Jest Another Day in Pear-A-Dice - Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm in Alberta

[CanuckBock]

Yes, I have seen the walking/sliding rocks of Death Valley, Not Moving at the time thou

, what a place to see all sorts of strange things. The Air Force payed me to stay in the center of Ca. for about 6 long, hard years back in the early 70's.

Scott

I take it yer not the kind to enjoy the heat too much either.

We moved after a short stay in Kamloops...we moved in 104F and well, Rick rented a ten ton truck with air conditioning inside the cargo hold. I still remember us flaked out in two lawn chairs in front of the fans...agh...yuck!

I have never figured out what to do...you are submerged in a tub of ice water...yeh, and what then...you crawl outta yer skin, down to bones and a few vital organs?

I'll take cold any day. Eat more fattening rations, put on more layers, come inside for a warm up...but with the heat...I just am not designed to deal with it. Cramps my ability to work and get things done. I guess it's OK if all you want to do is lay around immobile & get a tan for that day, eh?


Thought about grandpa's moving rock collection and remember one time a friend's Dad after a wedding he had for one of the daughters. Had this huge willow tree out in the yard and he was on the ride em out cutting the grass and cleaning up the party favours. He dang near got lifted and choked out. The kids had been every where and a group of them had strategically tied up the willow branches. Poor Grandpa...zipping on thru the boughs to cut the grass, mighta been his last. Them kids...gotta do things to be noticed, eh.

I was on a trip home from Las Vegas.... Stopped at Baker to get fuel and use the facilities.... Baker is very close to Death valley. Looked out toward town and there was a giant thermometer. It topped out at 130 degrees and the marker said it was 120 degrees... I vaguely though... Hmm thats pretty hot....

I just simply don't do heat. We can get to 104F here (but no worries, I am not moving ever...ever again--maybe as a body out to be cremated, perhaps!) and it is during the nights that I hate it more. I want to turn off, shut down and rest up for another day of fun filled stoopidness. Although you can go out early here and often there is even a touch of frost in the summer mornings, but the heat at day's end just sucks. We have an air conditioner now that was given to us but figure if we plugged it in, the panel is so under rated for that kind of draw, we'd be smokin'. LOL I guess we'll get round to upgrading the power, there is always something needing doing...it only depends on what level of importance it is on how fast you get to it.

Not been too extreme these past few summers, more about lots of regular bouts of rain and the hail that happens when we get towards a hot day cycle and moisture moves down to make a clash with it. I have seen a real change in the weather patterns over the past 15 years or so...I think everyone is noticing things are different than we use to figure weather wise. Out on the Coast they had little to no rain, I think we got their share last summer. Hee hee...

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[perchie.girl]

I have lived in some form of desert all my life.... Lol... I know how to cope... and Yep best thing in the heat is lay low and keep as comfortable as possible. There is a reason for siestas in Mexico. hottest part of the day.

At most though I just use a swamp cooler... Evap cooling works quite well when the humidity is 10-15 percent. You never go any where without a jug of water even in the winter time.

It does snow here but its part of that 10 inches of annual precipitation.

deb

 

[lularat]

I don't mind hot so bad....it's the humidity that's the killer. We have hot, humid summers here in eastern NC.

Tara, love the snow pictures...we've only had a few flakes so far. Doesn't look like we're going to get snow any time soon...I'll keep hoping.

 

[perchie.girl]

yeh... we have a few days where the humidity is as high as 40 percent... pant pant... thats when I can hardly breathe.

 

[Wisher1000]

Quote:

Originally posted by Canuckbock

"I can see the "Just Married" sign on the back of the Marquis with tin cans and whatnots being scraped off the back bumper, sooner than later with that precious "cargo" in the trunk a dunk...hee hee...well at least the spouse knew what he was getting himself into right from DAY ONE!

"



There were no cans, but more "precious cargo" than we expected. Yes, DH got a crash course on what he had gotten himself into.

We were staying in a cabin on the side of a mountain, overlooking a valley. We had seen a few houses on the way up, but there were no houses or cabins close to ours. We got to the cabin after the ceremony and there was a cat on the front porch. I spoke to it briefly and patted it's head as we went inside. It began to meow and to peer into the windows at us. It was cold outside and I wanted to let it in but DH said I couldn't because the rental agent had stressed 'no pets' several times, and we would not be able to get our money back if we were kicked out for having a cat inside. I spent a miserable two hours listening to the cat mew, meow, then yowl to come in. He/she finally stopped and I assumed it went home.

