Tuesdays With Jo

Dear Mother Jaskey, 

First off, I'm So stinkin' excited about these two brand new baby girls in my life!! Larry & Diana's little Vienna Beth was born on the 22nd and Justyn & Nicole's little Isla Saige was born on the 27th. I've shed a few tears of joy. Also, I got to go to a little New Grandma party for Jodi. And of course, I got to chat with you about Vienna. 

In another vein altogether, we've had a few crazy fiascos with coyotes here lately. Our dogs are quite the pair. Two different evenings this week they've got hold of a coyote and harassed the life out of them. Well, technically Colby shot the first one and Zach the second. But when Colby proposed that he'd help Wyatt shoot the third, should it perchance come around, my motherlyness overcame me and I said no. 

In the thick of all the things last week I rashly decided that it was time to clean out my closet, repaint, buy many baskets and cull the old clothes. Things are vastly improved; I just need to hang the shelves and put things away. Oh, and get another light fixture. Something other than the bare bulb hanging in there.

So there's that. And because everything is basking in the open spaces in our room, I decided to try on my running-away dress. It still fits (only because the style was so big and baggy) but mother!! The sleeve heads are ginormous!! And the shoulder pads an inch thick! And ooh, I laughed so hard! I wish I could have showed you!

LOL

Jo

P.S. I don't think I've evered mentioned any 'bird-disease' here. I just want you to know that I have a very odd red spot on my eye. It makes me feel special. 

P.P.S. More bird disease; I am sporting a large bruise on my leg from a hockey game (in my basement) I watched a while back. I consider myself an endangered species. Even told my boys so.

P.P.P.S. I hope its not too much to note that I have also taken up doing jumping jacks. The bird-disease related to this is personal.

Tuesdays With Jo

Dear Mother Jaskey, 

Good morning from the land of living skies! It's a perfectly gorgeous morning here, the sun glinting off the windows, the dew clinging to the tramp and the carpet of leaves thick on the grass. Autumn is boldly showing us its best.

I'm not going to tell you how busy I've been because reading back makes me tired even though in actuality I fly along in enjoyment. Today I'm making vegetable juice with tomatoes, onions, peppers and carrots from my garden. I got started on this years ago (a recipe Jodi recommended from kitchen treasures) and we Love using this juice in soups and casseroles, etc. And it adds such a homey fallish smell to the house. 

Also, I've been itching to get to some quilting and sewing again. The other day I realized that I'm subconsciously waiting for these two precious babies to be born, Diana's and Nicole's. 

We were at Arlens on Sunday and Brianna showed me the quilt she'd made for Nicole's baby. It's beautiful, triangles done in greys and a harvest green. They don't know if it's a boy or girl but Brianna is quite sure boy. 

Pat says harvest is about 60% done. He and Colby are fixing machinery this morning for Jason and heading out as soon as it dries off enough to get combining. 

Zach is busy helping Jeff with log work which is not his favorite but is surely growing perseverance and integrity in him.

Well, with these few thoughts I'll  close.

Love 

Jo

P.S. Wyatt is busy looking things up in the Encyclopedias in his spare time at school. 

P.P.S. For example, Jerusalem, vipers and fighter jets was just one days find.

P.P.P.S. Wyatt is now allowed to borrow books from the main school library and he is in his glory. He told Miss Esther he wants to read about history. And animals.

Tuesdays With Jo

Dear Mother Jaskey, 

The leaves are yellow and orange and the nights are crispy cold. Empty fields are polka-dotted with golden bales. Tractors and equipment rumble by long into the night. 

We ran a bit of a marathon this week, nothing serious. The first week of school is officially under the belt. Grandpa Esau spent the week in the hospital and our family all had the sniffles. I went to Cindy Unruh's one morning for coffee with Bren. And one hot evening we were invited out to the field for supper with the crew. One highlight was having Reece and Kale Isaac stop for Sunday afternoon and night. The youth and Rennies came for supper. Then after the boys left in the morning I headed to Delisle with a group of ladies and girls and we washed windows and cleaned house for Aunt Margaret Fehr. We ended up going for a late lunch together at Subway. And then we had board and teacher meeting in the evening in which I was responsible for lunch. 

