Reflections from Crumbly Acres

Tuesday, 7 January 2014

Wicked tempers at Toronto's Pearson airport!

Muskoka Customers out are in red.  4757 customers are without power. 

It's a mess out there. Toronto's Pearson airport (#YYZ), shut down Monday night (the 6th).

On our way, a quiet day,
on our way to Edmonton in 2001-ish!

Pearson is the largest and busiest airport in Canada.^[4]^[8] In 2012, it handled 34,912,456 passengers^[5] and 435,592 aircraft movements.

Considering that Canada's entire population is about 35 million, this is quite the number of people that they move every year. It requires a lot of employees.

They have an estimated 30,000 passengers a day.

People are on TV news complaining, and very angry. Unfortunately, PR peeps seem fearful of giving regular updates. People seem to blame the messenger, many times.
It's a shame, but if you can understand why it has happened, perhaps passengers should put it into perspective. They've put extra police in the airport terminal to ensure that angry passengers don't get out of hand.

Horrible lineups, not like
this 'normal' photo!

There are people who cannot afford to travel. It's not a right, it is a privilege, and an agreement between a flyer and a private company. Many employees were doing their best, but Mother Nature can be wicked and workers must be safe. We've got an With equipment freezing, and horrible working conditions, all of the gates at the airport are full with planes.

People are standing in lines, sleeping in the airport, and being grumpy. Bags are being rerouted, people got on planes and their bags get lost or left behind. The sheer numbers are amazing.

Wicked weather and a polar vortex

What is a polar vortex? => WWW.CBC.CA

Polar vortex(CTV)

Polar vortex from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
It's a persistent cyclone, created in a pole (north or south). They don't usually deign to honour us with their presence. The winds are said to rotate at 160 km/h, and suck in that cold Arctic air. Then, it splits apart, and flings us a bit of cold weather.

This video shows what it looks like in my front yard! Swirling winds and birds trying to feed!

Muskoka snow angels are getting into some fun

Snow angels - my Muskoka friend began getting creative! When you are given lemons, make lemonade. They had 18" of snow in one go, thanks to the Lake Effect Snow squalls that pick up moisture from Georgian Bay.
Here is angel #1

#2 Ta Da...Sebastien's snowdog angel

Snow angel #3, the trumpeter was trampled by the dogs as we played in the snow.

#4. Today's snow angel touched down on her way to the sunny south!

Hopefully she has sunscreen in that beach bag! She's awfully white

Snowangel #5 over indulged in the Christmas spirit
so she's been grounded.
Remember, if you're flying? Don't drink!
Same goes for those of us who prefer wheels over wings!
Don't drink and drive!!

#6 Today's snow angel AKA Imaklutz fell
while attempting to put up lights!
Fortunately all the snow cushioned her fall

#7 Today's snow angel fell out of her snow canoe!

Won't you join the Friends Circle of Snow Angels? Strength in numbers

An angel in progress:

Today's snow angel's way is well lit as she carries the world's troubles upon her shoulders.

Angel - The night watchman...

Isabelle made an angel, too!

Angel on the lake

I was Christmas crafty this holiday

Have you seen these?

I saved them for two years until I collected enough and figured out what to do with them! They contained liquors, and were a nice treat. I'm off treats this month, but this reinforces why! I've been careful, and lost 5 lbs., trying to get myself back on track and away from treats. I've done lots of outdoor work, and regular exercise. Having temperatures of -15 C., I've hauled in some firewood to supplement our heat. Our region is short propane, and I'm being frugal with heat. It's good exercise hauling in wood. Bracing in these temperatures!

My son's fiance had a suggestion: put lights in them!
I did!

I hot glued them, and put them on the counter
(I was short 1 bottle!)

Next I had to figure out how to photograph them. I hauled out the manual!

They look lovely in the darkened kitchen.

I had also saved these little light bulb bottles until I had enough to decorate the wee trellis.

Monday, 6 January 2014

Bambi on ice

You think people have it bad!

Influenza H1N1 is bad this winter: 2013/2014

Canadian
FluWatch web site

H1N1 dose

Hunkered down, with a freezing rain warning, a wind warning, and a flash freeze warning, it's seems to be a good day to stay home! The roads are terrible.

I've been amusing myself with research. To see where the flu is active in Canada, visit FluWatch.

FluWatch.ca produces weekly influenza surveillance reports from October to May, but they only report laboratory-confirmed test results. I'm sure you know people who have fought this virus and won. Most of the testing has shown that over 90% of flu results indicate that it is the H1N1 that is causing these illnesses.

Canadian activity

Unfortunately, it is really hard to find specific statistics by province. Flu Watch reports all of Canada. This site collects Yahoo news of H1N1 articles.

You have to go to provincial or regional health centres, and/or local newspapers, for data broken down by province or territory and they report metropolitan area healthcare systems (i.e., the large cities). No one wants to brag about how many cases of flu they have!

