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We had just finished our dinner this evening, and a visitor dropped by ... again, without an invitation. We thought we had explained to the wildlife in our neighborhood that they were welcome to drop by, but to stay on the path that will take them to the river, and not wander through restricted places. Our back patio is definitely a restricted area, but for some reason this one seems to think we won't notice her. Of course, my camera is always handy, and here she is ...
 Banging on the window didn't concern her, but when I opened the door, she knew exactly where to jump down from the wall without damaging herself. A couple of weeks ago, here is another visitor to our back patio. He's a little hard to recognize in the picture, but we don't want him or his family to hang around our place, especially when Ed is walking between the shop and the house in the dark. Thankfully we no longer have dogs, who think they will win any confrontation with this prickely creature. He's also worn out his welcome when he chewed a large portion of the garage door frame, thinking he could chew his way into a shelter. Porcupines are not one of my favorite creatures. 
I realize that not everyone will enjoy the silk flowers in my pots, but they don't have to come and pull them out either. I refuse to have "living flowers" in my planters because the deer will have them eaten before sundown. These guys are no longer welcome either ... they're not the boss of my planters!
About the only creatures who seem to obey the rules are the coyotes. They dash through the yard, hoping that they won't be seen, but there are times that I would like to tell them to 'pipe down' with the howling in the bush because we're trying to sleep. I guess I should be thankful for the critters that we have, rather than having a neighbor who can't find his pet python. THAT would be a scary encounter!
Tags: Birds Animals Wildlife Country Living
Before I take you on a new “Armchair Adventure”, I need to give you a bit of background. My husband Ed worked for Alberta Government Telephones as a repairman, lineman, and plant inspector in the early 1950s. Most of his work was in rural districts, but when he was transferred to head office in Edmonton, other business opportunities came his way, and he resigned with over 10 years of experience in the telephone industry. In the 1980s he began to collect vintage telephones, which kept increasing through a variety of opportunities. He received encouragement, information, and help from collectors Ron and Mary Knappen in Gainsville, WI. A couple of years ago, a local TV program interviewed Mary and filmed a tour of their private facilities and museum. It may not be of interest to everyone, but I thought it may be a different experience to have a peak at the largest collection in the U.S.A. Here’s the link to the YouTube video … "Mary at PhoneCo" Discover Trempealeau County October 30th 2012
I created a page on NOTH to try and get Ed interested, but with no success. His page is still up (with a little help from his wife). His username is OLDPHONEMAN, or can be found by clicking on the red telephone on my page. Warning: the video is a bit over an hour long.
Tags: Hobby Vintage Telephone Phone
Here I am again ... I hope you don't mind me trying "new stuff" here on NOTH. I recently was told that I can share photos that I have posted on Facebook to people who are not on Facebook followers, so here is my attempt ... PARADE AT PIONEER ACRES IN ALBERTA There is not a lot of explanation ... you will have to guess at the year and model of the participants ... or just enjoy the photos. They may spark some memories of your own. It could take a couple of minutes for the pictures to show up ... but they WILL appear.
Tags: Vintage Tractors Cars Trucks
I've had trouble slowing down enough this week to get my photos together from our last excusion. This past Sunday, we traveled about 65 miles to the annual Pioneer Acres Vintage Tractor Show. It has been an annual event for 45 years, and is a 3-day event. If you are interested in doing a bit of "Armchair Traveling", clic on the link below. WARNING: These pictures may stir up some of your own memories ... but for me, having a nostalgia attack from time to time is good for the heart ... and the brain. Vintage Days at Pioneer Acres In my past, a big wish of mine was to own my very own pickup truck. It didn't happen ... !
Tags: Vintage Tractors Cars Trucks
Today has been my day at home before our planned weekend of fun ... at least fun for my hubby. I had to keep my attention on my To-Do List, because even the 'normal' activities here have been neglected. Summers are a busy time and we still have another month to go before the children are back to school.
Our plans for the weekend are to attend the 45th Annual Show and Reunion at Pioneer Acres in Irricana, Alberta. Being that I'm married to a 'tractor man', I will be with him ... but my fun will be taking pictures and chatting with people I know ... or don't know! Sometimes my chatting pays off in more ways than one. Hubby was invited to enter his refurbished John Deere tractor at this show, and he just doesn't like all the publis attention. He's happy to show pictures, and prefers one-on-one contacts. I'm going to post pictures of his tractor on his page (oldphoneman) here, or you can find it by visiting my page and clicking on the red telephone.