We got up to leave the next morning. As we were loading the car, the cat reappeared. It was again mewing and trying to get into the house and we had to block it with our legs or bags each time we went through the door as we made trips back and forth between the cabin and the trunk of the car. The cat looked well fed and was quite friendly. It loved being held and cuddled so I felt certain it belonged to someone nearby.

As we finished packing and were getting into the car, I looked for the cat to say bye, but it was gone. We drove off down the mountain. About 20 miles away, I spied some nice rocks along a stream and had DH pull over to collect some. We went to the creek bank and there were some Canadian geese paddling the creek (they call it a river, but around here it would be a creek) and I selected a gray granite bolder that likely weighs 80 - 90 lbs. DH hauled it up the hill and to the back of the car. He opened the trunk and there, on top of his tux, was the cat.

He jumped back, startled, and I leapt forward in case it tried to bolt. I didn't want it to be lost. Then I saw the green stain on DH's white shirt and knew what that was......meconium stained amniotic fluid. I started digging through the clothes and bags and found several wet, cold kittens. Two were not breathing and I first sucked out the fluid from their noses and mouths, then I breathed into them. I started frantically stuffing the ones that were breathing into my bra. I threw DH's shirt and a towel into the floorboard, under the heater and put the Momma cat there and tucked the kittens in with her one by one as I dug them out of the freezing cold trunk. Several of the tiny kittens were underneath the spare tire on the bare metal. Once I had everything unpacked and on the ground behind the car, I was satisfied that I had them all. I peeked in to see the Momma cat deliver the last of seven kittens.

As DH repacked the trunk, I tended the kittens. The two that I resuscitated, were nursing and everyone was toasty warm. The Momma cat was cleaning them all up and perfectly content with the situation. DH got back in and said, "Now, what?" I said we had to take them back. DH was flabbergasted. Not only had I put, what he thought was a dead kitten, in MY MOUTH, but I was now suggesting we drive 20 miles back to where we left that morning to deliver a cat and kittens to an empty cabin. No, I explained, we would knock on doors until we found the owners. He briefly stated he would not do that, but changed his mind when I said that I would just keep them, then.

As it turned out, we found the owner behind the first door we knocked on and she was thrilled to get the cat and her kittens back. She had been missing for a few days and the lady knew she was close to delivering. The lady had been unable to search for her because she herself had delivered just a week prior.

Three months later, I was pregnant.......

 

[perchie.girl]

Wow that was a fertile mountain Awesome story too.

deb

 

[drumstick diva]

Tara, loved the cat story even tho I am not a cat person at all. Rick is truly one of the best GOOD GUYS- he does put up with a lot!!

We got 14.7 inches of snow since Saturday night. Blowing, drifting all that stuff, I only managed to clear a double wide(My size) path from house to the street. May warm up by the next weekend, so I will take my time clearing any more spots. It just blows right back.

 

[Wisher1000]

Diva, that was my story, inserted into Canuckbock's thread (hope you don't mind, Tara) and believe it or not, I'm not a cat person, either. Animals have always been drawn to me. They know who has a soft spot for them and will seek out those that love them. I must put off the "I'll help" vibe pretty strongly because there are always animals in distress that find me. I would never pass them by if they needed and wanted my help, even a cat.

I used to drag every stray dog and cat that I saw home with me, but I had to cut back once I had kids of my own. Now, my rule on stray dogs is - If I see one, I will stop and talk to it. If it comes to me, or looks like it wants to come to me but is scared, I will do what I can to help it. If it runs, I will not chase it.

There is a beautiful Siamese cat that begs in the parking lot at work. It sees me and runs toward me meowing when I leave every day. I talk to it, but it will stop out of arm's reach. I know that some of the other ladies at work are feeding it because I have seen them putting food into bowls on the sidewalk. I am glad it won't let me pick it up, I might then have a cat...........

 

[CanuckBock]

Is that...is that the King of Canada...smooching with Marg...and he's a married man--SHOCKING!

You have not been made famous (or is that INfamous) until you have been interviewed by Marg...

​

That she has publically made your acquaintance...and filmed them laughing! ​

Hunted you down & revealed your scandalous conduct...unbecoming a Canadian...but now you are somebody...somebody that was interviewed by MARG ​

Heh heh heh...and we Canadians are such a polite folk...eh? You have no idea now do you's...heh heh heh....culture shock...

