The deep freeze is upon us up here. The temperature outside my front door this morning was a balmy -21C. And this was after the sun had risen!
Everything up here was frozen solid (not my water though, yet). Since I have my weekly Dr.'s appointment in Lindsay every Tuesday, I decided to catch a ride into that town with our friend from Cameron, Ron...
This may very well have to be the swellest guy in all of the Kawarthas, Haliburtons & Minden Hills area & for sure a runner-up for provincial standings in that category. Leighann & I rented a small house from him about 8 - 9 years ago where we stayed until moving back to this house in the autumn of 2010 & this guy has tagged along ever since, just being, "Mr. Niceguy". I could call on him any time to, borrow his trailer, his lawn mower, his chainsaw, his car, or even fuel if I needed to, or just ask him to drive me to my Lindsay appointments because I don't feel like driving myself or don't have the fuel for it, and this guy will always be there. I've never asked him for money before though. Maybe that's why he likes me?
I know he's got a liking for my ole'lady, but that's just a typical guy thing. Guys are suppose to hit on their buddies ole'ladies. It helps to take the stress off of the buddy. I do it for all of my buddies ALL of the time!
Here's how it's done, properly....
Your buddy is at home gettin' bitched out for; leaving the toilet seat up, drinking beer, watching hockey, whatever. This happens all of the time because, that's how the female phys (Dictionary time!) works & well hockey, that can happen any time.
Now, because you love your buddy, you hit on his ole'lady like clockwork. She knows, from the moment your car pulls into the driveway until the moment you leave, you're gonna be doting on her like you would a love struck idiot.
You bring her flowers & candy whenever possible. You comment on her hair & tell her how beautiful she looks. You notice her shoes or her new jeans/dress whatever, & then, you even offer to babysit or walk their dog & shit like that, so that she can go out & buy groceries, or a bottle of wine, or check the mail.
The thing is; YOU DO WHATEVER IT TAKES!!!
This is YOUR BUDDY for cryin' out loud. He'll be doing the same thing for you if he knows what's good for him!
Do you see how this is suppose to work?
As long as you're doing it, you're looking after all of those, notables, then, your buddy doesn't have to. So, the next time you're visiting your buddy & he's getting reamed a new one for, pickin' his nose hairs or dropping silent cesspool odors all over the couch, break right in there like Captain Caveman & ask his ole'lady "Whats for dinner?!" She'll leave ya both alone, right away!
No. I'm just kidding. You have to notice her eyes too!
I didn't know for certain, what I was going to do today, now, because of the cold. Leighann, the daughter & the grand-baby, have all gone to Barrie to visit Leighanns brother. I'm batchaloring it until tomorrow night.
Now I "did have", every intention of swapping motors on my snow blower. In fact, I even brought the motor to be installed, into the house to thaw out first, last night...
I set the engine in front of the wood stove to thaw after brushing the snow off outside. It was on newspaper for a while, but that was thrown into the fire this morning. It's now early evening. The sun is setting as I type.
I was back in town in plenty of time to do this engine swap, this morning. I may have even been back before 10:a.m. I don't recall, exactly. But then I got to thinkin': "Glen & I should go see Rob!"
Because of the deep-freeze temperatures, it would most likely be a good idea if Glen & I at least checked in on A.B.'s house & the plumbing. So off we went.
The plumbing was fine & the house hadn't burned down so, we had better check on the old man in the back.
Rob, lives alone with his ole' hunting dog, Ethyl, in my old 1 bedroom apartment. This apartment is sooooo small, about 330 to 375 square feet, max! But he has everything an old guy & his dog needs. Including a very decent small cache of arms. Everything from old flintlock & muzzle loaders to more modern day weapons which I best not describe here. My old apartment looks like the inside of an old trappers cabin, way out in the middle of nowhere. Whenever I do go up to see him, I feel right at home & I can spend a great deal of the time visiting there, just looking at, everything. Stanley, Glen & myself, are all going back up there after I'm done here. Glen's gonna get guzzled & then we'll all play cards or something.
But while I was visiting Rob earlier, we started talking about Gold panning & mining. A subject which I've done a little research into because, it's "Another One" of those things on my, bucket list. so to speak sorta thing.
Rob has done this before. In fact, he's done a lot for a guy just turning 60 at the end of this month. Back when he lived in B.C. he even paid his $3.00 (THREE DOLLARS!) miners fee & staked out 80 acres of mountain to be mined. Back when....
