August, The dream struggles to survive.

Wow we have had a busy couple of weeks here at the cow. Marianne and I have discussed, at length, the probabilities of moving back to Calgary. We still DO NOT like the idea! However; it has been decided that should it come to pass, we would most likely treat this as a cottage scenario until such time as we can find a way to survive out here without struggling.

The Forest fire

The Haze from the fire as seen looking down the road

One of the running Jokes we have is that it appears to rain or thunderstorm almost every weekend and usually after I make a blog post. We currently have a thunderstorm rolling overhead as I write this entry! After last entry we had a lightning strike at the power lines about 3 KM (a mile and a bit) from our place. We both had walked into the front room and asked "do you smell smoke?" There was a haze in the area as the winds were quite strong. A phone call to the local fire department and the fun began. I set the sprinkler up on the back side of the house and started to water the treeline. I drove off in every direction until I was able to locate the fire. By this time the local cow guy was out checking to see how much pasture land was going to be burned.

The mighty fire truck.
I felt better after he checked
to make sure it actually
 had water in the tank

The meeting of the fire guys and Art
Or planning session

The fire department showed up here there was 2 guys parked out here but it looked as if it was not going to be a big deal. They had people booting it through the bush and found where it was. Before  you know it they had it under control and let it burn out the rest of the way.

This is what was burned.
Mostly some pasture and some scrub brush in the back
a week later and it is growing back in. 

We have too much swamp lands here because of the beavers. I was not overly concerned that it would get through the overgrazed pasture, and the mile of muskeg too quickly. But it was some excitement for everyone.

Lakeshore School Division and Other Idiots!    
Back in April I applied to take on a school bus driver job. I was still working on my Alberta drivers permit. Which by the way is a school bus drivers licence. I had to switch it over to a Manitoba Drivers Permit. Back in Alberta You would take the licence and at least 2 pieces of ID including something with a current address. A bill from a utility or landlord works just fine. Walk in to one of the registry depo offices and sign some paper, hand them the ID and pay for it all. You used to be able to walk out with a drivers permit right then but they realized that people were unscrupulous, and were 'helping' people get drivers licenses who were not entirely up to snuff. But you wait 3 days and it is in your mailbox or couriered to you.

Here in the wild lands of Manitoba you need the old licence, 2 pieces of ID, your birth certificate, a bill, a letter from your mom and you have to have at least 2 blood relatives accountable who are known to the issuing official as well.

 Then we go to work on farmer time. Which means 6 to 8 weeks of waiting for your birth certificate, collecting all the correct paper. Going into the ONE office in a hundred miles in any direction, Having them screw up everything, and then overbill you. They issue a temporary permit but that expires and has to be reissued because of the 10 to 14 weeks it takes to send a letter from the city to here (a 2 hour drive) You also have to wait for a rebate cheque to come in because they overbilled you, and they cannot reissue you the money at the office, as it also has to be sent from the city.

After waiting for all that time, you get the licence, then you need to arrange an appointment with the cop shop. Here in BFNW they do not actually have an duty officer who mans the store. You phone ahead to see if he is in. You then take the newly minted drivers licence, and all the above mentioned paper, fill out the forms. (just cause you work for the police doesn't mean you know how to fill out a simple form). Come back tomorrow (but phone and make sure someone is there first) and then wait for an hour for them to figure out how to look on the computer and sign a line and check a box on the form you filled out for them.

In Alberta you go to the cop shop hand them the ID, pay the man answer the usual questions and they hand you the printout in 5 minutes   

See if you can guess where the adjustment is hardest for me at!    =o)

After getting the paperwork all in order I returned to the Lakeshore School division office and was handed a stack of additional paper. Including several printout quizzes from the licence issuing office for all classes of licence, Not just the school bus drivers licence WHICH I STILL HAVE! I fired off some nasty E-mails about them using copywritten materials and quizzes that were not relevant to the licence that I hold and am not being tested for.

Finally this week I got behind the wheel of a school bus for the first time in years. It is old hat and I was picking up things that were not being mentioned with the 'training'. I had fun but it still looks that even after finishing the'training' I will have a job MAYBE. I would love to tell the bill collectors that they can be paid MAYBE, and have them be happy with it.


The Garden!

peas and beans
Guess Art has 3 days of
 work ahead of him again.

We also went and 'harvested' the garden. Well most of it anyhow. The lettuce came out tasting like dandelions. VERY bitter and unpalatable. The peas came off and I dried them as they were already 'woody' in flavor. The beans were not much better but I did get some that were still good in the pod. They went into the freezer.

MMM lettuce, Make a salad. it just tastes like dandelions
Anyone want some? Anyone? anyone?