Quote:
Originally Posted by perchie.girl

I have lived in some form of desert all my life.... Lol... I know how to cope... and Yep best thing in the heat is lay low and keep as comfortable as possible. There is a reason for siestas in Mexico. hottest part of the day.

At most though I just use a swamp cooler... Evap cooling works quite well when the humidity is 10-15 percent. You never go any where without a jug of water even in the winter time.

It does snow here but its part of that 10 inches of annual precipitation.

deb

I quite liked the dry heat. It was no where near as bad as say on the Coast. Cold or hot sure is affected by humidity. At 110F in Kamloops...if you had a breeze and did not try to do anything physical, you could get thru it. But that was it...no work and getting thru it. It wore us down to where we hated seeing what should be productive days made impossible to do something in.

Yeh, saw a show on Spain and totally it is like they have TWO days wrapped up in one. You get up in the morning, when it gets hot, you shut down (even the shops close up) and have a nap in a cool place...then you wake up again and carry on. Indeed if the world around you is geared for that, bully.

You would not expect a green lawn and many have landscapes that are conducive to the lack of moisture. I totally love the terra cotta, the subtle desert landscapes that blossom when moisture happens. Would be all enjoyable if you are geared up for it.

We here just like the white and the green seasons. Totally love winter when we do a busy that is different than other seasons, but we rest to a point and then start chomping at the bit to get the CONSTRUCTION season going.

On the WEsT Coast, Rick ran a cabinet shop--winter there was like 90 days straight of gloom and perpetual rains--it WAS cold (as cold easily as 30 below here) and damp. We never EVER planned any activity based on it requiring it had to be "a sunny day!" as they happened rarely but were indeed nice when they did happen. Rick was always happy to work making sawdust and puttering inside, doing his work to keep his mind occupied instead of noticing the weather outside was frightful!

​

This is a yew wood hanger (it went from tree, to milled boards, to air dried, to planed, to sanded, to finished) he fitted to a calf scale my Aunt gave me when I was a wee child (I liked antiques and she made me so happy, the one day we went scavenging for an old wood stove buried parts out back of their cabin--a treasure hunt..."bring out yer junk!"). The scale had no weights for it and I aced some 15 years ago scoping out an antique shop. Asked the guy if he had any calf scale weights that needed to find a scale. Rick buffed up the rusty scale, primed and painted it and now it hangs in the living room gathering dust. I think of my Aunt every time I look at it...that and if you wait and hunt about, you find things you think you never could...patience and perseverance. I was told what did you want that old thing for...it was missing parts...ha ha ha... It's perfect in every way to me.

I don't mind hot so bad....it's the humidity that's the killer. We have hot, humid summers here in eastern NC.

Tara, love the snow pictures...we've only had a few flakes so far. Doesn't look like we're going to get snow any time soon...I'll keep hoping.

Agreed...heat is OK...heat with humidity, killer. Cold is OK (snow that is like dry sand)...cold with humidity is frigid, more frigid than it needs to be. Chills to the bones.

I wish upon you some white beauty.

Just something about trudging about, looking up at the white and the sunlight...it puts a lift & a spring in your step.​

​

I can easily see overcast with rain or snow being depressing... but the lack of the sunshine to me is what makes or breaks the winter...

​

Round about nearing sunset, the dogs start prancing about...they know what time it IS! I pause my evening chores because I know the fun that needs to happen.

DOG TIME!​

So long as it is not cold enough to freeze a lung, the dogs and I love our powder puff puff out and about in the snow time together. I am sure the dawgs wait on this ALL day to happen. I won't be the one to disappoint their enthusiasm.

Even a row of parked vintage trucks looks marvelous in the snow. ​

I tried to capture the DIAMONDS in the snow here...not sure they will sparkle and shine too well in a photo...but they are there glistening.

Probably is getting late in the year for it...but you never know. A pretty dusting of snow sure makes it bright and cheery when the sun shines upon it. The diamonds in the snow is always a stop and absorb it all in kinda thing. Can't say I have ever paused to admire a mud puddle I suppose...I guess I am more a snow person. Let it snow!

yeh... we have a few days where the humidity is as high as 40 percent... pant pant... thats when I can hardly breathe.

