Harbinger of Spring?

Did you know that skunks hibernate?...well, you do now...and here they are known as a harbinger of spring. Once you've smelled skunk you are unlikely to forget the experience. I think it's similar to that 'tomatoes growing in a greenhouse' smell...only about a thousand times stronger.

You know that a skunk is around about half a mile (apparently up to 2.5 km on a windy day) away, and if it decides to make a family near you, you will be enjoying the smell for a long time.

My notions of the skunk stem from Pepé Le Pew, so I expected a ripe-smelling, cute animal with a french accent. The stink is overpowering, we had one near our deck one night which penetrated to the TV Room and our bedroom, that permeated for two days - and that was just walking by...you are warned never to drive over a dead skunk in the road - if you do you will not be able to remove the smell from your car...ever...!

Although skunks are indiginous to North America, they were actually introduced to PEI in 1915 when a skunk farm was a profitable idea. When the pelts failed to get a good market price, the skunks were released and began their smelly history.

10 things you may not know about skunks :-

1. The oldest skunk fossils are 10 million years old
2. The stinky liquid can be shot up to 5 m (16 ft) away with high precision towards a menacing person or animal. The skunk can send 3-6 jets of oily liquid at once (15 cubic centimeters), and the refilling of the reservoir takes up to 10 days.
3. Most skunks weigh between 1.3 and 6.3 kilograms (three to 14 pounds) and are between 54 and 77 centimetres (21 and 31 inches) in length.
4. Skunks are nocturnal, solitary and territorial. They live in forests, farms, grasslands, deserts, rocky areas with bushes and suburban areas. These mammals wander 0.4-0.8 km (0.25-0.5 mi) per night in search of food (females less than males), but when looking for sex, the male can roam 2.5 km (1.6 mi) per night. Skunks leave their dens by about 18:00-19:00 in the evening and return by 6:00 am. Sounds like Stalyvegas!
5. The females produce five to 12 kits or cubs in April or May
6. Males have territories of 6-11 square kilometers, overlapping those of several females. The maximum density is of 8.8 skunks per square kilometer.
7. The skunks have a penis bone 2.3 cm long (That got your attention!)
8. Remedies for the smell are peroxide or tomato juice...which all islanders keep in abundance, just in case
9. They don't have a french accent
10. They are incredibly cute (and can have their stinky glands removed and become a loving pet)

Anyway, the upshot of all this is that wherever you go at the moment, you're more than likely to smell skunk, which indicates that it is Spring....at last.

Eight degrees today and stunning...Earth hour tonight which is 8.30pm AT...(Do your clocks go back tonight???)

Happy 50th Anniversary to Basil & Alma!

Stainless Steel & Snow

I'm pissed...not in the alcohol sense, but the American sense. Since 1994 I've had stainless steel (SS) appliances of some genre, for the last 10 years all my appliances in the kitchen are SS. I've religiously cleaned them with baby oil and resigned myself to the fact that if you have SS it takes work...The other day I see a spray can of SS cleaner - ok, I'll try it I think. I managed to clean EVERYTHING...by that I mean the supersize fridge, cooker, microwave, coffee maker, kettle, bin and bread bin within 10 minutes - it would normally take me 15 minutes just to do the fridge...hence, the reason I'm annoyed with myself...all those friggin' years of wasted effort...

Therefore, the hint for today - buy spray can SS cleaner and do yourself a BIG favour...(get a life, I hear you cry..!)

Sam's auditioning for the talent show today...rehearsal's have been going on throughout March break and this week. I hope he's done well today as (selfishly) I need him in a good mood to clear the legion of snow in front of the house...I cleared a path to the Chicken shed this morning and it took me half an hour...NO FUN, I can tell you, especially since we'd had a taste of spring last weekend and the snow was going.

Chill blains aside...Islanders tell us that we need this light snow (about 2 ft worth) to get rid of the permo-snow...but I'm not convinced...the bloody snowdrift at the back of the chicken shed is now over 8 ft high and we have had winds of 60 miles per hour for the last 2 days...so much for Spring! Anyone in the Uk sending me emails of wonderful weather knows where they can stick em!

I suppose I'll get my own back when it's 25 to 30 degrees here in the summer and you have got, well, rain.

