Sunday, August 29, 2010

What your mama never told ya!


These are my great-GREAT-grandparents.

They were dedicated farmers and tougher than cow hide.

During my recent visit to Saskatchewan, Aunty Arlene brought out a book owned by great grandma, titled The People's Home Library.



It had at least a thousand pages with all sorts of pioneer worthy information.





Including some very sage advice to young men...





No, it's best not to "sow" those "wild oats."

And of course there was an even bigger chapter for women. My favourite passage had to be this one:




I like how it advises the mother to go to the local doctor and discreetly ask about the potential son-in-law's health (and sex life). Those local doctors knew everything!


Friday, August 27, 2010

Summer in Saskatchewan




Last week I ventured to Raymore, Saskatchewan, where my grandparents live.




It's a sleepy little town where everyone waves to everyone.





And, like most of Saskatchewan, a place where you can find various abandoned things...






Raymore recently held a Tornado Fundraiser. Not to raise funds for another tornado, but rather to help four families whose farms were damaged by a twister that ripped through, just two miles outside of Raymore.







We were all visiting to celebrate my Grandpa turning NINETY!!



Way to go ol' sport!


Grandma & Mum sorted blueberries for a very special dessert... (that big pail on the table is FULL of wild blueberries)



... a very appropriate birthday cake!



Grandma & Grandpa



Long lost cousins visited...



And so did new little cousins!




There was copious amounts of food...






...and copious amounts of eating!



Couisin Darren even fixed Grandpa's truck.






And of course we made numerous pilgrimages out to the old farm (est. 1908). Click the panoramic below to view it in its full glory...






Grandma and Grandpa have a tasty garden!






There was no shortage of photographic opportunities at the farm either...
















The old farmhouse kitchen:





We drove a little farther up the road to visit Aunty Arlene.







It was a place festooned with bathtubs and chickens full of flowers





And deer crouching in rock gardens










Friendly mutts too!




And corn grown taller than me (though that's not hard to do)





I loved her horses!






And as all good trips should, this one concluded with birthday fireworks out at the farm for Grandpa!















Saturday, August 14, 2010

I have a craving...

I've had a craving over the past few weeks for cupcakes. Not the kind with a glaze on top like Ma used to make (though those were good, mum)... I mean the kind with frothy towers of icing. This kind of cupcake has been in vogue ... quite literally.

So rather than spend $3.00 on a cupcake I decided to make my own this afternoon. Did I mention that it was 30 degrees outside?



Bald little aliens.





I will not admit to licking the beaters.




Ok, fine. Maybe I did.





YUMMMMMMM!