Ottawa Health has had two deaths from flu and 3 outbreaks in long-term care homes. There were 81 lab-confirmed cases, but there are many who do not report and do not test for the virus. There were 22 people placed in hospital.

Toronto Health has had 210 confirmed cases, with 6 deaths. It's bad in Ontario, but the provi

Red = H1N1 "A"; Blue = Type B flu

nce of Alberta is the worst so far with 965 confirmed cases, 5 deaths.

The Vancouver Sun reports: "About half of Fraser Health's severe cases involve "significantly overweight" patients, who are more susceptible to more serious symptoms." There were 11 cases in long-term care (a high-risk population), 20 hospitalizations, and, perhaps, one death (yet to be confirmed).

Flu Watch tells us that the very young and the very old were the most at-risk in the 2009 pandemic, but this year, 24 - 64 year olds have been more susceptible, and getting ill, as well as the very young.

Our seniors have, it seems, developed antibodies, bless their souls. There is research to show that slight exposure does build up your immunities. "The things that don't quite kill you make you stronger."
August - December 2013. They track confirmed cases only, I wonder how many unconfirmed there are?
The territories report to particular labs in provinces.

FLU 2013	TYPE A	A + B
Provinces	Cases		Flu-related Deaths	Population
Ontario	1006	1033	8	12.8m
Alberta	868	1335	9	3.6m
QC	365	462
B.C.	229	239	1	4.6m
Saskatchewan	167	167	6	1m
Manitoba	28	35
Newfoundland	15	19
N.B.	12	12		0.75m
N.S.	8	8		0.9m
PEI	1	1
Canada	2699	3311	24	35m

The cities are the worst, with people who commute.

Week 52, Geographic spread of influenza

In week 50 (December) four regions had local, sporadic activity. Methinks the holiday season spread the virus aplenty ( Figure 1 )! By week 52 you can see how they increased.

I cannot find specific data for NWT. I tried!

Alberta

Ontario reports: SE Ontario is bad.
Alberta is worse.

Alberta’s H1N1 outbreak leads to rush in flu vaccinations ...
There have been 965 lab-confirmed cases of influenza in Alberta as of Jan. 1, with the H1N1strain representing 920 of those cases. There are 270 in hospital in Alberta. With 3 dead in Edmonton, 2 and dead in Calgary.

I'm amazed at the number of people who still eschew the vaccine. We hunker down in groups for winter: in schools and offices, with people who come to work quite ill. How can you NOT be exposed to the virus?! There are many who still don't cough or sneeze into their elbows. It boils down to washing your hands. There is little else to do, really. Stay home if you are ill. Get enough sleep, eat properly, exercise, and go outside to play! I find there are many personal support workers (PSW) doing home care who do not wash their hands frequently enough. I've seen them during my hospice work.

Flu shots are freely available from your Canadian physician, or from health clinics, each province/territorial health authority makes them available.

Sunday, 5 January 2014

A busy day for wildlife: deer, turkey, cardinal, junco!

What a change in weather! We've gone from -27 this past week to nearly zero (32 F.). It's snowing now. We'll see what the day brings! No more ice rain, I fervently hope.

My latest videos!

Feeding time from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
Hubby is out throwing some feed out for the deer. It is an MNR recipe. We have many acres, but they congregate here in winter. Everyone gets along, more or less! Hubby spreads out the piles.

Backyard deer Jan 2013 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
Here it is, morning feeding time. Each deer gets a handful of MNR-recipe food.

Wetland walkies in January from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
Off into the wetland. It's mostly frozen through, but not totally. The Snowmobile Association is warning people off the lakes. That top crust is still wicked. The animal tracks are lovely. The squirrels estivate, and wake up from time-to-time to eat. The rabbits are active, too. Mostly, though, I spot deer and wild turkey tracks, with the coyote tracks following along.

Deer searching for bird food from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
I was trying to fill up the bird feeder but my deer friends were hoping for a hand-out.

Saturday, 4 January 2014

We've been in the deep freeze!

UPDATE: I spent an hour and 20 minutes on the snowshoes in the forest. I couldn't find Tigger's antler anywhere. I had a lovely bit of exercise, with many deer out in the forest running away from me. I did the same last year. Lovely walk, no antler!

Ayep. It's been -20, or worse, over several days. This morning we have a balmy -16 C.! I've been outdoors hauling in wood and none of the cats have been helpful. We've been trying to play with them indoors. Fortunately, the deer have been good subjects.

Nipping at the twigs in the backyard, they've been wonderful to watch. Big, thick coats, protecting them from wicked winter winds. The yearlings look like fuzz balls. So far, they all seem healthy.

This morning, I spotted our buddy, Tigger. He's lost one of his antlers. They don't need them, once rutting season is over. Their wicked hoofs are excellent protection, as well as the way they herd in winter. Safety in numbers! There are many canine wild critters that would love to feed on them. Fortunately, deer season is over.

This means I need to go out and see if I can find the antler! There is a knack to it. I wrote about that previously: Deer shed hunting for Family Day! and posted a link to the ubiquitous How To YouTube video!