BACK TO THE BUSH

I’m back, and I didn’t bring the snow with me, but I do believe it is following close behind. That’s okay. It’s one of the reasons we enjoy this country of ours – the four seasons. Skiers, rejoice!

I have some pictures to put up, and will tell you all about our trip as soon as I can. It was off the airplane and straight to the office before even coming home, and the only time I’ve stopped running since then is when I’ve dropped into bed. Well, except for watching part of the hockey game last night (we won!!), and I see there are two scheduled for the weekend, plus the Grey Cup football finals, where Montreal will be battling Saskatchewan. Maybe we should fly back out there for the game. I’m sure Karen wouldn’t mind our invading her house again….I think we left one or two bottles of wine untapped…LOL!

Needless to say, upon my return the doggies greeted me with their usual enthusiasm. They both spent the evening following me from one room to the other, sticking to me like glue The next morning I woke to find Bud beside the bed, happily curled up on my furry housecoat; he had dragged it out of the suitcase which I had left open on the floor. And that reminds me that I haven’t even unpacked the rest of it yet. Ah well, it’s not going anywhere.

Although I’m supposed to work from home on Thursdays, today I will be going into the office. Tomorrow is my brother’s appointment for his scan at the city hospital, so I’ve changed the timetable to avoid going back and forth twice in the same day. He’s to have his lung scan at 5 PM; smack in the middle of rush hour, and I expect that’s another hockey game where I’ll be listening to the first period on the car radio! I’ll have to speak to the doctor about his timing!

That’s it for now – off to the jungle I go. It’s a beautiful sunny day here. The air is crisp, and life is good, and this lady is SMILING! Have a nice one, y’all!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec.

MY FRIEND P.

Grumble, grumble…with all the anticipation of being able to actually watch the first period of hockey on TV instead of having to listen to it on the car radio during my drive home…it didn’t happen. The continual rain on Thursday knocked out my satellite. Then my internet. I had given up, and settled into bed with one of my new books and…off goes the electricity. It was 8:33 PM. The only good answer was to get in some snooze time. I woke once during the night; the clock said 10:30 PM, and the hydro was back. Realizing that the game would already be over, I stumbled up to turn off a few lights, then crawled back into the arms of Morpheus…. until 5 the next morning! Awesome! Insomniacs will rejoice with me, realizing how rare and how welcome is such a long sleep.

I’m sitting here now waiting on a truck to come and deliver 10 cords of firewood. I guess I don’t need to tell you what I’ll be doing for the rest of the day. It’s very handy having a huge garage; no digging the stuff from under the snow during the winter for me. Earlier, I moved my truck outside, got the backhoe out of the way, and did some shifting of articles that tend to accumulate in front of the woodpile each summer.

There is a young man who will be coming to give me a hand. His dad, a very close friend of mine, was my ‘right arm’ during the years I worked for the municipal recreation department.

I’m remembering those days now. I can still picture P. as an adolescent, sitting at the Clubhouse door when I arrived each morning. His family was large, and very poor. He was skipping school more often than not. Aware that he wouldn’t attend anyway, I thought it better to keep him occupied rather than let him wander in the streets. For a couple of years it was all volunteer work; his only reward was a few dollars and a free hamburger or soft drink now and then, but of course he was included in any activity that was going on, including the numerous ‘get togethers’ in my young family. Missing my brother, who was away in the army at the time, I took P. under my wing. When a full time job did became available, he was first to be hired.

Just after he turned 23, P. met the love of his life, who was the daughter of the goalie for my hockey team. Perfect! When they had their baby boy, I received his jubilant call in the middle of the night, and was more than happy to celebrate with him the next day. The baby was only 10 months old when my friend, P., died in a terrible house fire. I cried for days. I have tears in my eyes even as I write this. That’s how much it hurt.

Four years later my brother came to stay with us for a bit. He met P.’s wife, fell in love, and moved in with her. Although it didn’t last forever, one could say that my brother is the closest thing to a dad that P.’s son has ever known. He still is. The lad, now 23 himself, has two children of his own and has moved into the same apartment block as his substitute dad. He is in and out of my brother’s place every day, especially since my brother’s bout with cancer. Whenever I need a good pair of arms, and my sons are not available, I know who to call.


