managed to track this distant branch of our family.  George Ross had changed his name to Arthur Ross which was enough to hide behind pre-internet days. His grandson, Brian Ross, 83, now lives in Western Australia and has filled in much we did not know about George Walter Arthur Ross and all our missing relatives.

Brian's interest is the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 about which he has researched and written a number of books.  His interest in the Anglo-Boer War has a personal link.  His Grandfather  fought in the war as a Commandant of a Boer Commando unit, defending his adopted country Orange Free State against the British.  You can read more details on The Australian Boer War memorial website here.

George and Ethylwyn Ross

I learned today that Brian has recently written two historical novels which are/will be available as e-books.  An Irish Nurse in Africa and The Irish Boer.  The first book is the story of Francis O'Driscoll with the British Royal Army Medical Corp in Natal, the second is the story of her brother who is fighting on the side of the Boers against the British.  The latter is in process of becoming an e-book. Now I have a real reason to see if I can fire up an old Sony e-reader I happen to have and find some instructions how to run it.