I sometimes feel like I live and breathe food preparation. So one of my friends messaged me yesterday and said she'd made chocolate cream cheese cupcakes and could she send them for board meeting? I'll admit I got tears. I'm so grateful for lovely friends!

Also, we've had some really great laughter lately. We enthralled Aunt Margaret with tales of Lacey and Marci's program they got going Sunday evening with the youth. Lacey is a grand actress with an overflowing imagination. 

Today I'm resting on my laurels. I made BLT's for lunch for my men (yes they are All home) (except Wyatt) with tomatoes from my garden. I fried bacon while listening to the quartets from Sunday and I feel rejuvenated. I also got the cinnamon rolls on pans and cleaned my kitchen. 

Here's to another lovely autumn week! Courage to you and yours!

Love

Jo

P.S. Why do my cinnamon rolls rise so high and mighty in the centers?

P.P.S. We consumed at least 10 bags of chips in the last week. I say we loosely, it involved a lot of people. But still.

P.P.P.S. Viv just messaged and said she wants to bring us pizza for supper, a late birthday gift. How can I be so blessed?!

Tuesdays With Jo

Dear Mother Jaskey, 

Its been a week. One of those that go by in a flash and you wonder what just happened. It's officially fall. The trees and my perennials were hanging full of icicles this morning after our first killing frost. -3 was our thermometer low.

When I look in my book it's as blank as my brain. But I remember a few things; driving Grandpa Esau around the field one evening watching the huge harvest moon rise over the horizon, teachers over for lunch, an evening with Carrie,  orientation meeting with the teachers and board, a day spent at school, a Ukrainian friend over for most of Sunday.

My house is a mess but it tells a tale; entrance immersed in tomatoes and peppers and gourds in varying degrees of ripeness, baskets of unfolded but thankfully clean laundry, books and puzzles and pillows littering the living room floor, an arrow here, a hockey stick there and the smell of wood stove smoke permeating the air.

Today is our first day of school. Subconsciously I've been holding my breath, wondering and waiting. Its been six months since those halls were lined with boys and girls and today I got a catch in my throat.

LOL, (that means lots of love, you know)

Jo

P.S. Some kind soul dropped off a nice big pan of banana bread.

P.P.S. Pats mom brought our boys a giant 1000 piece puzzle. 

P.P.P.S. Audrey picked 2 pails of strawberries for us and they are the best tasting we've had all year.

Tuesdays With Jo

Dear Mother Jaskey, 

It is such a chilly fallish day. We've had a few fires already in the fireplace. Yellow leaves dance on the green grass and the potato plants have withered to nothing. How can it be September already?

This last week we went camping at Saskatchewan Landing with Dee & Tina and their family. We had lovely weather and thankfully a few trees to shelter us. The ground was crispy brown and we weren't allowed any fire. So we cooked our meals on the corn cooker base and huddled around the propane fire in the evening. It was surprising when the washrooms were suddenly closed (the second day we were there) 'due to covid'. Thankfully the showers a ways away stayed open and they had toilets as well.

Wyatt got a twig/sliver stuck in his scalp when we were camping. We did minor surgery between Pat and I but ended up taking him to the doctor yesterday to get the remaining wood removed. Dr. Slavik dug around without fear or favor of man. He did eventually (after manly tears) get a needle yo freeze the area. He wasn't sure if he got it all out (the sliver). And Wyatt wasn't sure there wasn't still a needle in. Traumatizing is the word.

Spencer and Morgan spent part of yesterday and today at our place. The boys had many an exuberant game of mini hockey in our basement; Colby and Spenc against Zach and Morgan, with Wyatt ref-ing over the loud speaker. And shall I mention the backflips on the tramp, dirtbiking the jumps and four-bying the pasture in the jeep with the top pulled off? And the food consumption of manly boys is very rewarding. 

Grandpa Esau came home from Linden with an extremely sore back again. Apparently I am the only person who can convince him to take his advil and tylenol on a close schedule. I have a new lot in life.

I must get back to my back deck where the corn is languishing, husked and ready to boil. 

Love,

Jo

P.S. Wyatt and Maverick did bummer-wars from Wyatt's dresser onto his bed and broke it (the bed) in multiple places. 