Stifling...yes, indeed. As said, cold or hot, the humidity level is what decides what is tolerable.

Quote:

Originally posted by Canuckbock

"I can see the "Just Married" sign on the back of the Marquis with tin cans and whatnots being scraped off the back bumper, sooner than later with that precious "cargo" in the trunk a dunk...hee hee...well at least the spouse knew what he was getting himself into right from DAY ONE!

"



There were no cans, but more "precious cargo" than we expected. Yes, DH got a crash course on what he had gotten himself into.

We were staying in a cabin on the side of a mountain, overlooking a valley. We had seen a few houses on the way up, but there were no houses or cabins close to ours. We got to the cabin after the ceremony and there was a cat on the front porch. I spoke to it briefly and patted it's head as we went inside. It began to meow and to peer into the windows at us. It was cold outside and I wanted to let it in but DH said I couldn't because the rental agent had stressed 'no pets' several times, and we would not be able to get our money back if we were kicked out for having a cat inside. I spent a miserable two hours listening to the cat mew, meow, then yowl to come in. He/she finally stopped and I assumed it went home.

We got up to leave the next morning. As we were loading the car, the cat reappeared. It was again mewing and trying to get into the house and we had to block it with our legs or bags each time we went through the door as we made trips back and forth between the cabin and the trunk of the car. The cat looked well fed and was quite friendly. It loved being held and cuddled so I felt certain it belonged to someone nearby.

As we finished packing and were getting into the car, I looked for the cat to say bye, but it was gone. We drove off down the mountain. About 20 miles away, I spied some nice rocks along a stream and had DH pull over to collect some. We went to the creek bank and there were some Canadian geese paddling the creek (they call it a river, but around here it would be a creek) and I selected a gray granite bolder that likely weighs 80 - 90 lbs. DH hauled it up the hill and to the back of the car. He opened the trunk and there, on top of his tux, was the cat.

He jumped back, startled, and I leapt forward in case it tried to bolt. I didn't want it to be lost. Then I saw the green stain on DH's white shirt and knew what that was......meconium stained amniotic fluid. I started digging through the clothes and bags and found several wet, cold kittens. Two were not breathing and I first sucked out the fluid from their noses and mouths, then I breathed into them. I started frantically stuffing the ones that were breathing into my bra. I threw DH's shirt and a towel into the floorboard, under the heater and put the Momma cat there and tucked the kittens in with her one by one as I dug them out of the freezing cold trunk. Several of the tiny kittens were underneath the spare tire on the bare metal. Once I had everything unpacked and on the ground behind the car, I was satisfied that I had them all. I peeked in to see the Momma cat deliver the last of seven kittens.

As DH repacked the trunk, I tended the kittens. The two that I resuscitated, were nursing and everyone was toasty warm. The Momma cat was cleaning them all up and perfectly content with the situation. DH got back in and said, "Now, what?" I said we had to take them back. DH was flabbergasted. Not only had I put, what he thought was a dead kitten, in MY MOUTH, but I was now suggesting we drive 20 miles back to where we left that morning to deliver a cat and kittens to an empty cabin. No, I explained, we would knock on doors until we found the owners. He briefly stated he would not do that, but changed his mind when I said that I would just keep them, then.

As it turned out, we found the owner behind the first door we knocked on and she was thrilled to get the cat and her kittens back. She had been missing for a few days and the lady knew she was close to delivering. The lady had been unable to search for her because she herself had delivered just a week prior.

Three months later, I was pregnant.......

What a great tale...I never guessed how important the cargo in the trunk turned out to be. It was like I was given a hint on the introduction line you needed to incite you to tell this story. Hee hee...teamwork!

Extra special too to hear of our Canadian ratz with wings...

playing in the creek. I still recall when they were endangered and needed conservation...ha ha ha. Now more like a winged plague...greasing up grassy fields everywhere, making a nuisance of themselves, and running people off protecting nests! Dang things giving us Canucks all a bad rap, eh. I heard another bane in our natural fauna...some idiot transplanted beavers down in South America, playing havoc with Argentina’s forests. Really and how was that not gonna go badly ...they don't cause enough flood damage up here to keep them under wraps. Oh well...just need to swing in a few more exotic fashion and cuisine tastes to the rescue...nicer beaver felt cowboy hats with goosey feathers in the hand band...yeh. What you all figure? Doable?? Roast goose with beaver giblet stuffings...hee hee...ha ha!

