Who goes there?

Tuesday, Jan. 29th

Hooper had had a Classic morning, knocking things around, and off of shelves. ("Hooper, down!" Hooper, get down!") They are both more relaxed, with Daisy elsewhere.

Annabelle was taking it easy. 

Hubby did the driveway with the snowblower. He had Meals on Wheels to dispatch. Off he went.
☎️Still no phone, it's rather strange. I phoned Ma Bell from my client's house, we're out until Friday, by 10 p.m. (It was Thursday, but they delayed it another day.) It's been off since Tuesday, Jan. 22. After another storm!

The irony is, Bell is marketing their Let's Talk campaign. I'm sitting on hold, listening to their promotion, getting anxious, hoping they'd just get on to it. My anxiety levels are up, with rehoming Daisy. It's part of my issues. I went home and took some meds for it. #ironic

"Mental health affects us all. Let's work toward ending the stigma. #BellLetsTalk"

After I shoveled the walk, I ambled down to the forest. Can you see them in the tree, in the middle of the photo? They seemed a bit disgruntled.
I was headed to the tree, in the middle ground, far right. The trailcam sits there, and faces away from me, into the forest beside the wetland.


Here, look closer. Several wild turkeys.


I took a video, just for fun. They didn't seem too concerned about me. I wondered if the coyote was about?
turkeys 1 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Back up to the house, pretty tired from navigating a snow cover of 30 cm, I uploaded the photos from the trailcam at the end of the meadow. You'll note the time stamp, 25 minutes before I arrived, when I was at the house doing the snow. It was on the run, snow flying.



I wasn't done with turkeys. I came home from my client's house, and found them eating the cracked corn I'd put on the ice on the driveway for traction. Gone!


turkeys from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

alumni demands

In my 30s and 40s I went back to school for an M. Ed., and this means I am officially an alumni of 3 universities: Ryerson, OttawaU, OISE/uToronto. I am forever impressed by those in their senior years earning degrees. In the last few years I took 8/10 on-line courses for an M. A. in counselling. It kept me interested, researching, and aware. Why not keep learning? I have decided to drop the M.A. to pursue my own research - why do I need another degree?! But that is another story.

This is a fun time in my life. My 3 adult children have gone to, and finished, university. am a grandma who Skypes with her kids. They are all, thankfully, gainfully employed. The joy never ends, mind you. This is the time of year they all call the alumni and parents of same, to see if, having already contributed thousands of dollars to their coffers, you want to provide a donation to keep the lamp of learning burning. As if! I am sure they need help, but I truthfully believe that if you want a degree you should jolly well pay for it yourself! In this economic climate, with the job market the way it is, perhaps college is a better choice. (My plumber earns $65/hour!)

But I digress. On the phone, I am afraid I am curt: we're retired, broke and my own alumni associations are begging for dollars! I tell the lovely young people that, yes, my contact information is the same (you reached me by phone, didn't you?) and NO, we would not move without telling you so that you could phone me 2 -3 times a year and beg for my hard-earned pension dollars! (Severely curtailed by greedy investors who have brought the market down. Taxpayers who demand lower taxes and better services. Budgets that do not help those without means. Yes, another blog post!)

Then, in the mail, I received another offer: two a credit card offers to help support these groups. 'As if' x's 2! Two of my higher learning institutions want a percentage of my pension and spending, to help them prop up universities supported by my tax dollars. Does this make sense? They ended up in my fireplace. How is it that the credit card companies continues to bleed us dry with high interest rates for people who cannot afford nor use credit cards?