Aaaah, a little snow and a little cold weather. Winter is back just like normal. No climate change, just the weather we get sometimes in January. Hoar frost for July 11 to report.
On the home front, son Ron has moved a bit of wheat out for me that I had left from my farming career. I have never been a fan of storing grain for long periods of time. It can heat on you and spoil. With heat in the elevator some kernels turn a darker orange-brown colour. These will downgrade the sample. The condition is called bin burn and I have only seen it in my elevator. A steel bin or wood bin back on the farm never has this problem. So far we are getting a No. 2 grade.
The weather is variable. Here in Lloydminster where I live we have just gotten three or four inches in this last snowfall. Back at Waseca we have five or six inches. I am sorry I don’t deal with the metric conversion. I never got a vote about imposing this plague on the general public.
Son Ron has got a day of snowplowing in. He is happy. A little cash flow from the Big Guy. He has been butchering pigs for mixing deer sausage. He also had a day helping a neighbour sort cattle. Never a dull moment, he is busy with something every day.
In our family it has been a busy time for wedding engagements. Five in total. Two nieces got engaged, my first man from South Africa Chris and his girlfriend Sonay got engaged and another of our friends after 20 or 30 years of living together got married. Congratulations, everyone!
And finally there is my mother. She is 92 and has been married five times. Two she divorced. Husband number one was my dad, husband number two she married and divorced twice. The last two passed away. She is a little sparrow of a woman not much more than a hundred pounds, but has a strong will. I probably got my non-conformist attitude from her. She was instrumental in shaping who I am. She has no tolerance for any lying, cheating or stealing. When we were kids growing up she had a big black strap to back up what she said and she knew how to use it. Some people who are in trouble today should have had my mother’s guidance when they were young and know how that big black strap feels. Anyway, my mother is a cougar as she has picked on a younger man. He is 89. Over Christmas they got engaged and they are planning a party in the spring. My hat is off to my mother. Way to go Agnes and Dirk. Wooowzzzers!
And a funny for the week. The prisoners in two correctional facilities in Saskatchewan are refusing the food trays. After a money-saving move, the government has contracted out the food service to the Compass Group of Canada. The food appears to be less than you would get on a full meal deal in local establishments. A lot of sandwich type servings. Not very filling! I sympathize to a point as I spent one winter in residence when I was going to VocAg in Saskatoon back in 1963-64. They had the College of Home Economics girls who used us VocAg students as guinea pigs and some less than satisfactory food was served. We were all farm boys used to meat and potato meals. Fancy lettuce sandwiches just didn’t cut it. Some of the guys were vocally critical. There was some snipping back and forth as the girls who prepared the fancy meals didn’t appreciate what the guys' comments were. Usually when we had a less than satisfactory meal, the older ladies who ran the cafeteria would get together and we would get a real good supper. I sure hope some of those home ec girls learned to cook so they could feed their families.
Anyway after much twitter from the media and prisoner groups getting into it, Susan Delanoy of the Elizabeth Fry Society said she was disheartened by the government’s treatment of prisoners denying them basic human dignity. Jason Demers, a University of Regina instructor, said food is a fundamental human right. Demers pointed out that 80 to 90 percent of the people incarcerated are First Nation and aboriginal. The Saskatchewan Coalition Against Racism is launching a Twitter campaign in support of the food tray refusal.
Premier Brad Wall ended the controversy by saying, “If you don’t like the prison food, there is one way to avoid it, and that is don’t go to prison.” Good one, Bradley!
I personally think these guys should make their own lunch. A little life skills training will not hurt them.