Still in the garden are carrots and my beets, I think we have 4 of them. We pulled some potatoes out but they are small and underdeveloped. The corn plants are almost 5 feet tall, and will not be producing much of anything this year. It is really depressing to say the least. I have so much work to do here that I need three of me just to keep up. Then to get a summer that is one disappointment after another. Oh well next year will be better, if there is a next year.   


The Yardsale LAST WEEKEND!  
This has been the last two weeks of the yardsale. It is over for now, finally! The last two weeks have been mostly tire kickers and lookie-loos. We are averaging 3 visitors a day and  we topped out at a grand total of $25 last week, and not much better this weekend. So those of you with math skills that is $25 divided by the 10 hours a day that the 2 of us are putting in for each of the 4 days a week or : 25/(10x2x4) or 25/80  which is about 31 cents an hour for each of us! Have to be careful the tax man will want 16 cents of that from each of us cause we are so well off (roll eyes)

The lakeshore womens center is coming by tomorrow to take some clothing and dishware that they will distribute to those in need.

Final Thoughts 
Marianne has finally found an online AA clubroom so she can have a 'meeting' whenever she needs one. She is sewing blankets for Baby layette, and has started to list the surplus on her own site, I am sure Chana creations will have some stuff posted IF Marianne gets around to it. here is her facebook page

I have also been getting  a few calls for some handyman work, I had a plumbing repair to do last week. Nothing like crawling around in 6 inches of water for 3 hours to fix a broken pipe for a well. Now If I would just get paid for it it would make me even happier!

60lbs pressure, a small pinhole crack and half the wall is caved in.

Nothing like 6 inches
of water in a dugout basement
that has no sump pump.

My Supervisor while in the crawlspace.
Just cleaning up after a hard days work

Calgary story is progressing, I am attempting to chronicle years we were in the city. It is difficult as I loose timelines when I am working. Every day just becomes a blur, melding one into the other. On the plus side the church we gave our home to has finally finished the repairs that needed to be done after Sam had destroyed it all.  Check them out here! They did an astounding job!  The house now looks like I was going to have it looking if I had been given the opportunity to finish it.  I just pray that I don't have to give up on the dreams here because I want our new home to look even better!

Kyle has finally made an appearance back here. He has had a rough summer since his dad died, but things are starting to return to normal for him as well. We were out yesterday setting up a tree stand and a bear bait. He got his ticket and is ready to go hunt the local black bear. They are becoming a issue in the city, and most areas around here as the flooding has driven them inland.

You want to hang out in this thing while a bear grubs
around in the bait you have  just feet in front of it?
ARE YOU NUTS!

He also mentioned that the paramedics were recruiting. I have not seen anything about it but more often than not the rumor mill is correct. Marianne and I have been discussing the probability of me checking into that as well.I can just see it Art the paramedic, Longhair and beard. You open your eyes and see my ugly mug and go "JESUS!"  and I say, "Close, we are related, but no. Sorry to disappoint! Just little ol Art!"

Lastly I invite you to check out the newest additions to "Support The Inverted Cow"

August The month of hurt feelings.

Hello Friends and others. The last couple of weeks have been filled with some stress-filled days. So it is with a heavy heart that I write today's message.

I started writing this Blog to document the fulfillment of a dream. I had hoped to have people share with me in the completion of a dream from beginning to end. I wanted to make you laugh, mourn, cheer, rejoice and live with us as we progress on this journey. The dream is to take a place from the brink of destruction to the end of a place that is both beautiful and functional, a place that goes from decrepit to breathtaking, from overgrown and dysfunctional to self supporting and self sufficient. I am at the year and a half mark progress has been made, and set backs have occurred. I hope I made you, My readers and adoring public, feel. I never wanted to make a blog that was another bitch session, flamer posting or troll blog. Those of you who have read the last couple of posts may be thinking otherwise. Simply put, things are tough lately, and I try not to have it overwhelm this forum as well. It has been somewhat as it is also part of the life we have to strive against.

I believe that we were following the will of God when we took this place, we may have gotten a little impatient and jumped ahead of him a touch. But I also feel that we were supposed to move in here when we were here the first time. I find the things that resist us push me into a closer walk, and that we will prevail.

The Problem     

Stress kills dreams and everything else. Marianne, when stressed wants to deal with it the only way an alcoholic person knows. She wants to go get plastered, tie one on and hit the bar. In AA she learned to rely on friends and fellow alcoholics to get through the tough spots. Out here she has no friends or fellow alcoholics that she socializes with. Marianne is a person who NEEDS social interaction, she NEEDS to be involved with people, she MUST have friends and contacts and people she can shoot the crap with. She HAS to have volunteer projects and charity operations to keep her involved. That is how she deals with stress.

