I was surprised to receive a text message from one of my nephews early yesterday morning. The last time I had any contact with him was at his mom’s funeral over 2 years ago. His mom was my sister from my father’s side; one who I would chat with now and then but rarely saw, although we enjoyed each other’s company whenever we did manage to get together.

So this nephew was reaching out to let me know that he was working in a town very close to my bush, and he would be there until December.  He would really enjoy coming around to meet all his cousins and spend time with his old auntie.

“Of course!” I agreed. While he was asking me which day would be best, I ask him a question of my own.

‘You’ve been vaccinated?”

“Nope!” he replied, and then seemed quite proud to assert that he never would be – he’s an anti-vax.

“In that case I am sorry. No visiting here. We are all vaccinated, we practice the mask/distancing/hand washing protections as directed by the health system. I don’t care to jeopardize our lives.”

If he was taken aback by my statement, he didn’t mention it. He also didn’t try to talk me into it, or argue that he was right or that I was wrong. He wrote that Covid had sure changed the lives of us all, and agreed that it was too bad he would miss this chance to meet cousins he hasn’t seen since he was 5 years old. He is aware that he will not be allowed into restaurants or bars in this province without proof of vaccination. He mentioned that he worked 12 hour days, 7 days a week on the contract, so goes straight to his hotel room and orders take-out. I’m wondering how he will react when the vaccination passport becomes law right across Canada, as it probably will. It will certainly limit this young man’s activities!

I am very sad for those who are against the vaccine; the truth is I don’t understand why. However, I have given up trying to explain things, or coax, or get angry. It’s a waste of energy. Hopefully limiting their ability to travel, socialize, eat out or claim any non-essential service will encourage them to look around and realize what they have to do. The wrong reasons maybe, but the result is what counts here.

I hope all of you are taking precautions and stay safe. I want to be able to send you my SMILES for years to come!!

LUV FROM THE BUSH IN QUEBEC

“Memere, Papa said I was going to get a mega-surprise today! Did you know? It’s a MEGA-surprise, Memere!” she insisted.

“Really? What it could be?” I wondered aloud as I helped my just turned six year old granddaughter remove her winter suit and boots. She had come inside after sliding down my long, snow covered hill with her dad. This picture of chubby, red cheeks and dancing, wide, dark-brown eyes would be on any grandmother’s wish list.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s a surprise,” she repeated. “A MEGA surprise, eh Papa?” My son smiled and played along, then reminded Miko that we would have to wait on her Mommy, who had not yet arrived from grocery shopping for Memere, before the MEGA-surprise would appear.

We adults were maybe more excited than the child, anticipating her delight with the MEGA-surprise. Pokémon, the Japanese cartoon character, was high on her list of ‘likes’, and she could also spend hours playing with miniature figures of any kind. I had found and ordered the 144 Pokémon miniatures from Amazon, but the delivery date had been postponed from December 23^rd, arriving only last Thursday, too late for both Christmas and her birthday gift.

Her mommy finally arrived. We couldn’t resist smiling as the very patient little girl sat quietly in her TV chair, throwing side glances at these adults who were setting the table for supper while they seemingly ignored anything to do with the surprise that was supposed to be happening. Memere broke first – I was not raised by a Japanese mother, so polite restraint is not part of my attributes as it is for my granddaughter! I caught her eye, winked at her and made a silent motion with my head. With a huge conspirator’s grin, she quietly slipped over to me, and I pulled the box out of its hiding place.

“What is it?” she whispered. By this time her parents were paying attention, so I put it on the table and asked her to sit down. If she dropped one of those tiny toys…well – the 3 second rule with dogs in the house, remember?

When she saw what was in the box, the expression on that little face was all anyone could hope for, and more. She removed them from the box, one by one, and named each as she set them down. She looked at her dad, who is her favourite playmate. “They are all here! All of them!” And that’s when, in spite of this Covid turmoil, Christmas happened for me.