Now it's almost 9:p.m.
I made it about 200 or 300 meters & my ears started to become, numb? I had to turn around. It was freekin' freezin' out there. What in tar nation was I thinkin'? Glen to the rescue!!!
After some quick turtle neckin' & a little bit of C.P.R. from Glen, I walked Stanley back to the house so quick, he musta thought that..., we forgot something..., I shat myself..., I don't know. Didn't much care either. I was cold & had to get out, of it. Best to now, leave Stanley home & take Jimmy instead!
I was a little anxious to find out more about Robs gold panning days in the B.C. mountains, at first. Unfortunately however, shortly after I arrived to the old apartment, Rob got a call & had to help our other buddy, Wilson, do some snow plowing. Wilson was on his way in his Ford tractor equipped with a plow blade on the front & another, scraper style blade on the back. Rob had to work tonight, for a bit. Because of this, we only had a couple of beers.
But, back tracking somewhat here, during our beers I mentioned to Rob that I wanted to borrow his Hudson Bay Coat again. He makes his own, of course. I had borrowed it some years ago & made my own coats using his as my pattern. His coat is made from an actual pattern that he had gotten from the ROM or the HBC itself, he couldn't remember now, and from an actual Hudson's Bay blanket. When I made my coats, 3 of them, I used some old car blankets which I found at the Salvation Army, where most all of my laundry comes from. The coats I made became quite popular. So popular in fact, that I no longer own one. I'll be making another & showing you how to do this too. They're quite easy to make because, they had to be. A bunch of portaging, beaver pelting, canoe paddling woodsman of the past, HAD TO make these coats, themselves, or freeze to death! But that's for later...
Then it was downstairs into the other apartments to see Barb & Norm, the ghosts of A.B.'s parents. I KNOW they are still in there. Well, at least, Barb is. In the form of ashes, in a box from the funeral home which is now on the kitchen counter. Creepy ole' Norman though, I don't think he ever left & his ghost has been there for quite a while!!!
I said my hello's to them, as I always do, as soon as I entered. No point in bringing up, old ghosts, right? And then I made my way into the kitchen, gave Barb a little pat & checked on the plumbing. The kitchen was frozen again. Damn! Time to light another fire...
It took a while for the fire to take. A.B.'s wood stove in there, even though it's a Fancy-Danice model, can be difficult when it doesn't catch a draft right away & the chimney needs to be heated up. Some old ceiling tiles & the last of the newspaper soon cured that though but I would still have to hang around to feed some other material into it after those combustibles were well ablaze. So I might as well do some snooping around in this spooky old place.
Just after A.B.'s ma had passed, he & I began cleaning up, packing up & kinda sorting out, all of the "stuff" this woman had left behind. The items I found most interesting, were some of her old books. She had so many of them. Topics ranging from "Algonquin Brush Wolves" to every known cookbook on the planet. She even had an old wartime copy of Hitlers "Mein Kamph"! I can't recall which volume it was, 1925's volume 1 or 1926's volume 2 or if it could have been the later 1930ish volume with both editions, but I knew it was in there, somewhere. I would go take a little look around....
I couldn't find "Mein Kampf" tonight so I'll look again tomorrow sometime when I return for the HBC coat. But I did find some really cool old books.
Two of them, "Trent Watershed Survey" & "The Valley of the Trent", deal with our own Trent waterway system which I live on. This winter, I will take to learning a little bit more about its history.
Two others, "Dr. Chases, Receipt Book" & "The Common Things of Every-Day Life", both of which are from the mid to midderer1800's, deal with things I can't even begin to describe yet, because I haven't read them yet. But man-oh-man, am I ever gonna devour these old pages ASAP!
The "Birds of Canada" book will become a part of my own library (I'm allowed to take as I like, whatever I like from the old house). I've always had an interest for the wildlife in our area, or for any area I'm in really & I have a few books already about birds, but none as complete as this one. This particular book is more for a bird watcher type & it shows you how to identify a bird in much the same way soldiers were taught how to identify aircraft during wartime. It will be a nice addition!
The novel "Northwest Passage" is just for my own amusement. I have to admit though, the Indians on the cover peaked my interest. I'll be starting this one in bed tonight.
