I am a Slum Lord

I own two birdhouses, which I built quite a few years ago. One I had to rebuild and it is quite new, but the other one, well—the other one has been neglected. Surprisingly, sparrows still build their nests in it and use it. I guess, they don’t care about its appearance.

I looked at that one today and made the decision to build a new one this winter. We don’t actually see it, because the tree in front of it has grown over the years and blocks it from view. Perhaps that is the reason I neglected it.

There is a lot of activity going on in the other one, the luxury apartments. I think one of the pair nesting in it had their third brood. I saw quite a few smaller sparrows coming to the feeders yesterday, still a bit wobbly in the air, learning to fly.

That birdhouse was supposed to be a Martens house, but the Martens come in the Spring, fly around the house, even check it out, but they don’t stay. I don’t know why, perhaps because of the sparrows. The house is in the open with lots of space around it, but the Martens are fussy. That’s okay. I’m quite happy with the sparrows. They are loyal and stay around all winter. They don’t leave us because of the little bit of cold and bad weather. (It only goes down to minus 40 C). We feed them all year round and enjoy them. It is amazing how many different kinds of sparrows there are.

The juncos come only in the Spring for a couple of weeks and then again in the Fall. We get a large crowd then. They love to pick on the flower seeds. Juncos feed mostly on the ground.

We also have 6 Bluejays coming to the feeders every day, a few Chickadees, and North American Finches. The Robins come to take a bath in the bird baths and it is fun to see them splash in the water. And, of course, a couple of Hummingbirds come to their feeder. Once in a while some other birds make an appearance. Waxwings, Black birds, even the odd Oriole. I put out shelled peanuts every day for the Bluejays. They love them and make quite a spectacle if they don’t find anything.

We also have crows, but they just make a lot of noise. The hawk that flies by unexpectedly, is a majestic bird but not quite welcome. A few years ago one hawk caught one of the two morning doves that came to the feeder and ate it on the birdhouse. Not a pretty sight, and it was sad to see the lonely dove coming after that.

We even had a few grouse one year for Christmas staying for an afternoon. It is fun to watch the birds and we enjoy them. That’s why we feed them and that’s why I have two birdhouses.

The visitors that eat the spilled sunflower seeds on the ground are not of the kind with wings. Rabbits, squirrels, and other not always wanted critters. 

Luxury Apartments

Not so luxurious apartment house

A culinary experience or just another supper?

The garden is slowly coming to an end. Everything is a bit late this year and not everything is growing that well, either. I planted 4 Cherry Tomato plants, (my wife loves those. I'm planting them just for her), 6 Super Fantastic and 12 Roma tomato plants. This year, I don’t have as many tomato plants as I usually have. It is a lot of work and we can only eat so many tomatoes. Mind you, there is nothing better than a Ham and Tomato sandwich with a slice of fresh picked home-grown tomato. I like the European type rye bread. It is not so soft. We have enough tomatoes for the two of us, probably more than enough. I’ve been harvesting cherry tomatoes and a few Super Fantastic. The Roma aren’t doing so well this year. We use them to make Salsa.

My peppers are plentiful but still green and yellow. They still have a ways to go until they are red. That’s when I pick them. The only red ones I already have are the hot Hungarian Peppers. I have over hundred pepper plants. Half of them I bought and half of them I started from seeds in my basement in the winter. We love peppers.

 

We’ve also been eating zucchini, fried and stuffed with meat and rice. Delicious. My beets are quite large already. My wife made one batch of Borscht, but with the rest we’ll wait another couple of weeks until she makes more Borscht and she cans a whole bunch for herself. I don’t eat them canned. I don’t care much for beets except for in Borscht. Somehow, they taste different. My wife loves them and she doesn’t mind that I don’t eat her canned beets.

I planted 18 plants of Peaches and Cream corn. I started them in the basement. They are a disappointment this year. We ate a few cobs, but even small they tasted starchy and not sweet. A farmer told me I should wait longer and let them ripen. I did that. Yesterday we boiled 2 cobs for 3 minutes. It was worse than ever. Starchy. I think next year I'll buy my corn in the store.

Today we had Swiss Chard with mashed potatoes, eggs and wieners. You can’t get this kind of food in a restaurant. To make a supper for two takes a huge pail full of Swiss Chard. I used to grow Spinach, but Spinach shoots out too fast when it gets hot outside. Swiss Chard doesn’t do that. It lasts longer in the garden. Of course, this year we had a couple of deer help themselves to my Swiss Chard in the Spring. It grew back, but only  one of the patches, the Rhubarb type. It has red stems.  The ‘Bright Lights’ didn’t come back anymore, but we had enough Swiss Chard for four meals.