And I SMILED. If you had been an observer here, you would have smiled too. .Since you were not, I’m virtually sharing it with you. It’s a biggie! LUV FROM THE BUSH IN QUEBEC.

Although I saw the whole thing from start to finish yesterday, even getting back up to watch the session resolutely continue, finally confirming Mr. Biden and Pamala Harris as President and Vice President, which happened at 3:44 AM by the way, I’m not going to blog about it today. I’m still trying to understand WHY and HOW any of it can be acceptable in a civilized country. Lots of chatting being done, so I’ll wait before giving my opinion. Will our neighbour continue as a democracy? Or is it on its way to becoming a dictatorship? Actions speak louder than words, so we wait and see which way the groundwork, brazenly being laid for the past four years, is going to flesh out.

On my home front our bad boy, Bob, is back on the scene again. I’m guessing the restraining order has expired, so he’s walking up and down the road in front of my house…slowly…and will stand in his yard to yell like a wounded moose which, of course, causes the dogs to bark. Anyone believing in reincarnation would no doubt agree that, in this life, I am here perfecting my patience. For this to be successful, I may need to distance myself from any weapons, especially those I could use from a distance.

On a light note, I had ordered miniature Pokemon characters as a Christmas gift for my little flea. It was to arrive on December 23^rd, but was then delayed until December 29^th, and finally an email advised me not to expect them before January 12^th.  She knows a ‘package’ is coming to her, but not what it contains and she has been very, very patient. When my beasts raised a fuss today, I looked out the window to see a Fed Ex truck spinning out of my yard. Yes! Here they are! I sent a photo off to my son and his wife, and I do believe they are just as excited, knowing how happy our Miko will be – she is fascinated by miniatures and the Pokemon group is her favourite.

And that, folks, makes me SMILE!  Sending it out to you, cause good things we want to share!

LUV FROM THE BUSH IN QUEBEC

So my province is going into strict lockdown again as of this weekend, curfews included; no visiting, staying at home except for essential errands, schools and offices closed. Shopping is restricted to groceries and pharmacies. The anti-maskers will be complaining, but this time around hefty fines will be imposed for those ignoring the rules, and it’s about time! Our hospitals are panicking – no doctor wants to have to decide who gets help or who is left to die, and their desires count much more than the dissidents!

The beasts and the bird are quite happy with this return of events. It is very rare that they are left alone, no grandchildren are visiting so attention is not shared, and they couldn’t ask for anything better, could they?

For the beasts, the school buses are not stopping on the corner therefore no waiting before being allowed outside. And that sassy bird? Well, she has it made, although I’m not sure she’ll come through this quarantine intact. I have threatened her with parrot stew on more than one occasion, not that she pays attention. If you want peace and quiet, do not bring a parrot into your home. This Quaker girl makes up in noise what she’s missing in size. As the day progresses she demands more and more attention and is not past screeching loudly and continually to get it, nor past biting HARD if you approach her to quiet her down!  The result is that, when I’ve had enough, I screech back at her, and we probably sound like fishermen’s wives. Karen and the dogs have learned to live with it, and to hear me repeatedly ask aloud why I ever agreed to keep that bird in the first place.

Then, each morning when I uncover her cage and open her doors, the little love will kiss my cheek and chatter softly to me for as long as I want to stand beside her. All is forgiven, and my day starts off with a SMILE.

Sharing it with you, folks, from a distance, of course!!

LUV FROM THE BUSH IN QUEBEC.

Happy New Year to you all!

This past one has been quite a ride, has it not? Even with the end of 2020, the ride is not over yet, but at least there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon.

My gang weathered it quite well so far, although we did lose some people to that dreaded virus. I guess I don’t even have to tell you my thoughts on those who seem to think they have the right to put anyone’s life in danger by ignoring the health organization’s directives for precaution/prevention?  As for those who refuse to believe Covid even exists or that it is a hoax, well, in my book they fall into the same category as people who argue that the earth is flat.

