Just had to post this photo of my neighbours … 

… in spite of the -27ºC  they’re still singing.

What up with that?

Slàinte mhor a h-uile duine
Best to you all!

It was evening, the yesterdays ‘chores’ ‘were over, Gàidhlig class was over & I was free to lay back & do nothing. So I did! Watched the boob-tube all night … Thursday evening is Survivor night in our house & while I normally don’t enjoy these types of shows I enjoy making fun of the participants nitt-picking; bickering & making boastful plans about how they can lead the others to their doom. Best part of course is when they’re the ones who get the ‘boot to the arse’!!! But my favourite shows are generally the Reno/DIY more especially the Cooking shows. Last night it was a Reno show …. hmm? I’m thinking that a wall needs moving.

And today I worked on carving fish fins for my present project. A Paiute Cutthroat Trout indigenous to the one area of north eastern California. Since then I have been working on a poster for the local Arts Council’s March exhibition. 

 It’s Friday evening, and I believe it’s time to head down the basement, have a nice bottle of Samuel Smith’s fine brew & then knock a few balls around.

Slàinte mhor a h-uile duine Best to you all!

We both have been incredibly busy since moving here. Pam with her work & taking care of an old gimp on her after hours & the old gimp himself, with trying to get the wheelchair access setup to basement (shop & pool table) as well as continuing his studies for his Gaelic Course through the AGA {Atlantic Gaelic Academy}. Now that the lift installation is complete & then the subsequent repairs I have been quite busy setting up my workshop & finally getting back to work! … lots to keep me out of trouble (hopefully).

The new pool table is working really well & have had a few games. Well a lot actually! It’s so wonderful being back at the felt knocking my balls around again. As well as wood & bone … back in the chips again & loving it.

Finally got the new floor put down the new flooring in the living room on Saturday. Wow what an amazing product! The laminate flooring we picked was a knotty rough pine. Looks like it was dropped there in one piece. This stuff just locks together in a snap! Of course it helps to have someone who knows what their doing the ‘techie’ work. I was the go-fer … & a damn good one too! It took about 3½hrs to put down & do the cleanup {many tools, cardboard boxes & plastic wrap}. Turns out the fellow I was able to hire to do the work is a lad who lived in Summerside for 25 yrs. we were having a great laugh about folks complaining about the weather up here & the weather back home. … but it’s a dry cold.

I love wearing these moccasins & have decided that I am going to wear moccasins year round. Hands down or should I say ‘feet down’ they are the most comfortable & warm foot apparel I have ever worn! I also have another pair of plain ones. Ojibwa made ones that I picked up in Sudbury, ON that I will be wearing in summer months . The mitts were a Christmas present from Pam … I finally have no complaints about ‘cold hands’ on wheelchair push rims!! Thanks dear.

Been so busy in the shop & as usual, this stubborn old fart has to try to do everything himself & ends up suffering. Recovery can be long … Dangit! As well my studies of the Scottish Gaelic take up a lot of time so I haven’t been taking the time to keep my blog updated – unfortunately. But I will! Even if it’s just a couple on lines … at least that’s my “plan”. ha ha ha

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“Eucoir nas miosa na leabhraichean a losgadh – gun a bhith gan leughadh” – Joseph Brodsky
{There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.}

The CBC is reporting that Saskatchewan has a had a couple of days of below seasonal weather. 28 days to be exact. ! Today it is forcast to go up to -23ºC And when you’ve gone through -30ºC to -38ºC degrees we’ve gone through lately – 23ºC is considered warming up. I’m not complaining. It could be worse! We could still be back home either digging out from the snow  &/or freezing rain & high winds.

Here’s a photo fo the main highway around 3pm on a sunny but frigid day. Note that the roads are barely clear of snow. That’s because it doesn’t melt here … once the snow falls it stays until the spring  You don’t even see icicles until the spring melt! The snow just doesn’t melt!

 

Can you feel the warmth of the day?

Here’s another … This photo was also taken in the late afternoon on a very sunny day but the heat of the day just wasn’t there. As you can see the snow & is still wel packed on the trees. No wonder our Chihuahuas aren’t fond of this adventure;

And last but not least here’s a photo of the sundog 

 

A Sundog on Jan 03-09

 

We’ve several amazing & very beautiful solar phenomena since we moved back here. The last one was as if the lights of heaven were being cast down in a blazing beam of intense light. Too intense to get a photo unfortunately!

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Dè th’ort fo d’fhèileadh?

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“The only difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to be credible. – Mark Twain”

Today we received this wonderful Christmas greeting video from our young granddaughter back on PEI.

3 little elfs

While this photo is in itself an awful funny bit of creativity I really think that watching this short video she put together is definitely hilarious

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Bu mhath an sgàthan sùil caraid.
[A friend's eye is a good looking-glass.]
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Friday evening our friends/neighbours dropped down to help me level the slates on my pool table … well Rod did, his wife came along to visit with Pam. It didn’t take long for Rod & I to do the table & then we had a couple of beers to visit. Dry business that work. Saturday is usually our ’shopping, library day but this Saturday it was all shopping. Christmas is coming up & we want to get on top of it before the big day. The local Christmas craft fair was also happening on Saturday & the weather, while cool is sunny & quite comfortable. So we wrapped Molly up in her down jacket, set Chesney up with a tasty treat & a warm bed & off we went.

