Thursday, May 31, 2007

Half asleep here


Looking out on where our firepit is buried under water now ( to the left in the pic)

Lots of debris has floated onto our property

Flooding occurring as the waters rise...however this is typical.

The water is freezing cold,as I found out this morning. Walking out to our wharf is out of the question

The teenager laughing her head off...during our game of Train...
Sorry to hear that you are a Sicky on your birthday...good thing you celebrated early.

My day started with a walk down to the flooded beach and much to my astonishment, there lying in the flood waters was my crooked branch Weeping Willow tree...with many chewed up branches floating in the water...Still standing was the other trunk of the tree, but it is the trunk that is pretty much dead. So it looks like a beaver was caught red-toothed and was scared off before it could gnaw down trunk #2 of the flailing Weeping willow tree. Here is the mystery... Why chew off a perfectly delicious 6 ft tall tree trunk and then chew off half of the remaining branches ( all the green leafed ones) and then leave the whole mess floating around in the water? So that is how my day started...P*ssed OFF. That poor little tree has only begun to look like a tree, in the last couple of years.I was contemplating the removal of one of the trunks, but I surely would have chosen the "Dead" side instead of the live side.
So....anyone know how to trap a beaver???
I'm catching on to the gopher program. We have been relieved of two in the past two days:-)
...Oh yes, and a baby bird that the cat caught...and two mice that she nabbed ,as well.
The eagle took care of a snake the other morning, right before our eyes... so ,as you can see, the wildlife population is exploding and imploding at the same time...
I just wished they would leave my garden alone....and my trees...

So it is way past my bedtime again... I stopped for groceries after work and bumped into Leona and Dan...we had a little chit-chat...nice to see you two again!You were both looking great!

I'll have to tell about Bill's funeral another day. Safe to say,it was a very sad one and it will be some time before Emil gets over losing yet another best friend.

This Saturday we are going to intern Emil's mom's ashes at the Grand-forks cemetaryThat will be another sad time for us.
And my condolences to Joan and Dave...as Joan's dad passed away on Wednesday evening after a long illness...

And so my friends...live every day the best you can. Each day is a gift...that is why they call it the present.
Good night and God-bless









"The Creator"

Happy Birthday Kaleigh...Teenager!!!!


Note the teenager look on her face...No pictures please...Happy Birthday Kaleigh...we'll call tonight... Have a great day!







"The Creator"

Monday, May 28, 2007

Sad News



It is with great sadness to say to everyone, that Emil's fishing buddy and our very great neighbour, Bill Arishnekoff ( on the right, in the photo) has passed away after an ordeal with cancer, that has left his friends and family to grieve his loss. He will be terribly missed by Emil , as well as Peter, on the right, in the photo. In a small neighbourhood such as ours, friendships grow deep when its a neighbour you can count on to give you a hand or go fishing with or just to shoot the breeze with, around the bonfire. Both Emil and Mrs. B. will miss you Bill, and so will Silky...who was always glad to run over to you for your hearty "Hello Silky" and always a big friendly pat on her head. We'll miss roasting hotdogs around your giant sized beach-fire and most of all, Emil will miss a dear friend that he called brother, because Bill treated him like one.
The funeral will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, May 29th, at 10:00 am in the Krestova Hall.





"The Creator"

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Last.fm – The Social Music Revolution

Last.fm – The Social Music Revolution

Now this is quite cool. You type in the name of the artist and their music starts playing, then it switches to another artist. So far, I am liking it. I think you could minimize it and just have it playing all the time while you are computing, without any lag due to streaming...I think I'll sign on to it to become a member... I started with Annie Lennox and then it went to the Cranberries...hmmph! Its a keeper for me. I'll keep you posted.

Wet Sunday

Eekers!
The rain is drizzling down intermittantly ...the reason I am here in blogville. I think I will make some new address labels and some new new business cards this morning...if I have any of the card stock left. Most any card making program will have a section for making labels and business cards and one can easily upload your own photos to give them a personal touch.
Emil was a sicky all the latter part of the week with a cold and flu symptoms. Today he sounds better..still congested but not the achy bone thing.We cancelled all of our plans for the week-end...Happy Birthday Linda and Gord!
I am back to a sniffle nose,so I hope it is only allergies.

We did some quantitative work yesterday..Emil weed Whacked all around the outer fence of my garden and some of the interior...as so much of my garden is overgrown with grass. I can't really keep so much of it up anymore. The centre of the garden is a giant forest now. All the little evergreens have turned into big trees that a growing at an industrial rate. I have a Ponderosa or White (long needled) Pine tree that already has a a large smooth white trunk and has shot up about three feet in the last year. It has the makings for a tree growing to a hundred feet tall or more...Anyone want it? It is too big for my garden...but how to get it out? Any suggestions Ken? At least five evergreens will have to be removed to make space the keepers...and we will still have a forest. Where it was once space for a flower bed, it is now buried under a canopy of evergreens.

At least the original owners of the property planned for the spruce trees to grow,as they planted them at least ten feet apart. In fifteen years, the gaps between trees have closed and soon it will be a solid mass on either side of the property...good until we have a forest fire.

I finshed planting my pots and hanging baskets with the wave petunias that I bought at the nursery at Rock Creek. Emil helped me place them and hang them,as they are heavier than hell.Now, if my friendly deer can leave them alone, they will grow as beautiful as they did last year.

Well, the sun is trying to peak thru. I hope to finish planting some more of my garden today. The spinach is up as is the lettuce, but the deer ate the lettuce plants that I bought...They were turning into head lettuce...not anymore!

So have a great weekend everyone! Talk to you all soon!

"The Creator"

New Additions to the Farm


Emil decided it was time for a shelter over our bedroom deck,and so we are now the proud owners of a canopy. I must say that it does give you the cozy feeling of camping! It alredy has kept the dew off the chairs, which is the main reason for the unit. We can have our morning coffee dewless now...and still in the sunshine more or less. It comes with mosquito nets for the sides which will come in handy later on when the West Nilers are out.

The water was up much higher, then receded ,but is still over the top of the beach. It could come way up this next week, as hotter temps are predicted.

Emil and Silky cleaning up the new rig that is bittersweet for Emil. Unfortunately for our neighbour Bill, he won't be likely to survive the cancer that is making him weaker everyday. He was happy tho, to know that Emil was the buyer of his boat. Originally, it took months for Bill to find just the right boat, a few years ago, and now by fate, he only had a couple of summers out in it. So Emil will have a boat which he always wanted, but at the same time he is losing one of his most dear friends. I hope now that Emil gets a little more use out of it than Bill did. Emil is looking forward to the grandkids coming up this summer...Tubing 101!

Here it is! Look familiar Dick and Nadine? ( I heard you were the proud new owners of a similar colured one! Congrats!)

The Captain...not exactly on the lake, but it will soon be launched once it is all cleaned and ready to go.










"The Creator"