Ha Ha

I received an anonymous comment which really got me bewildered.
What does Ha Ha mean when you don't know the person, expression or sound of the Ha Ha?
Since I'm not highly educated I had to look this up. (I love the wealth of information you can get from the WWW).

Ha Ha: used to express amusement or derision

Amusement: a means of amusing or entertaining; the condition of being amused

Derision: the use of ridicule or scorn to show contempt; an object of ridicule or scorn

Now I'm no further ahead on what the comment meant.

Fillet Fish

This will be a continuing story of our new friend Andy. If you have read the previous blogs you will know Andy.

Andy arrived today with fish in payment of the $10. Kirk lent him. Two big/Hugh lake trout. However they needed to be fillet. Kirk asked for his fillet knifes so that Andy could do his magic on these fish. (I should have taken pictures of the fish).

It wasn't long, I was nursing Andy. He managed to cut his finger complaining that Kirk's knifes were too sharp. His finger would not stop bleeding! We went through many paper towel and finally I got a bandage wrapped tight around his finger. It still wouldn't stop bleeding. Now came, he needed a beer and a cigarette. Well, he was going to be here for awhile.

Kirk got into Bible study. Which is good. Some how they got on the same page in a manner of speaking/reading. (I'm pacing, something I do well). Andy would ask about different chapter and verse and Kirk would look it up and then Kirk would point out other chapters and verse. I'm still pacing.

Andy needed $15. And a ride to the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) and then home. Between Kirk and I, we searched through our pockets for all the change we had. We normally don't have cash since we use debit card most of the time. God being with us we came up with $15. (Love those loonies and twonies) I have a strong feeling we are going to get more fish soon!

Why blog?

I was asked the other day why I have a blog web site? I will try to explain.

It started out as a way to communicate to friends, how our life was going in Canada without an email to each person who asked. If they are interested they just check the blog.
Now I only email asking how their life is going.

It is like a diary for me. A record of our experiences and thoughts. Sure, most of it is boring because it is just day to day stuff. I'm no "Writer" so I'm sure anyone with some degree would laugh at my grammar and maybe spelling since spell check doesn't always work.

The nice part is the positive comments we receive to keep it up which tells me someone is interested. Of course, if you are not interested you wouldn't check would you. Common sense.

Just my way of staying in touch without touching. Or as Kirk puts it "bugging someone".

Hydro

I feel I've just been struck by a lightning bolt.

Our first hydro bill arrived that was not an estimate. $426. For 30 days.

We were definitely spoiled in NC. Our annual power bill for house and (welding) shop averaged $2500. Our house had ceiling cable heat (that is electric heat from ceiling).

Now, we try to heat mostly by woodstove with propane furnace which I don't want to hear kick on since we our first propane bill was another shocker.

We will adjust to our new environment and bills. Kirk has to charge more for his services. It will be his first steps to becoming Canadian.

Grooming Success

Considering we know nothing about dog grooming I feel we did a reasonably good job. It was definitely a duel effort. Kirk held the dog and I cut. We don't know how professional dog groomers manage to do it by them self. It must be the reason they charge so much.

Mind you we only wanted to cut the necessities, private parts, paws, and around eyes so that they can see. I didn't get into plucking inside the ears. I opted for just putting ear drops in their ears for now.

Again, we were like two little kids proud of our accomplishment and asked ourselves why we didn't try this sooner. It did take some time, which we seem to have right now. Shadow was the time killer. Thanks to Kirk holding her tight when it came to getting close to her face helped big time. She doesn't understand how much we love her because anyone else would put her down. This dog can be vicious. I would put her up against a pit bull any day and she would probably win!

This has been another learning experience.

Cleaning Lady

Dusting! I don't know how others feel about doing this but I can tell you I DO NOT LIKE IT!

I don't know why. It is not difficult. It is not hard work. It is something I avoid. Give me a vacuum or mop. I do windows, mirrors, toilets, wash dogs, pick up dog dodos, even dishes when I have too, but don't ask me to dust. Let me hoe a whole field, dig ditches and scare the crap out of me running the tree digger but don't make me dust.

