February - a Month to Die For

"February is a suitable month for dying..."

- Anna Quindlen, One True Thing


I knew that one of his dogs had died when I saw this old fellow on the trail a few days ago.

In the past he has  always been accompanied by an Irish wolfhound
 and the whippet you see in the picture.

For some reason the male wolfhound at about 200 pounds and my dog Flynn,
a 15 pound alpha female, hated each other on sight.


Anyway, I told him how sorry I was and he nodded sadly.


"But we just bought a twelve week old Irish wolfhound puppy!
He's already 48 pounds," he said proudly.

Flynn didn't take this news well.

"There seems to be so much more winter than we need this year."

- Kathleen Norris

The thing about February is that everything isn't always what it seems.

It looks as if this young fellow, who was kind enough to stop and pat Flynn, might be one snow block short of an igloo the way he's rolling a bicycle down a snowy path.

The truth is that the roads were absolutely clear and dry that day.
 Perfect for biking if you were dressed for it.

He was likely just taking a short cut home from school.



And anyone who wears a bright red toque and pats my dog is okay in my books.

"Late February,

and the air's so balmy snowdrops and crocuses

might be fooled into early blooming.

Then, the inevitable blizzard will come,

blighting our harbingers of spring..."

- Gail Mazur



Yesterday I was given this bundle of unusual black pussywillows
 that had been found down by Lake Ontario .

It was a beautiful day. 
The first day I had been able to wear shoes rather than boots in months.



Today a February winter storm rages outside my window.

"Winter is nature's way of saying, "Up yours.""

- Robert Byrne

 And geese are Niagara's way of saying "Up yours" to winter.


They V up in the fall and look like they are going someplace,

flapping and honking across the evening sky.

But they never really leave.


 It is all for show.


They know we like to see them do it I guess.


Mid February Flynn and I spotted this flock happily paddling around in the Welland Canal.

"Why, what's the matter,

That you have such a February face,

So full of frost, of storm and cloudiness?"

- William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing

 
 
February is also the month that
 
Secnarf,
 
 the independent Rhino candidate from North Pelham
 
took over my facebook wall for a day.
 

She promised to open all of the community schools that have been closed in Niagara.
 
She will fund these schools with the money she gets from shutting down

the Board of Education.
 
 
She promised to take all of the calories out of chocolate cake

 
and

 
to make up for all of those years when women didn't have the vote,
 
she believes that women should be able to vote twice.

 
 
I don't know about you,

but

Secnarf,

(the only candidate who looks like a cabinet minister),

has my vote.
 
 

I mean votes.
 
 
 
 
 
*


Hang on everybody, it is the last week of February and we're almost there!



*

I Sent a Letter To My Love ...

The Mailbox Poem

I wanted to visit Grandma

I missed her smiling face.

But I didn't have the plane fare

To travel to her place.

So I hopped into a mailbox

With a stamp and her address

That's how I got to grandmas

By next day express !!

anonymous

 

Here's one of my favourite Pelham mailboxes!

It shouts, "Proud to be a Farmer!"

 

This cylindrical mailbox gets the nod for most amusing or scariest. 

Take your pick.

On one hand it looks like a particularly ugly toilet paper dispenser.

On the other hand

it reminds me of one of those white railway cars that carry poisonous substances! 

:(

This is a seasonal mailbox.

Right now it is decorated with evergreen boughs and Christmas decorations

 in the spring and summer the box is full of cascading flowers..

What could be cooler than a barn mailbox! 

If this was mine I would have glued little plastic cows on the roof.

 

Some mailboxes are just plain classy!

This Pelham horse farm owner has perhaps, the most elegant mail box in the area.

"Farmers Feed Cities"

And this farmer with the fancy dancy corn cob mail box isn't going to let you forget it!

Some mailboxes do extra duty.

This one tells the passerby what the farmer is selling that day.

Of course some Pelham mailboxes are painted red to match the closest phone booth.

 

Merry Christmas, Everyone! 

Spiders, Insects, Weeds and Birds - Yikes!

Nature makes the transition to autumn before we do. Here are four sure fire ways you can recognize the changing of the seasons.

The creepy crawlies are trying to get inside to find a cozy home for the winter.

I had to wrestle this garden spider to the ground last night - right in my bedroom! I wasn't about to snuggle up with the big fella till next April. A girl has her standards. He spent the night in this glass jar and in the morning was given a stern lecture and quickly ushered back outside.

The monarchs are congregating in the trees getting ready for the long trip to Mexico. I counted fifteen on this one branch.

I wouldn't mind visiting them in Mexico round about the middle of January, but so far, although I have hosted hundreds, not one return invitation has been issued!

The golden rod behind the barn is as tall as I am. I can't think of a plant that causes more misery.

Okay, okay, I suppose poison ivy and poison oak cause more misery. Oh - and what about that new plant that is now in Ontario, Giant Hog weed? It looks like Queen Anne's Lace, but, and I'm sure I heard this on CBC, it is so evil it sucks your brains out through your nostrils if you try to sniff it.

















And the last sign.

It is a bit of a dire warning.











It happened almost three weeks early this year.

 

The martins are gone.

Welcoming the Third Sister

Last week I went tromping into a muddy field in North Pelham looking for the third sister. When I got to a likely spot I parted the huge leaves and peered along the ground.

It didn't take long to spot sister squash. I quickly snapped her picture as proof, (see above), and then I high tailed it back to the road in case the farmer came along and thought I was a vegetable thief.

The Third Sister - Squash

Hick's Farm, Tice Road, Ridgeville, Ontario

In the Iroquois legend of the Maid of the Mist, Lelawela goes to her death over Niagara Falls in a canoe laden with corn, beans and squash because the three sisters were sacred sustainers of life.

If you aren't familiar with the legend, in a nutshell, it goes like this:

The people were sick and dying. It was decided to sacrifice the chief's beautiful daughter, Lelawela, to appease the Thunder God, Hinam.

Lelawela went willingly to her death but as she paddled over the edge of the Falls one of the sons of the Thunder God fell in love with her and caught her before she hit the rocks below. She promised to live with him in the Spirit Kingdom if he would tell her why her people were dying. He told her that an evil serpent was living in the Niagara River and poisoning the water. He allowed Lelawela to go and tell her people.

The people were so angry they caught the serpent and tied its head to one side of the river and its tail to the other. After it died the curve of its body became the brink of the Horse shoe Falls.

Great story, eh?  A story with a lesson because the poison is back in the Niagara River and its from the serpent called 'Industrial Waste'.

The people need to get angry again.

Anyway as this the last of my three sisters blogs* I thought I'd pass along a recipe that includes all three of them.

THREE SISTERS SOUP 

 2 cups (19 oz. can) corn kernels

(I used the kernels from two left over cobs of corn cooked the day before)
2 cups chopped green beans
 (processor or blender or by hand)
2 cups cubed butternut squash
(I used sweet potato squash because that is what I had on hand)
1-1/2 cups diced potatoes
2 tbsp. flour

2 tbsp soft butter
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 chicken bouillion cubes (optional)

In a large pot combine corn, green beans, squash, potatoes and 5 cups of water. Bring to boil Reduce heat, simmer, covered for 1 hour. Mash all vegetables in the pot with potato masher. Blend the flour and butter together and stir into soup. Cook another 5 or 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper.




Garnish with a bit of shredded cheese.

This is a great soup for a chilly, autumn day!


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* This is my last blog about the three sisters. 
I will, however,  be blogging about pumpkins at a later date!