Moving on – in spite of it all, there has been much positive action on my home front. The grandchildren and great grandchildren, except for the one youngest, are all in school, or were until lockdown with the 2^nd wave of the virus, leaving the schools closed until at least January 11^th. The kids and I are considered essential workers, so finances are okay too. We consider ourselves to be extremely lucky and are grateful for it.

My close friend from Saskatoon has moved into the apartment downstairs. We have been doing renovations, and she is making the place her own. She has not had an easy time of it, so watching her relax and finally feel really at home is wonderful. She is a dog-lover, and the beasts quickly learned how to use that for extra hugs. Parrot Pistache, being true to form, has not accepted the intrusion and attempts to bite each time Karen passes the cage.

The only time either of us go out is for groceries, appropriately masked, armed with hand disinfectant, and during off-hours where we often are one of only a dozen clients in the place.

I work less hours….somewhat….and it’s all from home. So I’m SMILING.

I am attempting to imitate TAPS, determined to write more often (maybe daily?) in Blogit. If it holds true, I’ll be sending plenty more SMILES your way. It’s nice to be back!!

LUV FROM THE BUSH IN QUEBEC

I made Asian food for my sons’ Father’s Day supper; pineapple chicken, General Tao, Chop Suey and fried rice, with little pecan tarts for dessert. As is the norm in our pandemic scene, the kids, having served themselves, were sitting at the other end of the table. My Japanese DIL, who was making her way to her seat with a full plate in hand, bent over to say something to her daughter (my little flea) and oops! Her whole meal slid away from her and splattered on the floor. Well, that 5 second rule applies to a home with one dog maybe, but I have 3 of them, and 2 who were hanging out in that exact spot, because my little Miko tends to share when nobody is watching. Needless to say the area was licked clean in no time at all.

Unfortunately, due to my lack of knowledge, I didn’t call them away but let them finish it before passing a wet mop. The result was 2 sick doggies during the night, and they are still not up to par, unusually quiet and listless. After confirming my belated suspicions from the internet, I realized just how many ingredients ingested were harmful to my pets. Raw cashews, soy sauce, hoisin sauce and pecans – and even the fried rice had soy in it. Arrgh! We live and learn, but it’s sad that the pups have to pay for my lesson.

We were up at 3 AM this morning so I steamed some sweet potatoes before mashing them and adding a bit of boiled, white rice, then fed them a couple of soup spoonfuls every 40 minutes or so. It has helped some…I think. Or maybe it was the little chipmunk showing up on the gallery that brought on a spurt of energy. They are not back to their normal selves yet – we know our pets – so I’ll keep watch and cross my fingers that a vet visit is not necessary.

I have a couple of hours work to do for the office later today. In the meantime, before it gets too hot to do so, I’m heading back to snooze with the beasts, surrounded by four fans. Late afternoon I’ll don the mask and head to the end of the Farmer’s Market to get a crate of strawberries.  The rhubarb is the perfect ripeness, so the pies will be baked this evening when the temperature cools off. One is supposed to leave them sitting for a bit to let them set. My favorite piece is the one cut 10 minutes after out of the oven, piping hot, sweet juice spreading over the plate, with a good helping of cold French vanilla ice cream melting into it. Nirvana!! My mouth is watering at the thought, and you can bet I’m SMILING!!

Sending the SMILE out to you – and if I could, there would be a big chunk of pie flying along with it!

LUV FROM THE BUSH IN QUEBEC

We are having a bit of a heat wave. Although warmer than I like, it’s endurable. The highest temperature so far is 32 C here in the bush. This kind of weather encourages people to escape the houses where they have isolated for so long. Finally greeting friends, the kiddies joyfully romping with their playmates; it’s much safer when done outside.

I’m the winter lover, remember? (Does that make me a snowflake?)  So last autumn when one of our clients decided to empty the warehouse where his deceased parents had stored their belongings, I jumped at the chance to procure 5 oscillating floor ventilators (fans), all gently used, and they are presently spread throughout my house, usually with one of my beasts lying in direct contact of the flowing air. If it becomes unbearable we can always go down into the presently unoccupied apartment where it is much cooler.

