One of my month end pension checks finally arrived, so yesterday we went for groceries and a whole bunch of other stuff. $200 worth of groceries. We were out of everything. The fridge was as empty as the inside of my head. Our next meal would have been bannock as we had oil, flour, water, salt and baking soda.
Plus put money on our phones, plus bought food for the dogs. They ate wheat porridge for two days. And chicken gizzards. They have to be bribed to go back in their pen after our walks so I buy cheap treats for them. Liver sausage, chicken necks, chicken gizzards and give them each about 4 little bits once they are safely back in the yard and the gate latched.
We had a good time at Truskavets but didn't keep enough money back to last the rest of the month. Holidays do that. At least the internet company, the filling station and the big grocery store take MasterCard.
FX (UAH/CAD) at the bank machine was 6.26 and on my MC 6.30. Not bad.
It is dry. We are watering everything and it takes time, with so much garden and flower beds. We have two taps for watering. One is inside the passageway/greenhouse, withthe hose running out the door. Hoses do not come with built on connections here. To attach to the tap, one screws on a connector and clamps the hose onto it. The connection was leaking. I fixed it. While Tanya was watering it blew off and before she got to it, flooded the room. I was not popular. She threatened to call Yuri. I redid the connection and tightened the clamps extra hard. So far it is holding. So far.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Finally Spring or even Summer?
Today hit 27C. Warmest day so far. I started water on the garden this evening using a sprinkler. It was a fight to keep Tanya from putting a nozzel on the hose and standing there for four hours hand watering. She gets the surface wet and moves on while i want a deep soaking so it lasts a few days.
The cows have been going to pasture again, starting last week. The green grass must be a welcome change to winter's meagre fare of poor quality feed. They go past our house early in the morning and come home about six or seven in the evening. The goats are also tethered out. The little ones run free. Last year the pups were frightened to death by a blat from a nanny, so this year they still treat goats with respect. I hope it sticks.
Tanya says the swallows are back. So we have to start leaving our window open to our passageway/greenhouse so they can access their nest. Last year two sets of them raised five little ones in one nest. I will post pictures of this year's babies too as things progress. It was fun watching them grow up and then fly out on their own. Kuchma the cat will be banned from there.
Speaking of Kuchma, his girl friend, the white cat from next door, has a litter of kittens somewhere. Lucia hasn't found them yet. She is threatening to give some of them to us for harbouring their deadbeat dad.
The cows have been going to pasture again, starting last week. The green grass must be a welcome change to winter's meagre fare of poor quality feed. They go past our house early in the morning and come home about six or seven in the evening. The goats are also tethered out. The little ones run free. Last year the pups were frightened to death by a blat from a nanny, so this year they still treat goats with respect. I hope it sticks.
Tanya says the swallows are back. So we have to start leaving our window open to our passageway/greenhouse so they can access their nest. Last year two sets of them raised five little ones in one nest. I will post pictures of this year's babies too as things progress. It was fun watching them grow up and then fly out on their own. Kuchma the cat will be banned from there.
Speaking of Kuchma, his girl friend, the white cat from next door, has a litter of kittens somewhere. Lucia hasn't found them yet. She is threatening to give some of them to us for harbouring their deadbeat dad.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Free Lense PhotoGraphic
My friend Alf married a wonderful girl from Ukraine (for which he blames me). Svetlana followed him to Canada where he was gainfully employed which (unlike pensions) was not transferrable to Ukraine. Both are amazing photographers, with an eye for the unusual. Sveta (Pani Zumpanova) is an incredible portrait photographer, especially of children. They spent over a year traveling the world and are having an exhibition of their photos at Atlantis Coffee in Regina from May 4th to July 5th. As you can see, Sveta is also a marvel at Adobe Photoshop on her Mac notebook.
Free Lense PhotoGraphic is holding a new photo exhibit called 'Glimpses of the World' During a 14 month journey through 17 countries across Europe, India, Polynesia and the Far East. Svetlana and Alf saw and photographed the uniqueness of places, people, architecture and naturethat are a must to see. This exhibit displays the grandeur of Rome to the peaceful tranquility of the backwaters of southern India.Atlantis Coffee Victoria Ave. and Hamilton St. are host to this exhibit from May 4th to July 5th, so why not come and enjoy your favourite tea or coffee and feast your eyes on images that will inspire you to go out and see your own 'Glimpses of the World'.
Svetlana & Alf
Free Lense PhotoGraphic
737-9922
http://www.freelensephoto.com/
PS - They are also doing May-B's wedding photos.