On the political front - Galloway wasn't allowed in to Canada for his talks, lol...and I don't know if you would have seen this over there - there's been a big furore in Canada over some idiot yank on Fox Channel making fun of Canada's efforts in Afghanistan (bear in mind that so far 116 Canadian Soldiers killed there)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcJn5XlbSFk


Enjoy your suncshine - it won't last! :-P

Will the Cows come home?

I'm doing something yesterday when the phone rings..it's my Mum - 'There's a bull on the road outside looking at me' I look outside and yes the outline of a bull in the middle of the road...strange, I thought.

It was a gorgeous day and since the snow is still hard enough to walk on, the cows (and bull) from the neighbouring farm had decided that it was a good day for an outing. The fence was not down, the gate was not open and there sits the dilemma...the cows can just get out whenever they feel the urge.

With visions of gnarled cars and even more gnarled bulls in my head, I phoned the farmer with no answer (he was out) and so I arranged with our next neigbourhood farmer (Harry) to meet him in the field where the wandering cows were well, wandering.

I put on my best red cattle herding jacket and my snow boots and off I went (asking Steve to help too - he turned up eventually.) We managed to get them back in their pen - but there was nothing stopping them escaping again as the fence was no higher than 1 ft...at this point I agreed to cow-sit until Harry returned with some electrical wire and then we made a higher fence.

Crisis averted and feeling most charitable, I walked home again, across the fields - calling at Mum's on the way to allay her bull trampling on dog fears.

Just another day in the Cove...

Another recipe - a bit fiddly but if you like cheesecake you'll like this (and less fat)

Citrus Semifreddo

Ingredients
10 ginger snaps
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
4 large egg yolks
juice of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoons limoncello (optional)
Pinch salt
1 lemon, zested (you need to finely chop both these zests)
1 lime, zested
1 cup whipping cream
Directions

Spray a 9 by 5 by 3-inch metal loaf pan with nonstick spray. Line the pan with plastic wrap, allowing the excess to hang over the ends and sides.

Combine 7 crushed ginger snaps and the melted butter. Put in the lined pan and press down to firm and form a crust.

Whisk 1/4 cup of the sugar, the egg yolks, lemon juice, lime juice, limoncello, and salt in a large metal bowl to blend. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (do not allow the bottom of the bowl to touch the water). Whisk the egg mixture until it is thick and creamy, and a thermometer inserted into the mixture registers 160 degrees F, about 5 minutes. Set the bowl of custard into another bowl of ice water to cool completely. Stir in the zest.

Using an electric mixer, beat the cream and remaining sugar in another large bowl until firm peaks form. Using a large rubber spatula, gently fold the whipped cream into the custard. Spoon the mixture onto the prepared crust. Fold the overhanging plastic wrap over the custard and freeze until frozen, at least 4 hours or up to 3 days.

Unfold the plastic wrap. Invert the semifreddo onto a platter and peel off the plastic wrap. Cut the semifreddo into 1-inch slices and sprinkle with the remainder of crushed ginger snaps and serve.

The ginger snaps can be replaced with Amaretti biscuits - but they are like gold dust over here - enjoy!

March Break

The temperature on Friday was -29 with the windchill...not the best! But the following day was +2...just a 31 degree shift in about 7 hours...the last few days have been around -8 but the continual sunshine is clearing the snow - we have actually got patches of green that I believe they call grass...it's seems so long since we saw it, I'm not sure ;-)

The boys are off for March Break (which is when a wave of people leave the island for sunny and hotter shores for a week) but we are going nowhere...obviously...although a week in Cuba sounds very tempting...where is that lottery ticket??

Houses are selling here, which is strange...the house down the road sold for $260k and a few sold signs have been going up in Charlottetown...I think we have decided that life should go on as usual and balls to the credit crunch...the Maritimes have never been Boom or Bust, they are very careful with their money - no flashiness and no class distinction...which is great when you run around in an old car and can't remember the last time you bought a new outfit!

We are all going in to Charlottetown today - new drywall is required and I'm trying to convince my husband to invest in furniture that is ridiculously cheap at the moment. For example - floor to ceiling shelving unit - £50, faux leather ottoman (large) £20, hall table £15...yes, really, all in dark chocolate brown.