So my wood dude showed up while I was writing the blog. The lad came, as did Helen, and between the three of us the 5 cords were piled in no time! Tomorrow morning there will be 5 more delivered. My two helpers have promised to return early AM to give a hand. Am I spoiled or what???

The sun is out there, and the doggies are standing in the door with a ‘come hither’ expression. I leave you now to take a walk and revel in my mountain’s breathtaking array of colours. It will probably be the last chance to do so this year. The leaves are beginning to fall; I think this weekend is the climax of our Canadian autumn splendour.

Hoping you all have a great weekend, and sending you a huge SMILE! How could I not? There is wood to keep me warm in the winter, it’s a gorgeous day, and the Habs are playing tonight. Ah…but life is good.

Luv from the Bush in Quebec.

HOME AND HOCKEY

Noon break. It is my first day staying at home, and I’ve spent most of it handling business problems by telephone; so much for working quietly! Still, I am saving gas PLUS 4 hours travel time, and my doggies have been in and out often, and are now playfully wrestling each other in the kitchen, happy that Mistress is present. Just that alone makes it all worth while. It is a dull, rainy temperature outside, but my morale is warm and sunny. I’m humming Bob Marley’s tune ‘Every little thing is gonna be alright’. Like, hey – I’m making money and still in my p.j.’s here – what more could one want???

And my Habs won their game last night. Yep, we’re back to hockey fever. It is just pre-season, giving the fans an opportunity to see the new players in action but, as you know, the sport is fascinating for yours truly. It is definitely one way of pausing the constant business-on-brain. No-one can say it makes me a couch potato either, because I’m jumping up and down, or dancing around with the doggies throughout the whole scenario – I get more exercise than I would going for a walk! That’s also the reason I prefer to watch the games alone; I wouldn’t want anyone calling the men in white coats to come and take me away, LOL! Before starting time last night, one of my favourite players, bad-boy Maxime Lapierre, was awarded the Jean Beliveau trophy for community service. It seems he has organized events that collected millions of dollars for various children’s charities in our region. Way to go, Max!! Mr. Beliveau himself was interviewed, and he is so much like my friend, Kilroy; his looks, his walk, his speech, his class…nearly a direct replica. I can never see Mr. Beliveau without thinking of Kilroy.

Eh bien, lunch time is over. Back to work. Hoping you are all enjoying the day, and sending y’all a huge SMILE! Please pass it on – someone out there will surely appreciate it!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec

FRIDAY MUSINGS.

My suspicions about Grump-puppy’s middle-of-the-night foray were accurate…it was a porcupine causing the havoc. I had just settled down to watch the hockey game on Tuesday night when the neighbour’s young wolf-husky showed up at my door. Her face was full of quills. I texted her master, but he was aware of it and had pulled out most of the quills that morning, he replied; then she had needed a break from the pain. He was planning to remove the rest when he got home later. He had heard the ruckus in the bush the evening before, and was amazed that Grump-puppy came out of it clean. Ha! Knowing Grump, he took one look at the action, saw the quills, thought to himself, “That’s gotta hurt!!”….then skedaddled out of there. Contrary to most pit-bulls (i.e. Bud), Grump-puppy shies away from pain. Just being bothered by any kind of bug can make him hyper. A dog who loves his comfort, he tends to stay indoors during black fly season. He’s a typical voyeur; participating only if he judges it to be to his advantage, or absolutely necessary. If his mistress could only be so smart!!!