With a warmth of a fireplace comes the use of a vacuum on a regular basis. In fact I am glad I bought the small Eureka when I first moved here. It definitely has been put to good use since I'm in charge of the fireplace. Every time we move wood from outside to inside and open the fireplace door wood chips and ashes are jumping all over the place. The Eureka has become my best friend. I have my Rainbow vacuum that I love. It is used for the larger picture and yes, we have central vac but it doesn't always work (suck).

When it comes to dusting, which we have plenty of because of the fireplace, I look at it and say "I will get to it later". Even now as I write, I see it on top of the computer desk and say "later, it is not going anywhere".

There has got to be something wrong with me.

comments are welcome but be gentle I know I'm a slob.

BD Girls

What a wonderful evening! Since we rarely get out to socialize when we do it is always a long lasting memory for us. We were invited to celebrate the birthdays of three wonderful women who are close to our hearts in more ways than they know. Our pride in their accomplishments and their high standards of decorum are greater than words I can describe. (or spell) Being part of this family is truly a blessing. The food, drink and festivity was plentiful. I believe we were the ones that benefit most from this evening.

On this occasion we left the dogs at home thinking that we would only be away for a few hours. It was too cold to leave them in the truck which is usually what we do since they don't mind waiting there. Also, if I had given them a bath as planned for Saturday, I would have taken them along. We decided to experiment on training them to be alone. Not a good plan. The gifts that Shadow and Peaty left us (or should I say Me) was a job to remove. This is a time when my dislike for carpeting is confirmed. The house now smells like Pine-Sol and I don't think in time that will last. Should we experiment again I think we will have to leave them in the basement which to us seems cruel so it may not happen again. There goes our socializing. It was fun while it lasted.

Tepee

Last night while I was writing my last blog we got a phone call which woke Kirk out of his deep sleep. It was our new friend Andy.

Andy wanted to sell Kirk a TV for a very very good price? Kirk's response was "we don't need a TV we have one, we only need one and I'm watching it". Now comes the real reason for the call. Andy wants to borrow some money, $10.00. OK here we go. Kirk should put the money in the mail box. Well, Kirk informed him that our mail box is broken and does not have a door on it. Kirk said "If you want the money you have to come now before I go to bed". Andy was here in a flash knocking hard on our glass sliding door.

Due to the cold blowing wind (and sorry to say, I don't want Andy in our house) Kirk raced to the garage entrance door to meet Andy. He saw the empty beer bottles and asked for them too. Kirk said we needed them as that is how he had $10.00 cash in the first place.

During their conversation Andy offered to build us a mail box that looks like a tepee. Oh boy!
This morning Kirk and I are hoping that Andy does not come up with any surprises before Kirk can give him some other suggestions as what we might like our mail box to look like. We could be safe here since he was not real fast on some of his other offers which may include the return of the $$.

I ask myself how we get into these situations. This is a rerun of Florida, North Carolina and now here. We always hope if you help someone it will turn out good. Sorry to say it hasn't yet. Maybe this time.

Our Northern Hurricane

Rain! Wind! And Thunder! What a night! Sleep was not on the schedule. The noise was scary. I don't think the hurricanes that we went through in Florida sounded as bad as last night. At one point we thought for sure the other half of the antenna came down but it is still up there so it was just thunder/wind noise. In the morning Kirk announced that the sump-pump came on every 7 minutes. I guess that gives me a clue he wasn't sleeping. (he is now)

Poor Peaty, we forgot how afraid he is of thunder. He was stuck to us like glue. Normally he sleeps at the foot of the bed. Last night he almost sat on our heads. Mind you we didn't mind. I think we were just as afraid. Hugging works for us.

I was scheduled to go into work at 8:00 am. I got a call at 6:01 "please come in early as in now!" I had a shower and made it to work at 6:20 am. My co-worker needed to go home as her finished basement was flooded. I could feel her distress and worry. Their sump-pump didn't keep up with the amount of water that came down. By the way, everything is a skating rink now. Tonight is suppose to be the coldest night yet this winter. My job will be keeping the fireplace burning hot!

