Hi again, all. I fixed the car - I've spent more on it in the past year than I paid for it 7 1/2 years ago but I've put over 100,000 miles on it, with not a lot of repairs through those years, so am happy with it. Still going to old step-uncle's place, but place has been sold and new owner willing to have me live there, as he only wants to use the land. If anyone has any questions about the system that I outlined above - ask here or email me. I think that you'll find it a very useful resource. One of my New Year's resolutions is to get a more flexible computer - with more storage, as I can't put more modern operating systems on mine (so have been using the one at the library for some time). Will use some of Uncle's bequest, I guess - I sent some of it to my long-deceased brother's three "kids" (now in their 40s), as I'd suggested to Uncle that he leave something to them, but he didn't get around to it. Their Dad and Uncle farmed together for several years when they were young while brother owned Grandma's farm, and brother died when they were in early teens, so they've known some rough times. Good wishes to all for the days, weeks and months ahead. ole joyful

Hello all, You may be interested to know that Iva Mae lives about three or four miles from me. Maybe we can get together for coffee one of these days. Good wishes to all of you. joyful guy

I could almost have avoided buying radish seed this spring, for there were quite a few radishes about an inch high in the fall, volunteering from the radishes that had gone to seed earlier. There are a good deal many more this spring ... and some from the area where the radishes were, the year before. Anyone want some radish seeds? I have a few lettuce plants starting on their own, as well. Last year had quite a few zucchini from the ones that had spoiled that I threw directly on to the garden rather than into compost ... plus some volunteer tomato plants in a part of the garden where they were not planted, as well. I had about 60 some asparagus plants, last year ... but the landlord nicked some when he ran the tiller down the rows, last summer. And this spring when he did the initial tilling, to chew up the residues from last year and let the chewed up pieces start to rot ... he nicked a fair chunk of one row. Plus some died, I think ... so I think that I have only about half as many plants, now. Quite a few more seeds, so will fill in the blank spaces (but will need to mark them, as they'll need to be transplanted later than the originals). I save some of the first run of cold water out of the hot water tap in the bathroom/kitchen to water the cats, as well as flush the toilet. You guys in the sunny south-west should do a lot of that, cause you sure are short of water. They had a note on the radio the other day that they're worried that the rivers in rather dry Alberta are polluted now, and the flow is largely allocated ... ... so if some of you come wanting us to ship some down the trench between the mountains to California, Arizona, etc. ... we may be tellling you to get lost! The glaciers that feed them have been shrinking ... and if (when?) they die, Calgary may be crying big time for water, themselves. Have yourselves a lovely spring, everyone ... it's getting so that one can drop most of the winter clothing sometimes, in the last few days ... sort of a relief, that. ole joyful

Aw, shucks. Thanks for the compliments. Actually, I've been saving pop (and beer) can tabs for a friend for about 14 years - starting back about the time that I sold those corn-fired heating systems. I was able to send some blue ones, some green ones, and some with a different shape, to Jaybird. Even crossing the border, the postage wasn't too bad. I asked recently why the people who sell them to buy wheelchairs don't save the whole can. Haven't had an answer, yet. On a recent discussion here on that topic, someone suggested that they thought the reason was efficiency - that there was about as much aluminum in a tab as in the rest of the can, but that it took up a lot less space. I replied that I didn't want to be disagreeable, but that I thought that there was a lot less. So, I saved 2,000 tabs, which nearly filled a 2 litre ice cream container (which is slightly under 2 quarts). They didn't weigh more than a kilogram (2.2 lbs.), I think - a kilogram and a half at the outside. About 32 pop cans weigh in at a pound. Which brought me to a certain conclusion. If any of you have removed a bunch of tabs from pop cans, you know that it is a tedious, time-consuming task. As the tabs and the cans, which the scrap metal dealer says go into the same barrel, bring in the princely sum of about 50 cents/lb. ... I think that I'll just give my friend the collector a buck (or even ... maybe ... two) on occasion. And not remove any more tabs. By the way - when you're 75, in good health and receiving three pensions, which in total are more than adequate (for a frugal lifestyle) ... every day is a good day. I don't think I've taken a pill in about 30 years. By the way - if you are taking serious meds, maybe you should join the busloads of U.S. people who travel to Canada from neighbouring states to buy their meds, saving most if not all of the cost of the trip. You know what the result of that will be - soon we Canadians will be paying more for meds! No way the drug companies are going to put up with that nonsense for long. Have you seen the book by the Harvard doc, "The Truth about the Drug Companies"? That most of their highly vaunted patents, etc. are not for new and original research, but mainly a slight variation on an old formula (that allows them to carry the patent protection forward for a substantial number of years). Good wishes to you all for a great autumn. ole joyful