And how about my HABS, eh?? With the games tied up, I guess no-one needs to wonder where I’ll be on Saturday night! I’ve been keeping an eye on Detroit and on Vancouver games too. The series this year is full of surprises, and I’m loving every minute of it! I find that the excitement provoked by close games is great for stress relief, much needed after bickering with government agencies all day. Speaking of which….obviously not enough money is generated by video gambling and lotto tickets; our government fights to squeeze every last penny from small business. Unlike the larger corporations, who can afford to bribe our ministers with credit cards or wads of cash, small business owners find themselves struggling to keep their employees paid, then have to fight tooth and nail to hang on to any kind of profit. Even more galling is the fact that one is paying the hefty salary (and perks) of the dude who is hassling you to give up the rest! I had better quote Forrest Gump with his “And that’s all I got to say ‘bout that!”, because I could talk for hours on the subject, and my prejudice keeps me from saying anything good about our ‘leaders’.

My weekend schedule is calling for more sleep, watching hockey, setting up my Gazelle, spending some time with my brother, with a few hours set aside to enjoy the writers in Blogit and, hopefully, do some writing of my own. I’m on call, of course, and, although it means less revenue, for this one time I’m hoping that there will be no need for our services. A little relaxation would be good.

Next week is already looking up, because I’ll be meeting my friend, Kilroy, for a chatty lunch, and I’m thinking of a weekend visit outside ‘la belle province’. We’ll see how things play out.

In the meantime, this is a workday, so off I go to do my stuff. Sending you all a big SMILE – hoping you’ll pass it on!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec.

IT'S ALL ABOUT HOCKEY

I admit it. I am one of those people who become a roaring, excited, jumping fool when the NHL is blaring from the TV. It is, in fact, about the only time the set is turned on in my house.

Because of my work hours, I usually catch the first period of the weekday games on the car radio. Anyone stuck in traffic beside me on the auto route can probably hear the gleeful “Whoop-whoop-whoop!!!”, windows closed or not, when my team scores; or the heartfelt, loud, obnoxious swearing (in the typical Quebecois male fashion) if my team screws up. Hockey, and the love for it, turns me into a different person. It’s the Jekyll & Hyde syndrome. When the Canadiens win, I float around in pleasant euphoria until the next game. If they lose, I tend to be grumpy until the sting of defeat wears off.

Hockey has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. As a child I would strap on a pair of second-hand, 2-sizes-too-large boy’s skates (over many layers of socks) and join the lads on the bumpy river ice for a pick-up game. If there were not enough real hockey sticks to go around, we would fashion substitutes with broken tree branches, use a suitable piece of ice as a puck, and play until it was too dark to see.

In my teen years, I spent hours and hours shivering beside outdoor rinks or in arenas, cheering on boyfriends (or potential crushes) night after night during the long winter months.

In spite of being teased and/or frowned upon by the male population at the time, the first female hockey league in our area was instigated by myself and a couple of like-minded friends. Most of us were now young, married ladies and, at the beginning, I believe our husbands tolerated our activity only because they were afraid of what they wouldn’t ‘get’ if they didn’t, LOL!

I played in that league for 15 years, and still have close buddies who were first introduced through the various teams. I also have enemies; we did the full play, and fights did happen. Some ladies, unfortunately, couldn’t leave hard feelings on the ice.

I can remember one fight in particular, mostly because of the referee. He was an acquaintance of ours, and well aware of my husband’s renown jealousy. I was playing defense and had frustrated the scoring attempts of our opponents once too many, I guess, because their star winger took a swing at me with her stick. This resulted in the gloves coming off and a tussle. Of course we ignored the shrill, repeated whistles from the officials – it was too far gone for that. I finally managed to get her down and was on top of her, both of us still swinging the best we could. The ref is supposed to separate us once we hit the ice, and he made a couple of useless attempts to grab our arms before realizing that he would have to bodily pick me up to get me off her. He also knew that my husband was standing watching the game and, not wanting to get into trouble, turned and yelled frantically “Where am I supposed to grab her??” Hilarious!! He ended up yanking me off by pulling on my ankles while one of the linesmen held the other player down by her shoulders. That ref is now a business partner of mine, and we still laugh about the event whenever it comes up in conversation.

Canada’s Olympic teams, the men, but especially the women, did us proud this year. And if the girls celebrated a little too wildly for the taste of the stuffed shirts, too bad! The energy and heart that goes into such a fast paced game merits the reward of letting ‘it all hang out’ when you win. If I’d have been there, you can be sure I’d be right in the middle of it – and I doubt very much that I would apologize for it either.

