Winter Camping

Check out my sisters' blogs at the right ... both Mushing Mum and Shady Lane Farm have more on the big winter campout.

Also check www.dropshots.com/evenden for my pictures.

Mad Mid-winter Camping

After much pressure about a month ago, I finally agreed to sleeping under the stars on Feb 24th with my sisters and my daughter - in Ontario. Everyone else is too cautious (sane perhaps?) to participate in anything but early evening

festivities. The big plan is to have a bon-fire/corn roast/bbq in the pasture at my sister's farm. Then sleep out doors in the middle of the freakin' winter under the stars.

She's started working on the shelter, at the left you see the poles she's planted into the snowbank ... prior to the melt today, that is ... and the tarp will be suported by these posts somehow. That's yet to be figured out. I guess it needs some wine/beer/food followed by some serious planning. Here's her blog with some pictures and some thoughts on the matter. http://www.shadylanefarm.blogspot.com/

Yesterday, while "talking" on msn she suggested that we needed a flag to fly on an occasion such as this. I guess it's kind of like flying the flag outside the palace when the queen is in residence. So I undertook the assignment.

After thinking about it from 5:30 till 6:30 this morning as I enjoyed the comfort of a warm bed in a warm house with a warm body beside me, I give you the completed version. You can see the five sleeping bags ... blue representing the frost-bitten fools who may have turned blue with the cold before mid-night.

Then there's the 30% waxing crescent moon and several stars (there aren't as many visible when you get south of Haliburton so I thought three would be plenty). Heaven knows if they'll even be visible with the forecast (see the link).

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/cities/can/Pages/CAON0473.htm

Below the feet of the frozen fools, you can see the bon-fire surrounded by leftovers from the bonfire/cornroast/bbq, and plenty of firewood, 'cause we're gonna need it. Hopefully the feet of our sleeping bags don't catch fire.

So there you have it. Check for further updates following the weekend. If there's nothing posted here, you can check the Toronto Star. I've taken the liberty of preparing this "Breaking News" if it all turns sour.

TORONTO STAR

Five local women Freeze to Death Within Walking Distance of a Warm House.

Local members of the community state that the women, all raised in Newmarket and ranging in age from 32 to 53, had made some rash decisions in the past, so nobody who knows them is really very surprised.

"They always were a little, you know, different" states one woman claiming to be their "youlder sister".

Services will be held in a phone booth at the corner of Davis and Main Streets when they can find someone who says, "Yeah, I'll go, even though they deserved what they got" .

The Turtle Truck

Here she is ..... all she needs is her shell and that'll come this summer ... and then we'll have a house on our back and be ready to roll. Look out Jellystone Park

Oh ... And I forgot

Here we are one week past Valentine's day. Ken got me some beautiful roses and they are still gorgeous. Look at these pictures that I took this morning ... I couldn't decide which to post these are so nice.






I can't believe how beautiful they are after a whole week.

Where've ya been?? What's New??

Well, let's see. It's been a while since I blogged and there are a few newsy things.

I have a couple of new Great-nephews ... Nathan and Kaden. For pictures, you'll have to click on the links to Shady Lane Farm's blog and Stephanie & Matt's blog and I'm sure Mushing Mum's blog will have plenty of pix too.

I have a new Grand-dog ... Cherry Jubilee .. she's getting called Jubilee though. Here's her picture.






I took this picture of her when she was eight weeks old. She's really cute and fun to play with.

We served a gourmet supper to 48 people ... the theme was French Canadian .... here are our beautiful salads all line up and almost ready to serve, we topped them off with lots of blue cheese. Yummy!!

Here's the crew of cooks.





Since I last blogged, Ken did some customization on the Durango ... long story ... it's been written off ... living in deer country, it happens. Suffice to say that Bambi made it with less injury than the dodge.








Last, but not least, Cheryl made me a "roadie" for those long, boring drives ...

"Nuff for now ... gotta get ready to go out ... taking my "roadie" to it's first party!

Tinnitus

tin·ni·tus [ti-nahy-tuhs, tin-i-]
–noun Pathology.
a ringing or similar sensation of sound in the ears.



Poor old Vincent Van Gogh ... I've heard it said that he cut his ear lobe off in anger, after an arguement. I've also heard it said that he had an extreme case of tinnitus and cut it off in frustration.

A while back I noticed a ringing in my ears that seemed worse some days than others. I thought that the only thing that really changed was the food I was eating. So I "googled" it and learned of some foods that aggravate the ringing and began eliminating them from my diet in order to fine the guilty culprit. Cheese, wine, nitrites, aspartame, you know the drill.

This has been ongoing for over a year. If no ringing at all was rated as a zero and poor old Van Gogh's a ten, I'd rate mine as varying between a one and a four. Some days are diamonds ......

Well after trying everything I could think of, I was almost ready to just submit to it and convince myself to think of it in the same way I find comfort in the rolling serf of the tropics or the rustling leaves on a mid-summer night. But holy mackeral, by jove and all that rolled into one! "Eureka" I seem to have found it.

The other day,while doing something that I don't even recall, I tipped my head sideways and I noticed that the ringing worsened. "What?" thought I, is it possible that this requires a visit to my trusted and ignored, lo these many years, chiropractor?

Off I went to the chiropractor, and got some of her magical pummelling and thumping. Twice last week, and no change, but she agreed that tipping my head shouldn't make it worse if it's an inner ear problem. Yesterday I went for another beating.

Last night, my trusted companion, the ringing, was all but gone. It was about a .25 on my scale of 10, despite my listening and searching for the familiar "music". Truth be known, I kind of miss the ever-present company, I awakened a couple of times through the night for no reason, could it be the quiet?!

I'll keep you posted!

Ongoing Ode to Cheryl

Only you, forgot you had runningboards no more,
Only you could fall out the truck door.
I'm sure somebody saw, and looked on with awe,
And they laughed hysterically too,
They think you're accident prone,
You're hilarious, you one and only you.

http://shadylanefarm.blogspot.com/2007/01/shadenfrauden.html