P.P.S. Wyatt and Maverick made mushroom soup out under the tramp with chopped up grass and dandelion greens and mushrooms and water. But they didn't eat it.

P.P.P.S. Louise DeVeer and Velma came for a surprise coffee last week.

Tuesdays With Jo

Dear Mother Jaskey, 

I am a little overwhelmed today.  Maverick is here. I'm mixing cinnamon rolls. I'm doing books  in the shop. Folks stopped for my corn cooker and the fertilizer spreader and iced tea. I ran to school to measure windows for Miss Lindsey. And its now 11am or like Colby would say, coffee o'clock. 

It is just fabulous to have my boy back. He is tanned with a charming short haircut. He talks fondly about Quesnel and work in BC. He helps me vacuum and take the meat off the grill and clear the table. One big change I've noticed is that he now drinks coffee. And not just any coffee. Fresh ground Moonshine beans french-pressed. 

This last week we've cleaned the teacherage, had folks and uncle Regs over for Sunday dinner, partied at Jay's with Merles, shopped Saskatoon, hosted Jeff's and Quinton's for nightlunch, canned peaches,  made peach jam, had Rennies over for supper/farewell/welcome and Pat has been full-fledged into harvesting for Jason.

Sometimes, like today, I take my treasured coffee cup and go sit for just a couple minutes on my back deck. My flowers are feeling tired, the crickets are chirping, the humming birds whiz by. But today, this moment,  is glorious. Its warm and beautiful and I'm thankful for so many things. Sometimes it makes my eyes water. 

Love, 

Jo

P.S. Those serene mamas that I used to admire? They were just tired. Now I know.

Tuesdays With Jo

Dear Mother Jaskey,

Another gorgeous week in August has passed us by. I'm sitting on my back deck with my  THM Good Girl Moonshine. Wyatt is doing flips on the tramp. The sprinkler is going in the garden. The crickets are chirping. And its +30.

We had a real whirlwind of a week; almost pre-Covid feeling. It was simply delightful to be with Karen and Em and Trish. And then Ryan & Arlene and family joined us too. Something like that just can't be planned. It was special. 

I turned 41 on Sunday. We went to church with our group (3) and groups 1 and 5. Pats mom invited us for dinner with Grandpa Esau. And then we went to Saskatoon and met Keith & Deana and their boys and biked along the river in the heat and ordered in pizza for supper. It was still +25 at 9 in the evening when we left, so we drove along Spadina, along the river, with our windows open, listening to the music vendors along the way, watching people ride and walk and bike along the river. Zach said it felt like Florida or another country all together. We finished the day with blizzards from Dairy Queen. 

I've got many lovely gifts and well wishes this year but possibly the best was a three-way call from Arnie and Char. We talked for almost 2 hours!

Pat and Zach are helping Jason with harvest today and Colby will too when he gets home (Only 6 more days.). 

Well, I just got informed that the bucking bronco show starts shortly and I am supposed to watch. 

Adios,

Jo

P.S. I washed my windows in the basement and in the procedure came face to face with frog eyes peering at me out of the dirt in the window well. It was rather disconcerting. 

P.P.S. I dug potatoes the other day and also dug up a squishy dusty frog which blinked at me lugubriosly. I am having frog trouble. 

P.P.P.S. Would you believe this? I heard something in the garage the other day and here it was this Giant frog hopping placidly along. I am abjectly adverse to frogs. I just developed this in my old age.

P.P.P.P.S. Frogs pee when they're scared. The end.

Tuesdays With Jo

Dear Mother Jaskey, 

It has been another delightful week in summer. This last week we went from the hot plus thirty days and nights above 20C to cooler evenings, crickets chirping and caragana seeds popping. I am always a little sentimental about fall.

One evening we had our neighbors, Rudi and Cindy Dueck and their four children, over for supper. I did my typical company meal which is grilled chicken (marinated in white sauce this time), baby potatoes with toppings (garden potatoes this time), corn, lettuce salad (I did the BLT one) and oreo dessert (I don't have a set company dessert 😅). I truly don't mean to have a company menu. Its just happened enough times that I tend to make fun of myself. 