The wind is still very very strong. I'm just glad I have the weekend off just to watch the fireplace. We are still going to try this dog grooming sometime this weekend. I need Kirk to have the shop warm and ready for this adventure. Well, I think I'll get back to our one TV station called CH. I think it is a Hamilton station? Not bad, Not good. The station ad says "when mother nature is at it's worst, CH is at it's best" I sure hope we don't get to watch too much more of their best.

Living with myself

Unbelievable mild weather right now. But, due to the dampness we can't seem to feel warm. The fireplace is burning hot and the temperature in the house is 74 and outside 41 and for some reason we are freezing? The forecast doesn't sound good. It is going to drop like a rock into the teens in the next day or so. This whole country should turn into a skating rink. Let play hockey!
Ok, so much for the weather.

Since our TV is on the blink we are down to one station that is providing us with some outside entertainment. Kirk is actually watching it. I pass through every once and awhile making statements "Are you actually watching this?" Please, Judge Judy is not something I can get interested in.

During the day (5:30 am to 3:00 pm) Kirk is busy working on building an aluminum hay elevator and I am busy baking bread. It is good that we have some sort of routine going here.
We like routine. It seems my designated hours are 6 to 2 Wed. & Thurs., 8 to 4 Fri.. And the rest of the weekdays can vary from week to week. I enjoy working there. Some co-workers are easier to work with than other but that is with any job. So, I have good days and some that are so so.

I hate to admit this, my so so days is working with someone just like myself. "What goes around comes around". She has the job down to a science and if you don't do it exactly like the science the air gets still. Now that I'm put into this situation I remember I worked exactly the same way in the past and now feel sorry for anyone who worked with/for me. Hopefully I will learn from this and move on to be a better person. In the mean time I will live with "myself".

Life without TV

Valentine's Day has come and gone! It was made special because our Directv is on the blink again. We didn't get to watch the Westminster Dog Show but we did have plenty of time to talk which is also nice. Having a quiet night in front of the fire place just enjoying each others company which lead to I do and we did. If the TV stays in this state, we could have one very long Valentine's Days.

Paperwork & Loose Ends.

So far today has been very productive. First thing, we went to London so the Immigration Doctor could take some more of Kirk's blood. They missed a blood test so we had to go back and have it done again.

Then we had to get papers notarized for the closing of our house in North Carolina. In Canada you can't just go to a bank to have this done you have to go to a Lawyer which means schedule appointment.

Of course we were early for our appointment. So, shopping is a good way to kill time and money. We now own dog grooming clippers. Look out Shadow and Peaty. While shopping, hunger hit big time. It was so bad we resorted to going to McDonald's because we were in the NEW Walmart of Strathroy. I tried something different and yet it is not really different I just didn't recognize the name "Poutine or Poultine"? It is French fries with gravy and cheese curds. It was really good. I now have my cholesterol fix for next month or so. Kirk stuck with big Mac and fries.

We got the paperwork complete. Now we have to arrange for FedEx to pick it up. For some reason I worried about that part but as usual I worry for no reason. I called at noon. It was picked up at 1:30 after completing all the appropriate forms. (We couldn't use the forms that came from the US). Oh well. The papers are off. All being well our house in NC will close FEB. 17.
Then the next project is to sell the land behind the house which we called the "building on the hill". Oh! to see some more happy days.

Happy Days are here again!

Kirk has his Direct TV again. In fact he can have it as long as he wants, so long we have a US bank account/credit card for them to get their money.

What he did was call his sister in NC. He had her call Direct TV. Direct TV said, are far as they are concerned his status was just fine. Some sort of glitch that they reset and all is well again.

It was one of those you had to be there to see the happiness and excitement in Kirk's face when the TV worked again. It was like seeing a little kid opening presents at Christmas.

We can now watch the Westminster Dog Show which we do every year near Valentine's Day. Are we exciting people or what?

Here's your sign

We now have a sign on the Shop!

