I May Get a Wee Vacation in August

My brother Ernie and his wife Dori called me on the weekend. They were heading to BC as of yesterday, but wanted to know if I would join them for a few days in Moose Jaw when they are on their way back to Winnipeg the second week of August.

This was a surprise to me, and I promised to think and pray about it. They are willing to share their hotel room with me. Which is very sweet.

Moose Jaw is known for it's spa and some tunnels underground in the downtown area. I'm not up on the full story, but it seems that Al Capone and other criminals from the USA used those tunnels for a hideout back a number of decades (1920s?)

But Moose Jaw has now made those into a tourist attraction.

Of course, I wouldn't mind a 2-3 day holiday but I've got to figure out how I can get the RoseBouquet written on Monday and published early on Tuesday, so that is off my mind.

Naturally, I would want to work in a visit to my friend in an Assisted Living facility... but she would want me to take her to a number of places. What deadlines shall I set for getting back here to my garden and my business agenda?

Also, my car needs a thorough checkup to make sure it is road-worthy. It sometimes makes strange noises...!

I'm going to pay of my house insurance bill this week, and also go for my new driver's license for the next 5 years, but they want to take a new photo of me for that.

Will I have enough for a good car work-over after all that?

Surely when you go on vacation you have to work through a number of questions before you make your final decision, right?

Or am I just so unusual in that I don't often get a holiday and am unused to the preparations?

Maybe I was a lot younger then, and made such decisions

I used to have a lot more vacations when I lived in Ontario. much easier. :)

<*> TIPS & SOLUTIONS: <*>

Making Weeds Disappear

A lot of people treat weeds like lawn grass, a necessary chore to mow them down as short as possible and just resign yourself to doing it over and over.

I don't have a mower, so I do as my Dad did. He believed the best way to get rid of weeds, was to pull or dig them up by the roots. It is a lot more work, but gradually, when you do this a few times throughout the summer, some weeds will disappear. They have no parent plants to share their root system, or to drop seeds for a new generation of that particular weed.

There is no accounting for weeds seeds blown in on the winds, or dropped by birds flying overhead - which have too many seeds in their wee little beaks.

Some eager weeds, like my neighbour's thistles, gleefully crawl under the fence and brag on their feats as they pop up all over on my garden. (I'm still working on ways to foil their tricks).

But if you spend a few summers pulling up weeds systematically all over your garden and flowerbeds, you will gradually see that their number decreases - at least to some degree.

[Back to Archives Index ] ~~ [Back to Main RoseBouquet Page]