Last of all however, is a book that I've had my eye on for decades now, ever since Norm first showed it to A.B. & I when we were much, stupider (younger), "Outdoor Life Cyclopedia"! It's like an old "Waldens How-To Book" for the man of the 1940's, describing everything from loading your own pistol cartridges to skinning a bunny to training a hound. I may even begin it tonight as well....
Everything up here was frozen solid (not my water though, yet). Since I have my weekly Dr.'s appointment in Lindsay every Tuesday, I decided to catch a ride into that town with our friend from Cameron, Ron...
 |
| Ron, you know, from Cameron... |
I know he's got a liking for my ole'lady, but that's just a typical guy thing. Guys are suppose to hit on their buddies ole'ladies. It helps to take the stress off of the buddy. I do it for all of my buddies ALL of the time!
Here's how it's done, properly....
Your buddy is at home gettin' bitched out for; leaving the toilet seat up, drinking beer, watching hockey, whatever. This happens all of the time because, that's how the female phys (Dictionary time!) works & well hockey, that can happen any time.
Now, because you love your buddy, you hit on his ole'lady like clockwork. She knows, from the moment your car pulls into the driveway until the moment you leave, you're gonna be doting on her like you would a love struck idiot.
You bring her flowers & candy whenever possible. You comment on her hair & tell her how beautiful she looks. You notice her shoes or her new jeans/dress whatever, & then, you even offer to babysit or walk their dog & shit like that, so that she can go out & buy groceries, or a bottle of wine, or check the mail.
The thing is; YOU DO WHATEVER IT TAKES!!!
This is YOUR BUDDY for cryin' out loud. He'll be doing the same thing for you if he knows what's good for him!
Do you see how this is suppose to work?
As long as you're doing it, you're looking after all of those, notables, then, your buddy doesn't have to. So, the next time you're visiting your buddy & he's getting reamed a new one for, pickin' his nose hairs or dropping silent cesspool odors all over the couch, break right in there like Captain Caveman & ask his ole'lady "Whats for dinner?!" She'll leave ya both alone, right away!
No. I'm just kidding. You have to notice her eyes too!
I didn't know for certain, what I was going to do today, now, because of the cold. Leighann, the daughter & the grand-baby, have all gone to Barrie to visit Leighanns brother. I'm batchaloring it until tomorrow night.
Now I "did have", every intention of swapping motors on my snow blower. In fact, I even brought the motor to be installed, into the house to thaw out first, last night...
 |
| New(er) made in China 5.5 h.p generic Honda engine. |
I was back in town in plenty of time to do this engine swap, this morning. I may have even been back before 10:a.m. I don't recall, exactly. But then I got to thinkin': "Glen & I should go see Rob!"
Because of the deep-freeze temperatures, it would most likely be a good idea if Glen & I at least checked in on A.B.'s house & the plumbing. So off we went.
The plumbing was fine & the house hadn't burned down so, we had better check on the old man in the back.
Rob, lives alone with his ole' hunting dog, Ethyl, in my old 1 bedroom apartment. This apartment is sooooo small, about 330 to 375 square feet, max! But he has everything an old guy & his dog needs. Including a very decent small cache of arms. Everything from old flintlock & muzzle loaders to more modern day weapons which I best not describe here. My old apartment looks like the inside of an old trappers cabin, way out in the middle of nowhere. Whenever I do go up to see him, I feel right at home & I can spend a great deal of the time visiting there, just looking at, everything. Stanley, Glen & myself, are all going back up there after I'm done here. Glen's gonna get guzzled & then we'll all play cards or something.
But while I was visiting Rob earlier, we started talking about Gold panning & mining. A subject which I've done a little research into because, it's "Another One" of those things on my, bucket list. so to speak sorta thing.
Rob has done this before. In fact, he's done a lot for a guy just turning 60 at the end of this month. Back when he lived in B.C. he even paid his $3.00 (THREE DOLLARS!) miners fee & staked out 80 acres of mountain to be mined. Back when....
Now it's almost 9:p.m.
I made it about 200 or 300 meters & my ears started to become, numb? I had to turn around. It was freekin' freezin' out there. What in tar nation was I thinkin'? Glen to the rescue!!!
After some quick turtle neckin' & a little bit of C.P.R. from Glen, I walked Stanley back to the house so quick, he musta thought that..., we forgot something..., I shat myself..., I don't know. Didn't much care either. I was cold & had to get out, of it. Best to now, leave Stanley home & take Jimmy instead!
