The Rural Voice, 1982-03, Page 30COMPLETE
FERTILIZER SERVICES
Prescription Blending
Bulk Spreading
Bag and Bulk
Supplemental Nitrogen
CHEMICAL HEADQUARTERS
SEED VARIETIES
CO-ORDINATED PROGRAMS
GRAIN MARKETING
HARDWARE FARM SUPPLIES
Feeding Programs
co-op PETROLEUM
PRODUCTS
FUEL 011 PROPANE GASOLINE
GREASE OIL
LUCKNOW
District Co-operative
529-7953
PG. 28 THE RURAL VOICE/MARCH 1982
GISELE IRELAND
The day the house froze
Company in the winter time is always a treat, especially this
year when you never know if they will get back home or not. My
brother and his family dropped in for a visit on Saturday night. He
is the kind of person who while he's sitting
talking to you. has to know what is going on
outside and this means running to windows to
see who just came in. Our windows are
covered with a couple of inches of frost and
the visibility is nil. This naturally means you
have to open doors. He did just that. and
opened a door we keep locked for a very
specific reason. It is very exposed and blows
open easily in gusty winds. He closed it all
right . but failed to lock it again. It blew open
of course, not while we were there to notice it.
but sometime through the night while we
were all tucked in our bed dreaming of
sunshine and T-shirt weather.
The first indication I had that something was amiss came when I
woke up around five in the morning with my nose frozen to the
bedspread. I woke the Oil Sheik and told him that cool
temperatures for sleeping were healthy but this was ridiculous.
He unwound himself from the half-dozen blankets and trundled
downstairs to the furnace. The ensuing roar when he hit the
bottom step could be heard three counties away.
The door was wide open and there wasn't a thermometer in the
house that could register the temperature. When 1 went down the
warmest place was inside the refrigerator. The first thing I always
head for when I get up is the coffee and of course all the taps only
sprouted long icicles. I had to go outside and scoop some snow into
a dish to boil for coffee. We have two dogs and I had to be careful
to get snow that they hadn't already used. I chipped my favourite
cup with my chattering teeth.
Our youngest daughter has a gold fish named Abraham. He was
fins up in a gold fish bowl awash with icebergs. He either
succumbed to the frigid temperatures or got a concussion from the
floating icebergs.
What were once beautiful plants. were now limp spaghetti
hanging in pots in the dining room. The sinks and toilet bowls had
hockey rinks for the mice to play on. The only time I snatched a
bargain on bananas was that week. Three pounds for a dollar. and
there staring at me from the fruit bowl were black objects among
petrified oranges and apples.
By eight o'clock we had managed to raise the temperature to 40
degrees with the help of the oven and a portable heater. The Oil
Sheik didn't have to coax anyone to fire the furrace. We
scrambled around looking for the smallest and driest stuff to
generate some instant heat. It sure was a good decision not to have
any oil. We informed him of this frequently.
I phoned my brother to tell him of the havoc his visit had
wrea ked and he guffawed so loudly 1 had to hold the receiver a
foot away from my ear. I will find it hard to forgive him for
Abraham and the plants. The next time he visits 1 plan to tie him to
a chair and keep him there with my piggy prod.
Sundays being the day that radio programs devote the well
being of the spiritual mind, we turned the radio on. The first song
they played was "Lord I Hope This Day is Good". We couldn't
help but look at each other and try a semblance of a grin through
our frozen jaws.
Gisele Ireland. a Bruce County pork producer has the ability
to laugh at situations that would make us cry.