Update from the Farm

This will be a very brief post. Living in a rural area of N.S., my brother is still dealing with dial-up internet (they don't offer high speed where he lives) so trying to have any dealings with the computer is enough to drive a person raving mad! I do have photos I wanted to post but that would just be asking this computer to do too much, so I'll wait until I get home for that.

Last night we scattered Dad's ashes. When all was said and done, I did feel ready. I think it helped that when I first got here, I took a long walk in the fields and woods and had a chat with Dad. Whether he heard me or not who knows but I felt a lot better about things.

The spot we chose to scatter the ashes was beside two wild apple trees. They are in bloom right now, so it was quite beautiful. The area looks out over the entire farm, allowing Dad to keep an eye on things. We said a few words, drank some scotch (and poured some on the ground), scattered a shredded cigar on the ground and sent him on his way. I marvelled at how gritty the ashes were - not at all like wood ashes. I rubbed some into my hand and didn't wash last night. It almost felt like he was holding my hand.

Tomorrow we will take care of the last big job - going through all the furniture. We'll choose pieces that have meaning to us and Gary will dispose of everything else.

Today was a shopping day. I stocked up on the special dried beans that I can only find in the Valley, some dulse, cheese from a local farm and some N.S. maple syrup. We also got some local beet greens, trout and strawberries for supper. One of my favourite meals!

Roy and I had a rather strange start to our day. We had only been driving about 10 minutes when we got a flat tire. We couldn't find the wrench so we called Roadside Assistance. They said they'd be there shortly. Fifteen minutes went by and a fellow in a green car stopped, jumped out, and without any kind of greeting said, "You want your tire changed, right?" He was deaf and his speech was difficult to understand. We said yes and stood back as he quickly changed it for us. We thanked him and went on our way. A short while later we were standing in the bank when we got a call from Roadside Assistance, saying they would be right there to help us with the tire. Roy said, "But you just changed our tire, didn't you?" No, they had not. So apparently it was just a kind soul who had noticed we were in trouble and decided to help. I feel so badly - we had just stood there and let him do all the work. When we told the bank teller what had happened, she just shrugged and said that didn't surprize her; that people do that all the time. Hmmm - I guess Roy and I have been living 'away' for too long!