​

Quote:

Wow that was a fertile mountain Awesome story too.

deb

There was a "chair" in an office I once worked at that had gained that reputation too (the one office where way in the back under the desk was a label that read something about "machines will never replace me until they learn how to drink" I was concerned, I'm only a light social drinker if at all...

) ...every person that used that office chair for any length of time went off on pregger's leave. So I fixed that...I simply bought a new chair (besides I wanted a better quality chair that did not have some of its stuffing falling out!). Which was all fine and good until I dropped by one Saturday and found the biggest goofiest car salesman (I mean he was like 6'6"!) with his feet kicked up leaning way back in MY chair I had purchased ($350 and not cheap all those eons ago!). I went out to the hardware store, bought a small chain and a lock and tethered my chair in the closet...every night thereafter. Cripers...bad enough you gotta buy a decent office chair (to avoid getting pregnant, eh), let alone have a commissioned salesperson wear it out! Hee hee...

I did hear back that when I left for an upgrade to a better accounting position, the girl they hired (the partially stuffed chair came back outta retirement, eh--I can still visualize it, all ugly brown and horrid) went on leave six months later...yeh, you guess the outcome...

Tara, loved the cat story even tho I am not a cat person at all. Rick is truly one of the best GOOD GUYS- he does put up with a lot!!

We got 14.7 inches of snow since Saturday night. Blowing, drifting all that stuff, I only managed to clear a double wide(My size) path from house to the street. May warm up by the next weekend, so I will take my time clearing any more spots. It just blows right back.

Hee hee...I know exactly what transpired here. Diva went and enlarged the text...never noticed the avatar and read herself up a delightful tale (and it was a good one...until Wisher "kissed a c@t"

).

Loved the story and the dif between Wisher and my story telling is that Wisher is far more eloquent at telling a good & decent story. I tend to veer off on the more rude and crude side of family life. It sure is comforting to know there are alot of GREAT men out there...well OK...all the good men are usually taken...or made into good men and kept under wraps and outta circulation. Ha ha ha...at least the good wives try.

See with Rick, he has never cared much about his appearance...if he goes to get a hair cut, it is because the length of it is bothering his ears and he is not comfy on that. Never about looks. I mean at one time he was all hippy for sure; had hair way down past his butt (women were envious!) and he found it a pain because he was pulling wrenches alot (could not afford a good vehicle to get to work and bus system was just horrid, take like 4 hours with all the waits and exchanges from where he lived to where he worked)...so while he liked the carefreeness of nothing to get his hair cut and letting it grow, he hated it when it got soaked in oil and grease monkey wrenching. So he hacked it all off.

So because Rick don't care what his appearance is like and he works...he'll ruin a shirt quicker than I can keep him in them. So he will also not button them up right...old hands, old aches and pains, it is usually like 3 a.m. and he does not want to wake me up (recall the time he hit the Dry at the Copper Mine to look down and note he had on one blue cowboy boot and one tan cowboy boot..."Golly...got a pair jest like them at home in the closet, eh" and yes, the boys ragged his butt on that one too!). He curses and says we gotta quit buying these "off shore" made shirts because they don't button up proper ("Yeh, sure Dear! It's the shirt's fault you can line the buttons up with the right holes, eh?").

So I gotta watch him like a hawk...I'll be rousting up breakfast and he'll pop in to say, "Going to the Dump, be right back!" but I gotta make him come in for inspection before he runs away. Yup, shirt inside out ("Yah, you get two wears on one shirt before it needs to be cleaned!"

), hole in pants that is ripped in some obnoxious place, buttons on shirt not aligned...or huge scratch & sniff (but never lick) stain on the front of himself. Now one should not mind that he is so focussed in the tasks at hand but it boils down to this...a man that looks like he does sometimes out and about...looks UNmarried (well probably more truthful is the fact he should NOT be the married kind, but he does look SINGLE if not so desirable in that state--always some female that thinks they can FIX the impossible challenge!). I yell at him..."No good woman in her right mind lets her man out looking like YOU do right now! Get back in here and change your shirt at least...or let me re-button the dang thing!" His reply is that he is only going to the DUMP and he'll be right back if'n I don't stall him out making him look like someone loves him....cares about his appearance... AGH...he will be the death of me and I will be the death of him before he gets all he wants done, completed!

