STORMS OF ONE KIND OR ANOTHER

Another Saturday morning and so much to do! Not like last week end though. Living at the very bottom of Saskatchewan like we do, we were dead center in the winter storm warnings last week. I went to bed on the Friday night mentally listing everything I had to get done before the world turned wet and white - the list was pretty long.

Glen had an oil lease that was supposed to be ready for a rig immediately so he was gone extra early; as it was a long weekend there were a lot of the crew who had other plans and couldn't be there. I was up before the sun came up (which really is nothing to brag about anymore - the days are getting shorter all the time) and managed to get a lot of the in-house chores done before I went out to tackle the garden.

There was still a half row of carrots to dig - not bad you say? Well, the original row was over thirty feet long so you do the math. I tried and failed to get the garden tiller started so I had to haul it manually over to the quonset to put it away. The dogs loved it when I lifted the tarps we had used for covering the tomatoes because it gave them mice to chase for a few minutes. Once I was sure that all the wildlife had left the premesis I folded them up and put them away too.

Next there were dahlia tubers to dig and garden tools to put away. Working with the cold mud, my poor fingers were nearly frozen by this time so I snapped the tops off all the carrots, put them in a big plastic tub and hauled that back up to the house. I couldn't believe it when I looked at my watch and saw it wasn't even 10:00 yet! Sandy had hinted that it sure would be nice if there was a pot of home made soup and fresh-from-the-oven buns ready when she arrived home. I had started the soup before I left the house and I still had time for the buns. It's amazing what you can get done with a storm bearing down on you!

Glen must have called me six times during the day, wanting up dates on the weather forecast. It never wavered - it was still headed our way. But it took longer to get here than they had predicted; there was nothing until about 6:00 on Sunday morning. It really came down for an hour or so, but once the sun was up it switched to rain here. The family plans for Thanksgiving supper was to have the meal at my niece's in Macoun, down near Estevan, and much as it would have been lovely to be there, the thought of having to drive in that mess (it was an all snow event there), especially the trip home, helped us decide to just have our own quiet little supper here at the farm.

It was very quiet - Mitchell had gone to Brandon to spend the weekend with his friends, Wayne and Jacqui were back in Australia, and Jesse lives much closer to Macoun than she does to here so she went to the family supper. It was Sandy, Glen and I, a roast chicken and a pumpkin pie.

To make up for the lack of company on Sunday, though, Monday ended up being quite the opposite. Sandy and I had decided to make a pizza for supper but we needed mozzerella cheese so we called friends who lived in town to come on out for supper - and bring some cheese! Before they even got here neighbors, Scott and Ean, dropped in and it ended up being a lively, happy evening - good times with good people.

Another week has gone by and the election is behind us - thank goodness - I've about overdosed on politics lately. Of course, being from Saskatchewan, no one will be surprised to hear that I'm relieved that the Stephen Harper remains at the helm. I'm not a dyed-in-the-wool Conservative, but I just wasn't comfortable with any of the other partys' platforms. If there ever was a time for a "steady as she goes" approach, it is now. One only needs to watch the stock market to see how panic is turning the whole system into a rollercoaster ride. We need calm. We need steadiness. Mr. Harper's much maligned blue sweater is comforting - I'm kind of glad that the media and the opposition parties made such a big deal out of it. How many people would have missed it otherwise?

In our little corner of the world - with everyone's jobs tied in some part to the oil industry - we wait to see what the price of oil is going to do. Will the demand for it slow? How many oil companies will go under? How many will cut back? How many rigs will be shut down? Who will be laid off? For how long? I'm sure the miners up north feel the same way, and those in the potash industry. Farmers have seen the prices for their grain drop to half of what they were this spring already. We're all about natural resouces out here, and our livelihoods are directly tied to being able to sell what we produce. This is scary stuff for everyone.