I've canned 24 quarts and 32 pints of beans this last week. Do you think that will last us for a year? I hope so, as I have now lost interest and have given away the last picking. I used my pressure canner on my corn cooker on the back deck. That is some fast cooking! I can do two layers of pints in there, so 16 jars at a time. 

I am absolutely thrilled that your dear daughter Karen and her two dear daughters, Em and Trish, are about to arrive in the land of living skies! We are hosting a mini teachers prep here tomorrow and Trish is coming to attend. I shall immerse myself in much sisterly-ness.

Are you interested in the school cleaning evenings, the food prep, the shopping days for the aforementioned? I kind of think not. And so I shall close this epistle. 

Love, Jo

P.S. Wyatt has been asking for an Encyclopedia set to read.

P.P.S. Only 1.6 more weeks until Colby comes home.

P.P.P.S. I have been thinking a lot about Genevra. I imagine her with dark hair, blue eyes and a huge imagination at age two.

Tuesdays With Jo

Dear Mother Jaskey, 

Wyatt is cuddled in under my left arm reading the Adventures of Bobby Coon. Zach is reclining bareback on the couch. The flies are buzzing and my house is actually cooling down. Pat is gone for night, on the truck, hauling coal from Edmonton. 

Yesterday we got home from folks after camping for two nights in their backyard (definitely a story for another time) and our dogs met us with mouths full if quills. It consumed most of our day removing them, including a dose of relaxant from our neighbor Merle. They are a subdued pair. 

I've been working outside these days, trimming trees, fixing sprinklers, spraying weeds, picking beans. Every once in a great while Pat n i have a moment on the back deck and install another railing post. We are excited to announce an estimated finish date of June 2032, in which case we hope to have all the family down. 

I have been thinking about making a baby quilt for Diana's baby. Do you think she has plenty already and would prefer something else for a gift? 

Also, what makes King Tut turn brown? Could it actually be from neglect or lack of water? Asking for a friend. 

Love, Jo

P.S. Tonight Wyatt announced at the supper table that the Lord willing, Zach was going swimming with him tonight. Surely God understands. 

P.P.S. Are you serious about getting a letter from me once a week? My life seems awfully humdrum at times.

P.P.P.S. Will you write me back?

P.P.P.P.S. I love you

Blogging 101

Are you all going to start blogging again? Now that we have so much time on our hands? Ha, ha.

I'm loving, loving, loving having my family home around me. This is absolutely amazing. Almost magical. With a whole lot of real involved.

We're lucky people to have a large 'harvest' on our hands. Our shop is hopping busy, all hands on deck. So we truly are not going squirrelly together in our house. My men are being fed exotically, ((cough)) I mean, we're having a lot more fresh cookies and bread and buns than usual. I'm also spending an exorbitant amount of time in the shop answering phones for Pat so he can occasionally do some welding.

This week is officially spring break but the plan is to keep having school at home next week. Wyatt and I set up a neat little spot in the office. His desk is against the coffee table. We hung his school charts along the west wall close to the whiteboard. I write shop lists on the whiteboard, fill out the shop calendar and then I have the alphabet lined up neatly along the bottom. We also found a file shelf in storage and have it in the corner of my desk, one file for finished books, one file for spare-time projects and one file for tests and answer keys.

I have lists and lists of things I want to accomplish in the next while, lists that exist only in my head. We have books and books and books that we would like to read together. We have things to finish and fix and honey-do lists galore. We shall see. Yes, we shall see.

We've only had one day so far in which it appeared that some of us were quite and altogether housebound. That was on Sunday. But we went for a ripping drive in our pasture, where nary a soul is, usually. We saw a few people and quite easily kept on social-distancing.

Talking about social-distancing. My husband says he's been doing this all his life. Ha, ha. Me? Only sometimes.

What are you making for supper tonight?
What books are you currently reading?
What's on your to-do list?
What's on your fun project list?

If I have time, I hope to update often here.

Supper tonight: Fresh buns made into ranch burgers, veggies & dip, chips, fresh cookies
Books: Just finished reading A Spiderweb for Two by Elizabeth Enright - my family loved this series!
To-Do List: Make chocolate syrup for chocolate milk
Fun Project List: Sew another bag or quilt

P.S. We're living a history lesson, am I right? I'm thinking about writing a Covid-19 diary.