St Patrick's Day is this week - which Islanders celebrate like New Year...even though they are mostly French or Scottish...don't get that...but people will be walking around in green hats and sticking shamrocks on their doors...bizarre...!

Bloody Awful...

We are mourning a brief Spring...for a few days there we had it good, temperatures soaring over zero...but today it's -8, with a windchill of desperate...and tomorrow down to -25...SH%T...

So I've just been out in the cold, cold wind trying to remove the ice from the steps in front of the front door...to not much avail...and now I'm bloody chilled to the bone...

Joe's schooling has been in turmoil for a couple of months, his last parent-teacher conference was not good. His teacher asked where the quick-witted, intelligent and interested child had gone...at the time I was hoping that the teacher would answer the same question for me. So for the past month we've been giving him lots of attention, we cut down the Nintendo 360 to an hour max a day and put him back on the eye-q capsules. What a difference...I can't remember why I took him off the eye-q, it must have been a jump of faith in his mental capacities...but I've now come to realise it was a mistake. Joe is like a different child - he's happy, he's curious and its the old-Joe. No longer quiet and broody, he jumps into everything with gusto and it's so nice to see. I spoke to his teacher yesterday who agreed that Joe is doing really well again. So the combination of attention & Eye-q is working well and we are all very pleased with his progress.

Sam is constantly practising his guitar. His band 'Black Finger' have a talent competition coming up next month and he's determined to win. He's off to the school dance tonight in Crapaud (pronounced Crappo...yes, really) so I'm playing taxi again. He seems very taken with his new girlfriend Ida.

Well, I'd better be off as I've got to find a recipe for the Mackerel we caught last summer. Hope the weather is decent over there...! If not, just think about us chilly over here!

Fondue Spectacular

More evidence that it is 1977 here...





On Saturday we went to a Fondue party...I was not expecting much...just melted cheese and bread...but how wrong I was - it was outrageously good - tiger shrimp, scallops, beef & chicken all with delicious sauces/ dips...salad and bread...it took us about an hour and a half to get through the savoury, then Kathy had brought chocolate to melt and fruit for dipping...which was scoffed by all (except me, can't do chocolate, migraine hell.) We were all most impressed!





The down side was that Steve fell on the ice on the way home - and hurt is bad elbow even more...

This is a photo of Canoe Cove Church...just cos!

We managed to get the truck off the ice on the drive yesterday - after 7 weeks of not being able to use it...Lincoln came and pulled it out with his tractor, so Steve bustled off to buy gyproc (plasterboard) from the DIY store...he then comes home and drives straight onto the ice...you guessed it, the truck is stuck again...sigh...





When will Spring be here???? The clocks went back this weekend - we are now a mere 3 hours behind you...and our heads are screwed up - why do they bother with this hour??? And why can't they do say - 5 minutes/ day instead??





PS Bad, bad news about Northern Ireland

It's a bit slippy

The Islander's think that 'slippy' is their own word - that no-one else uses it - they were pretty devastated when I said I grew up in Lancashire using it...and very rarely use 'slippery'...and there the conversation ended...

But it is bloody slippy, because we had 14 hours of ice rain yesterday...nice...NOT...I've waxed lyrically about ice rain before, so I won't go on now...but suffice to say that everywhere looks crystallised and beautiful and it's treacherous and dangerous. The weight of the ice has created tree carnage - Joe's swing branch has been a victim, so that will have to be moved.

These photos don't do it justice...but I've included them anyway...

There's been another death in Canoe Cove, so I'm helping the WI to cater the funeral tomorrow. It's only up the road, which is very convenient when you don't skate...

I'm desperately looking for work...but there's nowt doing at the moment - looks like I might end up in Tim Horton's serving coffee after all...! Well, there are worst jobs.

Sam survived his skiing unscathed...thank goodness...however, there was a boy in his class who broke BOTH legs...can you imagine...and this happens ALL the time on these skiing trips...don't think it would be allowed in the UK somehow...

As an aside...4000 people die every year in Canada in work accidents....health & safety at work here is a bit of a joke...

Last year 21 customers died from Listeria poisoning from Cooked Meats (a very large Canadian Manufacturer)...no court trial...no proceedings...just the families paid off, and serious revenue loss due to low sales...a joke.

Anyway...Steve will be home soon, I need to get my arse into gear...ciao

agine?