Free Lense PhotoGraphic is holding a new photo exhibit called 'Glimpses of the World' During a 14 month journey through 17 countries across Europe, India, Polynesia and the Far East. Svetlana and Alf saw and photographed the uniqueness of places, people, architecture and naturethat are a must to see. This exhibit displays the grandeur of Rome to the peaceful tranquility of the backwaters of southern India.Atlantis Coffee Victoria Ave. and Hamilton St. are host to this exhibit from May 4th to July 5th, so why not come and enjoy your favourite tea or coffee and feast your eyes on images that will inspire you to go out and see your own 'Glimpses of the World'.
Svetlana & Alf
Free Lense PhotoGraphic
737-9922
http://www.freelensephoto.com/
PS - They are also doing May-B's wedding photos.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Clean up Time in the Cemetery
The dogs and I have been walking through the cemetery these past few days, a change from walking along the marsh. There is lots of activity as people are busy cleaning up gravesites in preparation for the day of remembrance which I think is the first Sunday in May. Piles of detritis from last summer's flowers and winter's deadfalls as well as last years plastic wreaths and bouquets are appearing in stratigic locations throughout the cemetery for removal and burning. The smell of fresh paint fills the air as the little iron fences get touched up.
The dogs love the cemetery at this time of year because they can usually find food. Left behind lunches or food offerings left on the gravesites. Haven't seen any vodka offerings yet but when the dogs start drinking liquids left in glasses... Not sure how the living or the dead take to the dogs racing around and doing cutting horse turns in fresh dirt. They do stop to smell the flowers, though. Especially the plastic ones. Then they mark them in true dog style.
If there are other dogs around (usually strays), Volk and Bobik will race after them if the other dogs run away. If they don't run, then my dogs will race back to me. If it runs, chase. If it chases, run. Simple rules of survival. Our neighbour breeds German Shepherds for the military and police market. She was out walking one of their males on a leash. The Shepherd was the size and colouring of a black bear. I saw it across the field and so did Bobik and Volk as their bodies stiffened right up. Then they "pretended they didn't see it" and continued on with romp and play. Some things are not worth investigating, I guess.
The mutts have been behaving extraordinarily well lately. After the first dust-up in October when we had to call the vet to patch them up, they spent the winter trying to kill each other at any opportunity. Volk got the worst of it from the first big fight on and by spring he was one whipped puppy. He would cower in a corner and wouldn't come to me as any attention from me would elicit a beating from Bobik. He used to run off and not come home after walks. I'd find him huddled in the yard several hours later.
The first part of March, a friend from Canada was visiting and we decided to put Volk on a leash so he wouldn't run off. We used a small soft rope to make a collar and lead and as we led him out of their yard, Bobik tried to kill him again. Too much attention for Volk. We got them separated and I left them apart for several hours, then didn't take them for a walk for two weeks.
When I finally took them for a walk again they were like two different dogs. Volk had his confidence back. He and Bobik play together, even wrestling in fun. Volk comes home after our walk and willingly goes into their yard. He even comes when I call him. Bobik accepts when I pay attention to Volk as long as I don't ignore him.
They must have figured tying a rope around Volk's neck was some kind of sign of respect from us humans? I can't figure them out.
The dogs love the cemetery at this time of year because they can usually find food. Left behind lunches or food offerings left on the gravesites. Haven't seen any vodka offerings yet but when the dogs start drinking liquids left in glasses... Not sure how the living or the dead take to the dogs racing around and doing cutting horse turns in fresh dirt. They do stop to smell the flowers, though. Especially the plastic ones. Then they mark them in true dog style.
If there are other dogs around (usually strays), Volk and Bobik will race after them if the other dogs run away. If they don't run, then my dogs will race back to me. If it runs, chase. If it chases, run. Simple rules of survival. Our neighbour breeds German Shepherds for the military and police market. She was out walking one of their males on a leash. The Shepherd was the size and colouring of a black bear. I saw it across the field and so did Bobik and Volk as their bodies stiffened right up. Then they "pretended they didn't see it" and continued on with romp and play. Some things are not worth investigating, I guess.
The mutts have been behaving extraordinarily well lately. After the first dust-up in October when we had to call the vet to patch them up, they spent the winter trying to kill each other at any opportunity. Volk got the worst of it from the first big fight on and by spring he was one whipped puppy. He would cower in a corner and wouldn't come to me as any attention from me would elicit a beating from Bobik. He used to run off and not come home after walks. I'd find him huddled in the yard several hours later.
