Brrrrrr

It's a cold day...a really cold day....a make a fire in the wood stove kind of day. It's the kind of day that I should be replacing the sealer around my bathtub. But instead, I'm cooking. First up, a batch of protein bars. These are pretty tasty so I'm posting the recipe in case you're interested.

1/2 cup flour of your choice (I use multi-grain or whole wheat)
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup oat bran
1/2 cup ground flax seeds
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 t. sea salt (sea salt has many more minerals than table salt)
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/2 cup honey
1 cup dark chocolate pieces (chocolate chips work in a pinch but really good quality chocolate really does make a difference)
About 1 cup or so of plain yoghurt (enough that it holds everything together when you mix it up but not too much that is is really wet)
Sometimes I also add a couple of dollups of almond butter or peanut butter
1/4 cup oil of your choice (I use sunflower)
2 t. olive oil
1 t. vanilla
*Note: this recipe also calls for a cup of whey or soy protein powder but I never have it in the house. I think if you added it you would need to also add a bit more yoghurt so it wouldn't be too dry.

Mix altogether, put in greased 9 x 13 inch pan, and bake at 350 degrees for about half an hour (or a little less depending on how hot your oven gets). Cut into squares and munch out.

Home!

Joe gets home today, after being in Toronto for six weeks taking a couple of English as a Second Language courses and everything around here seems to be welcoming him back. In the flower garden, the first wild Irises of the season are just starting to open (they are one of his favourite flowers), there are two zuccini in my greenhouse that have been waiting for him arrive before reaching the perfect size to be plucked, and some radishes and green onions have offered to sacrifice themselves for the sake of our first garden salad. Welcome back Joe!

Play Ball!

This year, the junior men's world fast pitch championships are taking place in town. It's quite an event for Whitehorse...there are teams here from 12 countries. Last night Jamie and I took in some of the games. It was a lot of fun: the rain stayed away for the most part and we sat with several of Jamie's friends, so I had a chance to get to know them a bit better. They all seemed like good kids, they were all respectful to me and included me in their conversations (unlike some other teenagers I have come in contact with) and Jamie didn't seem embarrassed to be seen with his mom (again, not something that you can say for all teenagers).

We watched South Africa play New Zealand, Mexico play Denmark, and then Canada play Australia. Unfortunately Canada lost 3-1 but it was good ball.

And on a totally different topic, here's a photo of Roy and I scattering our dad's ashes. I like the way the ashes are appearing to dance...obviously dad wasn't happy being cooped up in that canister and was delighted to be free. One note about Roy's socks. He pulled them up over his pants because the fields and the woods are full of ticks this summer. I went for a walk the first day I got there and when I came back my legs were covered in them. YUCK. We never had ticks when I was growing up...guess it's just another sign of climate change.

What to Choose?

Ideally, we'd all like to be eating totally organic, right? The reality is that it's not always possible to do that. So I went looking to try to find out which fruits and vegetables tend to be the most contaminated (and thus the ones of which I should absolutely choose organic varieties) and those that are not as bad. Here's what I found out.

Of course the real solution for me is to grow as much of my own produce as possible, so I know exactly what's gone into the soil. But if compromises need to be made, and they almost always do, this might be a good place to start.

Long Days of Summer

Yesterday's sunrise: 4:28 a.m.
Yesterday's sunset: 11:27 p.m.

Although the sun sets, it never really gets dark at this time of year. I was outside at 1 a.m. today weeding my garden!

My plants are basking in this light. There'll be lettuce, radishes and zuccini on the table within a week.

Where Have All the Bees Gone?

All my life I have had a phobia about bees. When one of these creatures comes in close proximity of me, I freak. If one happens to get in the car with me while I'm driving, I quickly pull over and open all the doors to let it out, because I know that otherwise, I'll have a car accident.

However I was recently watching a TV show that has changed my attitude towards bees. Bees, apparently, are disappearing. And that could be catastrophic for us. Here's an article that presents the same basic information as was on the television show. And now that I'm taking notice, it does seem I have very few bees around my place this year. Grant it, my vegetables (apart from those in the greenhouse) haven't started flowering yet, but certainly I have lots of flowers that should attract bees. The BC Honey Association claims that up to 80 percent of the bees that over-wintered in that province this past year have been lost, and similar numbers are being reported in other parts of the country. Since at least one-third (some estimates are as high as 90 percent) of our food is a result of bees pollinating the plants, this is very scary stuff.

Done!