Things are slowly opening up in the area, and the Covid cases are increasing, as is to be expected. Many people are reacting like a chained dog when he’s set free; gung ho, scrambling here and there with little or no precautions, although they have been warned time and again that the virus has not magically disappeared. I saw a quip on Facebook that read “You can’t fix stupid, and it seems you can’t quarantine it either”.  It’s no longer a ‘boomer’s’ disease, is it? Reports are saying the victims are now mostly aged 35 and younger.

Fortunately my family are careful, especially with me. My son did remark that if they stood to inherit lots of money they would maybe hug me decently but, seeing that it would be more trouble than it’s worth taking care of the animals, emptying my house of its ‘stuff’, paying my debts, they have agreed to keep me safe for as long as possible. Little does he know I’m calling the notary and naming him the executor (which he would hate) of my will after that little comment!

It’s 7 AM, perfect to sit out on the gallery with my coffee, listening to the birds and the crowing of the feisty rooster owned by a neighbor, watching the beasts sniff out whatever dared invade their yard last night, and the hummingbirds flitting to breakfast at their feeder. Like Ceil, I’ve a to-do list for the day, and now my busy-body parrot is calling for me to get at it, and the first and most important item on that list is to give her immediate attention! She’s a noisy creature, but she makes me SMILE, and as usual, I’m sharing that out with you folks. A feather with that?

LUV FROM THE BUSH IN QUEBEC.

I’m not really all that good at fabricating things, so my Covid body suit turned out to be a bust. It ended up in the recycle bin BEFORE the birthday BBQ. That at least was a huge success, even if I didn’t get to hug the kiddies as planned. I still enjoyed watching the little ones romp around, each one showing off a little bit for the Mémère who has been absent for the past 3 months. Aware of my situation they and their parents practised physical distancing but the smiles and jokes were plentiful and it was well worth my first ‘sortie’ since this pandemic began.

In April the boss contacted me to tell me that he was forced to put most of us on unemployment, and mine would start on April 11^th. He would need me to do some hours here and there he said, which would be paid accordingly. I was too tired to panic, and our salaries had been off and on since last October anyway, and the government was offering CERB, financial aid to offset the loss of income. I applied and was accepted, and figured that I would still have a year’s worth of unemployment benefits when that was done. In the meantime, I would relish doing only a few hours a week compared to the 45-50 I have been doing for ages! Someone forgot to tell the sons, who are a huge part of the enterprise, and the employees, who still call me all hours of any day. Not that I mind so much, but I can see it is slowly increasing to more than ‘some hours here and there’, and am wondering if I’ll even need to file for unemployment after all. To be continued….

Instead of throwing myself into cleaning, which should be done, I have been spending lots of time cooking and doling out meals to those who run my errands, or stocking my freezer, or sharing with those who do NOT like cooking at all and badly miss frequenting the restaurants closed during the pandemic. A call came in yesterday that I would be receiving a good amount of rhubarb, a gift with a catch, in that the first strawberry rhubarb pie will go to the donor. Haha! No problem! Quebec strawberries are in season now so it’s perfect timing! YUM! I can taste it already! And that makes me SMILE.

Sharing that SMILE with you, folks, and hoping it warms up your day!

LUV FROM THE BUSH IN QUEBEC

Today is the youngest Rugrat’s birthday; he turns all of 10 years old or, as his siblings put it, he’s now a double digit. Tonight they stopped in on the way to their dad’s place to pick up Tao’s birthday box of goodies, and his brother, who celebrated his first teen-day last Sunday, asked me “Do you remember me turning 10, Mémère? We were staying here and I yelled down to you that I was a double digit now! You whispered back – ok, but it’s 5 AM and you’ll be a double digit all day, so keep it down, will ya? Everybody’s sleeping!”