​

He went for coffee with one of his ol' work cronnies and complained that the waitress tried to pick him up. Yeh, you think? Obviously going for breakfast and because he tips well (I put myself thru school waitressing, we always tip good for services rendered decently)...he's a man that is not without the means...then if you study his outfit, he obviously works and because he did not button the shirt up right, how was she to know his wife was way outside doing her own chores when he left to go meet up with a friend for a jawing session he had already told his wife the night before that he had plans of doing. His appearance screams, "Help me...I'm too busy making a living to pay attention to my get up. Please take me home and fix me!"

Diva, that was my story, inserted into Canuckbock's thread (hope you don't mind, Tara) and believe it or not, I'm not a cat person, either. Animals have always been drawn to me. They know who has a soft spot for them and will seek out those that love them. I must put off the "I'll help" vibe pretty strongly because there are always animals in distress that find me. I would never pass them by if they needed and wanted my help, even a cat.

I used to drag every stray dog and cat that I saw home with me, but I had to cut back once I had kids of my own. Now, my rule on stray dogs is - If I see one, I will stop and talk to it. If it comes to me, or looks like it wants to come to me but is scared, I will do what I can to help it. If it runs, I will not chase it.

There is a beautiful Siamese cat that begs in the parking lot at work. It sees me and runs toward me meowing when I leave every day. I talk to it, but it will stop out of arm's reach. I know that some of the other ladies at work are feeding it because I have seen them putting food into bowls on the sidewalk. I am glad it won't let me pick it up, I might then have a cat...........

Course I don't mind Wisher. I adore your stories and love the family themed ones the bestest. That is what this thread is suppose to be all about. Enjoying our fams and our lives and reflection on all that entails. I wish more people would do the same here if they wanna. Combined with animals in the mix... could not be more closer to perfection, eh!

Yeh, it is unfortunate there is a flood of cats and dogs that are living on their own as best they are able. I stopped bringing home rescued dogs when the one up and bit my Makey Makes in the ear. Makins was so precious...just kept nose bonking the bad dog until the dog finally submitted ... blood dripping down her ear...never forget that and never forget that when we extend ourselves to help others, it is not just US we extend, we extend and risk everything we have to give of ourselves. Can be risky and we do owe a duty of care to those already here relying on us to keep the ship, shaped and afloat.

Biosecurity (including introducing parasite risks) has really brought that to the forefront for me and I would only do poultry rescue (so many abandoned birds...this four hen thing in many cities is good but the novelty wears off or the notion you should hatch chicks when you are not allowed any roos...it is doomed often to disastrous consequences, mostly for the BIRDS themselves!) if I did not keep the birds myself. Same can be said for the dogs. If I had no beasts or birds, I would be OK then to take on a few sorta lost causes on...but then immediately, I then own birds and beasts and owe them some duty of care. Vicious circle. I have lost the heart to do it, quite frankly. Keep fixing other people's problems I suppose and the tidal flooding never seems to quit.

I do like your concept that if they choose to keep at a distance, they can stay that way for then. We all need parameters and limits to how far we are willing to put ourselves out there. I use to figure I could help or fix any situation but now I realize that can not be and I am good with it. I did not cause all this misery but certainly we can do our bit to help alleviate it. If us living has made one positive in the world, that should be a real bonus. So many takers and so few givers it seems.

Well all I can say is Siamese "cats" aren't really [email protected] had one as a kid and loved her "nat nat nat" at me to say Hello. She would retrieve a ball, do all sorts of tricks (for a cat) and was loyal and obliging. I loved how her hair coat changed with the seasons (the extremeties like their paws, tail, face are cold triggered to be dark...so lighter in the warmer parts of the bod and darker in the regions further from the heart and warmth of the blood's circulation<-- always figured that so NEATO). She had attitude and scruples and she was more like a dog to me than any cat ever was. So you do be careful there...indeed the Siamese are much more easier to accept being all dog like, eh.


So for Diva's sake and sanity...here's a truly Rick story about all that a good man has to put up with...with the newly wed wives and the newly met women.

We were in the one bedroom apartment I had rented while I worked waitressing and going to post secondary school.

He'd get up and go to work at the Copper Mine running grader and I'd toddle off to do breakfast and lunch. We scheduled our lives around him being four on and four off and me having late afternoons off.