I am the opposite. When stressed I need time alone, I do not need to 'talk it through' or to 'work it out.' I need to find a quiet place and listen to nature. I need a spot where there is no one but God and I. Out here I have that. Out here I can avoid people who stress me out, I can steer clear of people who are all wrapped up in their own little world that they don't even know what nature is let alone what it sounds like. They are unable to see beauty in the purple blooms of Canadian thistle, or solace in the chirping of a thousand crickets.

Picture needed is as of yet unfound,
This will have to be a placeholder.

Back before the invention of facebook or the words 'social website' or 'Blog' I used to have a website that was where I placed random junk that I found online or got from friends. I used to have a image of a person with their head shoved shoulders deep up their backside. I had the caption under it that said "I finally can see things from your point of view" That website is long gone, and the place I got the original from I cannot remember. But I would love to post that picture right here.     

For me I love living away from people, for her being forced to be isolated from people is murderous. There are ways she can be around people and there are groups she can become involved with. The problem is with the stresses caused, particularly lately with her mom. The whole incident, while I find it laughable, she has a difficult time coping with it. (read July, of guilt trips and broken dreams to understand) She has been stressed out quite seriously because of this and she needs to talk to people. She cannot get to people and that makes it harder for her, then the old alcoholic kicks in and she needs a drink. I help her through that but it removes the peace I need here, making me stressed. That then becomes a vicious circle. (If you ever need to know what stress is, live with an alcoholic who is unable to get to a meeting or get in touch with anyone). You learn to understand the serenity prayer more and more.

When the stress is too much we start talking about "plan c". Plan C is easy we pack up and head back to Calgary, I go back to work and she has the access to a meeting anytime she needs one. We have all the conveniences that we miss back and I have to deal with stupid people. The problem is if I go back then the dream here dies, that happens and I become an dickhead of epic proportions. Plan C is the final act of defeat. When we talk about it she gets verses like: "No man who sets his hand to the plow and then turns back is of any good to the kingdom of God." I still believe that we are going to make it here and that this is just a rough spot. Only time will tell.

Talking about this plan c stuff gets me all stressed out, time to change the subject.


Other fun stuff! Or else!


Marianne did find a creative outreach for herself. It came in the form of a group on facebook called {Baby}Layette Love. They make baby stuff for the crisis pregnancy center in Winnipeg. She has been sewing all her old fabric the selvages and whatnot into receiving blankets. It is one of the few times when I have seen her humming to herself and happy as can be. She still asks me if it is ok to use or throw out stuff as we declutter the house. I have adopted the rule if I have not used it, missed it, or needed it in the last year it is not needed, used, or wanted, out it goes. Her fabric is the same way.

A load of blankets and
stuff ready to go out

Hand crocheted baby afghan
for  baby layette love

More blanket tops ready for quilting.

This weekend was the second annual family cousins reunion. Marianne had convinced her sister to go this year. She headed out Friday evening to overnight at her sisters place. They took one of the kids (her sister has 2 girls who call me uncle Art, I am still not sure about that) and off they went to the park where it was all supposed to come down. They had almost 20 people on facebook who said they would be there. It was just the 3 of them at the park. Not a wasted trip all together, as it gave Marianne and her sister some time to talk about stuff, and to bond a bit more. They even helped come up with alternatives to Plan C. Now if I can get some help making them stick it would be even better. But I guess it goes to show just how much people can stick to their word now.

This little fellow was all geared up to crash the reunion,
Instead he just pinched dinner buns from the picnic.

I have also been getting some odd jobs coming my way, considering I have never mentioned that I was looking for odd jobs it is kind of interesting that I am getting work. I have also applied to go and be a School Bus driver again, but I somehow feel that it is a b.s. job and they are pulling my chain. But that could also be influenced by events of the past.


Final thoughts!   

Last post I mentioned the loss of dreams and the storm we had out here, I forgot to post this picture of the barns from the guy down the road from us. In addition to all the knocked down trees and whatnot he lost one barn and had another shifted off its base.

This barn is flattened, The one next to it (not shown) is knocked askew

Winter is on its way and I need to get down to work on getting ready for that. On a good note the well tests finally came back drinkable. As long as I do not get another sudden downpour or yard flooding again it should be good for the remainder of the year. Now all I need to do is get it repaired. Ahh work that never ends! Also the "fence" is enough to keep the deer out and the garden is actually coming in very nicely. I may get some produce for a change.

Lastly there has been too much seriousness in this post, and I am sorry for that. I hope that things can turn around for us soon so I leave you with cuteness!

My chair so buzz off!

What? you mean this
wasn't cleared off just for me?!