Cold Spring

We have had two nights of -4C and tonight will be another cold one. Everything is late this spring. The dafodills are blooming, a few tulips and the dark blue mini-iris but the cherry trees are slow which may save them from frost damage. There are a few in bloom but they look pretty ragged. It will not be a good year for fruit, I am afraid.

Our poor old apricot tree which should be bursting with life is pretty well dried up and dead. There are a few branched way up high with a few blooms but other than that, no leaf buds. It is old, 20 years, which Tanya says is about its life span. Last year every branch was bowed down with fruit. The tree was loaded with wonderful juicy apricots. Did the final burst of fruit deplete its reserves so it couldn't recover? Or did it "know" and make one last valiant effort to leave behind the makings of many new trees?

Remembering the Farm - Storm of 1955 continued

My second cousin, Bryan (who lived two miles west of us) and his wife Joan sent me their stories of the Blizzard of '55 so I thought I'd post them for the benefit of anyone interested in the not-so-olden days.

Bryan said he remembers that his Mom drove the car to school that morning to Aroma Lake School (another one-room country school about 4 miles away). Bryan’s uncle, Mike Kump came early to pick up his children. Mike always was tracking storms and seemed to know exactly when they were coming! Bryan's dad, Henry could not get his horses from the Coulee so he borrowed neighbour John Ulrich's outfit. Henry came to school to pick his family up. Jordan Herle kids stayed at Albert Gerlinsky farm. Bert Dale (my uncle) and Jim Hingston (my Dad’s cousin) couldn't get out the drive way at Henry's to go to my Dad's place so they stayed overnight. They were installing a new furnace at Henry's place. Hwy 14 was blocked!

My (Joan’s) story is a little different. We had school bus service at Handel at the time. Our school bus driver came around 2 o'clock to pick the kids up. Instead of going the normal route he took his kids home first. Phone lines were down and some parents were scared because, we didn't arrive home. My dad Henry Loerzel walked, from Handel School, then to Stan Graver's place 2 1/2 miles north of our place, from there Stan and my dad, kept on walking, where the bus route should have been. They almost froze to death, going from farmer to farmer's place. (They had towels wrapped around their faces).

We were stuck in the ditch 1 1/2 miles from Handel (1/2 mile east of our farm.). Our driver walked to Handel for help, leaving my oldest sister in charge of the bus and kids. We ate all the left over school lunch's we had. We prayed the rosary at least 100 times! (We were all RC's on the bus). I remember when the boys took a pee out the bus door, my oldest sister had to hang on to them, the wind was so strong.

Hours later our driver came back and said the road is blocked at the crossing, so we would have to hold hands and walk the one mile. The older children on the bus that morning wore spring jackets, no gloves!!! Older kids in the middle, little one's on the ends. I think that's how crack the whip got its name! If you let go, you flew into the ditch!

We arrived at the Railway Crossing and Gillen’s flat deck truck was waiting for us! We were so thankful that our prayers were answered! We were all split up to different homes in Handel. My family stayed at Frank Schreich's, at the Train Station. We were lucky his wife was a nurse. We froze mainly our hands, feet and faces. Four days later Ange and I were taken by train to Wilkie. We stayed in the hospital awhile. Ange was worse as they peeled her feet and hands! They almost flew her to Saskatoon by air ambulance. We must have been in bad shape!

Our driver almost lost his job over it all, as he took his kids home first to be safe! Long story short, the neighbours said he needed the job.

I remember having lots of fun sliding off the roof tops with our flying saucer that winter and going to school and church all winter in the cutter. Then in spring we had to go with horses again in an open grain wagon, which was fun too.

They're Back! Those wonderful Church Bulletins!

They're Back! Those wonderful Church Bulletins! Thank God for church ladies* with typewriters. These sentences (with all the BLOOPERS)actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced in church services:

• The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.
• The sermon this morning: 'Jesus Walks on the Water.' The sermon tonight: 'Searching for Jesus.'
• Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.
• Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say 'Hell' to someone who doesn't care much about you.
• Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.
• Miss Charlene Mason sang 'I will not pass this way again,' giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
• For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
• Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
• Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
• A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.
• At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be 'What Is Hell?' Come early and listen to our choir practice.
• Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
• Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to berecycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
• Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.
• The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.
• Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM - prayer and medication to follow.
• The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
• This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.
• Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 AM. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B. S. is done.
• The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the Congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.
• Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.
• The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
• Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.
• The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new campaign slogan last Sunday: I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours.

*Alice, how many of these did you personally account for?

Христос Воскрес

Христос Воскрес! Christ has risen.

Somehow the traditional Orthodox greeting on Paskha Sunday goes much more to the heart of the matter than "Happy Easter" or even "Have a blessed Easter". Christ has risen! Rejoice in the hope of renewed life that His resurrection brings us.

And the answer? Воистину воскрес! Truly, He has risen. Confirmation that we believe, that we share that joy and hope.

Светлое Христово Воскресение-добрый праздник жизни возрождения. Сколько в жизни таинств и чудес! И во всех сердцах Христос Воскрес!