When it got wet (like winters always were), Rick would do dewatering--change was as good as a rest he said; so pumps, pipes, run the Hiab truck crane. It was a big job, dewatering the pit...the benches if my memory serves me correctly were like 25 feet high and the open pit copper (they also had gold in the mix as a nice cash cow by-product but I digress) was a huge operation. If the pit flooded, production would cease and that costs money eh. So Rick has always been a clean fellow...even pulling wrenches, he sees no reason why one should look blackened...so he keeps his fingees cleaned up, he use to have a shower at the Dry before he came home from work...had coveralls that were washed there...so a guy that likes to keep tidy and meticulous about things needing proper spots and such. You go into his tool cabinets and you can actually FIND the tools. Unlike my father who used a big screwdriver to do an oil change. Rick still laughs at my face when I learned there was a tool called an "oil filter wrench" to take off the filter when doing oil changes. Man, changing the oil in a vehicle suddenly became this really easy and simple NOT messy job, eh! He was my Hero indeed.

So he might be a blue collar worker in his life but he is a man that figures you can do messy jobs but keep it clean and safe too...find stuff instead of making it a disaster. I like that.

"Yur puurt thuur chiir-ken airn der bewl"​

Now many say that opposites attract...and that can be true...I like to say we compliment each other...he holds the bag, I dump in the refuse. He likes his steak done well so it gets put on first while I make the rest of the meal and mine is blue rare so goes on last, before I serve it up. He cooks, is meticulous and cleans up all along the way. I learned to keep a sink of hot soapy water on the go (unlike my one Aunt that had us kids clean up and we swore she just dumped out the entire cupboard contents just to have us kids spring clean for her!) from him cooking. But as far as cooking preparation techniques...I am more like the Swedish Chef (known as "Tom" as per Danny Kaye's reveal)...so I like to cook with all the dogs dancing in the kitchen...me muttering "BORK BORK...needing a Clean up aisle nine!"

Nothing more Canadian like than a Chef Tom with a toque blanche upon his head making Chocolate Mousse ​

Rick even has a nice pet name for me...I have these widdle feets and well Nature musta been off her rocker that day...the feet don't match the rest of me...so the resemblance I have to a moose, is, well astounding. Leave it to Rick to put one and one together. Moo Shard indeed! I called him this morn to say I was home and he said, "Good...he didn't want his trophy wife not having a good day!" I laughed...I knew exactly where his sic at work mind was going...trophy wife as in ten pointer that would make a great head mount at some hunting lodge. I am EVER so loved for all my attributes, eh.

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So Rick is a clean person...he is not a killer by nature. He never got drug out by his Dad to shoot Bambi...grow a beard, drink beer, build up the courage. So he simply finds killing things gross. He did help as a kid clean up chickens...his Dad welding the hatchet and all, but by preference that is MY job and I am OK with that. Something needs grabbing and stabbing, doctoring and loping, that's a pink job here.

So I had a coffee friend (actually she was a tea drinker) that I use to visit with in the apartment complex. We were exactly the same age and she had done school by correspondence. But we shared an hour each day playing cards and drinking tea. Her spouse was a fishermen and hunter. Well, I had always wanted to tan hides. He had taken several deer and I had tanned those hides up quite nicely...so this time he had gotten a draw for an Elk and I was interested in processing an elk hide. The hair was sorta the same, hollow but it did not slip as quickly as a deer hides would. This meant I was taking longer to deflesh and dehair the hide. I suppose I should have put the project off for another day, but I was keen to get started and the hours slipped away. Before I knew it, it was time to put on dinner, which I did and Rick called so say the pit dewatering crew was going to work later than usual; it was winter time on the WEsT Coast and it had rained alot (duh). He came home without stopping at the Dry to clean up like he usually did.

So the poor man comes home, yes dinner is there cooking and just about ready to be served up to be eaten, but when he goes in for a bath, I had cleaned up a bit, pulled the Elk hide but not done a very stellar job on the tiles in the tub. So Rick climbs in the tub...he is tired, dirty and sorta distracted...that is until he looks up and notices pieces of elk flesh, fat and tissue, mats of hair spattered all over the tiles. He is not a hunter recall, not a killer, not a processer of meats! He'll operate the swanky new meat slicer but he draws the line on too much icky icky yucko stuff. He calls me in and in a very tired voice he asks me (keep in mind, does not tell me), asks me not to do this in the tub any more...maybe I could wait and do things like this when we had property and such. He was hunched up, trying not to touch the sides of the tub...pretty grossed right out--I am sure he thought he was so much cleaner before he entered the kill floor rubbin dubbin tubbin!