We now have a life changing event!

Yesterday, Kirk's Direct TV stopped working. A message came on the screen "You are using the wrong card". Which makes no sense as he has never changed his card. What makes things difficult is that he can not call Direct TV from Canada as the 800 numbers will not work from here.

He called a Direct TV service center in Port Huron to see if he could fix something on his own. It is safe to say that did not work.

To top things off, our outdoor antenna was blown down by this last storm. Is "The One"up there trying to tell us something? I think so.

Kirk is not giving up. In the mean time we have one or two fuzzy stations. He watched Judge Judy and now some NEWS station talking about Canadian medical marijuana users not paying their taxes? His comment "at least it is something new and different". Does this mean FOX NEWS is going to be history?

What we will miss is Law and Order reruns. I won't miss the fishing shows from 4:30 am to 6:00 am. I'm trying to relate with Kirk. I know how I feel when my computer dies. Very Sad and Frustrated.

Snow Day!

Feb. 6, 2006 the wind was fierce and the snow drifts forming inside the garage and around the house.



When Pete is nervous or upset he hold his bird. He is not ready to go out even though he has to.

We Have Snow!

Ok, this is more for you folks in the south.

Yesterday morning it was raining buckets. Then around noon it started to snow! It hasn't stopped. The power/electric went out sometime around 1:00 am it didn't come back on until 9:55 am. Since we have a fireplace and gas stove we are warm but with no water. I tried the melting snow in pot just to flush the toilet. It takes a lot of snow to get a pot of water. I guess it wasn't that important so I'll wait. The excitement of having power again was just too much I filled pots with water, vacuumed, ran dishwasher and got to work on this blog. Since it is still snowing who knows how long we will have power.

The up side of this is we had/took time to talk, (actually when you think about it, the time is always there it is what you do with it) we still got up at 5ish and lit some candles decided we should do some Bible reading (reading by candle light is tough so that was put on hold). When the daylight arrived Kirk was anxious to get into the shop. Who knows why, he still couldn't do anything as we still didn't have any electric. Well he surprised me, between shovel and tractor snow removal was on his mind.
Got to love him!

Whining, dog or me?

Dog grooming has now become a concern in my list of things to attend to. It seems that hiring a groomer is going to be more difficult than expected. The groomer (or should I say, someone who owns a pair of shears/clippers) was ill on the day of the dogs scheduled appointment. She will call us when she is feeling better. The "We will call you" statement has a track record with me. The "Call" usually doesn't happen.

In the mean time, I ask around about groomers in the area. (I think I talked about this topic before)? Either we have been spoiled in NC or they are ridiculously expense around here. So, I am now research/shopping online for dog grooming clippers and nail clippers, as I feel I will have to learn how to do this myself.

The next problem I run into to is finding a Canadian outlet. I search on the internet with this in mind but everything comes up USA which triggers border/customs. This must be another thing that has me spoiled. Since I do not like leaving home unless I have to go to work. I did a lot of internet shopping and UPS usually delivered within two days. It was great. Now I'm forced to get out in the rain/snow and drive (gas!) to WalMart in Sarnia (Ontario, Canada) and just buy a cheap pair of clippers in the pet section. Ok, I should stop whining.

If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to comment.

Tension Level Lowered

It was a good day all around.

It was my first day opening. Which means I was on my own. I open the store. Yes, I have a key! Who else wants to be there at 6:00 am. I believe I did well considering I was nervous and yet focused on what had to be out by 8:00 am when we are open to the customers. As far as I know I only had one oops. Forgot to take cinnamon knots out of the pan while they were still warm. It was a bit of a challenge but I got them out without destroying them. Success, onward and upward. Looking forward to doing it again tomorrow.

Kirk also had a good day. He got another 45 day extension for his guns at the border after he explained his dilemma. He also got a copy of his fingerprints by the OPP which means we now have to send this off to Raleigh NC to get another background check. I sure hope nothing goes wrong.

At this moment in time some of the tension we have been feeling is lowered. It is a good feeling.