Two Special Days This Week

I mentioned last week that I was about to have another dental appointment at the Dental College Clinic the university. That was a fascinating three hours with two advanced students doing the most thorough check up I've EVER had in my mouth. They were very gracious and kind and took time to explain every step to me. Then their professor/dentist checked me over and corrected some items of their assessment. (Which will save me some money!)

I have another appointment this coming Thursday morning, for a very thorough cleaning. Then we'll discuss when to do the one filling that is considered necessary. (They talked of a partial plate, but those teeth have been gone from me for several decades and I've managed okay without them, so I plan to pass on that).

I do have to give them an A+ for thoroughness and gracious attitudes!

Then on Friday morning about 10-ish, I will be getting a ride from Cousin June and our step-cousin Allen Bird from Chilliwack, who is bringing our Uncle Isbrand Kroeker's ashes to bury in the old home village cemetery. June wants me to come with them as she is not sure she could find her way to that cemetery. I was there just last summer with my brother Ernie and his wife Dori.

I've heard Allen's sister Laura and his brother David are also coming, so we will be socializing - I suspect, most of the day and I'm glad for the chance to get to know these step-cousins in person. I've been corresponding by email with Allen's wife Anna, and wish she was coming too, but that is not to be this time around.

Anyone who remembers my uncle Isbrand, or anyone from the Kroeker family (my Mom was their oldest daughter) is welcome to join us for some informal gathering and story-telling. Even if you remember ever being in the village of Chortitz, you might want to join us for the reminicing that is bound to happen there!

Directions? Oh yes. Take the # 11 highway north out of Saskatoon. When you are passing the village of Neuanlage on the right, keep your eye open for the intersection to the left that crosses over a railway track almost immediately. That is known as the Gruenthal Road. Head west on it for about 4 miles (or a bit more) until you get to an intersection with a road going north. There is a farm on either side of it. Both have quite a few trees around them.

You only need to go north on that road for about half a mile and you will see the Chortitz cemetery on the left. There is room to park on the side of the road, and if we have got there first, I can undo the chain gate and let you drive right inside the cemetery. (Actually, I think Bob Bergen, the man who looks after the cemetery may already be there, and have already dropped the chain gate.)

If you were to drive another half mile north you would come to the Chortitz Road. If you turn right - what you see on both sides of the road for the next mile is what is left of the village of Chortitz. But it looks naked and deserted compared to what it was when Mom and her siblings grew up there, or even me - the next generation.

Goodness. Maybe I should be looking for old photos of the village before Friday morning!! Else how will we convince Allen and Laura and David that there really was a village there once?

<*> TIPS & SOLUTIONS: <*>

How to Grow MORE Zucchini in the Garden

This tip is for the gardeners (may our tribe increase) who are growing zucchini or other plants from the squash family, or even melons, for that matter.

Zucchini plants have large yellow flowers - especially in the mornings. When the noon heat comes the floewrs tend to duck under the huge green leaves and hide. Sometimes they even close up their petals. I don't know why.

The thing is, the bees, wasps, and other insects need to get inside, brush some of the pollen from the male flowers on their bodies and then when they visit the female flowers (down closer to the ground), they brush that pollen against the fertile stem in that flower. Voila! A baby zucchini is started there!

My sister-in-law Penny gave me this advice to get a larger crop of zucchini. Help fertilize those female flowers, by going around in the morning, pinch the yellow stamen from the inside of a male flower and search for a female flower lower down close to the ground, and stick it in there. I often squeeze the female flower shut so that the pollen is sure to connect with the stamen.

You know what? When I walk around in my garden a couple of days later, I can count many more zucchini started under those big umbrella leaves! I don't mind eating zucchini, and even freezing some for the winter, but I do enjoy giving them away too!

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