My house looks like a bomb shell hit it, my back is complaining from the many wheelbarrows full of compost and horse manure I carted to and dug into the garden and I have so many mosquito bites that you might think I have the chicken pox. Regardless, my new garden is finally planted. It's a good three weeks late so I'm not sure how it will do. But if the green thumb gods shine favourably upon me, I should later this summer have the following:

3 varieties of potatoes
2 types of carrots
2 kinds of lettuce
peas
swiss chard
turnips
celery
beets
radish
broccoli
brussel sprouts
green onions
red onions
three types of tomatoes
winter squash
summer squash
cucumbers
scarlet runner beans
jacob's cattle beans
basil
parsley
dill
cilantro

Apology

I am feeling pretty weepy this week. Whenever I read or hear another news story about Harper's apology to former residential school students, I find myself getting emotional. For me, it's about more than how First Nations people were treated, although that was certainly horrific enough. For me it raises broader questions about how it is that we humans have the capacity to be so cruel to one another. Where did that trait come from, and how can we get rid of it? I am reminded of Colin Wilson's book "The Mind Parasites", in which a kind of mind cancer was sucking everything good from the human spirit. But I digress...

The broad strokes stories of residential school victims are fairly well known, so I won't go into all that now. But here in the Yukon, you can see the devastating results every day. You also can't help but be in awe of the strength of a growing number of people who are managing to pull themselves out of such a deep dark pit.

It's difficult to hear people talk about 'lazy, drunk Indians' (yes, I still hear some of that in this country). There is no doubt in my mind that I would have slit my wrists a long time ago had I been subjected to the horror and sorrow that some First Nations people have. To find myself as one of only a handful of survivors in a village that had been hit by smallpox, to have my home and livelihood taken from me, to be ripped from my family at age 5 and taken to a place where I was beaten for speaking my own language and practicing my own customs and rituals and where I was sexually and verbally abused: why wouldn't I turn to a bottle or a needle or a razor blade to make the pain stop?

Below is a photo that was on the front page of yesterday's Whitehorse Star. It's a picture of the woman who adopted Joe, listening to the Prime Minister make his apology. It just breaks your heart...

My Ugly Greenhouse

I guess everyone has a claim to fame. Mine is that I am now the owner of the ugliest greenhouse in existence. I knew I shouldn't have been away when I was having this work done, but I thought I had given the builder a detailed description of what I wanted. Obviously not. They built it with a shed roof. To me a shed roof is either an A framed roof or the type that is found on barns. Not to the contractor. To him.....well, why don't I just post the photos. Then maybe someone can tell me if there's anything that can be done to make it look any better. Joe, I hope you're not going to be too upset.

The inside looks fine. The beds are fairly roomy and there's enough room in the middle for a chair should I ever feel like reading a book in the warmth of a greenhouse. However look at the outside!!
The large L-shaped raised bed seen in the foreground is pretty ugly too, although I think I can soften the lines with hanging flowers. It'll also look better when it's full of vegetable plants. You can see I've started planting the first few rows. The greenhouse though, I just don't know. I sent a note off to the builder this morning telling him how disappointed I am in the project. I waited so long to have a greenhouse, and now to see it looking like this just makes me feel sick.

Catching Up

I've fallen a bit behind in my blogging, so bear with me while I get caught up. First, more about my trip to N.S. After all the 'necessaries' were dealt with regarding my father and his estate, I decided a trip to Annapolis Royal was in order. It's my favourite town in the Annapolis Valley: great history, beautiful old buildings and good food (not a fast food chain in sight). It has one of the best stores I've seen for blue and white china, a particular weakness of mine. A trip to Annapolis Royal is not complete without a trip to Anna Gloria. Unfortunately it is closing: not sure where I'll get my Blue Willow fix from now on.

This town has kid appeal too, in the form of a replica of a 1605 French trading post (Port Royal Habitation) and Fort Anne. When my own three were little, they particularly liked running down and rolling down the deep wide ditches that were constructed as a defensive measure.

The day I went, a Saturday, there was a farmers' market going on. I feasted on delicious potato pancakes, bought some of the best tasting asparagus I've ever had, purchased a couple of gifts from the writer Geoff Butler, and finished it all off with a slice of almond torte. (I sure do write about food a lot, don't I?)

I was also going to spend some time tonight telling you about the tragic tale of my greenhouse and new vegetable garden (and it is quite the story) but this post is getting a bit long in the tooth so I'll save that for tomorrow. But before I close, see what I found growing in my old vegetable garden tonight? It's a morel mushroom. I was all set to fry it up with dinner but sadly, the worms had gotten to it first.

Good Thing

It's a good thing I didn't take the snow tires off my car...

It's a good thing I didn't pack away my winter coat...

It's a good thing I'm not a violent person...

Because if I were I would take a sledge hammer to Mother Nature.

For the third day in a row, it's snowing in Whitehorse.

Enough said.

A Few Quick Pics

No time to blog today, since I'm going non-stop, but here are a few photos of my trip. I'll post more tomorrow.

Long shot of the farm, with the red barn on the right, the garage in foreground and the house in back, mostly hidden by trees. The grey pig barn can barely be seen to the right of the main barn.

The old house, otherwise known as 'the money pit'. Last month it was new roof shingles; this month it's a new septic system. I wonder how much a shipment of dynamite would cost?

Part of the apple orchard

Apple blossom time

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!