The first part of March, a friend from Canada was visiting and we decided to put Volk on a leash so he wouldn't run off. We used a small soft rope to make a collar and lead and as we led him out of their yard, Bobik tried to kill him again. Too much attention for Volk. We got them separated and I left them apart for several hours, then didn't take them for a walk for two weeks.
When I finally took them for a walk again they were like two different dogs. Volk had his confidence back. He and Bobik play together, even wrestling in fun. Volk comes home after our walk and willingly goes into their yard. He even comes when I call him. Bobik accepts when I pay attention to Volk as long as I don't ignore him.
They must have figured tying a rope around Volk's neck was some kind of sign of respect from us humans? I can't figure them out.
The Trainee
Sheep gone...My bad.
Someone sent this picture as one of a number of great photographs. My demented mind immediately set to workk trying to fit a story to the picture. Tried to blog last night but couldn't log on for some reason.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
A Dog for Dawsyn
The title was lifted from Buggering Crap Monkies (formerly Reality Check) my daughter May-B's blog. Dawsyn is the daughter of her second-cousin.
Dawsyn suffers from a rare form of epilepsy called Dravet's Syndrome (Severe Myoclonic Epilepsy of Infancy). for Dawsyn to Dawsyn has been approved to get a Seizure Alert Assistance dog. , but now it's about raising money for her. Her mom started a website to help raise money for the dog (US$13,000). Donating is a little complicated - you have to go to the 4Paws website and donate in Dawsyn's name (Dawsyn Harke).
Dawsyn is a real sweetie pie who has numerous seizures a day for some time now. She deserves to have anything to make life easier on herself and her family.
Dawsyn's mom sent this email with more information:
An update on how Dawsyn is doing is long overdue so I will quickly try to bring you up-to-date.
We have just received some exciting news. Dawsyn has been approved to receive a Seizure Assistance dog from 4 Paws for Ability. This dog will be trained specifically to meet Dawsyn’s needs. It will alert us when she has a seizure, it will be her companion and guardian and it will track her if she manages to escape our vigilant care!
4 Paws is a fabulous organization that trains dogs for children with many different needs (autism, ADHD, FASD, etc.) – most organizations will not provide service dogs for individuals younger than 16. Those that do provide them have extremely long waiting lists (2 to 5 years). 4 Paws has no waiting list because they allow the recipients of the dogs and their family to assist in fund raising that goes towards the training of the dog. We have just begun the process of raising US$13,000 towards the training of Dawsyn’s dog.
For more information about Dawsyn, you can now check out her very own personal website at www.doodlebugdawsyn.blogspot.com.
For more information about 4 Paws for Ability, please go to www.4pawsforability.org.
Dawsyn suffers from a rare form of epilepsy called Dravet's Syndrome (Severe Myoclonic Epilepsy of Infancy). for Dawsyn to Dawsyn has been approved to get a Seizure Alert Assistance dog. , but now it's about raising money for her. Her mom started a website to help raise money for the dog (US$13,000). Donating is a little complicated - you have to go to the 4Paws website and donate in Dawsyn's name (Dawsyn Harke).
Dawsyn is a real sweetie pie who has numerous seizures a day for some time now. She deserves to have anything to make life easier on herself and her family.
Dawsyn's mom sent this email with more information:
An update on how Dawsyn is doing is long overdue so I will quickly try to bring you up-to-date.
We have just received some exciting news. Dawsyn has been approved to receive a Seizure Assistance dog from 4 Paws for Ability. This dog will be trained specifically to meet Dawsyn’s needs. It will alert us when she has a seizure, it will be her companion and guardian and it will track her if she manages to escape our vigilant care!
4 Paws is a fabulous organization that trains dogs for children with many different needs (autism, ADHD, FASD, etc.) – most organizations will not provide service dogs for individuals younger than 16. Those that do provide them have extremely long waiting lists (2 to 5 years). 4 Paws has no waiting list because they allow the recipients of the dogs and their family to assist in fund raising that goes towards the training of the dog. We have just begun the process of raising US$13,000 towards the training of Dawsyn’s dog.
For more information about Dawsyn, you can now check out her very own personal website at www.doodlebugdawsyn.blogspot.com.
For more information about 4 Paws for Ability, please go to www.4pawsforability.org.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Who is your true friend?
My brother says to find out who your true friend is, put your spouse and your dog in the trunk of your car for an hour. When you let them out, which one is truly glad to see you?
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