My wife strips the leaves from the stems, after she washes the Swiss Chard. Then she boils the leaves for about 10 minutes until they are tender. She drains the water and chops them with a knife. Then she fries up chopped onions with margarine and flower. She mixes that with the chopped Swiss Chard. We eat it with fried eggs, wieners, (European ones) and mashed potatoes. We mix some Maggi (Soya Sauce) into the Swiss Chard to give it more taste. A little bit of mustard for the wiener. Like I said, you can’t get that in a restaurant. It would be too expensive to make because it takes a lot of Swiss Chard to make a meal. I usually have a beer to wash everything down. It’s a culinary experience.  I’m getting hungry again just writing about it.

Here is a picture what it looks like on the plate:

Is it Poetry?

The following article appears also on my other blog 'Herbert's Place'. I thought you may be interested.

I wrote about this stuff last year on my blog just before Christmas. So writing about it again means it is important to me. I’m not against new things; sometimes a change is good, but there are certain things that should not be changed. One of those things is poetry. I’ve read some crazy stuff, mumbo jumbo to me. I think if somebody wants to experiment with new styles and new ideas, they should give it a new name. So these are my thoughts on ‘Poetry’. Actually, I wrote a poem about it. Here it is:

The other day I read a poem

And it left me puzzled and perplexed

Where the heck is all this goin’?

And I worry what comes next

It didn’t make no sense to me

Just a jumble of crazy words

No rhyme or reason that I could see

Even when I read it backwards

I always thought the words should rhyme

That’s how it used to be

To write a real poem takes effort and time

Until it becomes a thing of beauty

They call it modernist whatever that means

It still sounds like nonsense to my ear

Just because a sentence has its own line

Don’t make it a poem I fear

I’ve never been a fan of modern art

Picasso has always left me cold

His poems may have been written from the heart

And his pictures for millions they sold

I don’t mean it is crap he wrote

It just isn’t my cup of tea

It is important here to note

He was a genius and will always be

Some people may say I’m a stubborn old mule

Perhaps afraid to embrace this new way

But I don’t think that I’m such a fool

To believe real art to its true form will stay

Herbert Grosshans ©2014

Trends and other crazy stuff

 What a crazy summer we’re having this year. We had some hot days and plenty of rain. The past four days we got about 90 mm of rain. Fortunately, it came down slowly and not all at once. Winnipeg wasn’t so lucky. They had 80 mm of rain in a short time a few days ago. Many streets were under water. People were using a canoe and one guy was snorkeling in his street. Underpasses were so full of water cars became stuck. Many basements were flooded.

This morning it rained, then it cleared up, then it rained again. After supper, I went outside to cover the BBQ and to take the compost pail to the compost bin. As I walked out, I looked at the clouds and thought, “It will rain again.” No sooner do I finish that thought, the first drops began to fall. I managed to cover up the BBQ, the wind and rain started and I barely made it back into the house without being drenched—and I carried my little pail with the kitchen scraps with me.

Actually, I had in mind to check the trap I set out in my garden. Yesterday I found one nice red tomato, but I wanted it to ripen one more day on the vine. This morning I saw another rabbit in the yard. When I went to the garden to pick my red tomato, it was half-eaten. I picked it anyway and ate the left over piece. Now the trap is waiting for the little bugger.

Sitting in the house watching the rain gives one an opportunity to contemplate things. The other day I read a poem. The person who rode it called it a poem, but I thought it was crap. Nothing rhymed; in fact, the whole thing had no rhyme or reason. Just a bunch of words that didn’t make any sense put into sentences that didn’t make any sense, either. Apparently, it is called ‘Modernist’ poetry. Another award-winning ‘Poem’ I read was just a cute little story written in what is called ‘Stanza’. Each short sentence gets its own line. It was cute but in my mind not a poem, just a short story.

