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.

someecards and me

The directions are simple.  Go to someecards and pick five cards which describe you in highly unflattering ways. The last time I did this, my kids didn't quit laughing for days.  You can see it here.
No really funny ones this time.  I am disappointed.

Trucking on the M-54 Krasnoyarsk to Kyzyl

The M-54 highway runs from Krasnoyarsk about 850 km through Abakan to Kyzyl in Tuva on the other side of the Sayan Mountain range.  My brother-in-law Valerie trucks coal across those mountains summer and winter.  Tanya and I traveled the road from Abakan to Kyzyl in June 2006 and there was still snow on the high passes.  Beautiful country but not one I would care to drive a semi truck over in mid winter.

Doesn't look far on a map

Valerie's Scania and coal trailer

This is early June 2006, a late spring

The video is the Sayan Mountain road in winter.  Be glad you don't have to drive it for a living.  Valerie is a good driver and makes pretty good money for that part of the world.

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The Siberian Banya or Sauna

The banya is a fixture of every home in Siberia.  Apartment dwellers do not have the luxury but then, don't need it in the same sense.  The banya serves as sauna and bathroom for homes that do not have plumbing.  Bathroom as in bathing and washing, not to be confused with the toilet which is out back.

The banya is always in a separate building from the main house, at least partly for fire safety reasons.  Luda and Valerie's banya is just across from their house.  The first door was Luda's kitchen until they got plumbing and she moved it into the house, the old kitchen now serving as summer kitchen and store room.  The second door is to the banya. Theirs is a simple two room banya with a small entry room for dressing and for servicing the firebox (bottom) and the water reservoir (top) which you can see in the picture below. The green paint is over brick or concrete.

The fire in the banya was kept going almost all the time as the reservoir served as a source of hot water for washing clothes and dishes.  In winter, one made a quick dash across a cold yard, to a warm banya for morning washing up and teeth brushing, etc. When it was time for a bath or sauna and bath, the fire was revved up to heat the water, the room and the rocks as hot as you wanted to stand.  In the picture below (which is the back side of the picture above) you can see the construction of Valerie's system.  There is a pipe running from the fire box under the rocks to and through the brick chimney at the back. The rocks get hot.  You dip water from the reservoir and throw it on the rocks where it explodes in a cloud of steam.  Beside  where I was standing to take the picture is a wooden bench to sit or lie on while you steam yourself.

The wooden barrel is for cold water.  Once you are steamed as much as your lungs can stand (and it is a learned process) you take hot water from the reservoir and cool it from the barrel and give yourself a bath, ending with a cold water rinse.  The floor is wooden slats with good gravel drainage under it so splashing water around is not an issue, in fact it is expected.

The banya is wonderful.  You feel cleaner than just a shower but it is not as quick or as handy.  And it is NOT a place for unattended children or clumsy adults.

It certainly is part of Russian tradition though -идти в банё (ydti v banyo - go to the banya) is a polite way of telling someone to go to hell.

How to Resurrect a Dead Cat

Kuchma gains and loses about 500 gm (1 lb) per year.  We fatten him up all winter so he will survive Spring Break.  About June 1 he looks like the wrath of God, thin, scruffy and unhealthy.  We worry about him.  He is sick.  He looks like he could die.  The cuts, gouges, missing pieces of hide and bite marks gradually disappear, he regains health, gradually puts on weight and the cycle continues.

This year he looked worse than usual and we really did worry.  He was off his feed all this month.  Usually he likes his "kitekat" dry cat food but he now would just nibble at the kibble.  We buy fresh whole farm milk with lots of cream.  He normally drank two dishes a day but now was just sort of looking at it.  He followed us around meowing like he wanted something but he himself didn't know what.

Three days ago I gave him store bought milk.  He drank two dishes.  We bought a 14 oz can of Whiskas tuna cat food.  For the first time in weeks, he smiled and his eyes sparkled. We spread it out over three days which he didn't approve of as he would have inhaled the entire can had we put it out in his dish.

Today he was sleeping in the arm chair.  I opened the new can in the kitchen.  He didn't move.  I walked into the living room and stood in front of the chair.  He didn't move.  I stuck the open can of tuna under his nose.  He moved. He could not have woke up faster if a mouse had bitten him on the nose.

Kuchma in late winter with some weight on.