On Monday, we were on our way to meet friends for lunch, and decided to investigated a sign on the highway "ANTIQUES AND BARNWOOD FOR SALE". We met a lady at her farm, and she loved to talk as much as I did. While hubby wondered around the yard (where I wasn't able to navigate), she and I found all sorts of common interests. We exchanged business/calling cards, agreeing that we needed more time to visit.
Guess what? She called the next morning because she would like to see hubby's telephone collection. She arrived about noon on Tuesday, had lunch with us and then got lost in the storage sheds all afternoon, leaving about 7 p.m. with a "load" of vintage telephones that she will include in an upcoming Vintage and Antique Show. WOW! Hubby now has a pocket filled with 'mad money', and a new friend.
Life is a hoot ... and we're grateful for it!
Tags: Friends Hobbies People
 We had heard about this construction site in ranch country, a few miles west of us, and yesterday, we finally went to see it for ourselves. There has been a lot of discussion about it in the neighborhood ... it was an odd place to build a hotel. It is about eight miles south of the Trans-Canada Highway, on a secondary highway to the mountains. The expression ... 'from the sublime to the ridiculous' comes to mind. The neighborhood is a mixture of long-established ranches and new and not so new subdivisions, and to me, the photo above is an example of 'the ridiculous'! (I'm sorry ... that's my opinion!) Oh ... almost forgot to tell you ... this is a private home!
Tags: House Home Neighbors
After posting my most recent blog, SUMMER ... and Family Moments, I was asked by several people to post some of our pictures taken at that event. To do it, I decided to try a new method of sharing photos, and created this on Photobucket. If you would like to do a bit of 'Armchair Traveling' with us, click on the link below ... SUMMER FUN IN SICAMOUS Enjoy a bit of Canadian scenery! Mona
Tags: Canada Mountains Banff Family Fun
We have returned home after a wonderful three-day respite in the mountains. We don’t swim, water ski, boogy-board, or hike, but we enjoyed the wonders of creation ... high majestic mountains, rushing clear-water streams, fresh locally- grown fruit, and the silence where we parked the boat in a secluded cove. Best of all … we had the rare opportunity of having our entire family together … our son and daughter with their families. For Ed and I, to have all five grandchildren together at the same place and at the same time was an absolute gift. Our son and family live three miles from us, but our daughter and family live almost 800 miles away, and the distance does present some challenges … time off work, finances, and three grand-girls who don’t enjoy road trips. Amid all their “groanings” about how long it took to get to the lake, we told them that if they came to our home, it would be another six hours. They were amazed that we still enjoy the trip when we come to visit them. That concept wasn’t very easy for them to process. Our youngest granddaughter celebrated her 10th birthday in Canada, and her biggest celebration was that she is now a ‘double-digit’ gal. Their family tradition is that on their birthday, they can order their favorite meal for Mom to make … so we all enjoyed fettuccini alfredo, green salad, tomato salad, garlic toast, and Black Forest birthday cake with three flavors of ice cream. She even shared some of her birthday cake with the family living next door, visiting from Alaska. HOUSEBOAT VACATIONS Our original plans were to rent a houseboat that would accommodate 11 people (see the link above), but they were all booked, so plan B was to rent a condo from friends, and that worked out just fine. HUMMINGBIRD BEACH RESORT We had planned to be at the lake for a week, but medical problems that needed attention required us to come home yesterday. All is good today, and we are thankful for the moments we had together. We have added more special moments to our cache of memories!
Tags: Family Vacation Nature Mountains
Everybody talks about the weather, even though we can't do a thing about it. Living in a rural setting among farmers and ranchers, the weather conditions are:
- Too hot ... the crops will burn up; where's the snow now?
- Too cold ... nothing is going to grow; too much snow
- Too dry ... not enough rain
- Too wet ... too much rain
- Too windy ... we're losing all the topsoil
- Too calm ... where's the Chinook when we need it?
Today it was too hazy with all the smoke from the wildfires, and this evening the hailstones are too big ... causing damage to cars, crops, etc. It takes a lot to keep us happy.
This photo was on the evening news ... comparing the size of the hailstone with a tennis ball. The storm was just north of us but we escaped the whole thing. We had been in the city, and watched the clouds forming, and we knew we had to head for home, and get our van in the garage before it got damaged. Today, I've been reminded again to be thankful for what we don't have ...
- hurricanes
- earthquakes
- tornados (well, maybe an occasional one!)
- tsunamis
- sand storms
- floods (except for last year)
- heat waves
- drought
- year-round winter (as at the north and south poles)
That's all I'll have to say about the weather ... I'll take whatever comes along.
Tags: Weather Complaints Thankful
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