I was a little anxious to find out more about Robs gold panning days in the B.C. mountains, at first. Unfortunately however, shortly after I arrived to the old apartment, Rob got a call & had to help our other buddy, Wilson, do some snow plowing. Wilson was on his way in his Ford tractor equipped with a plow blade on the front & another, scraper style blade on the back. Rob had to work tonight, for a bit. Because of this, we only had a couple of beers.
But, back tracking somewhat here, during our beers I mentioned to Rob that I wanted to borrow his Hudson Bay Coat again. He makes his own, of course. I had borrowed it some years ago & made my own coats using his as my pattern. His coat is made from an actual pattern that he had gotten from the ROM or the HBC itself, he couldn't remember now, and from an actual Hudson's Bay blanket. When I made my coats, 3 of them, I used some old car blankets which I found at the Salvation Army, where most all of my laundry comes from. The coats I made became quite popular. So popular in fact, that I no longer own one. I'll be making another & showing you how to do this too. They're quite easy to make because, they had to be. A bunch of portaging, beaver pelting, canoe paddling woodsman of the past, HAD TO make these coats, themselves, or freeze to death! But that's for later...
Then it was downstairs into the other apartments to see Barb & Norm, the ghosts of A.B.'s parents. I KNOW they are still in there. Well, at least, Barb is. In the form of ashes, in a box from the funeral home which is now on the kitchen counter. Creepy ole' Norman though, I don't think he ever left & his ghost has been there for quite a while!!!
I said my hello's to them, as I always do, as soon as I entered. No point in bringing up, old ghosts, right? And then I made my way into the kitchen, gave Barb a little pat & checked on the plumbing. The kitchen was frozen again. Damn! Time to light another fire...
It took a while for the fire to take. A.B.'s wood stove in there, even though it's a Fancy-Danice model, can be difficult when it doesn't catch a draft right away & the chimney needs to be heated up. Some old ceiling tiles & the last of the newspaper soon cured that though but I would still have to hang around to feed some other material into it after those combustibles were well ablaze. So I might as well do some snooping around in this spooky old place.
Just after A.B.'s ma had passed, he & I began cleaning up, packing up & kinda sorting out, all of the "stuff" this woman had left behind. The items I found most interesting, were some of her old books. She had so many of them. Topics ranging from "Algonquin Brush Wolves" to every known cookbook on the planet. She even had an old wartime copy of Hitlers "Mein Kamph"! I can't recall which volume it was, 1925's volume 1 or 1926's volume 2 or if it could have been the later 1930ish volume with both editions, but I knew it was in there, somewhere. I would go take a little look around....
 |
| 1876 "Dr. Chases Family Physician, Farrier, Bee-Keeper and Second Receipt Book" |
 |
| 1957 "The Valley of the Trent" |
 |
| 1938 "Birds of Canada" |
 |
| 1913 "Trent Watershed Survey" |
 |
| 1857 "The Common Book of Every-Day Life" "A Book of Home Wisdom for Mothers and Daughters" |
 |
| 1937 "Northwest Passage" |
Two of them, "Trent Watershed Survey" & "The Valley of the Trent", deal with our own Trent waterway system which I live on. This winter, I will take to learning a little bit more about its history.
Two others, "Dr. Chases, Receipt Book" & "The Common Things of Every-Day Life", both of which are from the mid to midderer1800's, deal with things I can't even begin to describe yet, because I haven't read them yet. But man-oh-man, am I ever gonna devour these old pages ASAP!
The "Birds of Canada" book will become a part of my own library (I'm allowed to take as I like, whatever I like from the old house). I've always had an interest for the wildlife in our area, or for any area I'm in really & I have a few books already about birds, but none as complete as this one. This particular book is more for a bird watcher type & it shows you how to identify a bird in much the same way soldiers were taught how to identify aircraft during wartime. It will be a nice addition!
The novel "Northwest Passage" is just for my own amusement. I have to admit though, the Indians on the cover peaked my interest. I'll be starting this one in bed tonight.
Last of all however, is a book that I've had my eye on for decades now, ever since Norm first showed it to A.B. & I when we were much, stupider (younger), "Outdoor Life Cyclopedia"! It's like an old "Waldens How-To Book" for the man of the 1940's, describing everything from loading your own pistol cartridges to skinning a bunny to training a hound. I may even begin it tonight as well....
 |
| "Yee-Freekin'-Haw" |
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