Come to think of it, maybe that’s why the lady is one of those who look the other way whenever we meet, even after all this time. Oops.

My Canadiens won Thursday night, and I’m looking forward to watching them do the same tonight, so if my SMILE got any bigger it would become an outright giggle!! Sending it your way………..

Luv from the Bush in Quebec.

THE BACKHOE

I never did make it to the office yesterday.

I was right about the backhoe tire venture. It wasn’t just the tube, but the tire itself, so it needed to be replaced. It took forever for the garage dude’s second truck to show up when this was determined, and we sat there waiting…waiting. When he finally did arrive and unloaded the replacement, it was not at all the same as those already on the machine, except for the size. This, of course, gave us two choices: leave the backhoe sitting there on the road wearing one tire until we could phone around and find the exact match, or have this one installed and purchase the second one to complete the pair. Because of the time already involved, and realizing that eventually the other one would have to be replaced anyway due to its age, I took the second option. It was well past 3 PM by the time the men finished, and then….the machine wouldn’t start! Fortunately one of my neighbours was able to bring his big truck to give it a boost, and by 4:30 PM we were back at the house, backhoe and all. Too late to head to the city office. Then, not upset enough about falling behind in my work, and the forced purchase depleting my bank account, I discovered that some idiot had decided to televise my hockey game at 2 in the afternoon instead of its usual Saturday night spot. Yep, missed that too. GRRR!

Not getting to the office yesterday means I need to go today, instead of working from home as had been planned. I’ll be heading there in a few minutes. At least there is no rush hour to endure – just the regular Sunday drivers.

An update on one of my former blogs – remember the e-mail pen pal from New Year’s Day? The one who asked us to pray for her husband after his open heart surgery? I received a message from her this morning. He is doing well, and the pacemaker is functioning as hoped. Did our prayers and positive waves help? No doubt. I am happy for them both, and extend a sincere thank you to all the readers who answered the call.

Gotta go, folks. There is no sun here today, so it’s easier for me to turn my back on this winter wonderland and shut myself away with columns & columns of numbers, LOL!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend – am sending you all a SMILE as my contribution!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec.

The New Year

Ahhh...a new year. I stand, gazing out my window, steaming coffee in hand, and watch the snow fall steadily on my mountain. Beautiful!

The electricity had gone off, but at least the coffee was already brewed. I hoped it would come back on quickly – I hadn’t read Kilroy’s blog yet, an important part of my morning routine. Was this an omen? 2010 is going to force me to change my routines? Ugh! I know some things need to change, but I want to be the one in charge of that – no help required from outside sources, thank you very much!

I spent the last day of 2009 working until 2 PM, then came home and snoozed for an hour. My energy level is extremely low, probably due to the cold/flu bug which is still harassing my body’s system. I was up in time for the hockey game, of course. After watching our Habs win again, I reluctantly dressed to go out, all the while keeping one eye on the Canada-USA juniors (Canada won that one too!!). Suzie has arrived from Detroit, and I had promised to meet her for a “Ringing-in 2010” party. I kept my promise, albeit I arrived quite late, and left very early. I was back home by 11:30, and welcomed the New Year by sitting quietly by the fire with Heinz and the doggies, lifting a glass of wine in salute, and munching on Oka cheese – a stinky beginning, LOL!

I know the kids will be calling (my daughter has already) to extend their best wishes, and my brother & niece intend to drop by later today too. The power is back on (or you wouldn’t be reading this!), and on the first day of the New Year, so far, peace reigns in the bush.

And I’m heading back to my comfy bed for a couple of hours – it’s called catch-up – while the going is good. I want to wish you all a happy, healthy, prosperous year for 2010. And for those suffering at the moment (my thoughts especially to soldiers and their families), I pray that healing will not be tardy, and that your memories of loved ones sustain you until you can once again SMILE.

Luv from the Bush in Quebec.