Hahaha! I hadn’t remembered that part until he said it. What I did remember was his coming to join me and us sipping hot chocolate while waiting for the others to crawl out of bed. Both my sons and their families were living with me at the time, and it was rare that I could spend one on one time with any of them. It was an occasion to be relished, and it seems as much for him as for me.

In my last post I told you about the sharing of one cupcake which was to be paid back when Tao received his box? His brother reminded him of it on entering the kitchen. Because we were keeping our ‘physical’ distances, Tao managed to dig into his gift without us noticing really. He found his lemon cupcakes and turned them upside down, kind of spoiling the effect with the meringue now stuck onto the lid.

“Oops!” he said, looking at his bro. He held a messy cupcake out to Bali, and it was regarded with a scornful shake of head and a “Yeh, right!” Tao’s grin as he turned away told me he was quite aware that it wouldn’t be accepted, but the offer had been made and as far as he was concerned his debt was paid, refusal or not. I coughed to camouflage my giggle.

They spent maybe 20 turbulent minutes with me while their dad was switching the battery on the lawn tractor. When they left it was a ‘wow’ moment. Three young lads sure stir up the air, and the memories of how it was when they were living here fulltime induced a melancholic longing to have those days back.

I didn’t get to hug them, but tomorrow morning I’ll finish my clear garbage bag body suit and I intend to squeeze the devil out of them at the birthday BBQ! I have 3 months to make up for, and probably another 3 coming up, so you can be sure I’ll make the most of it.

Just the thought of it makes me SMILE. And yes, you know your share of SMILES is winging its way to you. Probably will arrive fast enough too with the way those winds blowing right now!

LUV FROM THE BUSH IN QUEBEC

“Memere, there’s a dragon outside!” She stood staring out the doors onto the gallery.

“Oh? Is it a good dragon or a bad dragon?”

“It’s a bad dragon!” Her expression was very serious. There was no doubt – this was a BAD dragon!

“Oh no!” I exclaimed. “What do we do?”

“It’s okay, Memere,” she soothed. “The butterfly is here.”

“Butterfly?” I queried. I peered through the door at the snow covered deck, putting my hand over my eyes to get a better view. “Is that the blue light I see? Is that the butterfly?”

“Well no, Memere! The butterfly is pink!”

“Okaaaay. And this butterfly is going to help us?” Her gaze told me I should know better than to ask stupid questions.

“Well yes, Memere! It’s a fairy butterfly!”

“Ah-ha! And the fairy butterfly is going to save us from the dragon! It’s our champion!!”

“Yes!” she assured me. “But first we have to dance.” She pressed a button on the magic wand she was carrying and the music started. She twirled and I followed, albeit much less gracefully than my just-turned-5 year old granddaughter. Sam looked up from his couch and seemed interested but decided it was not worth moving from the warmth of the wood stove. Elie, however, thought was great fun and joined us, doing the pit-bull two-step. Mommy lifted her ears but also abstained. Pistache cocked her head and hopped from one foot to the other on her perch.

And so we danced, each movement more exaggerated than the one before, until this breathless Memere asked fearfully, “Are we safe now? Did the fairy butterfly do its job? Is the dragon gone?” She stopped moving and studied the situation outside. Very solemnly she nodded.

“Yes. We’re saved now.” She answered.

“So the fairy butterfly killed the dragon? All is good?” I wanted to be sure before continuing the preparations for our supper.

“No, no!” she admonished me. “The dragon is sleeping. The butterfly told him to sleep.”

Right, I thought. There will be no killing here tonight.

“And Memere can finish making supper.” I stated.

“Uh huh,” she agreed as she turned towards her comfy chair in front of the TV, already distracted by someone else’s adventure.

Yes, I was thinking silently. There are threats of war, fires and tears and disasters happening all over the world out there, but here in this kitchen in the bush we have just been saved from a dragon by a fairy butterfly. Life is good. And I SMILED.

LUV FROM THE BUSH IN QUEBEC.