Do you want chopped nuts?

Today was baking and gardening day at 28 Naberezhni Lane. Tanya gardened and I baked.

Her flowerbeds are filling in rapidly as every day she plants more and more different kinds. I'm not sure what all she put in today. We went to the big central "Sunday" market today. it was held a day early as tomorrow being Paskha (Easter) everything will be closed. We filled two bags with vegetables and I went to the car while Tanya went to look for Paskha bread. I waited and I waited until she finally showed up with two bags, one of special loaves for Easter and one of flower bedding plants. Of course.

What did you buy? Some shit. (No kidding?) Ok, I ignored it then, after a smart ass answer like that. Turns out that was exactly what she had bought. самшит (Samsheet) a Boxwood tree. I have been teasing her about that all day.

I started the afternoon with banana bread. The recipe I have (from the internet) wants to dirty every bowl in the house. Mix little bits of things separately and then blend, fold (spindle and mutualate) all together at the end. I never know if the people who post the recipes are just showing off or if it is to get back at all the bureaucrats who give us VIP (Very Important Paper) and tell us do NOT blend, fold spindle or mutualate.

I try to follow recipes so far as ingredients are concerned but rarely follow the mixing directions. It is like keeping your peas and potatoes separate on your plate - they are all going to be mixed in the end anyhow. This batter turned out very stiff and not as big a batch as usual. The bananas were too small or too green or something. Like my Mom's brown bread, I could have fired the two loaves through the side of a wooden ship with a small cannon. But they tasted fine.

The last item on the ingredient list was chopped walnuts. Having progressed to that point in every batch I made, it always comes as a shock since I have to go to the passage way and get the walnuts (gathered from our tree last fall) and shell the damn things. I am moving that item to first on the ingredient list. Well, after smushing the bananas. It is called BANANA Bread after all.

Then I found a chocolate chip cookie recipe somewhere and decided to try it, since we had chips we brought from Canada. Did you know that 50% of all cookie recipes made in America are chocolate chip? This time I was smart and shelled and chopped the walnuts first.

The recipe said I was supposed to drop the cookie dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Drop? I couldn't pry it off the spoon. I added another egg so it would be a little malleable. Ungreased? The baked cookies stuck to the cookie sheet like poop to a blanket. Next batch, I jimmied them loose before they got cold.

Lastly I made my favourite cookie - oatmeal raisin. These I had made before but this time the dough was wetter than I remembered so I added some more flour. I also greased the cookie sheets - to no avail. Stuck tighter than a ... Pried loose, they resemble dry porridge with raisins.

If I can find wax paper, I am using it on my cookie sheets next time.

The pot of chicken soup I cooked for supper to surprise Tanya made up for less than eye-pleasing baking.

Spa'd but not neutered

"Truskavets water will relieve your allergies in only 5 days".
"I wish they wouldn't make rash promises".

Ky wondered if I had been cured. I said I thought not but perhaps lightly salted.

Meals were at 9:00 am, 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm. It was hard to tell one meal from another, never mind one day from another. No fresh vegetables or salads. Tanya finally stopped going for most meals, maybe one per day. She would go to the market and buy tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh dill and lettuce as well as sausage, cheese and juice. The people at our table would always ask where she was and it took all the power in me not to tell them she was too drunk to come to dinner. Tanya would have killed me if I had but just the thought of doing it made me laugh.

We arrived home at 12:00 noon. Two hours late. Somewhere in the darkness, the train lost two hours travel time. Why? Who knows. Just to prolong our agony? Stifling hot, no windows opened in our car. 20 young Polish construction guys got on in L'viv enroute to Dnipro, drinking vodka straight from the bottle and in general being rowdy. We got two in our compartment, Oh, Joyful!! Their boss and the train attendant from our car shut them all down hard about 10:00 pm but it took some doing. They started again about 7:00 except for those who were still sleeping it off.

We were so glad to be home. Tanya went straight to her flowers and garden, while I went to see Bobik and Volk. Then we had lunch, a shower and I hit the computer while Tanya hit the dirt. She spent all afternoon digging in 10 meters of shrub for a hedge and also 7 small evergreens all of which she bought in Truskavets for under $20. She also transplanted a bunch of bulbs she had rooting in shavings in our "greenhouse".

Tomorrow we have more transplanting and must water the entire garden areas. No rain while we were gone. Also we have to shop and cook for Paskha Sunday.

Procedures (Protsidoori) 3

Cleansing of the Lower Bowel – The notion that the body is full of “poisons” elicits little puppy wiggles and goose bumps of anticipation from the naturopathetic homeopathological granola-munching, fibre-obsessed herbivorous crowd. And they have positively organic orgasms at the word CLEANSING followed either by the words BLOOD or BOWEL. This in spite of the fact there is no sound scientific evidence of any “poisons” in a normal functioning human, that the cleansing actually removes anything measureable and that the process has any effect on health or longevity. I passed* this four day procedure. Besides with friends like mine, who needs enemas?

Mary had a little watch. She swallowed it one day. She took a dose of Epsom salts to pass the time away.