Perhaps I’m old fashioned. I don’t like change. My motto is: If it isn’t broken don’t fix it. Why change just for the sake of change? Makes no sense to me. I don’t follow trends, because I’m not a sheep. Just because everyone does it or wears it doesn’t mean I have to. My wife calls me stubborn. I’ve been looking for a thin jacket (they used to call them ‘lumber jack jackets’), no nylon and no liner. I have one hanging in my closet, but it is a bit frayed and I wear it only in the yard. I’ve been looking for a long time but can’t find one that looks like my old one. When I find one I might like it is either made from nylon and you’ll sweat to death in it, or it has a liner (I have one of those already), or it is designed in such a way I wouldn’t want to be seen dead in it. The other day I found one that was almost what I sought. A little long and too many visible pockets, but it had no liner. I almost bought it until I saw the price: $200.00 on sale. I dropped it like a hot potato. I told me wife, I wouldn’t pay more than $25 bucks for it, and even then I would have second thoughts. It wasn’t even what I was looking for, just close to it. “It’s a designer jacket,” my wife said. For me, that is no reason to pay big bucks. “Designer, Shminer,” I said. Why would I want to pay lots of money for something some gay guy dreamed up when he was high on something?

I bought a pair of jeans. The looked like my old ones, the comfortable ones, but they were not the same. They call them hip-huggers. What the hell is the reason for that? They look okay, but when I walk, I have the feeling they’ll be sliding down my hips, past my knees and down to my ankles. They are unbelievable uncomfortable. “You’d better get used to them,” my wife said. “Because that’s all you find these days.” “It seems they are trying to save on material,” I said. “What other reason would there be to design something like this?” On top of everything, they are too long. I’m shrinking. I used to buy 32 inches in leg length, now I have to buy the 30-inch ones and they are still scraping the floor. AAGGHH I want to scream. What is wrong with people? Doesn’t anyone have a mind anymore? Do they have to do and eat and wear what some jerk somewhere in who knows where comes up with? What is the big attraction of buying and wearing jeans with holes in them, or the front totally ripped, or the cuffs frayed? In fact, the jeans I bought had frayed bottoms. “It’s the style,” my wife says. I’ve thrown better-looking jeans into the garbage, because I don’t want to wear them even in the yard or garden. There is no worse feeling then having your kneecaps pop out of the holes in your jeans and have dirt falling in when you kneel down.

Are people really that crazy? The lines at Tim Horton are getting longer because people ‘need’ their coffee fix. They need to eat popcorn and nachos when they go to the movies. They wear their glasses on top of their head instead over their eyes because it looks cool. Everyone these days seems to get a tattoo. And what’s with those girl’s piercing their tongue and putting a pearl through it, and those rings through their lips, nose, and brows? Some of them can’t even talk properly anymore. Or a dozen rings in their ears? Guys do it too. The farmers put a ring through a bull’s nose and then they attach a stick to control the bull.

I could go on, but I get weary. Maybe it’s a sign of old age to resist change. Young people get bored easily and they are looking for ways to find themselves, whatever that means. They are easily influenced. They want to be different from their parents. They want to do their own thing when in reality they are all the same. They don’t realize that they are not doing their own thing but they are following the herd. They see it on TV or in magazines or in the movies and they copy it. We were probably no different, we just don’t remember.

Let’s hope the sun makes an appearance soon. I’m in a gloomy mood.

#Spanish Pavilion at #Folklorama 2014

This is the second and last week of Folklorama in Winnipeg. Wednesday we went to the #Spanish Pavilion. We were there already at 5.50 p.m. and people were already lining up to get in for the 6:45 performance. When they opened the doors at 6:00 p.m., the line was quite long. Then we stood in line to get our food. We had the combination dinner for $10.25, which consisted of rice, one jumbo shrimp, and a piece of chicken. It tasted quite nice, even though the piece of chicken was small and we would have liked at least one more shrimp. But then again, it wasn’t a restaurant and the idea is to sample the various foods of the different countries.

We drank domestic beer for $4.95 a bottle. We could have had imported Spanish beer, but for me most light beers taste the same. Admittedly, some brands are bitterer than other brands, but I didn’t see the reason for spending more money, so we stuck with a beer we knew. I know some people will argue with me that not all beers are created equal, but I’m not that discriminating. We drank imported beer at the Brazilian Pavilion. Afterwards I realized it was only a 600 ml bottle, which I shared with my wife. I paid $10.00 for it. Had I bought local beer we would have had 682 ml (2 bottles) for $9.00. (Yes, I’m a stickler for numbers. I like bargains and I resent it when someone is trying to cheat me. I always carry a calculator (a metric converter!) when I go shopping. Too many stores try to confuse you by using ml, oz, inches, cm, mm and ml. so you can't compare. Today we bought 3 liters of peaches in a basket. I'm not kidding!.)

