Fall Plant Rescue

I have finally brought all my house plants in for the winter. Last night the weather was clear and we had (almost) a full moon - actually it will be full by tomorrow night. This morning at 7 o'clock it was 1 degree celcius and a white sparkling frost covered everything outside. Now in mid-afternoon it is 22 degrees celcius with only scattered clouds in a clear blue sky. What wonderful weather we've been having! Here are the last two beauties I rescued from Jack Frost:

On The Line

We have just completed how many weeks on the picket line? CBC management has locked out its Canadian Media Guild employees for 35 days now!! Walking the picket line is harder than a days work because it's frustrating and futile. We've been pounding the pavement in front of the building waiting for management to open the doors and let us go to work. The weather is getting colder each day and this week we acquired a large drum in which we light a fire to keep warm. Our union rep visited us on the picket line this week and he says "the goal posts are in sight." Well the main issues have yet to be discussed. Despite the smiles, we're disgusted!

God's Faithfulness!

"They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."

Lamentations 3:23 KJV

I've been picking these little beauties in my back yard for about a month now. I pick them all one day and when I go back a day or two later, there's a fresh supply of raspberries - just like the fresh manna God supplied to the Israelites every morning.

When I opened my patio blinds this morning I was surprised to find everything covered with a layer of sparkling white frost. It was 1 degree C. There is not a cloud to be seen in the clear blue sky and the sun is gradually melting the frost to a heavy dew.

Of course this means that the redberries (a.k.a. partridgeberries) will now be ready for picking. They are best after a good frost. It kills the worm in them and makes them sweeter. Another example of God's provision.

Gas Prices

I was at a meeting on Thursday evening when somebody mentioned the price of gas going up again. It usually goes up a couple of cents a litre at a time. I made a mental note to get gas on the way home. As it turned out, I brought somebody else home so I didn't think of it. After I came home and got ready for bed, I decided to check my email to unwind after a busy day. There was an email from a friend reminding me of the gas price jump. I jumped in my car, pj's and all, and went to fill it up. There were four line-ups at the pumps and people were filling up gas cans in the pans of their pickups. Wow! I got inspired so I went home and got my husband's pickup truck and went and filled that up as well. He was pleasantly surprised when I told him the next morning (brownie points!!). The gas went up 19 cents a litre the first night - then low and behold it went up another 13 cents the very next day!! The reason: there's a gas shortage on the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland! Go figure! Why make the people in Labrador pay for that? We pay the highest prices in all of Canada as it is!! I heard somebody say the other day the government should be called the Government of St. John's instead of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Maybe they have a point. Separation sounds better all the time. The good news is the gas price may go down 12 cents a litre...and we're supposed to be happy with that?...up .32 and down .12? And oh yes...the price of groceries and utilities, etc. will be going up as well. What does the bible say about a loaf of bread for a days wages in the last days?
Amazing!

The Weekend - Hurray!!

It's the first day of Labour Day Weekend - considered the last weekend of camping for the year, especially tent or RV camping. In Labrador lots people head off to their cabins just as they would any other weekend throughout the year. It's also harvest time. Already we have picked blueberries and raspberries and had some new potatoes, carrots, turnip greens and fresh cabbage leaves, but in September most people dig their potatoes and bring in any vegetables that would be damaged by frost. I usually pick the last of my rhubarb and bring in my houseplants. The lawn will probably get its last grooming for the season and the yard will get tidied away before that huge blanket of snow hides everything for the long winter. It's not that it needs to be done right now, but it's the last holiday from work until November 11. By then it's plenty chilly.

Summer is still here though. We have a beautiful sunny day with 20 degrees celcius at 8:45 am. A gentle breeze blows the aspen and birch leaves with just a few spots of yellow amidst the green. My empty clotheslines lurk outside my patio waiting to be filled, my barbecue and picnic table wait invitingly on the patio and my shasta daisies beckon me to the garden for one more look. It promises to be another beautiful day.