Elk hide yet to be softened​

So I agreed with him. That I would put off my processing of miscellaneous animal parts until we moved into a place more conducive to such endeavours. And we did...at our very first house...I asked my Dad (a faller) to cut me a fleshing beam outta a big yellow cedar log and Rick propped it up on a stand for me. There I could freely flesh out a hide and make a mess all I wanted. All Rick ever asks is that I give him a heads up of my plans so he don't pop by and ask, "Watcha doing? Oh my...!"

Princess Warrior on one of her many sheep mats I've made​

In a family to keep it all balanced...sorta the good cop, bad cop thing. I was always the one the kid had an issue with telling me something was not so good. He'd have no issues talking with me about lots of stuff, but if it came down to something that I had told him so about...yeh...I am not always the best one to be diplomatic about it. Suck it up Buttercup was my usual response.

I recall the time the kid was skipping class in grade 12, ended up with a broken collar bone when he fell off a "friend's" car. He of course, had to tell Dad what had happened, arm in a sling and all...but the worst thought was never with Rick...all Rick said, "Well you paid a price for misbehaving...but I can't help you much for when your Mother gets home." Yeh...I'm the mean one, the enforcer, eh. Rick is always the reasonable one...he completes the family in ways I can never do by myself. I just have to raise my arm and both my boys would hunker down. I swat...I never cause pain, I cause humiliation! I get mad and ask, "Why did you let me down, eh!" I am probably the reason they made therapists...ha ha ha--whoops...

The kid did learn though...he said he never felt so in jeopardy as he did when he fell off the car goofing around and said he was hurt. His supposed friend just kept laughing at him.

We were kinda overbearing parents, Rick and I. I figured you make it to 18 with all your parts and such, I did my duty. After the fact, way you go. Door is always open here but it'll be under our rooles since it is our roof. Live here, there will be firewood to haul, dog poop to scoop, dishes to help with but always a plate and a good place to be should you need one.

We accompanied him on a Cub Scout tenting ordeal. Dad and I set up a tent, hot soup, extra dry clothing, nice fire. Kid was not so keen on us being there, but that night he came by, soaked like a rat, cold and hungry (no hot food in camp yet)...we gave him a change of clothes, bowl of chook soup, and said, "Swing by if you wanna, we're here this weekend for you!" Laugh like bloody pigs. I took his wet shorts and we put up a flag pole...yeh, you guessed it...he came back the next day to "check on us" and noted his shorts were there for all the world to see...flapping in the wind! Rick and I trying to be straight faced about it all..."What? You don't like our flag? You got the Cub Scout flag...Dad and I figured we needed a camping flag too!" He mumbled about some indignity...so he had checked in...knew we were there but as usual, annoyingly old to his youngness.

"Way you go BOY! Need you to come back and check (IN?) on us later, eh! Love you...you going now...don't want a kissy kiss...OK...go have FUN!"

He swung by later, needed a pillow case to collect up pinecones with. The most pinecones netted your tent a drink of hot Jello (they serve such weird things in camp?). Still looked at the flag and noted we had not taken it down...harrumph.

To this day he still mentions camping and yeh, as an adult now, he admits he WAS happy we were there as his Plan B safety net...even if he gave us a rough time about it. Ah family memories...torturous to endure in the moment, but fondly recalled in our later years.

It takes a while to grow up and realize, some people don't have your best interests in mind. Better sometimes you learn those lessons yourself. Parents DO get tired of warning their kids and whilst we do not want to see them harmed, sometimes it is better that life teaches them some of the hard knock lessons. No reward in being told, "Yeh, Mom, you were right on that!"

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See, opposites can reside quite well together...just so long as we don't flaunt the differences in each others faces...or bathing facilities, eh. I can still see Rick all hunched up, mortified in that tub, surrounded by carnage, guts, hair and such. Hee hee...good men indeed. Tormented and tortured indeed! All I can say, Rick knew what he was in for... My mother always said I'd be crochetting the doilies for the Teepee I lived in...or is that igloo up here in the Great White North. Har har har

Here's a good one to think about...

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The onus is on yourself...so go with it, eh.

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[hennible]

Love the "words for teenagers"