The entertainment at the Spanish Pavilion was great. Beautiful costumes and talented dancers. Even the music was not too loud and quite enjoyable.

We had a wonderful evening and we left happy—well, almost happy. I wish some people would be more considerate and realize where they are, so continuously talking and waving their hands around is annoying to the people behind them who want to watch the show. We had two women like that sitting at our table ahead of us. Another couple was passing their kid back and forth across the table. Maybe I'm just getting old and miserable. It's hot and humid outside and in our sun-room while I'm writing this and it may affect my mood.

Go and visit the Spanish Pavilion if you're in the area. You will enjoy it. If you're not in the area, come and visit Winnipeg next year and visit all the Pavilions. It's like taking a tour around the world and it costs less money. There are people from many countries living in Manitoba and we all get along just fine. Perhaps the rest of the world can learn from that.

Another Trophy #Goldeye

Yesterday we went fishing for #Goldeye in the Winnipeg River. The water was rough and the fishing didn’t seem that great at first, but then I caught my first Goldeye and it was a keeper and large enough for a Master Angler Award. To qualify a Goldeye has to be 34 cm long minimum. However, then I caught another one and this one was 40 cm long; the largest Goldeye I’ve caught so far. In 2012, I caught one 39cm long and I sent in for my #Master Angler Award. I got my certificate and button. I also entered it in the competition we have at our #Seven Oaks Game and Fish Association and I got a plaque for it. Last year I caught one 38 cm long. I didn’t even send in for my Master Angler Award. This year I might. Hopefully, I’ll have the largest one in our Association, even though my wife says I don’t need another plaque of the same fish hanging on the wall. Women don’t understand such things. It is a matter of pride for a fisherman to brag about and display his achievements.

All the fish we caught this time were large. Most of them qualified for the Award. We only had 3 small ones. Didn’t get our limit though. The water in the river is low and that may have something to do with it. The Goldeye may have moved into other spots. Or maybe they just didn’t feel like feeding. One never knows with fish. Weather also plays a big role. The last time we fished in the same area we caught nothing.

It is disappointing when you come home with nothing to show for the trip, but catching fish isn’t always the most important thing. What is important is having a good time with friends and to be outside in the fresh air on land or in a boat on the water.

The possession limit in Manitoba for Goldeye is 10 per angler. My wife has a fishing license, so we can have 20 in the freezer and we’ve almost reached that limit. If I were a native I could have 50 pounds of fish in the freezer. And probably more. Who checks them? (Doesn’t seem fair to have people in a country who have such privileges, but that’s just the way it is in Canada and another topic). I’ll have to smoke a few again if I want to do more fishing for these scrappy sports fish. I can go and fish but I won’t be able to keep them. Somehow, that isn’t as exciting for me. We love smoked Goldeye, so smoking a few isn’t a big deal. My smoker is ready. Best thing I ever did was buying a smoker. However, the way things are this may have been the last time I went for them, anyway, because September is coming and then I’ll go for Sauger and Walleye. And then hunting season begins. There is no end to things one can do if one is so inclined. This year seems to zoom by. We still want to go the beach while the weather is warm and do a little swimming and sunbathing. And this week we still want to visit another pavilion, because Folklorama ends this weekend.

 A little side note here: I did take 2 Gravol™ pills to keep from getting nauseous, because we were in turbulent water the whole day. I felt okay, even though my stomach was just a tiny bit queasy.

Here is a picture of me with my new hat and my award winning Goldeye:

#Punjab Pavilion at #Folklorama 2014

Last night we went to visit the #Punjab Pavilion. The small country of Punjab is located in the north of #India. Population 28 million. Apparently, there are around 800 000 people from Punjab living in Canada. They started coming to Canada in early 1900. Something I didn’t know.

The show was entertaining and vibrant. Beautiful costumes and the dancers put on a great performance. The form of #martial arts displayed was interesting and looked dangerous. They used sticks and swords and small shields. Apparently, it was not rehearsed. The only thing I didn’t care for was the loud music. I don’t know why they always have to crank up the speakers to maximum. Especially the bass was much too loud. My chest was vibrating and it made me feel uneasy. My wife had the same reaction. That can’t be healthy. Maybe I sound like a broken record complaining about the loud music, but I have a problem with noise. My hearing isn’t that great anymore because of the years of working in a noisy environment. I’d like to keep what I still have left.