The Craft Fair was great, lots of great stuff, art & crafts & a table full of Cree beadwork, some antler carvings but I can’t say what in case our kids & grandchildren happening to be reading this blog. Wouldn’t want to ruin their Christmas. I picked up a couple of nice photos & great Cree painting by a local artist. After leaving the fair we headed off to Robertson’s Trading Post to look at more local leatherwork & check out the meats. You never know what surprises that the butcher has brought in. Could be some elk, or bison or boar & most times there is the sausages! Blueberry & wild rice, cranberry & pork from down south. Or, hopefully the best of their sausages Bison & MuskOx links.
And finally we finish our day’s outing at the local Co-Op picking a few groceries. As you can see a day in LA can be boring.

Today I paid the price of a day of leisure by filling the seams between the pool table’s slates & screw holes. After which I worked on getting both my workbenches setup again. While for most folks these tasks would simple but for me it becomes a mammoth & exhausting task so I work for 30 mins at the most & then rest up for the next burst. It is taking a long time to get setup but one day, soon I will be back at the carving & art & posting the results right here … so keep watch.

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Bu mhath an sgàthan sùil caraid.
[A friend's eye is a good looking-glass.]
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“The only difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to be credible.    - Mark Twain”

Another Saturday here in northern Saskatchewan, sipping our morning coffee, listening to ‘Stan The Man’ on CBC Internet Live Radio we hear of yet another storm hitting the Island & east. The temperature is rather balmy here at -14ºC with the wind blowing a fierce 15kms. I can still smile contently. I finally got the slates of the pool table levelled & fastened down last evening. Thanks to the help of my neighbour & friend Rod. Since he helped me get the stair lift in I can now get down to the basement I have been setting up my shop/studio & more importantly the pool table!

For the last 2 days I have been trying to level the table on my own. While it’s not a complex task, requiring only a knowledge of understanding the physics of a rolling ball vs the ball not rolling, it can become a burdensome when you don’t have the use of your legs. I must have worn out the arse of a couple of pairs of jeans transferring from wheelchair to stool then floor & back again … inserting &/or removing wedges to try & get one corner level only to find the other corner way out of wack! Jacking up that corner resulted in put the first corner out wack again! Being stubborn I kept at it for 2 days before calling Rod to come to the rescue. It took about 1½ hrs to get the whole table level with Rod’s help last evening.  Friends, eh? Nothing like them!

Today I finish tightening & applying the levelling compound & then back to the workbench(es). Something I can definitely do on my own …. yippeeee for the stubborn old gimp!

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Bu mhath an sgàthan sùil caraid.
{A friend’s eye is a good looking-glass.}
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“The only difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to be credible.    – Mark Twain”

Well it’s another day of snow here in LA and it’s Invacare Arrow Plow to the rescue …

it's the 'wheel' plow again!!

 

We’ve been quite a getting a bit of snow lately. Not big dumps of snow but enough to require cleanup. I’m told by the neighbours that November is the month that most of the snow falls in. With the consistent cold temperatures the snow doesn’t much of a chance to melt so it can stick around until spring. It’s not too cold today for working outside now … -10ºC. Fortunately it’s a dry cold.

One added benefit of the drier temperatures is that the snow is much lighter. And using my Inacare Arrow power wheelchair as a plow I am able to get the driveway cleared fairly easily. Still exhausting but it’s good exercise & helps reduce the amount of work Pam has to do ’standing in’ for the old gimp.

 

Uill, gun tèid e gu math dhomh an-duigh

Well, wish me luck for today … 

“The only difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to be credible.    - Mark Twain”

As i was saying in the last post the hardest thing about being so far from home is missing family & friends. But family does have the priority …

A few of the grandkids ; {l>r} Stuart, Tori & Tedd

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Slàinte mhor gu lèir là dhuit.

Great health to you all day.

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“Eucoir nas miosa na leabhraichean a losgadh – gun a bhith gan leughadh” – Joseph Brodsky
{There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.}

Last weekend we drove down to PA {Prince Albert} to take the dogs in for their quarterly check-up & such, to get some shopping done & to tools & materials & to just wander a bit. Since the trip is normally a 2½ hour drive at this time of year we generally plan for a more careful 3 hour one so we decided to stay overnight at our usual motel. Lately I have become quite chatty with the manager {not much of a surprise for those that know me, eh?) … anyway the subject of hot sauces & large bottles of Tobasco sauce & how hot I like my foods. She proceeded to tell the folks from the McIlhenny Company stay at the motel when they come up from Louisiana to hunt geese & other birds. Then she slipped into her office & came back with a 5oz bottle of a HABANERO Tobasco hot sauce. Wow, eh? And what a flavour! You just never can tell what will happen when you step out & talked to someone. Try it … you’ll be pleasantly surprised … there’s some real nice folks out there.

Both of us are really enjoying being back in LA & especially now that the weather is beginning to get ‘winter-ish". At the moment there’s been a light dusting of snow. The driveway slopes downwards to the street so clearing it was much easy inspite of the smooth tires on my chair. Just as I was finishing a few of the local kids a came by with their shovels looking to make a few bucks. One of them even pitched in & helped finish the walk. Looking forward to giving them some work in future days this winter & help them along with their business.

I must also add that we do miss the Island & our family & friends {as well as Gàidhlig}. And to that end we got up earlier than usual so that we could listen to Atlantic Canada’s Weekend Morning with Stan Carew. Turned out they were celebrating his 40th year in broadcasting with guests like David Myles. Thanks to the wonders of ‘real’ Highspeed & the CBC’s website live feed we connected once again with everyone l back home.

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“The only difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to be credible. – Mark Twain”
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