You just can’t enjoy music if it is played so loud that the speakers vibrate. Music needs to be played at a level that you can relax and listen to. Ironically, when we drove home, there was a car behind us with open windows. They had their speakers turned so high that our car was vibrating so badly I though we’d bounce right of the road. Either those 2 guys in the car were already deaf from constantly listening to such loud noise or they were on the verge of going deaf.

We ate #butter chicken and it tasted great. It was quite spicy, but we love spicy food. It cost $12.00 and you got a few pieces of butter chicken, salad, chick peas or beans, plenty of rice, and a very sweet desert ball dipped in honey. We drank #Indian beer (Fisher) for $5.00 each. It didn’t taste any different from our local beer, which would have cost $4.50, but it was just the idea drinking imported beer.

We can recommend the Punjab Pavilion. If you don’t mind loud music then go there.

#Folklorama 2014

Like every year for two weeks, Winnipeg celebrates #Folklorama. Pavillions let people travel to different countries from all over the world. They display artifacts and put on shows to entertain visitors with snippets from their cultures. And they offer different foods eaten in their country of origin.

We went to the #Brazilian Pavillion on Monday expecting an exciting show featuring dancers with colorful costumes, but we were disappointed. Some people probably liked the display of drumming, but for us it was much too noisy. I had to stuff pieces of Kleenex into my ears because of the loud drums.

There was also display of some kind of martial arts and later on one male and two female dancers, but it was too short. The drumming never stopped.

I’m not saying it was not good. The performers worked hard and had plenty of talent, and there was lots of energy displayed, it’s just listening to drumming is not at the top of my list of things to enjoy. I hate any kind of noise. The food was good as was the #Brazilian beer. We ate beans with rice and chicken on a stick.

Last night we went to the #Russian Pavillion. We enjoyed it immensely. Wonderful display of dancing by a group from Toronto. And the costumes were beautiful. Two couples danced some kind of ritual dance and the girls were dressed in long white gowns. They seemed to float across the stage. It was quite riveting.

There was a clown. He was funny. And the guy who played the Accordion (Schifferklavier in German) was a pleasure to listen to. His fingers moved with skill across the keyboard. Great and enjoyable entertainment.

We had the combination plate, which consisted of rice with raisins and apricots, dumplings with meat inside, a pocket fillet with cheese, a bowl of borscht, salad, and a cup with juice. $15.00 one plate. It tasted good, even though I could have done without the raisins and apricots in the rice. The borscht was different from the way my wife makes it. She makes it with red beets; this one was with cabbage and potatoes. It was very good.

We left satisfied, mentally and food-wise.

In memory of my brother Arthur

Today is my brother Arthur’s birthday. He would have been 71. Unfortunately, he isn’t with us anymore. He died in a plane crash on September 25, 1979. I miss him dearly, even after all these years. He and I were not just brothers; we were good friends. I miss the good times we could have had these past 35 years; I miss his great sense of humor. We used to play the guitar together and sang the same songs. Singing them without him never sounded the same anymore.

 Here is a picture of us on the ship Arcadia in 1963 toasting to our future.

Herbert and Arthur (on the right)

 I will drink a glass of wine in his memory today.

A good day of fishing

Getting old is a pain, but there are a few nice things about being old (maybe I should say 'older'). We can retire from our regular jobs, and being retired does have a few perks. I can go fishing any time I want, or almost any time. There are still plenty of things that need to be done around the yard and there are other obligations, like doctor's appointments, shopping, babysitting etc.

Yesterday I went fishing again. I was after Goldeye. My fishing spot is only 7 minutes away. I fished from 12:30 until 6:00 p.m and brought home 10 nice Goldeye. It  was a hot day. Around 29 C, and the sun was beating down, but what the heck, I was sitting comfortably on a rock, enjoying life. I would have been sitting on a padded folding chair, but it broke under me and sent me flying just as I was pulling in a Goldeye. They just don't built things the way they used to any more. Two of my friends were there also and we had a good time. It doesn't get much better. To spend a day fishing in the company of good friends is just about the best time one can have. It is even better when the fish are biting. And they did bite.

We used tiny hooks under a float with a piece of Night-crawler on the hook. Worked like a charm.
Here is a picture of me getting ready to remove the scales from the fish: